by Evelyn Starr | Sep 15, 2023 | Brand Experience, Marketing Insights
When searching for family activities for our Paris vacation this summer, I found a 3-hour chocolate and patisserie walking tour. My definition of heaven, even on a sweltering late June day. Happily, my husband and two twentysomething children were game. The tour...
by Evelyn Starr | Aug 22, 2023 | Brand Experience, Brand Growth & Rebranding
The closest I’ve come to liking Elon Musk was during his SNL opening monologue on May 8, 2021. But it was never that close. I admired his courage to appear on the show and willingness to mock himself. His performance humanized him. He was funny in some skits. Yet my...
by Evelyn Starr | Aug 2, 2023 | Brand Growth & Rebranding, Brand Strategy
Updated August 7, 2023 I didn’t have a Barbie doll when I was growing up. That was by design. I asked my mother about that recently. She objected to Barbie’s “unrealistic female form.” She said, “this is the kind of idealized female body which few girls would...
by Evelyn Starr | Jun 15, 2023 | Brand Purpose & Values, Brand Strategy
I didn’t have to convince my children to stay off their cell phones when they had friends over. My kids were in middle school before smart phones became common. But I was that parent who limited screen time during playdates. My challenge was mitigating Game Boy use. A...
by Evelyn Starr | May 20, 2023 | Brand Experience, Brand Purpose & Values
On May 20, 1993, my then-boyfriend Dan and I watched the Cheers finale along with 84 million other Americans. Unlike most of them, we watched from bleacher seats in front of the Bull & Finch pub, the Boston bar that inspired the series. NBC was going to broadcast...
by Evelyn Starr | Apr 14, 2023 | Email Marketing, Marketing Strategy
If I had a dollar for every time someone predicted the death of email, I could probably pay for a flight to Paris. Peak season, first class. It’s the misguided prognostication that keeps popping up like dandelions in your yard. Ninety percent of people in the US use...
by Evelyn Starr | Mar 17, 2023 | Brand Experience, Brand Strategy
As a mother of two young children in the early 2000s who worked from a home office, occasionally I would need a break. A few hours out of the house on my own to remember who I was without any obligation to feed, clothe, wash, educate, entertain, or otherwise support...
by Evelyn Starr | Feb 23, 2023 | Brand Purpose & Values, Brand Storytelling, Brand Strategy
For decades M&M’s conjured memories of focus groups for me. During my years in consumer insights departments (aka marketing research) for Veryfine Products and Dunkin’, I sat behind the mirror watching customers react to new product ideas, ad campaigns, and new...
by Evelyn Starr | Jan 27, 2023 | Brand Experience, Marketing Research Tips
Zappos disappointed me recently, but not with their shoes or their service. I had ordered five pairs of sneakers from them with the hope I’d find one I liked that fit. To my joy, three pairs fit. I liked all three but only needed one. I kept the one I liked most. As I...
