[Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I’d Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.] Your logo isn’t just a big part of your company’s identity, it might be the only part of your brand most […]
Stats for nerds
January 29, 2014
Adding personality to your product is always the right answer. The more your company acts like humans, the more humans like your company. Example: This menu item on YouTube — “Stats for nerds.”
Why are you on my watermelon?
October 28, 2013
Branding isn’t as hard as you think. It only takes one simple idea to create a unique brand in the customer’s mind. Example: The Krispy Kreme “Hot Now” sign. Even though all donuts start hot, Krispy Kreme now owns that idea. Here’s another one: All the watermelons at our local store have this sticker on […]
Designs vs. Brands
October 11, 2013
Branding is much harder than design. So is explaining it. A brand is a bigger story that creates recognition and feelings. A design just makes it look good. To build a brand, you need longevity and consistency — so it gets recognized over time and feelings can grow. (Which really means you need patience to let a […]
How premium brands like Lexus, AmEx, and Apple are making profits by making love
August 13, 2013
Here’s a guest post Drew Neisser, CEO of Renegade, wrote for our WordofMouth.org project. Check it out for more great word of mouth marketing tips like this every day. These days, it’s simply not enough to manufacture a good product. Those are the table stakes. If you make an inferior product, no amount of marketing […]
Why great brands are boring
August 11, 2013
Resist the urge to change your marketing every month. Don’t change your look, theme, or logo because you’re bored. Building a brand takes time and consistency. You need to build familiarity for years and years until everyone knows who you are and what you stand for. Take this advice from M.P. Mueller of branding shop […]
Powerful Positioning in 140 Words
July 13, 2013
You can’t be more than one thing in the mind of a customer. You can’t be the best salad bar and the best pizza place. You can’t be the best ad agency and social media expert. You can’t be the gym and fitness store. Why? Nobody believes you. You kill the word of mouth — […]
There’s no “and” in “brand”
July 8, 2013
We see this all the time: A typical “services” page from a small digital agency. Search and social and email and inbound and apps and local and mobile — they claim they can do it all. I don’t believe it. It’s just not possible. It’s definitely not possible for them to be fantastic at all […]
Do you miss Circuit City? How about Hostess?
May 1, 2013
The true test of a great brand: Would anyone care (or notice) if it was gone? If your company vanished tomorrow, would any customer miss you? If you’re not making that sort of meaning, you need to up your game, add more value, or find a better horse to ride. P.S. A great test: Would […]
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