What’s that you say? Is this heresy? Apple, your favorite example, the paragon of branding, the lords of iEverything - that Apple? A branding problem?! Surely you jest!
Well I hate to say it, but it is true. Apple has a branding problem, and its name is Steve Jobs.
Now don’t get me wrong...
Confession time, I miss the age of jingles. Sure they still linger around on radio and turn up on the odd low-budget commercial, but there was a time when jingles ruled the Earth. You younger readers might not remember “Chock Full O’ Nuts is the heavenly coffee…” but certainly...
Who says branding can’t be fun… and political? Take a lesson from Jones Soda, the oft-feted purveyors of oddball limited edition flavors and arty labels, the folks that make news every Thanksgiving with the arresting annual appearance of turkey and gravy soda. Yup, them. Well the Joneses...
Google has done more for the practice of branding today than any other company in the world (sorry Coke). The findability of virtually everything has magnified the end consumer’s strength in the power relationship of a brand. More than any other company we can thank Google for that. Google also...
When you are out on the water on a stormy night looking for the shore there is nothing quite so reassuring as seeing a bright, shiny beacon pointing the way to a safe harbor. Well I hate to say it, but we are in some stormy times in our economy and with the price [...]
I love Atlanta. I’ve been here for almost 12 years and I think it is a great city. We’ve got millions of people, great neighborhoods, great restaurants, a major airport, lots of free wi-fi, plenty of diverse businesses, a healthy laptop per capita ratio in any coffee shop you should happen...
Sometimes the good stuff leaps out at you during a random phone call. Tonight it was from my good friend David Bailey, a source of many gems, but this one I particularly liked. So, with his permission:
If your customer has a mouse, don’t build the better mousetrap. Just trap that mouse.
Don’t...
Have you ever tried to walk across the bottom of the deep end of a swimming pool? It may have been fun bouncing along under the surface, but you certainly didn’t get anywhere very fast. What works very efficiently on dry land is almost completely ineffectual under the water.
Now imagine trying to swim...