Just one more episode ….. We’ve all been there. You know you should be going to bed, doing laundry, hitting the gym, or engaging in something more constructive that gluing your eyeballs to a screen. But we can’t help ourselves. We’re in the age of binging on some new television series everyone is buzzing about,…
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“When I was your age, we didn’t type our signature in an email, we WROTE it, with a pen, in CURSIVE. And we liked it!” My, how things have changed. Gone are the days of pen to paper. Now I’m typing emails to people and signing my name with a cute font in a pretty…
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Dear Diary, Have you heard about the hottest trend in the marketing industry? Many companies are gaining confidence about using this strategy, but most have yet to explore it. Regardless, it’s continuously gaining popularity among consumers. What is this fascinating thing, Diary? It’s influencer marketing. What is Influencer Marketing? Influencer marketing is the action of…
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Dear Diary, Don’t think what I’m about to say is crazy, as if me conversing with blank pages isn’t crazy enough, but this is very important. There is another Darren out there, one who happens to have an array of emotions, a crazy sense of style and superhero powers depending on the time of day.…
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My good friend Judy Ryan likes to say that all human actions, feelings, and reactions are driven by two things, and two things alone – love and fear. When you’re in a state of love, you’re willing to be open, accepting, transparent, and vulnerable. When in fear, you’re guarded, limited, and seek protection at all…
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Tis the season for the Fall Freakout over anything minutely related to “pumpkin spice.” The mere announcement that pumpkin spice lattes are coming at Starbucks causes many in the yoga pants wearing community into a fitted frenzy. Beer lovers wait feverishly at the turn of the fall leaves for their beloved pumpkin beer to hit…
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I don’t know what it is like at the Volkswagen offices as of late. But it must smell a lot like a funeral. A few weeks back, the news broke that VW had purposely tried to defraud their customers and governments with the environmental claims of some of their vehicles. Then they lied about doing…
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Most of the time, when I talk about a brand making an emotional connection, I’m concerned with connecting to a chosen audience. But what about you, a business leader, being emotionally connected to your own brand? After all, it all starts with you and your team, believing in your brand promise, living it each day,…
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If the woman with snakes crawling out of her bra does not do the trick for you, then just scroll on. You have your choice of ill-fitting bikini-clad men who opted out of the Brazilian wax or every permutation of the permed mullet hairstyle you can imagine. There are over 1900 pages on People of Walmart,…
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As a curious human being, I love hearing the stories behind a business, and the stories about customers’ experiences with that business. As a marketer, I find that these stories are key in establishing a brand and creating strategy. When we begin the process, the first question I always ask is “why” – why does…
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