When I was a fresh-faced young man, I went out into the world to find a job. Over the course of a couple years trying to break into advertising, I was a door-to-door salesman, then a bouncer, and eventually a bartender. Each of these was a job to pay the bills, en route to a…
Intrigued by this CMG Partners study of CMOs, which spotted some interesting trends among CMOs beset by the challenges of the Great Recession, technology innovations, customer empowerment, and global competition: “In the face of what could be a daunting mission, the CMOs we’ve spoken with have adapted into a super-species we like to call ‘Marketing’s CEO,’”…
Almost ten years ago I was sitting in a Starbucks pretending to read something when, in my devastatingly charming way, I inserted myself into a conversation taking place next to me. The man at the undersized table to my right was having a frustrating phone conversation about a hotel snafu that left him with a…
(NOTE: This is the second post in a series on the role of marketing and brands in this year’s Presidential election. For Part I, see Positioning A President: A Marketing Case Study.) Recap: Holland-Mark’s branding approach is based on the observation that people have a tendency to boil things down to One Simple Thing™ (“OST” for short.)…
Holland-Mark’s branding approach is based on the observation that people have a tendency to boil things down to One Simple Thing™. We all do it, it’s part of our genetic code and an important adaptation to a modern world overrun by complexity. We do this not only for brands (Volvo = Safety, BMW = Performance, Zappos…