Your Brand Isn’t a Logo. It’s a System.

I’ve been a brand consultant for 20 years now. That is a difficult job to explain to people. Usually when I say I’m a brand consultant, people will respond, “Oh, you design logos.” And although I have an MFA...

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Why Simple is Hard

For over four years, I worked for The Simplicity Company, helping clients simplify their strategies, businesses, brands and experiences. Achieving any degree of simplicity was real work. Throughout those four years I was struck that Simplicity seemed difficult to...

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3 Things Dollar Shave Club Got Right

Dollar Shave Club’s recent acquisition by Unilever has many business folks talking, and for good reason. DSC was purchased for well above the valuation set by VC firms that had invested in the company. (While it sold for $1...

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Sustainability That Lasts

I was at a sustainability conference recently, thinking about my boots. "Business casual" is interpreted very loosely in Silicon Valley. CEOs turn up for meetings in t-shirts. Ties are donned ironically. I was wearing my Red Wing boots as...

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The ‘New’ Center of the Sales Cycle

The sales cycle is a classic framework that has been around for a long time. You can find versions that are more complicated than this, but I like this one. For me, this is the simplest way of breaking down...

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What Experience Designers Can Learn From Improv

Brand perceptions are built on reactions to experiences with a brand. As such, changing the experience is a powerful way of changing brand perceptions and behaviors. Although the phrase “experience design” has traditionally been applied to digital experiences, the...

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All Marketing is Local Marketing

Tip O'Neill, former Speaker of the House, once famously said "All politics is local." It was a lesson he learned in his first political loss: unless you connect to the needs and desires of the folks near you, you...

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What JCPenney Learned from Apple…and The Gap

JCPenney has been in the news a lot lately. Although still a beloved brand with millions of Americans, it’s a brand that has become a little dusty and tired. In fashion, it seems like all the brand love and energy these...

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How Brands Can Use Instagram Better

Instagram is an app that allows users to take, adjust and share photos--pretty simple and straightforward. Despite (or maybe because of) its simplicity, Instagram has gotten a lot of traction in the time it’s been available, to the tune...

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Google’s Embracing of People

It's been almost two weeks since Google acquired Zagat, creator of those little burgundy guides to local restaurants, rated by actual customers. Since then, there's been no end to the speculation regarding the acquisition: a good deal, a harebrained...

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