Dollar General – What 75% of Americans won’t believe
75% of all Americans live within 5 miles of a Dollar General. Here's how J.L. Turner created this empire.
Putting Funny Ads To Work For Your Boring-Ass Business – Pattern Interrupt
When you shatter a pattern, their meat-computer snaps into focus.
Super Bowl Advertising vs. Your Advertising
Even guaranteed attention fizzles with a dud ad, while completely disinterested audiences can be won over with high-impact advertising.
Fundamental Forces of Business – Part 1
Walmart is the richest retailer on the planet. They use the gravitational pull better than anyone else. But gravity is the weakest force.
Empire Builders: Netflix – known for one thing; twice.
It is not the strongest or most intelligent of companies that become empires. It is the company that is most willing to adapt.
Learning from the Legends: Yes, Virginia, It Really Is That Simple!
Marlboro was a failed filtered cigarette brand, marketed to women with the slogan “Mild as May”
Beer And Headaches And That Awful Cramping
Chuck Blore's study for CBS found that advertising makes beer taste better. I believe it makes pain manageable, too.
The Most Controversial Part of Marketing
It’s not really controversial… but marketers don’t seem to like to do it.
Demonstration Ads — Part Deux.
Demonstration ads are like testimonial ads. They demand more of the advertiser and the creative team, but they're persuasive magic.
Cowards, Cow-words and tails between your legs
Are you writing ads with your tail between your legs? If you’re not acting like the young bull with nothing to lose, someone else is.
Coke – they already had an empire, but…
No matter how big you are, no matter how much you spend, and even if you are the best marketers on the planet; you cannot bend the consumer to your will.
Learning from the Legends: What Can’t be Questioned?
Immediately following the launch of the Mr. Whipple campaign Charmin displaced Scott as the #1 brand in America.
Gaggia Espresso Machines had a problem
This is a lesson of overcoming resistance to new innovations. What to do with unwanted oily film? The answer built an empire and even changed how fine espresso is judged.
Distinctiveness vs. Differentiation vs. Bonding
Branding aims at de-commodification: getting the customer to see you as the better, worthier option. And there are three ways of pursuing this goal.
The Biggest Waste in Advertising (a Case Study)
Advertising in the bigger community to draw customers to your smaller community is as futile as trying to make the water in a river defy gravity.