When the world is too much for me and politics, current events, work or just plain mean people are getting me down, I seek peace and joy in baking. Well, not literally. I mean The Great British Baking Show. It was once called The Great British Bake Off but a trademark issue with Pillsbury forced it to change names when it came over from the UK to the States. Perhaps you’ve caught a bit of … [Read more...]
What Are Your Competitors Success Secrets? Here’s How to Find Out
Is it possible to check out your competitors without falling into a deep, dark pool of insecurity and self-doubt? Yes. Here’s how. Paramount to this process is the act of objectively, strategically seeing what your competitors are doing. There’s little benefit to weeping with envy over your competitor’s perfect prose but it is helpful to notice how many service offerings they have or how … [Read more...]
How to Understand Your Competitors Without Falling Into a Jealousy Trap
Stop me if this sounds familiar. An intelligent, experienced marketing professional gives you the sage advice to keep an eye on what your competitors are doing. So you do. You subscribe to their newsletters. You pore over their lush, beautifully written blog posts. You stalk their social media profiles and notice that their followers number is in the tens of thousands. You read all their … [Read more...]
What’s your brand position? 5 moves you can try
What do yoga, the Kama Sutra and brand strategy have in common? It's all about the right positioning. (Tweet it!) When your brand finds the right position to attract the right target customer, it's like star-crossed lovers meeting in the rain at the Eiffel Tower. It just works. There's connection. There's magic. But what does "positioning" really mean? And how do you land on the right … [Read more...]
The myth of the brand facade
Flying back from the Midwest this holiday season, we had some customer service issues with American Airlines. Snarky flight attendants, a ridiculously understaffed gate (one poor soul checking in 3 flights - and re-routing passengers from a cancelled flight - but, wow, she was quite a trooper) Yes, they are going through Chapter 11, yes, the industry in general is taking a beating, and yes, 98% … [Read more...]
Well, hello there, Rockstar!