Marketing Thought Provokers

Be the Bartender of Your Brand

February 10, 2012 By evelyn 6 Comments

I waitressed for two summers during college and met some pretty interesting people. The first summer I worked the counter of a Bloomingdale’s restaurant in Hackensack, New Jersey. I served two Secret Service agents who were trailing Pat Nixon and her daughter Tricia who were eating in the dining room of the restaurant. Nice guys, easy going, and tipped well.

Prior to my sophomore year I worked at a 24-hour diner called The Forum. The Saturday night shift went from 5 pm to 4:30 am. As you could imagine, the crowd here differed from Bloomingdale’s.

Click to continue

Filed Under: Browse Posts, Marketing Thought Provokers, Retail Marketing, Smart, Innovative & Inexpensive Marketing

Ugg Me, Ugg Me Not

January 12, 2012 By evelyn 4 Comments

Walk into any public middle school or high school on a winter day, and you’ll notice the girls’ cool weather uniform. Not a mandated uniform, but a voluntarily adopted one. It consists of a Northface fleece jacket and a pair of Ugg boots.

In September 2010, as my now 11-year-old daughter Fiona was entering the fifth grade, she developed an acute desire for these items. I wasn’t entirely surprised as my neighbor’s 14-year-old daughter had expressed the same desires a couple of years before.

But I didn’t realize how widespread the girls’ conformity went.

Click to continue

Filed Under: Brands In Adolescence, Browse Posts, Marketing Thought Provokers, Retail Marketing

Stop Marketing!

October 6, 2011 By evelyn Leave a Comment

Stop marketing!
Start conversing.

Stop selling.
Start listening.

Stop cajoling.
Start sampling.

Click to continue

Filed Under: Browse Posts, Marketing Thought Provokers

Mine Eyes, The Glory Isn’t So Clear Anymore

July 21, 2011 By evelyn 2 Comments

Here I am, 45 years old, in the best shape of my life in many ways. Exercise, healthy eating, and an optimistic outlook keep me young. Not to mention two adolescent children.

RealAge.com’s analysis says I’m only 41.5!

And yet.

As a voracious reader, I’ve become acutely aware that the words on the page have become fuzzy. Reading is more comfortable when I hold the book a few inches further away. Over the past few months, the distance to keep the words clear has increased.

Fortunately, the book isn’t yet a full arm’s length away…and thankfully I have long arms!

Click to continue

Filed Under: Browse Posts, Marketing Thought Provokers

Is Your Brand In Adolescence?

July 14, 2011 By evelyn Leave a Comment

It happens to the savviest business owners and brand champions. One day you wake up and that little darling brand that you have nurtured since birth or early brand-hood has grown into an entity you barely recognize.

The brand that you knew and loved and that bore the markings of your careful stewardship has suddenly developed a mind of its own and is performing erratically. When did this happen? How could this happen? Why is it happening to me?

It could be that you have a Brand in Adolescence on your hands.

Click to continue

Filed Under: Brands In Adolescence, Browse Posts, Marketing Thought Provokers