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“The Profit”: When Ego Fights Brand Evolution
One of my favorite new shows I’m enjoying is CNBC’s “The Profit” in which billionaire Marcus Lemonis attempts to turn around struggling businesses by offering them a check and in return, he gets to do pretty much everything his way for a week, including making all decisions on the company. And the current managers can’t […]
Read More »Brand Positioning With The Urgency Of Jack Bauer
The program for people who want to take a sledgehammer to inaction. Sufferers from Marketing Meeting Fatigue can’t always spot the warning signs right away. That’s because MMF sets in after the 15th meeting about the position of the market you feel you can truly own better than anybody. You may have disagreements on your […]
Read More »5 Ways To Make An Agency Creative Feel Like An Award Winner.
“Inside the mind of a writer is a truly terrifying experience.” – Robert DeNiro at the Oscars, March 2014 Ouch, Bobby. As creatives, are we that insecure and in need of constant praise? Really? Well, maybe we’ve got the confidence and passion but like anyone, we do need to be recognized. That’s where many agencies […]
Read More »Finding Your Negotiating Point Of No Return – And Your Soul.
Sometimes in one of the networking groups I help lead, we have 15-20 minutes for an engaging topic of discussion relevant to entrepreneurs. This week, one raised an important question: “Is anybody else tired of haggling to death over pricing? If we’re small businesses and the lifeblood of our economy, why are we beating ourselves […]
Read More »Banging Your Head Through Your Own Four Walls
There was a time years ago when that saying about the “cobbler’s children have no shoes” was worn like a badge of honor for me. I was working so hard on other people’s stuff back then that I would neglect to make myself a client. That was common but dumb. I’ve also worked for agencies […]
Read More »Keeping Your Brand Warmer In A Polar Vortex
As temperatures in this part of the country reach epically historic lows and videos depicting Chicago as the ice planet Hoth from Star Wars go up, one of the more common things for a company to do is to keep their customers informed on social media of delivery status or whether or not they’re open […]
Read More »This Week’s Buzz: Do Google Hangouts Influence Search, Amazon Knows What You’re Thinking and the Future of Sears
This week, Erik Hultman and I talk about the influence of Google Hangout in search results, why you shouldn’t believe everything you read about the impending death of Facebook, how Amazon is trying to get even smarter in anticipating what you want and what the Sears closing of its flagship State Street store means for […]
Read More »Every Growing Agency Needs A Coach Thibs
Sometimes we place so much emphasis on the first year of a business as its most challenging, we don’t always consider that the real challenges to come happen in Year 3, 4 or 5 – when tough transitions need to happen. When they do, your people on the ground can’t necessarily see the grand vision […]
Read More »Fragile Marketing: Recognize The Symptoms
Today’s guest post is from Donnie Bryant of Donnie Bryant Direct Response Marketing. I’ve had many online conversations with Donnie and I always love interacting with him on multiple channels. In his view, marketing and copywriting isn’t a job but a calling. In addition to be quite talented, he’s just one of the most generous […]
Read More »Phil’s In The Wrong, But The Ducks Don’t Stop Here.
By now, we’ve heard and talked about Phil Robertson’s extremely controversial anti-gay comments in a media interview. Seriously, anyone who has followed this show as well as the programming heads at A&E had to know it was only a matter of time before Phil uttered the kind of hardcore statement that would upset a whole […]
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