The world is still reeling from the death of Prince Rogers Nelson, the multi-platinum-selling music producer, songwriter, musician, business mogul, and marketer who achieved wide fame for ‘1991’ and ‘Purple Rain’. Savvy marketers can learn a lot from Prince.  Lesson #1: Be true to your brand. Prince didn’t just luck into a net worth of $300M and an iconic, highly emotional brand. He knew that everything from the people he surrounded himself with to his ruffled attire, bright colors, and…

It’s been a wild year for marketers. 100 million people use Snapchat daily, Google sprang a major rebrand with the reveal of a holding company called Alphabet, adblocking technology hit mobile, and the ROI for direct mail campaigns is on par with social media ads. Digital marketing has undergone a substantial transformation. The technology that enabled the changes is advancing at a pace few brands can keep up with. So, what does this mean for marketers?…

Why does emotion matter? Herman Muschamp, the boisterous New York Times architecture critic wrote “…in the last 50 years, the economic base has shifted from production to consumption. It has gravitated from the sphere of rationality to the realm of desire, from the objective to the subjective, to the realm of psychology.” His message? In a post-industrial society, material satisfaction is so easily attained that emotional fulfillment is now the real challenge for business. The key subconscious…

In a world burdened with voiceless emails and texts, the power of a phone call is severely underrated. It’s easy for an email or tweet to get lost amongst all the other messages cluttering up our busy lives. Even in today’s tech-crazed world, a phone call still has the power to grab your attention and create an emotional connection. Email has become the default communication method for business people. Last year, according to The Radicati Group, 109…

You bump into a business associate you haven’t seen in years and he asks you what you’re doing these days. You open your mouth, pause, try to organize your thoughts, and start rambling. Who knows, he could have been a potential customer or someone who could help grow your business. You don’t get a second chance. That’s why you need a short, compelling pitch that explains why a customer should pick your organization. Next time someone asks you “What do…

In a world where consumers have more information than ever before, transparency is critical for winning brands. Why is transparency important? Transparency is key to building trust and trust is fundamental to creating a relationship with customers that endures beyond a single transaction. There are roughly 10 million brands in the world and we’re exposed to 5,000 a day. That’s a far cry from the 500 daily brand exposures estimated in the 70’s. What’s the…

There’s a reason the 2015 NCAA tournament just scored its highest viewership and social media engagement in over twenty years: it hooked their audience. The NCAA National Men’s basketball tournament reinforces a sport’s connection with die-hard fans while simultaneously attracting the attention of new fans. And they do it every year. There’s a lot for marketers to learn. Here are three takeaways: Lesson #1: Let them play. Bracketology, the term that was invented by Joe…

We meet with so many companies that believe changing the look of their marketing materials and web site is the panacea for slumping sales. Savvy marketers realize that to be effective they must first uncover why anyone would want to buy from them and then repeat the same compelling and differentiating messages in the same manner, over and over and over again. Companies that are constantly refreshing how they market themselves are brands that don’t stand…