Guess what?
Ugly videos convert better than pretty, professional ones. Not saying my friend, Hans, is ugly– but the intentional style of filming feels spontaneous– not ad-like. So do you want to drive sales or just look pretty? You can still be “on-brand”– since what we want to do is have a mix of videos that drive […]
Find Your Niche
A Kardashian handing a can of Pepsi to a battalion of police officers, which somehow diffuses racial tensions. NatWest Bank’s Mr. Banker mansplaining to female customers. Budweiser today giving out rainbow beer glasses during Pride Week. Big, monolithic brands lack such purpose that their ham-fisted attempts to stand for a mission create more backlash. You […]
What do you think?
Adidas loses its “3 stripes” trademark, eroding its brand value and opening the doors to legal knock-offs. Wouldn’t you think the Nike swoosh is next since it’s also quite ordinary?
Want a systematic way to build your authority via 6 steps?
Here’s a simple process. Questions?
Killer HBR article
On why companies fail hard on social branding campaigns and how “crowd culture” messaging solves this. My take, if you don’t have 17 minutes to read this: consumers are allergic to force-fed content but love personal stories. So your company’s “marketing” should be the sum of your personal branding efforts– to teach your values, not […]
What is the most important thing to do before launching a new blog?
Decide on a topic you absolutely, authoritatively want to DOMINATE. Enough so that you can write 100 blog posts on that topic and interview 18 people who credibly have expertise in that particular niche. Blogs that get traffic— not random corporate or personal blogs– are the realm of EXPERTS who go so deep in […]
Andrew Cecere, you can do better
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”] [et_pb_row admin_label=”row”] [et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”] Google his name and you’ll see that Mr. Cecere, the CEO of US Bank, is known for his massive compensation ($14 million in 2018) and not his heart. Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times reporter, covered how US Bank whitewashed a story of an employee they fired for […]
Want to get a blue checkmark on Facebook?
If you want to get a blue check mark here on Facebook, don’t pay for it. That person trying to sell this to you will likely get banned, as will you. I get hundreds of random requests for this and I decline every single one– not just because it’s wrong or would burn me, but […]
How to instantly recognize the experts from the amateurs
Know how to instantly tell an expert from an amateur? The expert spends 90% of their time practicing the fundamentals and only 10% of their time doing “pro” stuff. The amateur spends 90% of their time trying to do the “pro” stuff while ignoring the fundamentals. The amateur marketer chases tricks and hacks. The amateur […]
Why you can’t buy your way out of a bad review
Today I received an email trying to sell me on “reputation management”: If you’re not familiar, these types offer relief from a bad review on websites like Rip Off Report, Glassdoor, and Pissed Consumer– sites rife for abuse by anyone with an axe to grind against an individual or company. But these “reputation management” services […]