People First

People First

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...
Experience Marketing

Experience Marketing

Here it comes, kids. I’d just about gotten my stomach settled after the nausea-inducing wave of inbound marketing, marketing automation, and ad tech … then the next wave hit. That wave, of course, is experience marketing. That’s right. Since feeling...
The Advertising Hokey Pokey

The Advertising Hokey Pokey

I hope I don’t disillusion, disappoint, or disaffect anyone. But this needs to be stated overtly: Advertising is not a dance. That’s not to say every business needs to advertise. There are many businesses with strategic, managed growth plans that can do...
The Naked Truth

The Naked Truth

ZEPHYR COVE, Nev. — A 53-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of being naked near a high school on Lake Tahoe’s east shore … after three Whittell High School students reported spotting him tied to a rock and lying face down behind the school. When the students...
You Talkin’ to Me?

You Talkin’ to Me?

For living in a world obsessed with communication, we don’t seem to be paying much attention to language. Think about the language of marketing: First, we speak impersonally. We talk about industries, markets, verticals, and accounts. Those referents...
It’s About Time

It’s About Time

I wonder if all of us think more about time as we grow older. I’m sure we’re aware of its passing. I want to know if we share a preoccupation with what we’re doing with our time. We have such a perverse relationship with it. When we’re young, there seems to be too...