Kilroy is Here… And Here… And Here

Hop around on the Web (especially Twitter) and you’ll see a common design trend: Cropped head shots–cropped for bios, avatars, for a lot.
If eyes are the window into the soul, a photo of a cropped human face is the window into Web 2.0 personal, digital branding.
Consider:
There’s the famous top half of a head (Seth Godin, [...]

Could Marketing Help Taxes?

April 15 is dreaded in America.
Even though we have taxes withheld from our paychecks year-round, the symbolic midnight tax deadline to “pay” Uncle Sam causes melancholy, dejection and resignation.
But there is a flip side.
Consider: Those expecting tax refunds file early — long before the grousing starts. April 15 means little them (unless they’ve yet to [...]

Microbrand Monday: Moots

Small is the new big, right? That’s what Seth Godin preaches. 
But in certain things, no. Not yet, anyway.
Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Honda, BMW are jumbo brands that still dominate the automotive industry, despite the meltdown of 2008. 
Titleist, Callaway, TaylorMade, adidas and Nike are brands that still rule the high-margin product offerings in the golf industry that feeds [...]

Cupcakes and Comfort

I’ll admit, I like Starbucks.
Yes. I’m loyal. It’s a choice. 
So it’s been with increasing interest I’ve watched the company struggle through the U.S. recession. Shorter lines. Fewer stores. Layoffs. No one has been immune.
America, we long for better times. Nostalgia, no doubt, is poised for a comeback.
Tonight, I witnessed a “foodie” inspired sign of nostalgia, [...]

Boy, I’m Glad Someone Said It

Back when newspapers ruled, being first and being original truly mattered. You broke the story. The competition couldn’t match or pass you until it published (a) in the afternoon or (b) next morning. TV and radio had the edge on follows, and re-wrote with the best of today’s bloggers.
Now it’s almost impossible to know who [...]

The Original Twitter Qs: WWJJD?

I’ll take Jeff Jarvis at his word that he did not see these two Twitter @ questions posed to him by me @mootsman this week.
This may be a first: Posting old Tweets on a blog. Note times, dates and methods. 
Credit due to Jeff for responding rapidly to blog post/critique.
Odd that a blog post was faster [...]

Competitive Chatter is OK. Really.

Are you afraid to mention a competitor in your customer-facing materials?
This used to be considered a major marketing Faux pas. In today’s climate, though, customers who are talking about you are probably also talking (and hearing and reading) about your closest competition. It’s too easy. 
So why pretend you’re the only one doing what you do, or making [...]

What’s Your Mission?

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 [...]

Can You Finish a 1-Hour Meeting in 30 minutes?

Monday meetings are as certain as the sun in the sky. Here’s a challenge for the upcoming week. Try to end them early. Run them so they don’t just fill allotted time. Run them so they value everyone’s time.
Most meetings booked through Microsoft Outlook are for 1 hour. If you carve 10 minutes off each, imagine [...]

Old is New

In the rush to make the next big thing, are you trying to predict the future — or adding a new twist? The guys who wrote this program made something new out of something that has been around for decades, winning 600,000 fans, lots of money and the ire of big corporations.
The state of Idaho is taking something ancient and making it part [...]