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Observations of a world filled with marketing
Marketing Technology Replaces Strategy
Marketing and advertising have been overtaken by their technologies. Early in my career, the Mac Computer brought Adobe software to graphics brilliantly. In fact it became a common complaint by designers that "Anyone with a Mac thinks they are a designer." i...
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Sides of the Brain
I always get a kick out of the concept that good marketing marries the right and left sides of the brain. Because just doing that is easy. The hard part, but more effective is in marrying the outside and inside of the brain. The comparison between the creative right...
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Living In Reverse
I know, "Reverse Marketing" sounds like just another renamed phrase. It happens in marketing all the time. It's not a hamburger, it is a quarter-pounder, as if a quarter pound hamburger was large. It is not a quarter pounder, it is a whopper. It is a staple of...
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Differentiation Won’t Differentiate You
A marketing myth is that if you establish a difference between you and the competition, you'll become dominant in the category in which you are different. In reality, being different isn't enough. Why wouldn't your audience see your differentiation as just a desperate...
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If You’re the Kind of Person Who…
I have come to believe that the most difficult part of marketing is leading a client toward considering his own marketing from the customer’s point of view, not the client’s point of view. Widget makers think they have achieved something when they articulate their...
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Branding in the Real World
Branding requires several steps to be done right. Start with your purpose, then on to the USP, build your branding, yadda, yadda, yadda. But all along, I still have to make a living. As do those I employ. The real world rarely offers you the chance to put the steps...
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The Financial Choice Act and Your Bank Marketing
The Financial Choice Act is being finalized in Washington and is expected to be enacted in the coming weeks. It allows small banks to escape the debilitating regulations of the Dodd-Frank law. Dodd-Frank imposes such detailed regulations on financial institutions that...
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When Reality Messes With Your Marketing
If you read all the junk out there on marketing (including my own) you'll conclude that your situation is messed up. Your logo doesn't really tell your story, but it is too expensive to change. Your name doesn't address your brand, and that is too late too. There is...
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Reverse Marketing
To really reach a prospect or customer, take what you have learned about sales technique, and do it backward. The traditional method stresses the concept of being different. Specifically, find the category in which you lead, and stress those differences to the right...
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Brain Marketing
The tough part of visiting a prospect is that no matter how well it goes, the minute you leave, they become surrounded by the realities they postponed during your visit. Your equipment list, or quality processes are quickly forgotten. It is because you didn't reach...
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The Genius in Creative is What You Don’t See
"Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan". It is true of great creative. Great creative starts with a daring client who understands that as long as the marketing and branding goals are met, be as outrageous as you dare. It takes a marketing plan that...
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Put an End to Logos
Widget Maker: We are a new company. We have a great location, a recognizable name, a solid market that will love us, and now we need a logo. Marketer: No you don’t. Widget Maker: That is silly. Of course we do. We need something to put on our building, business cards...
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The Seven Deadly Sins Are Your Friends
The new year has arrived, and we celebrated the most hedonistic of holidays. Celebrate to excess on New Year’s Eve, while counting down the inevitable.Then, lounge about on New Years Day, watching parades and bowl games. The only honoree is Father Time, who...
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Four Steps to a Profitable Brand
Developing your brand results in a brand that is more valuable to your customer base. That additional value allows you to charge more while growing a larger and more loyal following. Build your brand through this four step process which can be incorporated into your...
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Analytic vs. Imaginitive: List Selection vs. Creative – Not What You’d Think
You would expect that the artist at an advertising agency is the creative team, and the numbers geeks in data selection are the analytical ones, wouldn't you? In fact, most people would bet on it. However, the opposite is true. Sure, each of them are mired in the...
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This TV Icon Should Create Icons
It is the last season of Mad Men. Of course, I enjoy the show. How could I not? I live it here, right down to smoking in the office (don’t tell the city please). We even have a retro martini bar that is our favorite stop after work. But there is one thing about the...
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Form Follows Function
"Form follows function - that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union." - Frank Lloyd Wright. It is true of design, architecture, and branding as well. Your brand is not a function of clever design. It is not a more clever...
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OK, Go Viral: If You Think You Can
How do you “go viral?” Dollar for dollar, a successful viral video will do more for your bottom line than any other single marketing activity you can think of. It is like hitting it big in Vegas. However, like hitting it big in Vegas, it comes only rarely. Viral...
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