After perusing a topline report for “B-to-B Marketing in 2009: Trends in Strategy and Spending” by MarketingProfs/Forrester Research, I thought one chart important to share with my readers. It points to a significant increase in developing digital tactics due to more cost-efficiency and targeted reach. While communicating digitally is certainly predominant, you can see marketing [...]

One of the most subjective processes in launching a new company/product is choosing a name. One that encapsulates the brand promise, product portfolio, personality, values, etc. and accelerates the company/product to an increased state of value.
Before proceeding down this often treacherous path, take a common-day example to heart. Think of the last time you chose [...]

The below will be an evergrowing list over the next six months. Some may say these words/phrases have already become tired, I would suggest that they may take on new meanings or approach mainstream.  I welcome comments and additions.

“Now that the dust has settled.” An anti-recessionary message for economic growth in 2010. A derivative of this burgeoning optimism is currently [...]

While reading this month’s Inc. issue, I came across a very powerful visual that stood apart from all of the images of leisurely entrepreneurs seeming intelligent. The image looked like a mesh between a paperclip and a leveling tool.
What pulled me in further was a quote by the CEO stating, “Your physician has a lot [...]

A post in Business Week Online earlier this year, is worth reblogging. Bruce Nussbaum, is a seasoned writer who focuses on innovations in all areas - technology, service, design, communication, etc. His articulation of the 10 worst mistakes you can make in a recession are a perspective refreshment as we enter the second half of 2009 [...]

As someone heavily involved in B2B technology branding, I dream in acronyms.  
It seems that for every million in company revenue, 10-20 acronyms can be born. While I understand the short-hand exercise and quite honestly many would be writing all day to spell out each acronym, I also believe we begin to wear them like [...]

With the influx of freelancers symptomatic from the outflux in agency layoffs, there is a new agency business model emerging. One that won’t be beneficial to clients.
A hypothesis: A large client comes to an agency needing a campaign including TV, print, digital, and/or buzz. A couple years ago, the agency would have created a highly complex Excel spreadsheet [...]

When digging deeper into your core demographics, often you find surprises of ways that connect them outside of “male/24-34/tech spirited/golfer, father, entrepreneur.” Taking the time to study the individuals, say through an ethnography, may reveal other threads that tie your audience. Perhaps they are also all Trekkies? CNET gives the top 7 sites where you [...]

Over the weekend, Dell launched a female-targeted microsite called Della - primarily focusing on the exploding netbook market. Through visual and behavioral language, the site was created to appeal solely to women and is yet another attempt to capture this influential gender using a more mass-relatable approach than the Adamo by Dell. Below are my thoughts on its [...]

I’m typically an early adopter, or at least on the early part of the curve, but I also am a highly tactile, visual learner/thinker. Perhaps this is why I have yet to buy a Kindle. I do know once I use one, that I’ll likely become addicted, a tech trait I covet. But the smell [...]

I prefer to not blog about people who blog. I fear that journalistic authenticity or insight deteriorates in quality like making a copy of a faxed copy. 
Although, I came across this image today and found it an incredibly over-simplified yet a refreshingly simplistic view of cultural trends.

When is haggling appropriate? At car dealerships, tourist traps, and perhaps with your cable provider. But, haggling is becoming more and more common with retailers suffering. A writer from the New York Times had one such experience at Best Buy this weekend. He was able to negotiate down his 42″ LG Plasma and also include a [...]

For my faithful followers (in the millions now! ;)), my sincerest apologies for slacking on keeping up with my blog. Since we last spoke, I’ve had two things happen:

I’ve been busy practicing what I preach
I had my laptop stolen by the Best Buy Guy

Ok, maybe not a Best Buy Guy specifically, but a guy/girl who [...]

Once in awhile, I wax poetic and unfairly find the common threads with life’s raison d’être and a brand’s raison d’etre - this is one of those times.  
I currently find myself amidst a brand positioning assignment conducting the customary executive workshop, competitive research and messaging analysis. While I believe highlighting strengths and finding a market opportunity [...]

When speaking of luxury, one typically thinks of Prada, BMW, or perhaps Eames. When speaking of technology, does “luxury” come into play? Typically not, says Tim Herbert, senior director market research for CEA (Consumer Electronics Association).
One difference between CE and other markets like jewelry is CE products are considered more necessity than luxury in many [...]