There were people who swore the first automobile would fail. They lauded the horse and said Henry Ford’s “wild” idea would never amount to anything. There were people who swore that television would never last. It was an invention for the uneducated masses. There were people who swore no...

How often are you permitted to innovate? Not just using the term “innovation” but actually being able to create what Seth Godin calls a Purple Cow? The Purple Cow is metaphor for a truly remarkable product. Too often old-school marketers hang on to the halcyon days when TV and print ruled the...

At it’s core, for marketers, social media comes down to trust. Can a brand have an open dialogue with its customers in an authentic, honest and transparent way? Can trust be built between said customer and the brand? The answer to this is yes. We see great examples of brands developing deep and...

We’ve all heard the news this week that Foursquare has topped 3 Million users. This comes just a few weeks after the grandaddy of all social media networks, Facebook, launched its own geolocation angle called Places. While the number is truly impressive for those of us who have used it Foursquare...

With this being my first week at Applebee’s, I spent three days at a local restaurant learning how things work and the challenges and obstacles the staff faces on a daily basis. It was an eye-opening expereince for someone new to the restaurant business. I was amazed at the level of dedication and...

Two years ago, those of us using social media on a daily basis for business purposes were having a disagreement. Back then, one of the biggest questions facing marketing pros utilizing social media was who owns it. What function – marketing, PR or advertising – was best suited to make social...

Imagine cultivating a close relationship with your customer for eight years. This customer is emotionally attached to your brand or service and pays a premium for it. They have many other options but choose to travel longer, pay more and commit to your service for 12 months at a time. That customer is...

Earlier this week, my wife went for her post-Christmas shopping extravaganza at our local Target store armed with my credit card and wide eyes and dreams of big deals. When she came home to me watching the kids, imagine my surprise when she pulled something from the bag that got me excited. What was this...

Photo Credit: Telegraph UK I am not going to waste this virtual space with a summation of the recent Tiger Woods drama, but I do want to use it to give you some thoughts on the business side of this story and my view of the danger of big brands when they are a single individual. Woods is the biggest and...

Garvey after "The Home Run" in 1984 Being a marketing/communications professional for an S&P 500 company like Intuit, I am always interested in hearing how others work hard to get and keep customers. Working specifically on the Quicken and TurboTax businesses, I interact with customers on a...