Marketing Double-Talk

Marketing Double-Talk

I left my last corporate job 20 years ago. Even then, I was aware of a phenomenon that continues to become more prevalent: Kleptus vocabularus — the stealing of a lexicon germane to one context for the purpose of deliberately misleading in another context. More...
Missing my Dad

Missing my Dad

My father passed away a year ago today. To say the occasion was life-changing is to do it — and my father — a disservice. It was more like a revelation — a precious, bittersweet reminder of who I am and why: I am my father’s son. All I am I owe to him. His...
Joe Willie, Santa, and Sisyphus

Joe Willie, Santa, and Sisyphus

Every year, in the eight weeks between Christmas and Valentine’s Day, a number of things can be counted on to take place. Each is a measure of our inexplicable humanity: First, the holiday season will vanish, leaving us to realize our spirits are none the kinder,...
Best of What Breed?

Best of What Breed?

In the good old days (when were those?), companies differentiated themselves by purporting to be the best at what they did. One specialization. One concentration. One reliable deliverable or set thereof. That was then. This is now. Can a company that did one thing...
Price Points and Advertising

Price Points and Advertising

My friend and partner, Jonathan Spiliotopoulos, shared an article entitled, “What Startups Need to Know About Ad Tech”. As Jonathan suggested to me, the article’s most salient point might be this: Advertising is essentially divided into two worlds:...