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...
The Business Roundtable, an organization comprised of CEO’s from leading U.S. corporations, made news a few weeks ago when it issued a statement reflecting a profound change in business philosophy and purpose. According to the Wall Street Journal: The Business Roundtable… changed its statement of...
The great state of New York, where I grew up, has left it to its citizens to decide on its next license plate. If only they had solicited designs from citizens rather than forcing them to choose from five nominally “professional” but dreadful alternatives. Adweek solicited...
A recent piece on CNN Business, Instagram Doubles Down on Test to Hide Likes, tells us: For some users, not getting enough likes can impact their self-esteem. According to a recent report by the Royal Society for Public Health in the United Kingdom, Instagram is the most detrimental...
I love smoothies and thank Jamba Juice for making them mainstream. They put those sweet, delicious, frozen concoctions on my radar. I also love California Pizza Kitchen, particularly their tortilla soup and the Thai Crunch salad. One day after reading an article about the dangers of...
My summer reading isn’t like most people’s. Summer should be a time to read what you want, to indulge in the guilty pleasures of breezy novels. For some inexplicable reason, I always choose the opposite, to “go back to school” if you will, to read the...
Great news! Spotify Is Adding "Social Listening" to Let Friends Listen to Music Simultaneously. This will fix everything. Perhaps you’re not old enough to remember listening to music. Really listening. Like most of my Boomer contemporaries, I’d retreat to my room in my high school and college...
I could write a book about dating. Two books, actually. One covering the love life of my 20’s and early 30’s and one about dating over 50. Both would be fascinating, but in very different ways. And the book about my marriage, between the ages...