Pretend is bad for business
When you communicate real beliefs, customers drink that tall glass of water and keep coming back for more.
Curiosity is Creativity’s Roommate
The process of thinking creatively is not easy for most. Let me explain using a body part that looks the same but is not equal.
Labels are tattoos on your brain
The label is based on absolutes, like everything is binary: black or white, truth or lie, right or wrong.
These dreams are made of these
Our son, not yet 16 years old, left home. He has a dream to play professional baseball. I love dreams, but they come with sacrifices.
Get the kid a Grammy
The batter flopped around on the ground like a salmon. Tyler, from shortstop, yells out, “Get the kid a Grammy. He’s acting the hell out of it.”
HOPE gets crushed when Despair uses a megaphone
The only advertising that gets customers immediately is through discounts. I’ve seen this picture before, and I don’t like the ending.
To all the things you owned before
Accountants are mostly historians. They use past data to predict the future. Marketers are writers of the future and use words to create it.
Pizza is not like its Italian cousins
Price is the easiest to match. Competitors will drive you out of business using this strategy when they have more money than you.
Chaos is a pattern
The chaos of advertising is a repeatable success formula when you know how to identify the patterns. The real issue is what is said.
The sun sets at quarter past seven on the sixth day of September
My ex-business partner didn’t understand the food was secondary to the view.
Character, statues, and a promise no one else will make
"Do you know what you're selling?" "Custom-made furniture." "God no. That's the product. You're selling nostalgia."
The dark side of business is a villain
In the pursuit of money, people do terrible things. That’s not you. But the darkness that clouds the community lingers through your life.
Once upon a time…
Great stories have three principal roles: hero, victim, and villain. These roles need to be filled: Prince Charming, Stepmother, and Cinderella.
The key to happiness
This year’s team only has two returning players from last year. One of them is my son. He thinks I’m full of crap.
The world’s most honest used car salesman
I like making people the hero in the ads. People are more interesting when they stop pretending.