The Straight DOPE

The Straight DOPE

The story you’re about to read is true. The names have been changed to protect the guilty. In my entire working life, only one attempt has been made to stiff me for an invoice. It was the mid-1990s. Having been cut loose from The Travelers Managed Care and...
Our Culture is Our Brand

Our Culture is Our Brand

A post in The Cauldron, published by Sports Illustrated, is one of the most affecting things I’ve read on brand, marketing, culture, and their inextricable relationships in a long while. “The NFL remains addictive in America, but it’s losing ground...
What’s Your Objective?

What’s Your Objective?

Sometimes LinkedIn posts are as valuable for what they don’t say as they are for what they do say. Case in point: Jeffrey Strickland, Ph.D., CMSP (which stands for County Medical Services Program, California Motorcyclist Safety Program, Custom Medical Stock...

Nobody Loves Me But My Mother … and Big Data

It’s official, kids: Big Data is around the bend, out of control, and off the charts. To prove the point, Harvard Business Review published an article called, “Data-Driven Management Can Also Be Compassionate”. Featuring a photograph of...
Marketing: From Revolution to Convolution

Marketing: From Revolution to Convolution

We need to resurrect insult, kids. I don’t mean we should insult each other any more than we already do. I mean it’s time to be more cognizant of being insulted when we are. Exhibit A: “A Contrarian View on Innovation in Advertising & PR”:...
Pre-Crisis Public Relations

Pre-Crisis Public Relations

Kevin Donnellon, president of Macali Communications, published a list of seven tips for managing prospective public-relations disasters under this headline: “Preparing For Your Jared Fogle or Spokesperson Crisis”. Mr. Donnellon’s syntactical and...