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Dear CMO: Someone else posted on this thought recently, and whoever they are they deserve some praise. So in the spirit of borrowing rather than stealing, let me be as redundant as I need to be: There are no strategic problems. Only personality problems. Corporations are collections of personalities, sometimes functional, that get together every […]

Dear CMO: Before you duck beneath your desk at the prospect of having to endure a xenophobic rant about fences, immigration and fluid campaign promises, relax. I won’t do it. I promise. Not political. Just business. Marketing even. Are we OK? Great. Did you see this ad running south o’ the border by Absolut? If […]

Dear CMO: A funny thing hit the news the other day that struck me as a wonderful parable for modern-day decision making. Both NPR and Fox News (yes, both the yin and yang, alpha and omega, chicken and… well… fox) reported that scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are finding that probes monitoring global sea […]

Dear CMO: I just spent a few days working with a client on brand positioning. This was the first such discussion for this multi-million dollar global brand. Apparently, they’ve done just fine by selling a terrific product to a devoted customer base with design smarts and fashionable sensibilities. But, as the company evolves, the brand […]

Dear CMO: Brands tend to elevate perceived value in a market segment. Differentiated products are highly brand driven — look at the fashion industry — and even commodities have shown remarkable sensitivity to branding. Just ask Intel. Or Nutrasweet. So when an age old business that has evolved along side humanity since the dawn of […]