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Dear CMO: Forgive the blurry picture, above. This is about as clear as I usually see when I get my obligatory Tall Latte at my local Starbucks. I came across this the other morning and wanted to drop a note extolling the virtues of whoever put this together. Did you know that Starbucks is just […]

Dear CMO: In our recent discussions on “thin ice” and positioning in general, it’s become evident that you can’t be “for” something unless you’ve got something else that you can conveniently be “against.” You can’t take a pro- “take pride in your beer” unless there’s a “beer not worth being proud of” out there potentially […]

Dear CMO: Can it be that only a short week ago, the world only just heard the now ubiquitous phrase, “Don’t Taze Me, Bro”? How time flies. The YouTubization of American culture ensures that any and every act committed in public will be captured on a cell phone camera or a camcorder and posted for […]

Dear CMO: Ready for a quiz? Pick a brand at random. Say its tag line out loud. Now, ask yourself whether any of your chosen brand’s competitors could walk up to the proverbial microphone and deliver that same tag line with just as much confidence and justification as your brand X did. Could they? Probably. […]

Dear CMO: What could you have done? Let’s see. You launched your product to great fanfare 10 weeks ago. And now – 10 weeks later – you have a lifetime’s worth of inventory gracing your warehouse shelves. What should you do? 1. Drop the price by $200 roughly two months after your launch, then give […]