The B.S.
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Does Marketing Expertise on the Board Help Drive Business Growth? Thursday, August 15th, 2019
Does executive-level marketing expertise on the board help drive enterprise growth? In a word: yes. Revenues of a business can be expected to increase by nearly 6% annually when at least one marketer is on the board. Yet, paradoxically only 2.6% of S&P 1500 boards include marketing and communications expertise. A marketer asks, “How do we grow by creating real, meaningful value for consumers?” Other [functional expertise] asks, “How can we improve our bottom line by…
Why Boards Should Add Marketers to Their Ranks Tuesday, August 13th, 2019
Should boards add communications expertise - marketers - to their ranks? Yes. But only - only - if board members are interested in the growth and impact of companies they are elected to serve. This obvious answer is backed by research, discussed here. Among others, perhaps a lesson for leadership of the Boeing Company.
"Say Something So People Want to Hear..." Friday, October 5th, 2018
Jackson Maine, Bradley Cooper's character in A Star is Born, speaking to Lady Gaga's character Ally: "Look, talent comes everywhere, but having something to say and a way to say it so that people listen to it, that's a whole other bag. And unless you get out and you try to do it, you'll never know. That's just the truth. And there's one reason we're supposed to be here is to say something so people want to hear.…
Charlie Rosner: A Marketing Icon Talks Radio Friday, October 12th, 2018
My friend, advisor, and mentor, Charlie Rosner, and I were engaged earlier this week in a conversation about radio with another savvy marketer, Elliott Curson. [Will offer more about Charlie and Elliott in coming weeks.] Charlie repeated the line often repeated by NPR's Ira Glass, “Radio is your most visual medium.” My friend Charlie went on to say, "Everyone gets to imagine [radio content] in their own way." The idea is that when radio advertising content is well-crafted, the author…
To Protect The Asset Of Reputation, Olympics In Need Of A New Dream Team Tuesday, March 29th, 2016
The greatest group of athletes ever assembled into a team, in any sport, was a cultural phenomenon. 24 years after Barcelona, the 2016 Olympics needs a new Dream Team. Another 12-member roster of star performers. Not to compete in sport, but to save sport. Saving the Olympic ideal of Olympism, in “building a better world through sport.” IN FOUR MONTHS This August, Rio de Janeiro will welcome athletes and visitors to the world’s first Olympic Games hosted in South America. In selecting…
Logic Or Emotion: How Consumers - And Voters - Make A Selection Decision Tuesday, February 9th, 2016
Similar to those charged with marketing a product or cause, candidates for political office often believe they must present the logic of their candidacy to influence voters — such as 10-point plans and issue position papers — when instead logic serves only a secondary role, if at all, in the choice decision. This reliance upon logic reveals a flawed understanding of how people make choices, whether for the personal fragrance they prefer, the sports team…
The Voice that Defied Convention: A Nod to The Iconic David Bowie Monday, January 18th, 2016
If anyone has Owned The Conversation lately, it's been David Bowie. A creative extremist, through his artistry Bowie offered means of understanding the misunderstood. He identified primarily as a songwriter, but Bowie's singing voice was marvelous in that it was his own. At times primordial, with a kind and wavering vibrato, it warmed through his poetry and theatrics. And we were seduced. So many these days are busy trying to sound alike. To commit to…
Reputation Counts: How Virgin America and JetBlue Convert Brand Into Yield Friday, December 18th, 2015
Does the reputation equity of a esteemed brand add financial value to its owner, greater than that of an interchangeable commodity? And further, can this added value be quantified, by exposing the premium consumers are willing to pay for a high reputation brand? The answer to both questions is yes. In this example from the airline industry, Nick Young of Hopper examines why Virgin America and JetBlue are successful in maintaining premium ticket pricing in…
Offer A Reason To Lean In: Recognize The Intelligence of Your Audience Thursday, December 17th, 2015
The voice of American poet Carl Sandburg still rings in our ears. How he spoke for the people. With intelligent simplicity. Often raw. Chicago he acknowledged as wicked and crooked. And yet: Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning. Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the little…
Carl Sandburg's Advice To Product & Enterprise Owners With Brand Ambition Monday, November 30th, 2015
During a life that began humbly as a wagon driver, hotel porter, bricklayer, farm laborer, hobo, dishwasher, coal heaver, soldier, West Point washout and later college dropout, as a poet and writer Carl Sandburg became an often-honored advocate for laborers, soldiers, the civil rights movement and social justice. Upon Sandburg's death in 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson observed: "...more than the voice of America, more than the poet of its strength and genius. He was…
