Traveling home for the holidays, I watched a charming little indie comedy/drama called Beginners. The title refers to how we all act when dealing with relationships. The film is about how "deeply funny and transformative life can be." And one part in particular struck me as truly profound. Hal (Christopher Plummer) has passed away from cancer and as his commitment-challenged son Oliver (Ewan … [Read more...]
The “brand” of Women: Who’s responsible? What can we do?
Last night, a therapist specializing in women and families told me girls as young as 8 years-old are dieting. That's right....8. When I was that age, I was worried about completing my Strawberry Shortcake doll set. What the hell is happening?! In the last few months, I've had my eyes opened to how the "brand" of women is represented in our world and it's caused me some concern. It's my … [Read more...]
How to solve marketing’s moral dilemma
I'm having a moral crisis right now about my chosen profession. Reports are everywhere about how our current global economic crisis has impacted the way consumers spend/save money. Given the scares we've had with a volatile stock market, the collapse of the housing market and troubles overseas, consumers are now consuming less, saving more and paying off their debts. That should be awesome, … [Read more...]
Reboot and Reframe: Branding lesson for life #7: Find the Humor
Even when things are serious, it helps to find the humor. It helps us cope, deflates a tense situation, and helps you think more clearly and problem solve than if you were angry, frustrated or sad. Laugher helps you get out of the “red zone” and into a more calm, productive state of mind. As business owners, things will go wrong. You may piss off a client or you might not make your sales … [Read more...]
Reboot and Reframe: Branding lesson for life #6: FACE THE FEAR
Building a business is scary. And building a breakthrough brand is even scarier. An in other breaking news, spinach is green and red lights mean you should stop. Everybody wishes they were Apple. They wish they could just be so hip and cool that no matter what new products they roll out, people will line up for miles just to own one. They wish their own brands would have that “hipness halo … [Read more...]
