We traveled safely from Washington D.C. to New York on the 7PM train Tuesday, May 12th. The 7:10PM train which could just as easily have been our train was not so lucky. On hearing the news that we were unharmed I got an email from our client in D.C. with the sign-off "carpe diem."
Strategy is a very misused word.
Marketing strategies are—if you look at how the word is used—any marketing activity that might possibly work. People talk about "strategies" such as "posting to Facebook more."
What is the difference between a visual brand and a true 360 brand? How do you get your organization to think beyond just the visual brand?
Hiring a big and flashy agency may seem "safe." But think about what they stand to gain by working with an organization of your size and budget. You may find that you're actually sacrificing the responsiveness, energy and focus on quality of smaller firms for the false sense of security that comes from going big.
It was only after I got home that I looked at the back label again and noticed three words that I had missed on the lower left hand corner. If you are familiar with the Face Screaming in Fear emoji, you may get a sense of how I felt when I read ”Product of China” under the bar code.
Empathy in advertising is essential but its expression should not be reduced to a formula. Think of it as a baseline requirement, but differentiation is even more important.
If you are like most institutions the pressure to capitulate to the requests of powerful factions within your organization is likely very real.
Return on investment in a brand initiative is very important. Measuring the results of any initiative and doing proper goal-setting for a project is an essential part of good governance, of good strategic behavior. But how do you measure the return when you are not really selling widgets?
