What’s All This Branding Stuff About, Anyway?
No clever intro sufficiently sets you up for the Anti-Monkey Butt Powder discussion. I’m just simply not that good.
Continue Reading 2 comments June 16th, 2009
High Impact Culture Starts Today, and Begins With Us
Weekly team meetings around the conference table are the contemporary man’s equivalent of the frontiersman’s circle around the evening campfire. There are personal stories to share to entertain, to inform, to debate. This collaboration establishes common shared interests and priorities, in essence creating a culture unique to that group. A vibe to call their own that sets the rhythm of all choices.
Continue Reading Add comment May 26th, 2009
Root Bound: Life With Constraints and Mirrors
You really don’t have to have a green thumb to make things grow. Sometimes it just takes a little inspiration, a little faith, an injection of encouragement, and honest acceptance that if you’re not growing, you’re falling behind.
This analogy applies to lots of things, big and small, complex and simple. It can be a matter of creating the right outward-facing client image by a $30 subscription to Basecamp. And yeah, it can mean radical changes in culture by consistently reinforcing behavior patterns.
Continue Reading Add comment May 21st, 2009
The Power of One
Every conversation is an opportunity to make the right choice. Sometimes we only learn what the right choices are by first making the wrong ones. Read this list and add your own suggestions for how to take a small yet monumental step toward ‘change’ each day.
Continue Reading 1 comment May 17th, 2009
Little League and Chicken Salad: Lessons in Bank Marketing
Before targeting a vertical, it only makes sense to research, listen, ask questions, and be in the room with a bunch of your prospects. Call this due diligence or a no-brainer; these are a few things I learned from some Iowa bank marketers.
Continue Reading 3 comments May 10th, 2009
Play A Different Game Than You Used To: Keep Pace With Your Environment
When the going gets tough, the tough get going and innovating. The time for disbelief, wide eyes, and contracted muscles is over. Sure, business has to stay mindful of economic realities and there’s usually a group of number wizards and data crunchers who can help keep things on the level. But to survive and cede as little ground as possible, smart companies are facing the issues head on.
Continue Reading Add comment May 5th, 2009
Growing Pains: Nature or Nurture?
We all have different ViewFinders. Some look through the lens and see opportunity, engaging problem-solving, achievements to build. When talking about business, some groups really thrive on “The Next” and may work to get there rapid-fire or slowly but steadily. But other groups don’t enjoy new introductions and other ideas in the mix. It alters the predictable (?) balance of things. Can those reluctant be taught to accept the role change has in business dynamics? Or is it part of their innate makeup?
Continue Reading 1 comment April 27th, 2009
The Name Says It All
A short take on the brand name chosen for one Australian wine. But rather than a big “pop!” I think there’s a flat “glug, glug.”
Continue Reading 4 comments April 21st, 2009
I Win/You Win: Finding Balance In Business Relationships
A list of 10 steps to help create and sustain successful business relationships. I think it’s valid for internal cross-functional teams, client-agency/partner teams, and client-customers. Anxious to get thoughts and opinions from others. How do you set your company up for success?
Continue Reading Add comment April 14th, 2009
SXSWi 2009: Fulfilling Audience Expectations
A few take-away observations from my trip to South By Southwest 2009 in Austin, TX March 12-17. The panels (sessions) I attended inspired me to suggest a few things from a user experience perspective.
Continue Reading Add comment April 4th, 2009
What Tucker The Dog Taught Me About Creating Sales Interest
There are a lot of opportunities to channel personal experiences into business learnings. In this example, I simply realized how the owner of a canine and livestock rescue shelter tapped into a primed target audience to create a low-pressure sales opportunity.
Continue Reading Add comment April 1st, 2009
PR 2.0: Messaging using social media distro service
The SXSW panel I attended (Is the PR Agency Dead?) discussed the viability of yesterday’s public relations tactics compared with the strategies and tactics required to drive results in today’s world. I’ve been involved in PR planning on a team level in the past (as part of a comprehensive client plan), and done my fair share of reading on the discipline. Until now, I’ve not developed an actual release. Let’s see how it turned out.
Continue Reading Add comment March 20th, 2009
SXSWi 2009: How Do You Measure Consumer Interest?
Today I attended a panel debating the applicability of traditional tools (for measuring consumer sentiment) in today’s interactive, social world.
Continue Reading Add comment March 16th, 2009
SXSWi 2009: Are PR Agencies a Dying Breed? Liveblog Attempt
South By Southwest (SXSWi) liveblog attempt to capture good nuggets from public relations panel in Austin at the conference.
Continue Reading Add comment March 15th, 2009
SXSWi 2009: Newbie’s Day One
A scrape off my exhilarating experience my first day at SXSWi in Austin.
Continue Reading 5 comments March 14th, 2009
ROI: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
Your ad is ugly. Or it would be if anyone had actually seen it. Your ad message doesn’t resonate and seems inconsistent with what I know of your brand. Or that’d be the case if I’d been in the mind frame to receive info from you when reading that magazine. As it was, your ad was just more clutter and noise I skipped over while in search of what I wanted to find.
Continue Reading 2 comments February 28th, 2009
The “Content Entanglement Factor”: Inform, Engage, Entertain
On Monday, a new day will dawn…it’s significant for me because I’ll hit the ground running in a new position at a promising company. We’ll use our software product to collaborate, create, and distribute content at point of sale, considered purchase, and consumer gathering spots for our clients. Our product will be the delivery vehicle, and our professional services will provide the value–the key will be to help our clients’ messaging envelope their consumer targets in meaningful ways.
Continue Reading 16 comments February 22nd, 2009
“Do I Know You?”: Marketing Tacts To Avoid
I really don’t know your brand. We don’t have a relationship. I haven’t yet bought your product. I’m not thinking about your service/product area right now, I’m dealing with a crisis. What could you possibly say/email/mail to me right now that would cause me to give pause? Because I don’t have time to waste, and I’m tired of fluff talk.
Continue Reading 4 comments February 12th, 2009
Brand Building Is An Inside Job
Building a strong brand is not only a task taken on with consumer objectives in mind. Brand building starts from within. It entails rallying all stakeholders to become actively involved in identifying core issues, determining strengths and assets, and planning a strategy to maximize what works while mitigating or changing what doesn’t.
Continue Reading 4 comments February 3rd, 2009
Ignore Your Customers. Other Companies Are Happy To Help Them.
If you’re not listening to what your customers are saying and building that insight iteratively back into your culture and product or service development, you won’t have to worry about them being your customers for very long. You’ll be relieved of that little problem.
Continue Reading 2 comments January 28th, 2009
