Unless it moves the human heart
Yesterday I came across an interesting full-page colour ad in a prominent newspaper. It featured a headshot photo of a person, and it’s headline
Archive | Stories about life & business
Why Permission Marketing doesn’t work
The concept of “Permission Marketing” is not new—it simply means to communicate with your target audience (mostly via email) after gaining permission
What’s the fastest-growing company EVER?
Simple is smart. Simple is big. Just ask Blendtec.
Yesterday I received a message from a reader asking me to provide an example of how word of mouth marketing can be cultivated. I was thinking about which
What can a sock teach us about life and business
My daughter is a great student (just about to graduate from high school). This is why we weren’t surprised when she was recently accepted at a number of great business schools in Canada. (She wanted to study business as an undergraduate.) What was interesting however, is that except for one, most schools she was interested in DID NOT manage to leave a lasting impression on her.
Don’t get me wrong, all the schools she was interested in offered:
Nice study halls;
Good libraries;
Competent faculty;
Current curriculum framework;
Great student cafeterias; etc.
How to divorce a business idea
Divorcing a business idea can be an extremely difficult thing to do.
Even for mature, successful companies such as Coca-Cola. Let’s for a minute go all the way back to April of 1985, when Coca-Cola introduced New Coke. This was not a good idea, but it took Coca-Cola a little while to realize that they needed to divorce it.
And even Coca-Cola didn’t do it without some outside help. After being flooded with thousands of phone calls, 40,000 plus letters and reams of bad press, the company finally backtracked three months later announcing the return of Coca-Cola “Classic”.
Too bad sainthood is not conferred on bakers
One fixture no city neighborhood should be without: a remarkable bakery such as Christies Il Secondo. If you’re fortunate enough to live around Broadway area in Saskatoon, then you’re familiar with the unrivaled pleasures this local gem has been offering to its residents since the past fall. Whether you live there, or anywhere else in town, it’s well worth the trip by Il Secondo.
Pictures by RealView | Christies Il Secondo, 802C Broadway Ave., Tel.: 384-0506
Earlier today I had the pleasure of exchanging a few words with one of the owners, Blair Muzzolini, and he graciously agreed to conduct a quick interview for sneezr.ca.
Jenan: What are the best things about being a baker?
B
The danger of not evolving your brand
Last fall I was hired to help jump-start marketing efforts for a service organization.
Let’s call it Acme Inc.
The goal: to get new business by reaching out more effectively to the business community.
In short, here’s what I did:
I studied their target audience.
I studied their product.
I studied their customer touch points.
(BTW, I was surprised how complicated and impenetrable their customer touch points were.)
One of my first goals was to simplify their brand’s language.
SIMPLIFICATION is one of my specialities.
Simple is smart. Simple is honest. Simple is engaging.
(Simplicity is not about dumbing-down or giving people a lesser experience.)
