by Evelyn Starr | Jul 15, 2024 | Brand Experience, Brand Purpose & Values
When my biweekly cleaning service arrives to clean our house, my son AJ and I go out to lunch to get out of their way. Panera is among the restaurants in our regular rotation. We have long considered it one of our healthier options. I love soup and salad for lunch. AJ...
by Evelyn Starr | Jun 12, 2024 | Brand Experience, Brand Growth & Rebranding
I never paid attention to the type of plane I was flying in until March 12, 2019. That was 2 days after Ethiopian Airlines 302 crashed, killing all 157 people on board. It was the second Boeing 737 MAX crash in 5 months. Forty-eight hours after the crash Boeing had...
by Evelyn Starr | Feb 8, 2024 | Brand Experience, Personal Brand
A consultant friend recommended me to one of his colleagues who was searching for podcast guests, urging him to interview me. The colleague and I scheduled a 25-minute, get-to-know you meeting, standard with podcast hosts to see if you are good fit. The meeting was...
by Evelyn Starr | Nov 9, 2023 | Brand Experience
After picking organic raspberries in Concord, Massachusetts one sweltering August Sunday, my husband Dan and I headed for refreshment to the Main Streets Market and Café in Concord Center. Main Streets Market and Café bustles all day with customers popping in to take...
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 | 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 | 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 | 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...
