Great marketing efforts are usually fueled by a simple premise. Something that can be grasped in the blink of an eye, yet still able to evoke a shock of personal recognition and a deep affinity for the product or service being advertised. Maybe something like this:...
I walk past Banana Republic and Lucky Jeans on Ventura Boulevard in my wonderful hometown of Studio City, California nearly every day. A year ago, I could have included The Gap in this retail mix, but that store has closed, a victim of the chain’s...
The picture-perfect world of Peloton, where happy, fit, beautiful couples and their adorable young children live in spacious designer homes graced with lush views of nature, was seriously disturbed this week as the internet blew up with negative reactions to the company’s holiday ad. The plot...
Is the pendulum starting to swing back towards common sense? Are businesses starting to realize that more they need more than data to thrive? A good sign emerged last week with Jonnie Cahill’s speech at the Brandweek conference in Palm Springs last week. Cahill, the CMO...
Part 3 of 3 If you missed it: Part 1 focused on the importance of understanding yourself and your purpose. Part 2 focused on the need to define and communicate your brand personality. If only we could see ourselves, for better or worse, as we are. The...
Part 2 of 3 If you missed it: Part 1 focused on the importance of understanding yourself and your purpose. Having been a student of marketing my entire adult life, I’ve seen the sweeping, seismic changes wrought by technology. The changes in media usage, how we connect...
Know Yourself, Know Your Brand Part 1 of 3 As someone who teaches branding to graduate students, I am often asked to review resumes and cover letters. It can be shocking. Bright, inquisitive, hard-working students who excel in my class write paragraphs of generic nonsense. They apply for...
I cringe when I hear about the “democratization” of anything. This started years ago when I was working for a blowhard/Trump-like character, a nasty, dishonest, unlikeable bully as you'll ever meet, who founded a business to promote ethics and to "democratize the practice of law." The...
Cheez-Its is a brand I have little use for. Yes, it has very cute, memorable commercials with the wise-guy talking cheese, but would I ever consider buying a box? Never crossed my mind. Not me, being the sophisticated, older, coastal-elite, foodie type that I am....
Let’s say your brand was a political candidate. There are voters out there, better known as customers or consumers in business parlance, who will be voting with their dollars. Obviously, the better you understand those voters’ dreams, fears, needs and wants, the better you’ll communicate...