The Common Sense of Affordable Value

The Common Sense of Affordable Value

by | Dec 9, 2014

If you publish an article like this, complicating otherwise simple, intuitive logic, you should expect some push-back. Here it is: The article’s subtitle is “All Value is Subjective”. Of course it is. If it weren’t, no one would pay for The War...
No More Lists, Please

No More Lists, Please

by | Dec 8, 2014

I recently read an article called, “Just How Sick of Leadership Posts Are We?” It’s unabashed in its disdain for leadership posts that are trite at best, deliberately deceitful at worst. (That’s a paraphrase and an understatement.) I have a...
Blow It Up

Blow It Up

by | Dec 4, 2014

When I launched O’Brien Communications Group (OCG) almost 11 years ago, I wondered: “When and how will I blow this thing up?” I had no intentions of destroying my fledgling business. Rather, I was determined to obviate the stultifying effects of...
The Magic Formula

The Magic Formula

by | Nov 24, 2014

We’ve been hearing about the trite notion of personal brand for longer than I thought. In fact, I recently found a column from 2011. It said this, part: Your personal value proposition (PVP) is at the heart of your career strategy. It’s the foundation for...
Dear Client

Dear Client

by | Nov 20, 2014

Human psychology doesn’t play nice with the relationships between price, cost, and value. To illustrate the point, I offer this letter to a hypothetical client, a company with no brand recognition in its target market. The company is reluctant to commit to an...
Don’t Be an ARSE

Don’t Be an ARSE

by | Nov 19, 2014

If you’ve witnessed the fate of successful brands (little fish) after they’ve been devoured by larger corporate entities (bigger fish), you’re aware that, regardless of what they eat, bigger fish excrete the same thing, all the time. Why the...