Marketing Strategy

Every marketer (and agency) seemingly knows about the dangers of short-termism when it comes to building brands. There have been reams of research and articles on the subject, perhaps most notably the IPA’s iconic The Long and the Short of itreport back in 2013. And yet, despite the continual weight of…

For much of the first decade of the 21st century American companies amassed significant debt and used it to support innovation and invest in their brands. That changed on September 15, 2008 with the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the ensuing Great Recession. Companies became risk averse, and growth agenda…

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking at the B2B Marketing Exchange (B2BMX) conference on the topic of B2B email creative.  At a conference of more than sixty sessions (by my count), as best I could determine there was exactly one (1) session on anything to do with creative: mine. That…

Despite massive investments of management time and money, innovation remains a frustrating pursuit in many companies. Innovation initiatives frequently fail, and successful innovators have a hard time sustaining their performance—as Polaroid, Nokia, Sun Microsystems, Yahoo, Hewlett-Packard, and countless others have found. Why is it so hard to build and maintain…

This week, we observed the one-year anniversary of the evil, senseless, tragic mass murder at Parkland High School in Florida.  That timeline also means we’re now at the one-year point after a less-important but still-memorable event: the pressure that Delta Air Lines and other large corporations faced to end their…

Recently, I ran across a surprising statistic: according to a 2018 Gallup poll, 36% of Americans say they have “felt the urge to organize or participate in a public demonstration” in the past year. That’s up from only 10% the last time Gallop asked that question – which believe it…

We are all trying to make an impact. We want the people we serve, the issues we tackle and the communities we build to be better because of our efforts. You know your program or initiative is having a positive impact based on what you’re seeing and hearing, but can…

Warhol called it “Business Art.” A novel concept at the time: The idea that not only could art and business co-exist, but that there would be an inevitable inflection point. Warhol said, “Business art is the step that comes after art.” In the post sell-out universe of 2019, the tension…

Omnichannel marketing uses the latest technology to reach the right consumers on devices they already utilize to look things up and make purchases. If eyes are glued to mobile screens or work computers most of the day, what does in real life (IRL) mean? Today, experiential marketing supplies any IRL…

The world is moving toward a more sustainable future. At this point in human history, there’s simply no alternative. Either we do this and do it fast enough to confront the crisis, or we face some pretty dire consequences. It will take a concerted effort from every corner of the…