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  In June of 1941, Joe Louis was fighting a losing fight against light heavyweight champion Billy Conn at the Polo Grounds in New York in what has been described as the greatest fight in boxing history. Louis was at the height of his power and abilities. But Conn, at 169 pounds – an almost […]

  And now, the main event. In one corner, the reigning industry champion, weighing in at a few billion in revenue, with massive budgets, headcount and resources. In the other corner, the local favorite – considerably smaller, home grown, and a dangerous scrapper. The heavy weight versus “one of us.” My money’s on the little […]

Dear CMO: I spoke with Eric Ryan, co-founder of Method, about how a brand can successfully struggle with internal brand tension and the fun of fighting for retail shelf space against competitors who spill more detergent at the loading dock than you manufacture. There were dozens of great nuggets from the conversation, but one in […]

Dear CMO: The Nobel Peace Prize voting committee did something very clever last week. I say this from the standpoint of a marketer – not because of any personal political leanings. What the Norwegians and other assembled delegates did this past week is something anyone who deals with customers, business partners or competitors needs to study carefully. […]

Dear CMO: The story goes that Rosser Reeves, ad man responsible for the “unique selling proposition” and slogans like “I Like Ike” came across a man begging in the street one afternoon and offered him a suggestion. Instead of “I am blind,” Reeves added a sub-text to the man’s plackard, so the story goes, that […]