“Coffee Talk With Linda Richman” was a character sketch Mike Myers created during his time on SNL. I loved the silly chat show when it aired in the early 1990’s. (So stamp a date on me [shrugs].) A recurring gag was to occupy the audience with a paradox for a beat or two as the […]
A brand is not a company. It is also not a person. Yet it is often judged as both or either, but rarely neither. Well-managed brands understand this fine line, and can act accordingly in most circumstances, confident in a space uniquely theirs, humanistic but theoretical enough for us to find new ways to relate […]
Recently I discussed the importance – and downright efficiencies – of building a brand. From the smallest startup to the largest legend, I encourage branding for all.
I’m often surprised to observe that the only brands making headlines are the result of either significant investment, or significant error. Must the stakes be so high on branding as to limit the attempt to organizations with deep pockets?
A few years ago, I took a pleasant after-dinner stroll with a good friend. I was visiting her summer home, and as my host, I asked her to tell me about the nighttime creatures we might confront on a warm, still evening such as this. “Owl,” she said. “Also, unclaimed kittens, noisy fish puncturing the […]
I’ve been a consultant all my life – always with clients, never client-side. My particular line of work is in brand strategy, which means I get paid to think and build pathways on behalf of my clients’ brands and markets. I’ve been at this career for 27 years and while much has changed in that […]
Market research is experiencing a radical transformation in which traditional assumptions about approaching and fielding proprietary studies are nearly obsolete. Now that nearly all of us are tech-enabled, connected and tech-dependent, data collection happens all the time, all around us. Some of us routinely and automatically express our sentiment via social media and comment communities. […]
How much power over brands do consumers yield? At the moment, Macy’s is facing a stand-off with up to a half million credit card holders. At issue? Donald Trump. The long-established licensing and merchandising arrangement between the retailer and the mogul is being called off-brand to “The Magic of Macy*s,” with The Donald himself cited […]
How we all got behind our new brand Within 72 hours after the world swooned over Princess Katherine’s wedding dress, and within a few hours after the release of the now iconic photo from the President’s Situation Room, a bunch of us decided to lock ourselves up in a room together for two nights running […]