This short hit in the Harvard Business Review blog is a tall latte with an extra shot.
When Swiss company Nestle reduces a layer of management and empowers line staff, you realize it’s not just a U.S. economic hangover that’s driving change in company status quo.
As more U.S. companies look for ways to cut expenses, it’s [...]
One of the best books on telling a good marketing story is Seth Godin’s All Marketers Are Liars. Upshot: If a company’s messaging doesn’t match its product or customer experience, there’s confusion, distrust and lost opportunities for repeat business.
Which leads me to Mission Statements, those historical bedrocks of company stories and marketplace positioning. When authentic, they are powerful because [...]
Saturday’s game between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers in Beijing shows that Major League Baseball is smart enough to spot a market. But it needs Chinese players to get fans in the country of 1.3 billion inspired.
A check of the Baseball Almanac shows how many MLB players since 1914 have been born in China: 1
And that was in 1914 for [...]
Remember when music concerts by successful artists were stadium-style events? I mean Rolling Stones-thank-goodness-we-have-a-Jumbo-Tron-to-see-what’s-going-on productions? Sure, summer “tours” that combine several popular acts remain so fans can have a quasi-Woodstock experience.
But they are rare.
I took in an Angels and Airwaves show at the SOMA last night in San Diego. Just two doors over from the aging San Diego Sports Arena, a [...]
It’s that time of year: A college basketball tournament with a registered trademark, the obssession over “bracketology”, and new sales or manufactured events. March Madness has become an unofficial-almost-end-of-winter mantra — and reason to buy something, anything. Tax refund checks are in the mail, and the money is presumably burning holes in pockets.
GMC trucks. Zero interest 60 months during its March Madness [...]
Now it gets interesting.
Word that Apple wants a slice of the corporate market by enabling iPhone users to load email and calendar items off their Microsoft-flavored company servers shows just how open we’re going to get.
For years, the BlackBerry has been first choice for corporations who equip employees with the productivity tool that [...]
Once upon a time, all you needed was a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarers to block the sun and look cool. Audrey Hepburn wore them in the 1961 movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Cary Grant wore an early version of Wayfarers in North by Northwest. Others photographed in the iconic sunglasses include Marilyn Monroe, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, James [...]
Chris Anderson, author of the The Long Tail, has a new mantra: Free
The word grabs your attention, but can it hold it? I applauded Radiohead last winter when fans could download the band’s new album for nothing, or name their own price. I love Gmail and WordPress as much as any freeloader. And the New [...]
YouTube is the place for all things web video. We don’t expect polish or production-quality work, just what will get it done and help spread word.
Making professional-grade HD videos requires a crew (people to hoist cameras, hold boom mikes, produce in the field). For those times, hire pros. I got a great referral a few [...]
Beijing’s infamous epicenter for counterfeit brand products has launched its own. The Silk Street Market settled lawsuits in 2006 with five major luxury brands including Louis Vuitton. During business trips to Beijing’s Chaoyang District, I remember flocks of American tourists haggling price with Chinese vendors over copies sure to go underground this summer during the Olympics.
