Folks, nothing destroys a brand more quickly than disrespect. I will put up with lousy food that comes with great service, but not great food that comes with lousy service. Anybody else? I thought so. Doctors often seem unwilling or unable to recognize that they are a Brand of One. Not all doctors, mind you…. Continue reading →

You know, everyone in business has these two pieces of conflicting advice being hurled at them every day: 1. Stick to your core. 2. Read the trends. It’s tough. Just ask Starbucks. This is arguably one of the most successful brands in the world, but they have had some huge failures. 1. The "lifestyle" portal…. Continue reading →

I have a package that I need to send out. It has a prepaid FedEx Ground label on it. So, when the FedEx guy came by today (how is it that I know my UPS guy by name, but FedEx sends a different person every day?), I gave it to him. He told me he… Continue reading →

I am going to lift this right from my friend John Moore’s blog. John Moore, by the way, is right a lot of the time. Here he contrasts the difference between the new CEO of Burger King (who is playing his role with gusto) and the CEO of public radio/TV (see below). The difference is… Continue reading →

After a while, we get to a point where we say “this is how it’s done in our industry.” Lawyers charge by the hour, cars run on gas, businesses use Windows, pill bottles are pill bottles. Well, you gotta love Target! They decided that pill bottles suck and set out to fix them. Here’s what… Continue reading →

This may be one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Here’s the article, but basically Trent Reznor aka Nine Inch Nails just released his latest song open-source. You can download it, and you can remix it to your hearts content. While record companies are scrambling at a fever pitch to keep you from… Continue reading →

People assign value to things illogically. There are examples everywhere. In my job, we often have to tell people that they would be better off scrapping the expensive legacy hardware/software solution they use for something completely different. They don’t want to. We show them on paper how it will improve their business while saving money…. Continue reading →

Apple is the big deal now. A bloggers favorite company to rave about because Apple has done what bloggers and marketers alike are in love with. Built a dream brand. A brand based on customers who do the selling for you. Where no matter what your sin, your customers stick around. Better yet, they make… Continue reading →

Have you been to Google Maps? If not, go there now. You see? They blow away Mapquest and Yahoo Maps. Today they added satellite imagery. Satellite imagery! They are bigger, easier to read, and far easier to use than Mapquest or Yahoo. How is that possible? Mapquest has a 10 year head-start on Google! Complacency…. Continue reading →

I received a testimonial from a client today; it nearly brought a tear to my eye. We’ve had some nice things said about us over the years (and some not so nice things, I’m sure). But this was the nicest. And here’s the thing: He told the story we’ve been trying to tell. He noticed… Continue reading →

A few months back, I was sitting on a panel for the Entrepreneurs Network at Georgia State University. The basic topic was "Starting a Company" or something to that effect. On the panel were 3 or 4 reasonably successful entrepreneurs, and two business professors. One prof in particular was just massively qualified, and I remember… Continue reading →

Seth Godin posted a rant the other day about how much he hates "locked" wireless access points (WAPs). Then a bunch of really smart people responded to him waxing on about why it’s stupid to leave your WAP wide open. So, who’s right? Everyone. Here’s the thing: 1. A business that does not find a… Continue reading →

Universal remotes. They don’t work. Oh sure, they can reduce the clutter from 5 to 2, but they just can’t get you all the way there. One remote that controls *everything*? No way. And that is what brought me to you. In the blogosphere. A week ago, a coworker told me about a remote that… Continue reading →