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It’s a Pink Gorilla
Last week, I was out shopping with my mom. We were talking a lot about the economy, jobs, banking, and generally “serious” topics. At one point in the conversation, she was about to say something really vital. Really groundbreaking. Really important. Well, I’m just disappointed that … there’s a pink gorilla … Yes, standing on the side of the road was, in fact, a very large pink gorilla. He inadvertently derailed our entire conversation because, for the next week, neither of us could remember where she was going. From that point on, all we could think about was the ridiculous…
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Domain Names
Owning your own dotcom has become more and more difficult over the years. There are several hosting companies around, and it seems like it would be easy to own any address you want, but that’s not reality. The truth is, finding the perfect dotcom has become almost an impossible task! Just like in real estate, people try to “flip” domain names. They purchase a handful at the next-to-nothing base rate offered by domain registrars. Then they sit on the domains and try to get the people who actually want them to pay extra. There are high margins in the domain…
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Brandology
Some of my latest posts have been regarding a brandologist, who has traveled back through time to study us “milennials” at the apex of marketing theory and thought. I’ve noticed, though, that I haven’t really stopped to explain what I consider “brandology” to be. Branding, as I usually define it, is the practice of managing the entire image of an entity and the whole experience of those who interact with it. In the business world, this would be your company’s reputation, the relationships you have with your partners, and the overall experience of your customers. It is the practice of…
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Outlets
I still think “outlets” are a horrible idea for name brand retailers. If your product is high-end, high-quality, and high-margin, the last thing you want to do is provide your customers with a reason to doubt your product. Selling a computer for $1,500 in your high end store and for only $300 in an outlet store demands that customers carefully analyze the value of your products. Your brand is weakened, and even the most loyal customers will make your products a conscious purchase decision rather than a habitually programmed response. Neale Martin puts it a slightly different way in Habit:…
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Branding Habits
I mentioned a few days ago that I’m reading a new marketing book about habits. As I’ve moved through towards the end of the book, the author has started getting into branding. His argues that branding is really just a way to identify habitual behavior (You pick the Apple computer not because of the brand story, but because of the Apple icon or the expected look and feel of the product). I really think he’s on to something, but I want to take it a few steps further. According to Neale Martin (the author of the book), you have two…
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Habits
Every morning when I first get on the computer, I point the browser to a few web comics I enjoy. Starting the day with a nice dose of funny helps me be happier, more productive, and more fun to work with. There are three web comics I really enjoy, but they all have different update schedules. One updates weekdays. One updates weekdays plus Saturday. One updates Monday-Wednesday-Friday. Yet for some reason, I load all of them every day. I know consciously that on Tuesdays I’m loading one too many sites. I know consciously on Saturday that I’m loading two too…
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Consistency
How consistently do you manage your brand? Do you invest heavily in brand development when times are down in order to stay ahead of a tough market? Do you invest heavily when times are good because you have extra capital to spend? When exactly do and should you focus on brand building? The answer is: always. A lot of smart companies focus on branding as a way to improve their position when things get tough. Branding, though, isn’t a magic lifeboat for a company. Waiting until times get hard will give your staff a great incentive for focusing on brand…
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Branding a phenomenon
Global warming … arguably, one of the most important challenges of our time. Whether or not the concept is real, though, everyone knows what it is and most people are concerned about it. Politicians stake their campaigns on fighting global warming, non-profits build reputations collecting money to stave of disaster. We teach the idea in our schools and discuss it in coffee shops drinking an ‘organic’ and ‘sustainable’ blend. We all know Halloween is coming, and the last place I thought I’d find the global warming ‘brand’ would be on my spook supplies. Nevertheless, there it was in all its…
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Bureaucracy
Humans are messy creatures. We create piles of work that needs to be done, piles of work that’s already done, and piles of work that we never want to do. Our work spaces are cluttered, ineffective, and downright … comfortable. Let’s face it, we like to be surrounded by a little disorder once in a while; it feels natural. At the same time, we still want business to be orderly and organized. While I might be able to understand the intricate system of colored arrows on my calendar, I doubt Paul down the hall could even figure out what they…