by Evelyn Starr | Sep 17, 2024 | Marketing Insights, Marketing Tools & Tactics, Starter Set
This post was originally published on August 9, 2013 and was updated September 17, 2024. You know how your parents told you not to talk to strangers? Well one day on vacation I not only spoke to a stranger, I invited her to my hotel room. In October 1996 my husband...
by Evelyn Starr | Oct 13, 2023 | Brand Growth & Rebranding, Marketing Insights
I spent some quality time with David Sedaris a couple of weeks ago. David Sedaris is a renown writer and humorist who has authored 12 books. He tours regularly, reading his essays and gauging audience reactions. His book tours are famous for their long book signing...
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 | Nov 16, 2022 | Brand Experience, Marketing Insights
I love when my newsletter readers send me ideas for future issues. Last April my neighbor Tina emailed me to share a recent experience at Panera. On a Sunday Tina placed an order via Panera’s app as she was finishing her grocery shopping. She arrived at Panera 5...
by Evelyn Starr | Sep 30, 2022 | Marketing Insights, Marketing Tools & Tactics
Last January I took part in a virtual marketing panel discussion for my alma mater, Vassar College. Their Career Connections program helps sophomores learn more about potential fields of interest by featuring panels of alumni in different disciplines. The program also...
by Evelyn Starr | Aug 19, 2022 | Brand Experience, Marketing Insights
I used to joke that chocolate was a food group. I’m no longer joking. My diet contains a small daily dose of dark chocolate (or two) which I take with the devotion I used to give to a multivitamin. My husband Dan knows of my passion for dark chocolate and shares my...
by Evelyn Starr | Mar 11, 2022 | Marketing Insights, Marketing Research Tips
Last November 2nd, a thick white envelope from Ocean Conservatory arrived in the mail. I’d never heard of the organization. As a family we had donated to a similar organization in the past. I assumed Ocean Conservatory had gotten my name from a shared list. I smiled...
by Evelyn Starr | Jan 14, 2022 | Email Marketing, Marketing Insights
Ten years ago, I pressed send on my first Varsity Marketing Newsletter. Unbeknownst to you, my wonderful readers, the launch was over a year in the making. Starting a newsletter was part of my marketing plan in 2010, but by September I still hadn’t begun. That changed...
by Evelyn Starr | Nov 12, 2021 | Marketing Insights, Marketing Tools & Tactics
This post is an updated and enhanced version of one published November 14, 2014. Have you heard a December holiday song yet? It always amazes me how early the holiday music starts. I am among the 81 percent of Americans who don’t want to hear it in stores before...
