by Mark O'Brien | Jul 10, 2015
I’ve discovered yet another reminder that I’m going about everything all wrong. I’m the kind of guy who takes seriously the U.S. Army commercials about being the best you can be. I suffer with a chronically stiff neck from setting my sights too high....
by Mark O'Brien | Jul 6, 2015
This is going to disappoint a lot of people. I’m sorry. It can’t be helped. Sometimes I feel like a professional bearer of bad news. And this news is less popular than most: Marketing people aren’t clairvoyant. There. I’ve said (typed) it. Now...
by Mark O'Brien | Jun 30, 2015
In my line of work, you have to say a lot of things that most folks find distasteful. This one elicits sneers, jeers, fears, and tears every time: Marketing is not a sales-support function. Sales is a marketing-fulfillment function. Salesperson: What do you mean...
by Mark O'Brien | Jun 3, 2015
Take heart, people (or persons). We may be on the way out, but we’re not quite dead yet. How do I know? A little birdie told me. But it didn’t need to. The idea of eschewing personal relationships in favor of compiling more data, the mechanized...
by Mark O'Brien | May 29, 2015
In a recent post, I posited the notion that disruption is the new change. As if on cue, two articles appeared in my sundry feeds almost immediately thereafter: “Big Food’s Big Problem: Consumers Don’t Trust Brands” and “The...
