HOW TO TALK TO CREATIVES – THE OVERVIEW

“Tell me short and tell me true or else my dear to h*&l with you.” Worldwide Creative Director Agency account personnel often take the role of translators for clients responding to creative work. I was often troubled whenever they attempted to come between me and the creatives. I was never into playing the telephone game as […]

Read More

HOW TO HANDLE A COMPETITIVE ACCOUNT

An account has been identified as “competitive.” What this means is that they do not carry, use or prescribe your brand. They, instead, carry, use or prescribe one of your competitor’s brands. Hence the label “competitive” account. What do you do? Any marketer and sales person worth her/his salt knows that what you do is […]

Read More

MASTERCARD – USE OF THE LOGO

A friend and marketing colleague asked me what I thought about the new MasterCard logo. Like me, he’s a big fan of MasterCard given their success in pro-sitioning the brand to propel significant growth over the past 20-years. Quite frankly, I think I might have been enjoying the holiday festivities far too much because I […]

Read More

THE TWENTY WORST THINGS A CLIENT CAN SAY TO ITS AGENCY

I recently sat down to have a beer and a burger with two friends. One is a top-notch marketer and President of a FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) division. The other a very savvy, former division GM of an ad agency. Both are marketing professors at the Northwestern Medill School of Journalism. We got to […]

Read More

WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR YOUR BRAND TODAY?

Bob Townsend, one of my former bosses at Johnson & Johnson, whom I admire greatly and learned much, would boldly barge into my office every morning, ignoring my closed door (as I would attempt to shut-out distractions to think and plan my day), in sartorial splendor with a custom fitted double-breasted suit, starched white monogramed […]

Read More

ADOPT “INCREMENTALITY”

Athletes strive to perform better than ever before. It’s a function of their competitive nature, dream to create a legacy, desire to remain on the team roster, and extend their athletic careers. They know to beat their competition and/or realize their full potential they must push through their physical and mental boundaries to reach new […]

Read More

THE TRUE PURPOSE OF ADVERTISING

Advertising – Any messaging, regardless of medium or vehicle, intended to change or reinforce target-customer perceptions to drive sales. Richard Czerniawski     Super Bowl LIII is scheduled to be held on February 3, 2019, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. That’s 66-days from the date of this publication of Marketing Matters. My Chicago Bears […]

Read More

MACY’S – SHRINKING ITS WAY TO GREATNESS, SOLVENCY OR CONTINUED DECLINE

When I was a boy of 5- or 6-years old, my grandmother took me to the R. H. Macy’s Department Store on 34thStreet, Manhattan, during the Christmas Holiday season. We boarded a train from Brooklyn that took us there. It was a double gift from her as we were out together to share a major […]

Read More

DON’T GET CAUGHT IN THIS AGE OF COMMODITIZATION

I’m need new eye-glasses. My prescription has changed because, well, my vision has changed, and not for the better. Such is life. So, I’m on the hunt for a new pair of eye-glasses. I’m perfectly content with my current eye-glasses’ frames but I need a vision correction and they (Warby-Parker, my current provider) no longer […]

Read More

MAKE MARKETING EVERYONE’S JOB

The role of marketing is to “develop and maintain a customer”. I like to define it as CREATING BRAND LOYALTY, the title of the first book I co-authored with my business partner of 25-years, Mike Maloney.   The word “CREATE” means to bring a customer into existence, which is all about acquiring customers. “BRAND” refers […]

Read More