Over the past several weeks (since the lead-up to the Super Bowl), I’ve been sharing proven principles, best practices, and quality processes for making your advertising more effective. This article gets at a critically important but overlooked element, the client-agency relationship. We want customers to perceive our company and brand as the preferred “one” in […]
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Recently I blogged, “How to Provide Direction to Make Your Brand Messaging Matter More”: http://bdn-intl.com/how-to-provide-direction-to-make-your-brand-messaging-matter-more. I suggested “coaching” instead of “evaluating” work—yours or someone else’s. It’s an essential characteristic of an effective leader. Evaluating is pointing out what is wrong. Coaching is identifying what’s needed to make whatever work you’re doing or shared with you more […]
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Direction – the management or guidance of someone or something. It seems like everywhere I turn people lament the absence of leadership and the adverse impact on their organization and life. Then there are those providing advice on what it takes to be(come) an effective leader. Why, then, the dearth of effective leadership? We’ve leadership […]
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What do Miles Teller, John Travolta, Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck, Melissa McCarthy, Steve Martin, Serena Williams, Will Ferrell, Anna Faris, Martha Stewart, Snoop Dogg, and Nick Jonas have in common? They all starred in commercials aired during Super Bowl LVII. They were just a few that spring to mind from the many chosen to pitch […]
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I’m on an extended holiday in Spain and will not return to active duty until next month. So, I’m reposting articles. This article is about one of my favorite restaurants in Barcelona, El Quim. I hope you find it as nourishing and satisfying as I find the food from this restaurant. “La Boqueria,” el Mercat […]
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res-o-lu-tion (noun) – a decision that reflects a determination to accomplish something important to you Happy New Year 2k23! I hope you enjoyed a wonderful holiday season and are looking forward to a terrific year full of hope and optimism—despite continued challenges close and far from home. This article is a repost of one I wrote a few years […]
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Dear friends, Yet another year culminates with holiday cheer and celebration. Despite a year that posed difficulties for virtually everyone—high inflation, war, shortages of basics, intensifying divisiveness—it’s the time of gifting others with our thoughts, prayers and presence. As we enter this joyous holiday season and approach the birth of the New Year 2023, we […]
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We, marketers, can all agree that emotional connections are vitally important in creating brand loyalty. Why will consumers pay a significant price premium (upwards of 50%) for Johnson’s Baby Powder (despite its fall from grace for many)? Is it the talc ingredient found in the product? Or is it the product’s fragrance? The fact of […]
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Nearly all of our worldwide clients have training programs to promote the achievement of “marketing excellence.” But what is “marketing excellence?” What is it that they strive to achieve? What is Excellence? Excellence is about achieving the highest levels of performance. It means being more successful, much more successful than others (namely, the competition – […]
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Packaging is crucial to successful brand development. Yet it is often underappreciated, despite addressing multiple critical roles. Encloses and protects the product contents regardless of whether it’s cereal, beer, macaroni and cheese, frozen foods, pharmaceuticals, electronic equipment, contact lens—whatever. Promotes efficient transportation from the plant to the distribution center and customers. Aids stocking at retail, […]
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