by Mark O'Brien | Apr 3, 2015
Since it was clear I was more surprised than Biff was, I spoke up first; although, it was more a reflexive exclamation than a considered inquiry: “Is something wrong …?” “No,” Biff replied calmly. “What makes you ask?”...
by Mark O'Brien | Apr 2, 2015
Regular readers might remember the first case I reported in these pages. Hardcore masochists might even recall the second one. If not, don’t let it get to you. I beat the pavement as a private brand detective. The lion’s share of my cases have to do with...
by Mark O'Brien | Apr 1, 2015
According to a study recently concluded by The Chautauqua Center for Forensic Linguistics, two sentences occur together more frequently than any others in business contexts. The first is a simple declaratory: We need a plan. The second is a perplexed...
by Mark O'Brien | Mar 31, 2015
We tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization. (Charlton Ogburn, 1911-1998) I once helped a company establish its brand in a new...
by Mark O'Brien | Mar 20, 2015
Brands, like websites, are most effective when they’re not allowed to be static. Brands — and their graphic marks, in particular — shouldn’t be as dynamic as websites, of course; that is, unlike the constantly evolving content of websites, graphic marks...
by Mark O'Brien | Mar 19, 2015
On LinkedIn alone there are so many apparent obituaries being written for the CMO, I pulled my black suit out of mothballs for the funeral. But when it occurred to me that none of the pieces I’d been reading had given a cause of death, I decided to do a little...
