What’s Your Perfectly Fair Competitive Advantage?
All things not being equal, if people ONLY sought the lowest price, everyone in America would drive a Chevy Spark for $14,095.
Dave Said What?
“Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department.” So sayeth the late David Packard (he was the other guy in Hewlett-Packard). Was this a snarky dig at marketing? Or was Dave trying to get something else across?
Make the Logo Smaller?
Advertising creatives and graphic designers groan at a client request to “make the logo bigger.” And both the request and the reaction are entirely understandable.
Social Media Strategies for Ugly Duckling Businesses
Contrary to what some social media experts presume, not every business sells things that people like talking and learning about.
10 Marketing Lessons From Garth Brooks
Even though he couldn’t possibly interact with everyone, he specifically circled the round stage and made eye contact with someone at each point before he moved on.
C. F. Hathaway’s Formula for Maximizing a Small Ad Budget
David Ogilvy’s “The Man in the Hathaway Shirt” ushered in a new era of storytelling in advertising. The story, however, took place entirely in your imagination.
Use All The Clichés — Just Tell ‘Em Slant
“Kill all clichés and ad speak” — standard, Ad Writing 101 advice. Good advice — certainly not wrong. It’s just not very helpful.
Direct Response Vs. Branding – The Real Difference
WHO are you talking to, and WHEN are you talking to them? That’s the essential difference between Direct Response (DR) and Branding.
Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory
Every customer who was going to buy from you, but who then decides to take his business elsewhere represents far more than a lost sale.
How to Let Your Customer See You 3D
Brandable chunks are memorable, micro-differentiators. They are refined from average advertising in the same way that hi-octane gas is refined from crude oil.
Gold Laughs at Stocks and Bonds
Gold, for thousands of years, has been the world’s only truly secure investment. The economy ebbs and flows, like the tide. It always has. It always will. But gold is like the Rock of Gibraltar.
The Modular Marketing Magic of Brandable Chunks
Done right, Brandable Chunks will shape and reframe how people perceive your company. Just like they changed a behind-the-times whisky into a badge of masculinity and tradition.
Collaboration in Campaign or How Fudd became Bud
Sometimes in creative corners, collaboration is a four-letter word, like “Nyet.” But, recognizing a good idea and building on it is a resounding, “Da” (Sounds like DUH.)
Cookie Wisdom
The message came in a fortune cookie. In tiny capitals it shouted, “BUY THINGS BECAUSE YOU NEED THEM, NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE ON SALE.”
Super-Hero Advertising — The Power of Your Genesis Story
Starting with Superman and extending to every superhero thereafter, every character “launches” with an origin story.