Generated by All in One SEO v5.0.0.1, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site.

# Stephen Denny

author of <em>Killing Giants</em>

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://www.stephendenny.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Blog](https://www.stephendenny.com/blog/)
- [The 3 Biggest Trends CIO's Face in 2026](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-3-biggest-trends-cios-face-in-2026/) - CIOs face rising pressure around AI governance, cloud cost volatility, and security. A candid look at CIO trends in 2026.
- [Get to 50 Faster: Make Messaging Architecture Drive Revenue](https://www.stephendenny.com/get-to-50-faster-make-messaging-architecture-drive-revenue/) - Stephen Denny | Faster revenue growth starts with compelling messaging architecture: stronger agency briefs, powerful partner activation, & smarter positioning.
- [The Future of Work: Real Estate and the New Territorial Imperative](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-future-of-work-real-estate-and-the-new-territorial-imperative/) - Can we shrink the office without losing our people? If you’re worried about balancing the desire to save money by shrinking your real estate footprint because only 50% of your workers are ever in the office at any given time and the risk of losing people because they no longer have a dedicated workspace to
- [Seeking Control in an Out-of-Control World @ Work](https://www.stephendenny.com/seeking-control-in-an-out-of-control-world-work/) - Stephen Denny The most important reason to conduct trend research is to understand where the culture is going - for your customers, partners, and employees.
- [Unfiltered Marketing and the Fulfillment of the Mission](https://www.stephendenny.com/unfiltered-marketing-and-the-fulfillment-of-the-mission/) - Denny Leinberger Strategy - the partnership between Stephen Denny and Paul Leinberger - has wrapped up, having fulfilled its mission of bringing the insights from the Culture & Technology Intersection studies to the market through the publication of Unfiltered Marketing: 5 Rules to Win Back Trust, Credibility, and Customers in a Digitally Distracted World (Weiser/Red
- [Return-to-Office Vs. Work-from-Home: The Genie is Out of the Bottle.](https://www.stephendenny.com/return-to-office-vs-work-from-home-the-genie-is-out-of-the-bottle/) - Wondering how to get workers back in the office? You’re asking the wrong question. The right question isn’t about where people work – it’s about how well they do the work they do alone as well as the work they do together. It should center on whether they’re achieving their goals, whether they’re motivated and
- [How the AIM Program Drove $20M+ in Incremental Sales](https://www.stephendenny.com/how-the-aim-program-drove-20m-in-incremental-sales/) - How the AIM Program delivered $20m+ in incremental revenue by activating, incentivizing, and ultimately monetizing channel relationships.
- [Brand Values vs. Brand Militancy](https://www.stephendenny.com/brand-values-vs-brand-militancy/) - Insights from the Culture and Technology Intersection study on brand values alignment, brand advocacy, and brand boycotts.
- [The 12 Moments You Need Macro Trends](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-12-moments-you-need-macro-trends/) - We have identified 12 moments that smart brands need to turn to consumer sentiment and insights data, organized in two categories: cycles and changes.
- [Why Going for a Big, Bold Brand Purpose Can Be a Terrible Mistake](https://www.stephendenny.com/why-going-for-a-big-bold-brand-purpose-can-be-a-terrible-mistake/) - Many CEO's suggest all brands must stand for something bigger than themselves. Insights from the Culture & Technology Intersection study suggest brands should be careful - as consumers are increasingly tuning out.
- [Shareholder vs. Stakeholder Capitalism and Ubiquitous Technology](https://www.stephendenny.com/shareholder-vs-stakeholder-capitalism-and-ubiquitous-technology/) - The Business Roundtable's debate over the purpose of the enterprise misses the point: stakeholder capitalism and shareholder capitalism are the same thing.
- [How the Coronavirus Is Driving Culture Change @ Work](https://www.stephendenny.com/how-the-coronavirus-is-driving-culture-change-work/) - The impact of the Coronavirus on corporate culture is changing more than just work from home (WFH) - it also impacts how we manage, hire, and innovate.
- [5 Rules for Managing Superstars (and Their Egos)](https://www.stephendenny.com/5-rules-for-managing-superstars-and-their-egos/) - 5 management tips for mentoring and leading high performing employees, taken from lessons gathered from the NBA, Red Bull Racing, Silicon Valley, and elsewhere.
- [Marketing in a Divided America](https://www.stephendenny.com/marketing-in-a-divided-america/) - Political division in the US has caused many brands to take a stand - the Culture and Technology Intersection study suggests this isn't always a smart idea.
- [Managing the account: Data and Insight](https://www.stephendenny.com/managing-the-account-data-and-insight/) - A cautionary tale on best practices in account management. Managing the account: Data and Insight. And presenting a more compelling vision of the future.
- [Adidas's Approach to Co-Creation: "Swimming in the Culture"](https://www.stephendenny.com/adidass-approach-to-co-creation-swimming-in-the-culture/) - How Paul Gaudio and adidas use co-creation and "swimming in the culture" to guide its design process - an excerpt from the new book, Unfiltered Marketing.
- [FastCo: Unscripted Re-builds Credibility](https://www.stephendenny.com/fastco-unscripted-re-builds-credibility/) - The only thing that re-builds a sense of trust in an age of collapsing trust is being "raw" - unscripted, in-process, and in-context.
- [Election 2020: Not Trump vs. Biden, but “Raw” versus “Peak Outrage”](https://www.stephendenny.com/election-2020-not-trump-vs-biden-but-raw-versus-peak-outrage/) - It's not just Trump vs. Biden - it's a clash of two competing macro trends in election 2020.
- [What Texas Hold 'Em Can Teach You About Influencing Customers](https://www.stephendenny.com/what-texas-hold-em-can-teach-you-about-influencing-customers/) - Texas Hold 'Em poker teaches us valuable lessons in selling strategy - particularly helping us to focus on building both "up-cards" and "down-cards."
- [Institutionalizing Uncertainty: How Business Moves Forward in a Post-Covid 19 World](https://www.stephendenny.com/institutionalizing-uncertainty-how-business-moves-forward-in-a-post-covid-19-world/) - Business in a post-Covid world must plan for the unthinkable - scenario planning must now be at the core of corporate strategy.
- [Covid-19 and Re-Thinking the Balance Between Individual Productivity and Collaboration](https://www.stephendenny.com/covid-19-and-re-thinking-the-balance-between-individual-productivity-and-collaboration/) - Work from home (WFH) has pushed companies to change their cultures and workstyles - but we don't have to go back to the worst parts of office life.
- [Squinting at a New World, Post-Coronavirus](https://www.stephendenny.com/squinting-at-a-new-world-post-coronavirus/) - Predictions for life after Covid-19, from lifestyle to workstyle to values.
- [3 RULES THAT DEFINE CORPORATE LEADERSHIP IN A DIGITAL AGE](https://www.stephendenny.com/3-rules-that-define-corporate-leadership-in-a-digital-age/) - 3 major insights on the future of work, the definition of credibility, the new way of marketing, and the resulting leadership playbook from the Culture and Technology Intersection study.
- [5 Keys to Save Your Keynote (and Sanity) on Stage](https://www.stephendenny.com/5-keys-to-save-your-keynote-and-sanity-on-stage/) - There's a lot of advice out there about public speaking, and not all of it is great. Having done keynotes and other high stakes presentations for the past two decades in venues from hotel ballrooms to conference centers, boardrooms, the occasional brewery, movie theater, and college lecture hall, I have an opinion on how to speak in front of large
- [Why Nike's "Write The Future" Campaign Worked](https://www.stephendenny.com/why-nikes-write-the-future-campaign-worked/) - “Did the viral video sell anything?” That’s a bit of an imponderable question but one worth pondering if you are responsible for the dollars in your marketing budget, particularly if the dollars belong to someone else and you’re going to have to eventually explain yourself to people who lack your enthusiasm for this stuff. Did
- [Note to CMO: Your Reading List](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-your-reading-list/) - Whatever your habitual thoughts are like will determine the character of your mind. Your soul will take on the particular color of your thoughts. (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations). Dear CMO: Reading the right stuff, and doing it often, will straighten you out and make you a better marketer. What Marcus Aurelius says, above, is that good
- [Note to CMO: The Marketing Mea Culpa](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-marketing-mea-culpa/) - Dear CMO: Marketing is dead. Ask anyone. The current business press and the vast community of marketing pundits are in lock-step agreement that marketing is dead. And buried. I understand from Booz Allen’s Strategy+Business that marketers' skill sets are out of date, that the marketer of the future comes from a decentralized and team-based management
- [Note to CMO: Bond Week](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-bond-week/) - Dear CMO: It's Bond Week. As in, "Bond. James Bond" Week. Don't know about you, but the premiere of a Bond film is a once-every-other-year kind of holiday in my family. What's new? There's a new Bond in the form of Daniel Craig. We're going back to basics with a screenplay adaptation of Ian Flemming's
- [Note to CMO: Do You Pass the Wince Test?](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-do-you-pass-the-wince-test/) - Dear CMO: When you ask customers about the problem that your product solves, what do they do? Do they get that glazed look that says, "wow, I'm so sorry... your lips were moving and I know that words were coming out, but the stuff you were saying was sooooo boring that I just tuned out
- [Note to CMO: I Blackberry, Therefore I Am](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-i-blackberry-therefore-i-am/) - Dear CMO: I hope this email finds you well, somewhere in the world, and successful in your endless quest to make yourself look impossibly busy. "They can't kill me if they can't find me," you say, with a furtive glance over your shoulder that evokes images of Harrison Ford running from Tommy Lee Jones. I
- [Note to CMO: Whacked Upside Your Strategic Head](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-whacked-upside-your-strategic-head/) - Dear CMO: I always knew cows were the enemy. This, from a soon to be published report from the UN, as reported in the UK's Independent: A United Nations report has identified the world's rapidly growing herds of cattle as the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife... livestock are responsible for 18 per
- [Note to CMO: On Advice](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-on-advice/) - Dear CMO: Can I give you a piece of advice? Stop taking so much advice. Really, you don’t need to know that a captain of industry attributes his success to his dogged determination. That he truly believes that, “you need to be true to yourself.” Of course, he doesn’t know much about you, your problem,
- [Note to CMO: WOMMA, Authenticity and Personal Branding](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-womma-authenticity-and-personal-branding/) - Dear CMO: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Branding is something that goes beyond ad copy – you must be your brand, live your brand, deliver on your brand, and not forget any of the previous three things at the peril of your professional life. Look at our friends at Sony – flogging
- [Note to CMO: SWOT Analyses and Being Trampled to Death by a Mouse](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-swot-analyses-and-being-trampled-to-death-by-a-mouse/) - Dear CMO: We are biased. We consider all the options that fit our needs -- both those that conform to our preconceptions and those we are predisposed to throw under the bus to best illustrate our objective reasoning. The threats we acknowledge are the manageable ones we know can live with, our opportunities not much
- [Note to CMO: Positioning and Deciding Who You're NOT](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-positioning-and-deciding-who-youre-not/) - Dear CMO: Let’s talk for a moment about who you’re not. We all know who you are, but your forced choices under pressure often reveal more about you than your bio might reveal. What are you willing to walk away from? Answer that and you’ll define yourself in vivid terms that stick. If it works
- [Note to CMO: The Clamshell, Defended (With Reservations)](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-clamshell-defended-with-reservations/) - Dear CMO: The holidays are over. Time to end the fiscal year, hopefully with a sprint to the finish, and then move on to planning for next year. And, as I can see the Band Aids peeking through your French cuffs, you'll no doubt resolve to do your part in the coming budget cycle to
- [Note to CMO: Jamil Hussein is My Spokesperson](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-jamil-hussein-is-my-spokesperson/) - Dear CMO: Sony and Zipatoni flauxg the PSP. Walmart fakes it, as well. Sony Pictures (again with Sony?) writes their own movie reviews. The Associated Press, for whom a picture is apparently worth far more than a thousand (truthful) words, creates Jamil Hussein, a guy who apparently shows up more often in the credits than
- [Note to CMO: The Ladder of Inference, or, The Art of Not Listening](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-ladder-of-inference-or-the-art-of-not-listening/) - Dear CMO: An exchange with Valeria Maltoni at Conversation Agent reminded me of another great conversation agent, Dr. Steven Feinberg at ROI Dynamics, with whom I had the great opportunity of working some years back. We talked about corporate culture, specifically the art of listening. What an unpracticed art. Being a listener has become something
- [Note to CMO: The Anthropology of Blogging](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-anthropology-of-blogging/) - Man is a fraction of the animal world. Our history is an afterthought, no more, tacked to an infinite calendar. We are not so unique as we should like to believe. And if man in a time of need seeks keeper knowledge concerning himself, then he must explore those animal horizons from which we have
- [Note to CMO: The Manifesto, So Far](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-manifesto-so-far/) - John Moore over at Brand Autopsy occasionally gives me a real figurative kick in the pants. His post on Google Truths made me stop and think, which I usually try to avoid. But after reading it, I had mixed feelings. I like the fact that they have a list of “truths”. And I had real
- [Note to CMO: The Consumer as Art Critic (Not as Artist)](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-consumer-as-art-critic-not-as-artist/) - Dear CMO: I must have missed the memo. Can you tell me why everyone is asking their consumers to do their ads for them? Is this the new thing? Even Katie Couric is earnestly soliciting viewer input, sounding like a cross between one of those Sally Struthers infomercials and a Jerry Lewis telethon. Thank goodness
- [Note to CMO: Greek Fire and How to Fight Unfairly](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-greek-fire-and-how-to-fight-unfairly/) - Dear CMO: Two stories, both telling the same tale. Both consider the art and practice of fighting unfairly. First, a bit of classical history. The first discusses the use of Greek Fire, a secret weapon whose employment razed the siege of Constantinople in 674AD by destroying the attacking Muslim fleet. Greek Fire was the X
- [Note to CMO: The Hyper-Specialization of Super Bowl Advertising](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-hyper-specialization-of-super-bowl-advertising/) - Dear CMO: I'm going to go out on a limb here a few hours before the year's biggest advertising event. Blogging about Super Bowl advertising is going against my better judgment. Every marketer in America with a keyboard is going to say something about this. But I can't help myself. Super Bowl advertising has become
- [Note to CMO: Citizen Journalists 2.0](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-citizen-journalists-20/) - Dear CMO: Driving through the Santa Cruz Mountains this morning on the way to a meeting in Santa Clara, I heard that up the peninsula in Santa Rosa the local Clearchannel Communications news station, KFTY-TV, just laid off 13 people in their newsroom and will be replacing them with “citizen journalists”: John Burgess, TV50's general
- [Note to CMO: Killing Giants, Part 3](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-killing-giants-part-3/) - Dear CMO: Killing Giants, Parts One and Two resonated with friends and readers. Lots of people over on The Fix sharpening their knives at the thought of toppling giants in their industries. Can I lay out a few well-deserved "good job, well done" kudo's to the community? Roll call: Lewis, who is partial to the
- [Note to CMO: Say What You Will Be (Then Do What Must Be Done)](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-say-what-you-will-be-then-do-what-must-be-done/) - Dear CMO: Some of us, in times of introspection, follow the sage advice of philosophers like Heraclitus or Machiavelli. Or Yogi Berra. We seek guidance when different paths appear before us, and, as smart people often do, gain insights into human nature in the process. One of my board of philosophers is Lucius Annaeus Seneca,
- [Note to CMO: Serving Customers First](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-serving-customers-first/) - Dear CMO: It feels like ages ago, but the possibly misquoted VP of Marketing over at Verizon Wireless’s comments about mobile advertising still haunt us. “We know we can make significant dollars in mobile Web advertising in 2007,” said [the VP of Marketing at Verizon Wireless]... “That said, we likely will not — we want
- [Note to CMO: Turning the Ship Around](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-turning-the-ship-around/) - Dear CMO: There are times in a career when things hum along smoothly. The machine is well-oiled, the team works together like a veteran kitchen staff, customers are happy (enough), and management is looking towards the future and not the back end of the current quarter. I'm not here to talk about times like these.
- [Note to CMO: Beware of Chimps With Spears](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-beware-of-chimps-with-spears/) - Dear CMO: Let's talk about competitive "blinders". The ones you put on when you talk about "the competition" -- the ones that say, "we know who our competitors are," and fail to take into consideration the trivial, the comic, and the beneath-your-contempt minor players who don't even qualify to hit your radar screen. Chimps with
- [Note to CMO: Why We Need "First Person"](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-why-we-need-first-person/) - Dear CMO: Why is it that we always need to see things for ourselves? Why do we never trust other people? Are we all so distrustful of others that we can't take anyone's word for it anymore? Maybe this is a by-product of our hyper-connected, e-enabled world. We have too much information so we trust
- [Note to CMO: Judging Actions, Not Ads](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-judging-actions-not-ads/) - Dear CMO: Sure, we talked this over at length last week but apparently we were ahead of the wave. I see that Ad Age sagely declared the failure of Project (RED) by virtue of its “meager” $18 million in contributions to combat AIDS and malaria in Africa. “Meager” when viewed next to the estimated $100
- [Note to CMO: Social Networks and Too Much Information](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-social-networks-and-too-much-information/) - Dear CMO: When was the last time you had to make a complex choice? When did you last go through a competitive bid on a CRM application? Maybe hire an important direct report? Or do an agency review? What about just buying a car, let alone getting one fixed? "This is the easiest process in
- [Note to CMO: Managing Your Own LeVar Arrington](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-managing-your-own-levar-arrington/) - Dear CMO: I realize there are members of your extended team over the Atlantic who may not be intimately familiar with "American Football", so I apologize in advance for any American ethnocentrisms that may manifest itself in this note. I'm sure there's a FIFA analogy to be had somewhere, but I'd be the last to
- [Note to CMO: The Customer as R&D Lab](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-customer-as-rd-lab/) - Dear CMO: The burdens of office weigh heavily upon you. Your shoulders slump like you’re carrying an anvil in your golf bag as you wonder aloud how you can keep a compatibility guide alive, staff an inbound customer contact center, and still manage to drive a little demand now and again with the paltry funding
- [Note to CMO: Seductive Ideas and the Harsh Light of Execution](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-seductive-ideas-and-the-harsh-light-of-execution/) - Dear CMO: We are in love with our own ideas. We often return and gaze at them for hours, losing time and purpose. We share these ideas with others because we're passionate about them and need to share how the world could be, or will be, after our idea has sprung to life. But
- [Note to CMO: Discovering What's Important](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-discovering-whats-important/) - Note to CMO: What's important? There is one thing that is more important than all the rest. What is it? Are you in the market to buy a new laptop? What's important? Is it battery life? Can you live without an integrated webcam and wifi access? What about screen size? A DVD player? Answer this:
- [Note to CMO: The Consistency Trap](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-consistency-trap/) - Dear CMO: People expect other people to be predictable. People like to be predictable, too. Usually, this works pretty well, except when it doesn't. When things change, for example, people don't always change with them. As a result -- and even when presented with overwhelming evidence -- we often are faced with opposite numbers who
- [Note to CMO: The Decline and Fall of Experts](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-decline-and-fall-of-experts/) - Dear CMO: I got an unexpected laugh the other day reading a pick up from Variety magazine on the success of the movie, “300”. Movie critics universally panned the film. And naturally, the audiences read the reviews, put down their newspapers, and went to see the movie in droves, setting new March box office records
- [Note to CMO: The Changing Perspective of "Premium"](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-changing-perspective-of-premium/) - Dear CMO: Your perspective changes once you’re acclimated yourself to a new experience, doesn’t it? Much like the study of wealth, happiness, or online banking, we quickly become accustomed to "magic" very quickly and then are instantly bored with it. Lottery winners aren't happier than low income earners any more than a late adopter with
- [Note to CMO: Adding Method to Message](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-adding-method-to-message/) - Dear CMO: In this election year, with presidential (and not-so-presidential) hopefuls criss-crossing the world, a fundamental… what? There isn’t an election this year? Right. Sorry. In this run-up to an election year, etc., etc., a fundamental lesson emerges for marketers that could benefit from further inspection. In the realm of public relations, there are more
- [Note to CMO: The Importance of Expectations](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-importance-of-expectations/) - Dear CMO: The promise of branding is that you will be able to count on a consistently delivered experience, time after time. When you pop open a Coke. When you go to Disneyland. When you order the hanger steak at Les Halles. You don’t want someone to “do it their way” with their own special
- [Note to CMO: Incendiary Statements](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-incendiary-statements/) - Dear CMO: Shout “that man is an axe-murderer!” in a courtroom. The defense attorney will bolt upright and splutter, “Objection! My client is NOT an axe-murderer! This is a tax evasion case!” You can then smoothly withdraw the statement, knowing the jury will hear nothing else for the duration except the echo of your words
- [Note to CMO: Pushing and Pulling Our Way to Mindshare](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-pushing-and-pulling-our-way-to-mindshare/) - Dear CMO: Do you know the definition of an ignoramus? An ignoramus is someone who doesn't know something you learned five minutes ago. We like it when we know things others don't because it makes us feel smart at some ignoramus's expense. In psychological terms, it's called "invidious comparison." You probably didn't know that. You
- [Note to CMO: Beware of Ducks Bearing Onions](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-beware-of-ducks-bearing-onions/) - Dear CMO: The elephant in the room. The 800 pound gorilla. Or, my favorite Japanese proverb, a “duck bearing onions.” These all generally speak to those things which we do not wish to acknowledge out of fear that their acknowledgement will destroy our carefully constructed self-delusions. We all know situations where stating the obvious is
- [Note to CMO: One Sheet of Marketing Wisdom](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-one-sheet-of-marketing-wisdom/) - Dear CMO: You may take a controversial stand some time at some point in your career. Disintermediate a long established channel by going direct, for example. Launch a product in a format or style long dominated by a chief competitor. Maybe launch an edgy ad campaign that the CEO’s mother doesn’t like. At all. All
- [Note to CMO: How Would You Use "The New Guy"?](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-how-would-you-use-the-new-guy/) - Dear CMO: Please welcome the new guy! He's a bit different than the other members on the team. No MBA for this one. Your new team member has a skill set you've never managed before. He will give you a functional capability you've never had before on staff. So what, as a manager and business
- [Note to CMO: The By-Products of Blogging](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-by-products-of-blogging/) - Dear CMO: I've heard a quote attributed to Jeff Bezos of Amazon that bears repeating, even if it isn't true. He was reputed to have asked, "Who is the best prospect for a Mexican cookbook? Someone who just bought a Mexican cookbook." I guess the corollary in the blogosphere is that the sure way to
- [Note to CMO: Moving Knowledge Like Product](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-moving-knowledge-like-product/) - Dear CMO: You've spent some time getting the messaging right, haven't you? I certainly hope so. We've talked about this enough. At this point, it's fair to say we've pretty much exhausted the topic. And after all this work, we've brought the team together, invited the field in to HQ, and collected our far flung
- [Note to CMO: Necessary Luxuries](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-necessary-luxuries/) - Dear CMO: I wrote up a personal story over at The Fix that will hopefully be up early next week about marketing the psychology of desire. Writing this piece sparked off a few ideas on the subject of what constitutes a “need” versus a “want.” Assuming there’s a difference, of course. Which is probably the
- [Note to CMO: Elevating Experience Over Product](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-elevating-experience-over-product/) - Dear CMO: Let’s keep pulling on this experience thread. We talked about products with unique experiences that are inherent to their use, from watches to home entertainment, in our last discussion. What about those products that might have subjectively normal to slightly above normal performance characteristics – unless you really know how to use them?
- [Note to CMO: And the Award Goes To...](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-and-the-award-goes-to/) - Dear CMO: Sorry not to have time for a proper sit down discussion like we usually do, but it's getting late here in the hotel where like time and tide, it seems that email and Power Point wait for no man. Serves me right for flying around visiting customers. Ah, the glamour of travel. Anyway.
- [Note to CMO: Moving the Pyramid](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-moving-the-pyramid/) - Dear CMO: We love High and To The Right. Nothing pumps the ego like premium positioning. There's plenty to suggest that starting here and "moving down-market" is a winning game plan, all things considered. You can slum your way to success in a lot of markets. There's another idea that appeals to me a lot,
- [Note to CMO: Winning at The Small Things](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-winning-at-the-small-things/) - Dear CMO: The problem with work is that we’re really busy. Too busy, sometimes, to understand how the impact of a small thing relates to the success of a big thing. And sometimes, winning at small things is more important that anything else. Here’s a story that animates this point from a few years ago.
- [Note to CMO: Where Did All the Information Go?](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-where-did-all-the-information-go/) - Dear CMO: I've got a question for you. You know all those trip reports you've been writing for the last ten or twenty years? Who exactly has been reading them? More importantly, what's happened to all the insight, dealer feedback, first person observations, and mid-trip epiphanies that you've spontaneously created over the course of a
- [Note to CMO: The Power of Silence](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-power-of-silence/) - Dear CMO: We are defined by the demands on our time. Our self-worth has become invariably connected to the number of emails and cell phone calls we receive, as long as they’re in public. Once, we collected coup; now we have vibrating Blackberries and knowing looks as we pick up incoming calls. “Sorry… I have
- [Note to CMO: How to Drown a Rat](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-how-to-drown-a-rat/) - Dear CMO:Rats are stubborn, gregarious, and adaptable. They are highly social animals that live in tightly controlled societies. They persevere and even thrive under difficult conditions. And yet rats get a bad rap. Apart from the fact that they’re highly destructive brutes and are almost always cast as antagonists in New Line Cinema features, they’re
- [Note to CMO: How to Land a Fish](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-how-to-land-a-fish/) - Dear CMO: We’ve discussed rats already. Let’s talk about fish. It’s hard to get worked up about fish. They have no discernable facial expressions. Their children aren’t cute. They’re just guppies or larvae or something. Regardless, there’s an interesting story about how to land a big fish. But first, let’s explore how not to land
- [Note to CMO: Thin Ice and "Not for Beginners"](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-thin-ice-and-not-for-beginners/) - Dear CMO: We don't often talk about beer over here, do we? But while we're on the subject, let's talk about the world famous Boston Beer Company's new Sam Adams commercial, where President Jim Koch drops this wonderful bomb: "Sam Adams is... not a beginner's beer." Why is this such a wonderful thing to say?
- [Note to CMO: Finding "Missing Persons"](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-finding-missing-persons/) - Dear CMO: This very important memo is about avoiding big career mistakes, so listen carefully. Trust me. I’ve made several. I’m acutely attuned to the sound of ice cracking beneath my feet. I’ve spent enough time in free-fall to have learned a lesson or two, so pay attention. You may not be in the right
- [Note to CMO: The New 7 Wonders of the World (Wide Web)](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-new-7-wonders-of-the-world-wide-web/) - Dear CMO: My brother made a side trip to Chichen Itza a few weeks ago while celebrating his 50th birthday down in Mexico. Apart from the full court press the locals put on everyone to vote for it -- his trip fell during the frenzied last moments of voting -- he apparently had a lot
- [Note to CMO: Whole Foods and How (Not) to Hide In Plain Sight](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-whole-foods-and-how-not-to-hide-in-plain-sight/) - Dear CMO: Dialog, "listening," "conversations," and a host of other tangibles and intangibles await the CMO who engages on a first-person basis with his or her constituents. We in the marketing community usually applaud company leaders who open themselves up in this fashion and talk to their customers in something other than "corporate speak." Which
- [Note to CMO: 8 Random Things](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-8-random-things/) - Dear CMO and all meme taggers: You really want to know eight random things about me? I think we did the "five" unique things a few months ago. Hopefully, we won't have to go to a dozen any time soon, because I'm running out of material. So, presented here, are my "8 Random Things," as
- [Note to CMO: Four Reasons to Hate Marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-four-reasons-to-hate-marketing/) - Dear CMO: I’m a marketer by genetic lottery, not by choice. It’s how I’m wired. I think about business problems against a marketing backdrop – how crafting the right story changes behavior, how influencing the influencers wins mindshare, and how leveraging the parts creates something greater than the whole. I have many reasons, therefore, to
- [Note to CMO: New School Tools vs. Old School Results](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-new-school-tools-vs-old-school-results/) - Dear CMO: This is an old theme and one we've certainly talked about before, but it's worth re-hashing again -- particularly in light of Ad Age broadcasting it in two separate but closely placed articles. The basic argument is the "digital, one-to-one, e-enabled" versus the "sell something" school of marketing. (Disclaimer: look, I know. I
- [Note to CMO: Killer Apes and Branding](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-killer-apes-and-branding/) - Dear CMO: I've just re-read Robert Ardrey's "African Genesis" after many years. If you haven't read this, go pick it up. Not only is Ardrey a wonderful writer, but he covers a universal topic that leads us in many directions, one of which is thankfully marketing. "Not in innocence, and not in Asia, was mankind
- [Note to CMO: the T-Shirt as a Social Medium](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-t-shirt-as-a-social-medium/) - Dear CMO: Spend half an hour in public and you, too, will be confronted with the reality that social media is alive and well in America. Unfortunately. No, this isn’t about blogging. Or podcasting. Not even about Twitter or YouTube or Facebook, MySpace, or anything nearly as trippy or hip as all that. It’s about
- [Note to CMO: Influence and Wearables](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-influence-and-wearables/) - Dear CMO: This is my last T-shirt post of the week, I promise. Looking back at my notes on Influence, though, kicks off a whole new set of reasons to praise the lowly T. To wit: Reciprocity: give someone a T-shirt and the relationship has begun. Want to get a higher conversion rate for a
- [Note to CMO: The (Tentative) Return of Authenticity](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-tentative-return-of-authenticity/) - Dear CMO: It almost reaffirms your belief that people are paying attention when you read that four of the top five insurance ads rated on believability and "impact" are from Allstate. The study, from Phoenix Marketing International, shows us an interesting trend: the top scores all go to Allstate's very real, very credible "Our Stand"
- [Nota al CMO: Il Futuro della Lingua](https://www.stephendenny.com/nota-al-cmo-il-futuro-della-lingua/) - Cher CMO: Une chose drôle s'est produite l'autre jour que j'ai pensé ferais un poteau fortement approprié de blog. Regardant par Technorati, j'ai noté qu'un lien d'un blogger que j'ai au début pensé blogging de France. Car elle s'est avérée, il était un Canadien français, soutenant un morceau que j'avais écrit dessus, naturellement, blogging. {Dear
- [Note to CMO: Copywriting vs. Copy(wronging)](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-copywriting-vs-copywronging/) - Dear CMO: It's a wise dog that scratches its own fleas. It's also a wise dog that punctuates the sentence correctly. It is a dog. Its fleas. Everyone gets this wrong. Unless they've read the first page of Strunk & White. Have you read this? Do you own one or two (or more) copies of
- [Note to CMO: Writing "Killing Giants"](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-writing-killing-giants/) - Dear CMO: We had a great series of conversations on how smaller companies or lesser brands can take out the giants in their industries a few months ago. It began as a one-off conversation which I named, "part one," in a rather flip manner. In all honesty, there wasn't a "part two" in mind at
- [Note to CMO: Thin Ice and Killing Words](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-thin-ice-and-killing-words/) - 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.
- [Note to CMO: Of Tazers, Teens and Tantrums](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-of-tazers-teens-and-tantrums/) - 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
- [Note to CMO: Why You Need the Washington Generals](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-why-you-need-the-washington-generals/) - 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
- [Note to CMO: Why We Hate Front-Runners](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-why-we-hate-front-runners/) - Dear CMO: Karen Hughes is stepping down at the end of the year. Her role in the Bush administration has been Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, responsible for burnishing the image of the United States in countries abroad with a communications budget reported to be $900 million or so. I
- [Note to CMO: Shortcuts and Laziness](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-shortcuts-and-laziness/) - Dear CMO: You're bored of your brand name, aren't you? And if you're bored, surely everyone else in your known world is, too, right? What we need is something fresh... something hip... something different than all that brand equity that has been built up for all those years by those other brand managers that came
- [Note to CMO: Marketing Sameness in a Different Way](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-marketing-sameness-in-a-different-way/) - Dear CMO: Seth Godin's Sunday post discusses (non) branding in an unbranded world, which he illustrates with a vignette from the mattress business. His point is that while many marketers are excited about entering an unbranded marketplace and attempting to create one, usually by outspending the field, they rarely succeed because their product -- like
- [Note to CMO: Coconuts, K-Fed and Framing](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-coconuts-k-fed-and-framing/) - Dear CMO: In the spirit of the blurry Starbucks photo the other day, behold the latest agri-business breakthrough product: the Easy Open Coconut(tm). This is no mere coconut, the commodity available on South Pacific desert islands from Hollywood to Bali Hai -- oh, no -- this one promises the elimination of the hassle, danger, and
- [Note to CMO: Fighting Drug Abuse and Creating Evangelists](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-fighting-drug-abuse-and-creating-evangelists/) - Dear CMO: If a sign of a sharp intellect is the ability to extract abstract concepts from one situation and apply them successfully to another, then we should practice this art of learning every chance we get. In theory, it should make us smarter people. In practice, it will certainly make us more effective as
- [Note to CMO: Brand Kata, Thinking Tools, and Not Taking Advice](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-brand-kata-thinking-tools-and-not-taking-advice/) - Dear CMO: Basaidai begins with ten blocks, if I recall correctly. An old friend, who was a fifth degree black belt, once wisely told me that any fight that begins with ten blocks isn't going very well. I'd love to think that I actually broke ten arms as I began basaidai, but that's probably wishful
- [Note to CMO: Putting "Faith" and "Marketing" in the Same Sentence (Without Getting Hit by Lightning)](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-putting-faith-and-marketing-in-the-same-sentence-without-getting-hit-by-lightning/) - Dear CMO: I couldn't think of a controversial topic, so let's talk about faith-based marketing. First, a clear and open admission. I'm not a faith-based marketing expert. Never gone down this path. Not once. But there's a story to tell here, so stick with me. Here's my first impression. Marketing through faith-based channels has got
- [Note to CMO: If You're in Marketing, Why Are You So Hard to Find?](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-if-youre-in-marketing-why-are-you-so-hard-to-find/) - Dear CMO: Do you work for a highly specialized marketing services company that has created a defensible niche in a highly profitable market? Can you do things that other companies just can't do - maybe you're faster, or more thorough, or more efficient? Can I ask you a question? Can anyone find you? If I
- [Note to CMO: Fooling Your Customers Profitably](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-fooling-your-customers-profitably/) - Dear CMO: I remember reading a wonderful vignette about Japanese spice manufacturer Ajinomoto some time back that described how the marketing team increased volume in a flat market. We can all relate to this type of Monday morning meeting, where everyone is trying to be creative but practical in thinking up ways to get their
- [Note to CMO: Double-Talk and Marketing Credibility](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-double-talk-and-marketing-credibility/) - "For 2007, I intend to broaden use of marketing drivers, drive innovation (including business models and both incremental & breakthrough solutions) and advance use of customer loyalty to drive action planning to further organic growth objectives." -- from the CMO Council's Marketing Outlook 2007 Dear CMO: This, from the CMO Council. Want to know why
- [Note to CMO: Conversion and Finishing the Job](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-conversion-and-finishing-the-job/) - Dear CMO: You spend weeks of hard work developing a PPC campaign to drive more traffic to your site, but the landing page only gets a full fifteen minutes of thought. Clicks are way up, but conversion is flat. Visit to store is fine; store to close? All you hear is crickets. It takes twelve
- [Note to CMO: Red Cars, Accidents and Causality](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-red-cars-accidents-and-causality/) - Dear CMO: I swear I'm a Seth Godin fan. I don't mean to take issue with everything he writes about, because I think his posts are thought provoking and almost always on target. Did you catch the "Apple's Next Problem" post? Walking into a Starbucks, the author notes that out of five people observed, all
- [Note to CMO: Leading, Managing, and None of the Above](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-leading-managing-and-none-of-the-above/) - Dear CMO: I've had this conversation many times in the past few years and it's worth repeating here to a wider audience because it holds a universal meaning for all of us in business. You can be a leader without being a manager. You can be a manager without leading. You can also be neither
- [Note to CMO: I Am Legend](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-i-am-legend/) - Dear CMO: I'm not sure if I'll see I Am Legend -- I have to walk outside in the dark, you know, and I don't want to attract the unwanted attention of any more zombies than absolutely necessary -- but there's a few very interesting phenomena that makes it worth commenting on. 1. Retro is
- [Note to CMO: 2008 and The End of The Year of Nonsense](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-2008-and-the-end-of-the-year-of-nonsense/) - Dear CMO: In the spirit of trying to show some type of direction for the new year, let's see if we can put some body English on 2008 and see if we can steer ourselves onto firmer ground. Here are a small handful of fearless predictions for the new year. The Age of Nonsense will
- [Note to CMO: How to Not See Patterns](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-how-to-not-see-patterns/) - Dear CMO: The World Bank released a report restating China’s real GDP downward by 40%. That’s a lot. It seems that with all of the highly sophisticated modeling that goes on to determine GDP, a very basic assumption – namely the relevance of converting currency into US Dollars, so we can all compare apples to
- [Note to CMO: Authority, Consensus, and Green Envy](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-authority-consensus-and-green-envy/) - Dear CMO: I've got a piece going up at The Daily Fix shortly on The "Green" Bandwagon. I could just as easily called this "Green Envy." Or how about "Green Confusion"? Any or all of the above works. The point is that the groundswell of half-understood science and pop culture has propelled "green" into mainstream
- [Note to CMO: Contrast Phenomenon, Authority and "Green"](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-contrast-phenomenon-authority-and-green/) - Dear CMO: No, not Lewis Green -- I mean "green", as in the last post. Consider this a quick post-it attached to the previous memo. Lewis' comment spurred another thought that warranted a separate piece, so I wanted to share it. The Fujitsu "biodegradable laptop" discussion is ripe for two approaches, both of which highlight
- [Note to CMO: Contrast, Framing, and the Cynic](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-contrast-framing-and-the-cynic/) - “Our Assumptions Determine Everything.” Monimus the Cynic The Cynic was right. Our assumptions determine everything, from the prices of commodities to whether we like the third ad concept the agency has shown us. What comes first is our frame of reference; what follows either looks bigger or smaller by comparison, depending on where our understanding
- [Note to CMO: The Social Psychology of Blogging](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-social-psychology-of-blogging/) - Dear CMO: The CMO Council’s 2008 Outlook asked its readership what sources they trusted most for marketing insight, information and best practices and found that “peers” were the most influential. Word of mouth usually comes in #1. And blogs? Blogs were dead last. This is very interesting stuff. Let’s take a deeper look (unless you
- [Note to CMO: The Hardness of Soft Skills](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-hardness-of-soft-skills/) - Dear CMO: Soft skills aren't soft. They're bloody hard. "Hard" means, "I can measure the return on investment, the incremental lift in unit sell-through, and the increases in customer loyalty, and therefore, it's true." 'Hard' skills mean I have mastered four-function math. "Soft" skills require an understanding of human brain science, the psychology of influence,
- [Note to CMO: Ideas, Execution, and the Pitfall of "Next"](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-ideas-execution-and-the-pitfall-of-next/) - Dear CMO: Akio Morita, my old boss back in the day, was a great fan of the "ready, shoot, aim" school of business. Don't over-think things. Let inspiration do its work and you do yours and we'll all do fine. I didn't really buy into all that at the time -- which was a good
- [Note to CMO: Starbucks, Sharper Image, and The Tao of Focus](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-starbucks-sharper-image-and-the-tao-of-focus/) - Dear CMO: It has been said that the jackrabbit knows many things, while the hedgehog knows one thing -- very well. Multi-tasking notwithstanding, recent news items seem to show the virtue of the hedgehog in newer light. Sharper Image is declaring bankruptcy. I don't follow Sharper Image anymore, as they never figured largely into any
- [Note to CMO: Context is King](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-context-is-king/) - Dear CMO: My nine year old son told me last week that he reluctantly had to fire his math teacher. His class is split into two groups, one the advanced group he was originally assigned to and the other moving at a standard pace. His work was fine -- he was getting good grades and
- [Note to CMO: The Power of Unbranding](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-power-of-unbranding/) - 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
- [Note to CMO: Inspiration from Elsewhere -- Miki House](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-inspiration-from-elsewhere-miki-house/) - 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
- [Note to CMO: Consistency and The Need to Re-Interpret the Obvious](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-consistency-and-the-need-to-re-interpret-the-obvious/) - 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
- [Note to CMO: Absolut Unintended Consequences](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-absolut-unintended-consequences/) - 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
- [Note to CMO: There Are No Strategic Problems, Only Personality Problems](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-there-are-no-strategic-problems-only-personality-problems/) - 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
- [Note to CMO: Creativity versus Creation](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-creativity-versus-creation/) - Dear CMO: If you're tired of the conversation that starts, "... I wonder what the Future of Marketing will look like," or maybe, "... what do YOU think marketing's role is in the modern corporation..." you'd be forgiven. I'd understand completely. I'm sick of it, too. We talked about this back in the day when
- [Note to CMO: Spotting the "Tell"](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-spotting-the-tell/) - Dear CMO: Do you play poker? Ever since poker became a spectator sport, it’s kind of lost a bit of its luster for me, but my ten year old loves Texas Hold ‘Em. He’s all in, all the time. Sometimes, he won’t even look at his cards. Of course, he knows he’s playing with me,
- [Note to CMO: 3 Marketing Lessons from Natan Sharansky](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-3-marketing-lessons-from-natan-sharansky/) - Dear CMO: The Case for Democracy is hardly a standard marketing textbook. But then again, we said that about Mao's On Guerrilla Warfare and about Seneca's letters, so it's in good company. Sharansky discusses his own experiences in exile within the old Soviet Union as well as his reflections on geopolitics in general in this
- [Note to CMO: Making it Easier to Get to "Yes"](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-making-it-easier-to-get-to-yes/) - Dear CMO: Are we in a recession? No? It feels like it. Probably because the media believes that any economic growth less than "exuberant" means we're heading for the breadlines and soup kitchens. Anyway. Let's agree that everyone in a position to buy whatever it is you sell is nervous right now, so selling is
- [Note to CMO: Experts Beat Evangelists](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-experts-beat-evangelists/) - Dear CMO: We've discussed the role that highly engaged users play in your brand ecosystem. Throw a virtual rock in the blogosphere and you'll hit three posts that are all a-Twitter over evangelists and why creating them is so smart. And don't get me started about blogs about blogging. Not many talk about the "how,"
- [Note to CMO: The Pitfalls of Consistency (or, Learning to Love Your Hubris)](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-pitfalls-of-consistency-or-learning-to-love-your-hubris/) - Dear CMO: I've heard three pieces of good news over the past few weeks. First, I understand that the feared AIDS epidemic within the heterosexual communities of developed countries is no longer a threat, according to the World Health Organization. Second, I learned that not only is the US not in a recession but that
- [Note to CMO: Experts Redux](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-experts-redux/) - Dear CMO: Do you know what a skip tooth chain is? If you own a chainsaw, a skip tooth chain is a steak knife. It cuts at roughly twice the speed of the comparatively meek sounding "homeowner's chain." Why did I have to learn about this from the guy who trims my trees? (Just for
- [The Yin and Yang of Retail](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-yin-and-yang-of-retail/) - Dear CMO: I hate it when retailers tell me what I can’t do. I hate hearing that they’ve got a “clean floor policy” and that my signage doesn’t match their color scheme. I hate hearing that they won’t accept value-added promotions because they’d rather have us pass the savings on to them. I’d rather play
- [Note to CMO: The Dubious Strategy of Apologies and Retractions](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-dubious-strategy-of-apologies-and-retractions/) - Dear CMO: We're marketers. We're edgy. We love cool, we live hip, and swing for the upper deck. That's why we usually dress in black, which is a subject for another post on another day. But this is also why we love to go out on the absolute edge of creative license and pick up
- [Note to CMO: Separating Leaders from Ideas (and the Aikido of Consistency)](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-separating-leaders-from-ideas-and-the-aikido-of-consistency/) - Dear CMO: Once our snap judgments paint the Rorschach test-like image of a person or an idea in our minds, it’s hard for us to objectively change our minds. If a new player is deemed to be “good,” then they are given wider latitude and their actions are viewed with more forgiveness than those deemed,
- [Note to CMO: Powerlines and When to Keep Them](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-powerlines-and-when-to-keep-them/) - Dear CMO: Brandweek tells us that Memorex is soon to launch its first branding effort since the 70's. Well, welcome back, in any case. What I find interesting is that Memorex has decided to change its tag line. Quick -- close your eyes and tell me what Memorex's tag line is. Can you? Are you
- [Note to CMO: Minding Your Capability Gap](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-minding-your-capability-gap/) - Dear CMO: You need to begin a dialog with key stakeholders in a complex market, full of misunderstandings and competitors. You need to start a blog with multiple authors, clearly articulated roles for each writer, and enough discipline to ensure that solid content gets published early and often. The problem is, everyone agrees and no
- [Note to CMO: Hubris, the Dow, and Your Business](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-hubris-the-dow-and-your-business/) - Dear CMO: Hubris is what happens when you think you don’t have to try anymore. Your “brand equity” is better than Brand X – or of Brand Z.com, that pesky start-up that is responsible for half of your PR pick-ups over the past sixty days, none of which are flattering. Hubris is when you think
- [Note to CMO: Doubling Your ROI by Winning in the Last 3 Feet](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-doubling-your-roi-by-winning-in-the-last-3-feet/) - Dear CMO: Think of how much more effective your marketing budget would be if you asked three more questions: Question #1: OK, now that we're done with our campaign planning and understand all the final execution-level details... what happens next? Question #2: OK, now what do we do? Question #3: Got it, now what? Pretty
- [Note to CMO: Winning the Micro Game in a Macro Disaster](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-winning-the-micro-game-in-a-macro-disaster/) - Dear CMO: Don't read the paper. Forget looking at Drudge. Skip the news entirely. They're all going to tell you that the world is going straight to hell without the benefit of the handbasket that we paid 0% down on only a few short years ago. You can win at a micro level, regardless of
- [Note to CMO: Don't Fall in Love with Typeface](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-dont-fall-in-love-with-typeface/) - Dear CMO: I had the chance to catch up with writer, inventor, speaker and philosopher Roger van Oech on the phone last week. Roger has been very helpful in shepherding Killing Giants along, which is a euphemistic expression for 'keeping me on track.' In his gentle manner, Roger warned me about the pitfalls of what Robert
- [Note to CMO: Seizing the Microphone in Difficult Times](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-seizing-the-microphone-in-difficult-times/) - Dear CMO: While drafting up what is currently looking like Chapter 8 in Killing Giants, I stumbled upon an interesting comparison of targeting that bears further discussion. Who we choose to talk to in our market is a pretty significant and strategic choice we make, as is how we choose to communicate. We often read
- [Note to CMO: Constraints and Innovation](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-constraints-and-innovation/) - Dear CMO: It’s often said that your average consumer is a lousy artist but a wonderfully articulate art critic. I think this is true for several reasons, none of which have anything to do with artistic ability. When left to our own intellectual devices, we tend to wander. Ask a group of eight behind the
- [Note to CMO: Competing on Price. Yes, on Price.](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-competing-on-price-yes-on-price/) - Dear CMO: Why do people say “discount” like it’s a bad word? This is nonsense. If you’re in a price elastic market and occasionally sell your wares to non-millionaire playboys, pricing is often the difference between window shopping and revenue. We don’t always have to confuse “marketing” with “premium positioning,” although this happens more often
- [Note to CMO: Selling Marketing to Non-Marketers (Abridged)](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-selling-marketing-to-non-marketers-abridged/) - Dear CMO: You and I have seen this movie a thousand times. Someone with little comfort in the marketing discipline says, "we don't need to do 'marketing'... this is what my sales people are supposed to do all day long..." One of several things probably happens to you at a time like this. The twitch comes back. You slowly
- [Note to CMO: Nine Rules for 2009](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-nine-rules-for-2009/) - Dear CMO: It’s that time of year, when pundits of all shapes, readerships and sizes put their prognostications out for all to see. We won’t spend too much time on last year’s resolutions for fear of dwelling on the past. Next question, please. If a quick glance at Drudge tells us anything, it’s not a
- [Note to CMO: Up Cards, Down Cards, and How Texas Hold'em Teaches You Marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-up-cards-down-cards-and-how-texas-holdem-teaches-you-marketing/) - Dear CMO: In Texas Hold 'Em, you've got up cards -- ones that everyone can see -- and down cards -- the ones that are face down, that only you can see. Same as in marketing. We all have the obvious, the face-value, and the surface issues. I want performance. I want a lower cost.
- [Note to CMO: Influence, Money & Changing Behavior](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-influence-money-changing-behavior/) - Dear CMO: It’s counter-intuitive, I know, but money rarely changes anything. Certainly not behavior. Look at lottery winners. Or Scarface. Martina Navratilova has the best quote about money, summing it up thusly: “Money can’t buy happiness, but it does make misery much more tolerable.” There you go. Money changes very little in the way of
- [Note to CMO: The 7 Deadly Sins of Marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-7-deadly-sins-of-marketing/) - Dear CMO: A colleague and I got onto the state of marketing and what characterises how things typically go wrong. And when you need to categorize what's wrong with the human condition, I usually default to the 7 Deadly Sins. To anyone who says they're unfamiliar with them, here's a reminder: sloth, envy, lust, greed, pride,
- [Note to CMO: Ten Ways to Optimize Returns on Integrated Marketing Campaigns Using the Social Psychology of Influence](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-ten-ways-to-optimize-returns-on-integrated-marketing-campaigns-using-the-social-psychology-of-influence/) - Dear CMO: Just a "post-it" today, but an important one. Here's 10 plus 1 on how to maximize your returns on integrated marketing campaigns by working smarter. 1. Gifts are always more valuable than rewards. Ask yourself what you can do for your target before you look for ways to profit from them. Can you
- [Note to CMO: Home Court Advantage and 3 Rules for Successful Project Implementation](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-home-court-advantage-three-rules-for-successful-project-implementation/) - Dear CMO: Once upon a time, a very long time ago, I was a tennis player. In high school, our home courts were split between two locations. Our satellite courts were rough as sandpaper, which slowed the game down to a snail’s pace, and had nets with no center straps. They were 3’ 6” high the whole way across – not
- [The Art of Strategic Shifting](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-art-of-strategic-shifting/) - Things have changed. Everyone feels differently about whatever it is you sell. Economic uncertainty makes people act differently, even when they used to buy lots of your stuff. Your problems are now different problems. So your approach needs to strategically shift. My friend and favorite psychology bodhisattva, Dr. Steven Feinberg, writes at length about the
- [Note to CMO: How to "Strategically Shift" On Purpose](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-why-doing-the-right-thing-is-hard/) - Dear CMO: You invest thousands of dollars in training for your team and their habits don't change. You read countless books on business, marketing, influence, psychology, ethnography, neuro-marketing, etc., ad nauseum, and for some reason, things never seem to change. "But these are great insights!" you'll tell me. "I think this is something I can
- [Note to CMO: Buzz Happens When Scarcity Meets Authority](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-buzz-happens-when-scarcity-meets-authority/) - Dear CMO: We’ve talked often about how reciprocity and liking play into the signal strength of your social media and branding message. One area we haven’t discussed at length is the role of scarcity and it’s been hiding in plain sight as one of the most powerful tools in your online arsenal. Scarcity is buzz.
- [Note to CMO: Seven Rules for Creating Demand in Hard Times](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-seven-rules-for-creating-demand-in-hard-times/) - Dear CMO: For every pundit who proclaims that smart brands don’t cut marketing in bad economic times there are a thousand business owners who know differently. Everything tightens up when demand is down and marketing is no exception. Why do we assume we shouldn’t cut marketing when everyone – including us! – is reducing what
- [Note to CMO: Three Examples of How Speed and Focus Win in Bad Times](https://www.stephendenny.com/376/) - Dear CMO: “For every pundit who proclaims that smart brands don’t cut marketing in bad economic times there are a thousand business owners who know differently.” But when should you listen to these pundits and actually increase your marketing spend in bad economic times? Here are three cases to consider: When our marketing puts us
- [Note to CMO: Unreasonable Requests](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-unreasonable-requests/) - Dear CMO: Disruption has a way of throwing out old rules of convention. What is normal in times of good fortune doesn’t always apply when things are going down the drain. For those of us who have been around the block for more than one (or two) of these downturns, we can think back and
- [Note to CMO: Eigen Functions and Branding Your Culture](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-eigen-functions-and-branding-your-culture/) - Dear CMO: I chased an idea through Google today, looking for a reference and ended up poring through cybernetics, Eigen-behaviors, the artwork of Boetti and the writings of Heinz Von Foerester. It was the idea of the Eigen function that hit a branding nerve and has brought me out of my work-induced flow state to
- [Note to CMO: What Else Testimonials Can Do](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-what-else-testimonials-can-do/) - Dear CMO: You know what else testimonials can do? You already know that they help you close new customers because under conditions of uncertainty we always look to many similar others to help us figure things out. We “satisfice.” We go with the first acceptable answer and move on, because we’re really very busy. But
- [Note to CMO: Up Cards, Down Cards and Michael Vick](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-up-cards-down-cards-and-michael-vick/) - Dear CMO: Whether you choose to call this "crisis management" or "brand management" or "message management" or just plain good judgment is up to you. This isn't a football post. It isn't even about Michael Vick, the soon to be released inmate who may or may not return to a life of professional football. It's
- [Note to CMO: Moments of Power, Redux](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-moments-of-power-redux/) - Dear CMO: When last we talked, we over-analyzed a poor coffee shop employee who fumbled a wonderful opportunity to create a "word-of-mouth-worthy" moment. Ah. These things happen (literally all the time, in every customer facing business, all day long. Not to belabor the point). What makes it worth revisiting is that my colleague and I were
- [Note to CMO: More on Developing "Trance States"](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-more-on-developing-trace-states/) - Dear CMO: I've got a new post up over at The Daily Fix on Creating Trance States - take a look if you haven't seen it. The back story is that while installing a new printer over the weekend, I saw a vivid example of how one company deals with the timeless problem of what to
- [Note to CMO: Getting Unstuck](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-getting-unstuck/) - Dear CMO: You’re stuck. Admit it. Whatever you’ve been trying to do has ground to a halt and you’ve been staring at that same patch of dead air before your eyes for 20 minutes. You want to believe you’ll burst into action any second now, but the reality is, you won’t. Because you’re stuck. We’re
- [The Evil of Satisficing](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-evil-of-satisficing/) - I have met the greatest of all evils and its name is Satisficing. OK, it’s not a name, per se, but a mashup of two words – satisfy and suffice. Squint and you could probably find the real meaning in there, too – sacrifice. Satisficing is the greatest of all evils. Here’s why.
- [Note to CMO: Wants, Needs and Being a Better Referee ](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-wants-needs-and-being-a-better-referee/) - Dear CMO: Ed Rush is the former head of all NBA referees and now runs clinics for those who aspire to greater things in their refereeing careers. He had trouble filling his early clinics, and the evolution of his positioning is a lesson to anyone selling solutions to smart people. What do referees need to progress in their profession? According to Ed, the answer is “become better referees.” The problem is that referees don’t think they need to get better. They think they’re already pretty good.
- [Note to CMO: Marketing as Art and Science](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-marketing-as-art-and-science/) - Dear CMO: Is marketing an art or a science? This is a more important question than the typical "chicken versus egg" treatment it usually gets because it sets up two questions: First, what sort of marketer are you? Are you an "artist" or a "technocrat"? A Branson or a ... well, "technocrat"? Some gravitate to
- [Note to CMO: Why Twitter is Good for the NFL](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-why-twitter-is-good-for-the-nfl/) - Dear CMO: The NFL thinks Twitter is bad for business, which confuses me as a marketer. I need someone at the NFL to tell me why banning their players, coaches and operations personnel from using social media 90 minutes before games and until post-game is wrapped up makes sense for their brand. As marketers, we’re
- [Note to CMO: Anchor Points and Presenting Your Case First ](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-anchor-points-and-presenting-your-case-first/) - Dear CMO: Once upon a time, I wrote a piece describing the last time I entered an oriental carpet store with the intention of buying a rug. I bring it up again because it clearly animates how anchor points control our perceptions – and perceptions control what we think and do, which makes them worth
- [Note to CMO: Rio and The Map](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-rio-and-the-map/) - 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
- [Note to CMO: Anwar Sadat, the Nobel Peace Prize and the Psychology of Influence](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-anwar-sadat-the-nobel-peace-prize-and-the-psychology-of-influence/) - 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.
- [Note to CMO: Eric Ryan, Method and the Joys of Being an Outsider](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-eric-ryan-method-and-the-joys-of-being-an-outsider/) - 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
- [Robin Li, Herman Mashaba and "Being One of Us"](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-robin-li-herman-mashaba-and-being-one-of-us/) - 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
- [Note to CMO: Joe Louis, Billy Conn and the Importance of Focus](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-joe-louis-billy-conn-and-the-importance-of-focus/) - 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
- [Note to CMO: Jim Koch & What Giants Can't Do](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-jim-koch-what-giants-cant-do/) - Dear CMO: “Could a giant do what we do? It would be difficult because it’s not what they’re good at. They’re good at mass producing, very cost effectively, beers that appeal to the mass market... it’s not outside their capabilities, but it’s like McDonalds… could McDonalds make filet mignon? Sure, but it’s not the business they’re
- [Note to CMO: What Hostage Negotiation Teaches Us About Business](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-what-hostage-negotiation-teaches-us-about-business/) - Dear CMO: Nothing you do in your work day is as important as what Victor Bazan does in his. I met Vic through a mutual friend. He describes what he does in an off-hand manner, the way you or I would talk about how we dole out marketing development dollars to a difficult buyer. We
- [Note to CMO: Seeing What Others Don't See and Parking Your Car for $12 a Month](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-seeing-what-others-dont-see-and-parking-your-car-for-12-a-month/) - Dear CMO: I’m going to get this story slightly wrong because I forgot exactly where I heard it or read it, but hopefully the meaning will be clear enough. I’m sharing this with you for one big reason: if you squint at it and think of ways to apply it to what you’re doing, it
- [Note to CMO: Storytelling, Persuasion and Death by Power Point ](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-storytelling-persuasion-and-death-by-power-point/) - Dear CMO: “When you do a Power Point presentation, you hide everything negative behind your statistics and your quotes from authority. You hide all the problems, everything that didn’t work. When you tell a story, the whole gist is to admit the negative side, then dramatize the positive side of how the courageous little company
- [Note to CMO: Flanker Brands, Sergio Zyman and Unfair Advantages](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-flanker-brands-sergio-zyman-and-unfair-advantages/) - Dear CMO: “Snapple was a freight train. Everybody was saying in those days colas are dead everybody’s dead and this is the new stuff. We came up with this brand Fruitopia. I remember a reporter asking at a press conference, saying this is a me-too brand. And I said, you bet this is a me-too
- [The Launch of Decision Triggers: How to Use the Secret Weapon of Influence in Marketing + Sales](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-decision-triggers-the-newsletter-and-secret-weapons/) - Dr. Steven Feinberg – who I’ve often quoted here – and I first figured out that the psychology of influence could dramatically impact outbound marketing campaigns close to ten years ago. I was running channel marketing at Plantronics and he was working with the senior staff there on organizational development – basically, getting lots of
- [Note to CMO: Go Daddy, Apple’s “Think Different,” and the Point of Marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-go-daddy-apple’s-“think-different”-and-the-point-of-marketing/) - “Apple’s ad agency collected the 1998 Emmy Award for best commercial, the 1998 Silver Clio, and the 1998 Silver Lion at Cannes. The company’s revenues dropped for the next three quarters in a row.” Quote from Sergio Zyman from his book, The End of Advertising as We Know It: “We had a tremendous surge in
- [Note to CMO: Changing How the World Thinks](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-changing-how-the-world-thinks/) - "Our mission has always been to change how America thinks about beer." Jim Koch, Founder of The Boston Beer Company, now the largest American-owned brewery. Dear CMO: Jim Koch clearly laid out his vision for The Boston Beer Company to me in a discussion we had a few months ago. Reading these words belies the
- [The 3 Rules to Delivering Perfect 2-Person Presentations ](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-3-rules-to-delivering-perfect-2-person-presentations/) - Do you remember Bobby Riggs? The famous tennis player who very late in life played Billie Jean King in the Battle of the Sexes? Bobby was a hustler, and he played for money after his pro career. He’d take on local tennis pro’s with his shoe laces tied together. Or they could hit in the
- [Abandoning Your Competition (and Taking Your Customers With You!)](https://www.stephendenny.com/abandoning-your-competition-and-taking-your-customers-with-you/) - Convincing your customers that they’re doing it wrong is often an uphill battle. We're all resistant to change. And when your customer base is comprised of highly educated people who are in positions of authority, this becomes even harder. How do you teach these hard to persuade experts that there's a better way? You let everyone
- [The 1st Rule of Winning from a 17-Year NFL Veteran](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-1st-rule-of-winning-from-a-17-year-nfl-veteran/) - "I remember going back and watching the Cleveland Browns with Jimmy Brown and Bobby Mitchell in the backfield. And I thought, wow, what a remarkable set of backs. I was in college. And suddenly I’m playing against Bobby Mitchell. It’s still clear in my mind. I was so intimidated. I didn’t know, even if
- [Bob Parsons on Controversy, the Upside of Outrage and Why His Ads Are Better Than Yours](https://www.stephendenny.com/bob-parsons-on-controversy-the-up-side-of-outrage-and-why-his-ads-are-better-than-yours/) - "In some respects, it seems like I’m one of the few guys in the world who understands that ads are meant to sell stuff." Bob Parsons, founder and CEO of Go Daddy. I make it a habit to defend Go Daddy on principle because of that quote, above. I don’t need to, in all honesty,
- [The 3 Hidden Gems in the Pepsi Challenge: More Notes from My Conversation with Sergio Zyman](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-3-hidden-gems-in-the-pepsi-challenge-more-notes-from-my-conversation-with-sergio-zyman/) - My interview with Sergio Zyman on the Pepsi Challenge is included in my upcoming book, Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath in Your Industry, to be published on March 31, 2011 by Portfolio. Join my advanced notice mailing list here. "The brilliance of the strategy was that they were filming these people
- [Training with Bare Knuckles + Customer Insight ](https://www.stephendenny.com/training-with-bare-knuckles-customer-insight/) - There’s a reason why taping your wrists is a lousy way to train on a heavy bag. You will never, ever get in a fight with a heavy bag at the precise moment that you've just taped your wrists and put on your gloves. This is why so many training programs are useless when it comes to
- [BP, Laura Ries, Brand Trust and Emerging from Disasters Stronger than Ever](https://www.stephendenny.com/bp-laura-rees-and-brand-credibility/) - BP and its CEO Tony Hayward are dealing with a catastrophe the size and scope of which few in modern times have been called upon to deal with, but by balancing open communication, accountability and a mission that rivals the Apollo 13 rescue, they have the chance to do more than just weather this storm
- [Red Bull Racing and Creating Cultures of Speed](https://www.stephendenny.com/red-bull-racing-and-creating-cultures-of-speed/) - In 2010, new Formula 1 governing body rules eliminated refueling in pit stops, which ironically returned the race to a test of speed not just for the drivers and machines but for the pit crews who change four tires in under 3.5 seconds. I spoke to Ole Schack, the #2 mechanic on Red Bull Racing’s
- [Method, Mother Earth and the Court of Popular Opinion](https://www.stephendenny.com/method-mother-earth-and-the-court-of-popular-opinion/) - Big competitors can wait you out. They’ve got more lawyers than you have employees and pockets deep enough to swallow your whole company. And between you and me, when the lawyers get involved, they are typically the only ones to benefit. So when you get the formal declaration of corporate war via certified mail lambasting you
- [Competing with Your Customers (Without Losing Them): Vibram Five Fingers](https://www.stephendenny.com/competing-with-your-customers-without-losing-them-vibram-five-fingers/) - Jumping across the chasm from business-to-business component supplier to branded, finished goods marketer is a risky business. Not only do you find yourself playing in a radically different game, where consumer engagement drives your success, but you also must contend with the fact that your current OEM customers – the ones keeping your company afloat
- [Three Reasons Why Domino's Re-Launch Worked](https://www.stephendenny.com/three-reasons-why-dominos-re-launch-worked/) - Here’s three reasons why Domino’s sales are up 14.3% since their re-launch: The science says that we gain credibility when we argue against our own perceived self-interest. Saying, “we need to get better” is strong stuff for a brand. This is source credibility and it’s a powerful motivator. It taps our decision triggers and moves
- [GAP, Project (RED) and Releasing Creativity](https://www.stephendenny.com/gap-project-red-and-releasing-creativity/) - "GAP is a good example of a brand that really wasn’t doing anything interesting in the marketplace. And all of a sudden, there it was and it came from the soul of the company. We didn’t give it to them. I say this from having worked there for 10 years. That vibe and that passion
- [Why Porsche Should Have Said Yes.](https://www.stephendenny.com/why-porsche-should-have-said-yes/) - Think of a game of chicken. You remember the movie, Rebel Without A Cause, with James Dean? Two “youts” in stolen cars, driving headlong towards each other on a deserted road. The first one to swerve out of the way is the “chicken.” Seems to be an odd choice of game theory played out in
- [The Power of Ritual + How to Tap It ](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-power-of-ritual-how-to-tap-it/) - I had a quick Twitter exchange with Mark Oakes (@MarkOOakes) and Ted Coine (@tedcoine) last week that started with a simple question: “Beyond hiring right, how do you ensure change happens after you, as the consultant, have left?” Instilling change is more like chiropractic than surgery. It’s lots of small shifts and not one haymaker
- [Shutting Up the Monkey's Lawyer: Avoiding the #1 Pitfall in Project Planning](https://www.stephendenny.com/shutting-up-the-monkeys-lawyer/) - The monkey’s lawyer threatened swift and decisive action to defend his client, which upon reflection forced me to question a lot of decisions I'd made in my life up to that point. But enough about the monkey and his attorney for now. Let me digress a moment and tell a story that has a happier
- [Old Spice, Viral Ads and The Ad Your Ad Could Smell Like ](https://www.stephendenny.com/old-spice-viral-ads-and-the-ad-your-ad-could-smell-like/) - Hello, marketers. Look at your ad. Now back at me. Now back at your ad. Now back to me. Sadly, your ad didn’t sell anything. But if it stopped trying to be comedy and remembered that ads were supposed to sell stuff, it could act like me. Look down. Back up. Where are we? We’re
- [This Sentence has 5ive Words](https://www.stephendenny.com/this-sentence-has-5ive-words/) - Welcome #Kaizenblog! “This sentence has five words.” Is there any rational person out there who wants to debate this point? Probably not. It’s self-defining. It’s obvious. When we say, “This sentence has five words,” we are presenting our listener with a truism. It is, by its own definition, correct. This is an Eigen Value,
- [Three Key Lessons on Creating Self-Defining Brands: Kaizenblog, Eigen Values + the Crucible of Public Debate](https://www.stephendenny.com/three-key-lessons-on-creating-self-defining-brands-kaizenblog-eigen-values-the-crucible-of-public-debate/) - "This Sentence Has 5ive Words: Eigen Values, Creating Truisms + the Future of Marketing" is being voted on for publishing at ChangeThis! Will you help publish this e-book? Click "yes, publish it!" HERE. This Sentence Has 5ive Words. Last Friday’s Kaizenblog Tweet Chat discussed Eigen Values, self-defining brands and the power of consistency. We had
- [Are Systems More Important than Star Players? A Twitter Conversation w/ Tom Peters, Mike Myatt + Roger van Oech](https://www.stephendenny.com/are-systems-more-important-than-star-players-a-twitter-conversation-w-tom-peters-mike-myatt-roger-van-oech/) - In the best of all possible worlds, you’d have a team comprised of star players working within a superior system. You’d win Super Bowls, collect industry accolades and generally kick every potential competitor to the curb. If only it were that easy. It isn’t. But the conversations that circle this balancing act are fascinating and I’d
- [Why Do Brand Stories Work? The Societal, Cultural and Physical Reasons Why. ](https://www.stephendenny.com/why-do-brand-stories-work-the-societal-cultural-and-physical-reasons-why/) - We’re all storytellers. Regardless of whether you’re a writer grinding out your first screenplay or a CEO staring into the blank eyes of your board members, your first and most important job is capturing your audience’s imagination. Why? Because stories capture our imagination in a way that lessons, recitation of facts and research can’t. When
- [The Ground Zero Mosque, Camcorder Format Wars + Controlling the Narrative](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-ground-zero-mosque-camcorder-format-wars-controlling-the-narrative/) - Want to help me get "This Sentence Has 5ive Words: Eigen Values, Creating Truisms + the Future of Marketing" published on 800 CEO READ's ChangeThis.com? Click "yes, publish it!" HERE. “Will its tapes play in my VCR?” These words grated like fingernails on a chalk board in the mid-90’s to anyone in Sony’s Personal
- [Three Weapons that Steal Big Clients Away from Big Agencies: How to Get More than Your Fair Share](https://www.stephendenny.com/three-weapons-that-steal-big/) - In my agency/consultancy life, I’ve snatched a big client out of the jaws of a big agency twice. Here’s how it worked both times. In both cases, the client asked me for advice. I knew the decision makers and they called on me because they wanted my opinion on either the big agency itself
- [The 4 Defenses Against Losing a Client to a Big Agency ](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-4-defenses-against-losing-a-client-to-a-big-agency/) - I’ve lost clients to big agencies twice in my life. Sometimes, it's you doing the taking, acting the part of the piranha in the shallows and sometimes you realize a moment too late that you've just been bitten. I wrote about stealing big clients away from big agencies on Monday, so today's karmic payback. One of
- [The Eyelash Mite, Rescuing Branding + Doing What We Know to be True: Tom Asacker, Part 1](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-eyelash-mite-rescuing-branding-and-doing-what-we-know-to-be-true/) - Tom Asacker wrote Sandbox Wisdom ten years ago. The book was a personal journey for him at the time – self-published and sent out to those he thought would find it useful – and proved to be a pivot point for what became the next act in his life. I read Tom’s blog long before
- [Judgment vs Evidence, Spin vs Substance + The Search for Meaning: Tom Asacker, Pt 2](https://www.stephendenny.com/judgment-vs-evidence-spin-vs-substance-the-search-for-meaning-tom-asacker-pt-2/) - On Monday, I posted the first of three observations from Tom's "Ten Years After" post. Without further ado, here's the last three observations on complexity, creation versus communication and the search for meaning. Drowning in Complexity. (TA): The marketplace is growing increasingly complex. Rather than understanding the underlying patterns for success and being driven by
- [The difference between great ideas and great vision – and how to make them work for you](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-difference-between-great-ideas-and-great-vision-–-and-how-to-make-them-work-for-you/) - Don't confuse Great Ideas with Great Vision. Look at ChangeThis.com this month and read Trevor Ginn’s manifesto called “The Fallacy of the Great Idea.” If you’ve ever played with the idea of launching a start up, this is a wonderfully empowering read. Many entrepreneurs feel that they cannot start a business without a great idea.
- [How to Re-Invent Your Brand - 3 Lessons from An Industry Less Sexy Than Yours](https://www.stephendenny.com/how-to-re-invent-your-brand/) - When we think about how to re-invent an industry, we usually look to emerging brands: start-ups that have disrupted stodgy industries, iconoclasts who have re-imagined existing frames of reference and shattered expectations and others. This is limiting because we’re all not in the process of launching new brands. Sometimes, we’re working on existing brands –
- [How to Re-Invent Your Brand by Questioning the Givens](https://www.stephendenny.com/how-to-re-invent-your-brand-by-questioning-the-givens/) - My friend and colleague at Decision Triggers, Dr. Steven Feinberg, would describe the art of questioning the givens as one of the strategic shifts that separate “advantage makers” – those business leaders who tackle seemingly insurmountable problems and come out ahead. Question the givens: a tutorial Ever notice how the world looks different when you’re
- [Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: 3 Questions with David Meerman Scott](https://www.stephendenny.com/marketing-lessons-from-the-grateful-dead-3-questions-with-david-meerman-scott/) - I’ve been to one Dead show. It was in college, where a mandatory part of the curriculum in any 4 year liberal arts school in the 80’s was total immersion in all aspects of the band’s ecosystem. We drove up from Lexington, Virginia, to Wolf Trap Farms outside of my hometown of Washington DC and
- [The Difference Between "How" Brands and "What" Brands ](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-difference-between-how-brands-and-what-brands/) - “Given them what they want – just not the way they expect to get it.” Robert McKee, as told to us in his 3 day Story Seminar. The How, Not the What. Brands that have lasting impact aren’t the ones that focus on the what. The what gets commoditized pretty quickly. What is the intellectual property,
- [The GAP Logo Fiasco: Lacking the Guts to Ignore Your Critics or a Model of Sloppy Work?](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-gap-logo-fiasco-lacking-the-guts-to-ignore-your-critics-or-a-model-of-sloppy-work/) - I’m disappointed with GAP. I’m not sure exactly why, but regardless, I am. First of all, I like GAP. I like their look, their stores and their clothes. I'm wearing a GAP T right now (black, no pocket). But coming from twenty or so years of marketing for a living, often heading up departments of
- [The 3 Wrong Answers You Don’t Want to Hear in Social Media Marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-3-wrong-answers-you-don’t-want-to-hear-in-social-media-marketing/) - Social media has dramatically changed the landscape for marketers in many significant ways, including the opportunity for greater creativity, the ability to have meaningful dialog with end users, and perhaps most importantly the ability to communicate with significantly greater speed than ever before. Social media is easy to use. It’s fast. And you get immediate feedback,
- [What Happens When You Can’t Shake a Negative Image: The Stickiness of a Bad Eigen Value](https://www.stephendenny.com/what-happens-when-you-can’t-shake-a-negative-image-the-stickiness-of-a-bad-eigen-value/) - We can debate the philosophical nuances of whether perception is truly reality or not, but I’m sure we could agree that our ability to shape public perception is a sure way to impact behavior. How we shape perception is a different question altogether. This is a practice that can be applied for good or
- [Fast co.Design, The Gap + The Dying Art of Decision Making](https://www.stephendenny.com/fast-co-design-the-gap-the-dying-art-of-decision-making/) - "The real lesson of the Gap debacle: logos aren’t key anymore." In a recent piece written in Fast Company’s co.Design blog, Ziba Design’s Steve McCallion suggests that we as businesspeople should move beyond the static confines of corporate identity and embrace the interactivity and textured nuance of social brand platforms, specifically using the Gap and
- [Why All (Bad) Marketing Research Is Wrong](https://www.stephendenny.com/why-all-bad-marketing-research-is-wrong/) - The signs are there long before the damage is apparent to the naked eye. Cracks appear and we don’t see them for the impending disaster they are because we’re caught up in the here and now, accepting each new productivity device and cost-saving service as great leaps forward. But each has a cost and the
- [It Isn't About the Tools. Sorry. ](https://www.stephendenny.com/it-isnt-about-the-tools-sorry/) - I was asked to participate in the Future of Marketing Virtual Conference the other day – it ran yesterday and today – which was comprised of 60 marketing thinkers given 60 seconds each to comment on what they thought the future of marketing was all about. On my end, the audio was a bit
- [Build Your Army Now: Wikileaks, DKNY and 3 Ways to Prepare for Bad Social Media ](https://www.stephendenny.com/build-your-army-now-wikileaks-dkny-and-3-ways-to-prepare-for-bad-social-media/) - What a very bad week in social media teaches us about being prepared for the worst. Wikileaks is to the Obama administration what the Pentagon Papers were to Nixon. Embarrassing, probably not ground-breaking in and of themselves, but indicative of a lack of what we all surmised was lacking in the first place. How
- [The 5 Things Sales and Marketing People Need to Do When Demand Outstrips Supply ](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-5-things-sales-and-marketing-people-need-to-do-when-demand-outstrips-supply/) - What a problem to have, you’re probably thinking. I don't have enough product to meet my current demand! I wish I had more to sell, but I don’t. So why would I have to spend a nickel on consumer engagement? And why shouldn't I tell me channel parterns to sit down and hang on? Well,
- [Edgy is a Tattoo: The Power of Provocative Brands and Why We Fall for "Lovable Rogues" ](https://www.stephendenny.com/edgy-is-a-tattoo-the-power-of-provocative-brands-and-why-we-fall-for-lovable-rogues/) - It's hard not to love a company that isn't afraid to push boundaries. We like people who stand up for what they believe in, who flirt with controversy and who never, ever panic and retreat at the first sign of public push-back. Do you respect these guys? Remember Verizon's hasty retreat? Gap and their logo
- [Parasite branding: How to Get Your Product in Front of Millions – and Not Pay a Dime](https://www.stephendenny.com/parasite-branding-how-to-get-your-product-in-front-of-millions-–-and-not-pay-a-dime/) - The secret of free advertising is making your friends look better. What held true in your college years apparently still works wonders in marketing today. The halo effect of hanging around with the right people and making them look good tends to rub off on lucky you. We’re all being asked to do more with
- [How to Identify a Break When It Happens: Or, Hitting the Tree That Saves Your Life](https://www.stephendenny.com/how-to-identify-a-break/) - The tree was the break I was hoping for, although I was in no mood to acknowledge it at the time. I was distracted, to put it mildly. My son had a Little League game and we were running late. I was frustrated by the state of the world, which in its distilled form ends
- [Turning Revulsion Into Desire: Design Aesthetics, Just Noticeable Differences and Five Fingers Shoes](https://www.stephendenny.com/turning-revulsion-into-desire-design-aesthetics-just-noticeable-differences-and-five-fingers-shoes/) - Twenty years ago, tapping your Palm Pilot in public made you an object of derision. Now, we look askance at anyone who doesn’t use a smart phone. Ten years ago, wearing a Bluetooth headset was an act of self-absorption. “It looks like you’re talking to yourself.” (Yeah, I know. And I’m on the phone. So
- [The Coming Logo Singularity: Starbucks and the Simplified Logo, Simplified](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-coming-logo-singularity-starbucks-and-the-simplified-logo-simplified/) - Is it always about simplification? Always? I don’t think so. When we re-launch a logo, we do so for a lot of reasons. The current brand identity no longer fits who we’re turning into, perhaps because of new business opportunities or segments we’re getting into, or because it just looks dated and needs an upgrade.
- [Seeing What Others Miss: Q-TIPS, How to Win a Lost Battle, and 5 Ways to Tactically Shift](https://www.stephendenny.com/seeing-what-others-miss-q-tips-how-to-win-a-lost-battle-and-5-ways-to-tactically-shift/) - If you’re like most people in business, you fall into one of two camps. You’re either looking for ways to take your business, your brand or just yourself to that next level or you’re wondering how in hell you ended up in this mess and how you’re ever going to get out again. It doesn’t
- [Apple, Steve Jobs and Lessons from a Morita-less Sony](https://www.stephendenny.com/apple-steve-jobs-and-lessons-from-a-morita-less-sony/) - I’ve never met Steve Jobs. And while I worked for Mr. Morita for many years, we never met face to face. But I knew the culture at Sony and joined it because of the aura that Mr. Morita projected. Sony was an innovative Japanese company – an oxymoron of sorts, given the copycat stereotype prevalent
- [New Research on Why We Pull for Upstart Brands](https://www.stephendenny.com/new-research-on-why-we-pull-for-upstart-brands/) - We pull for the upstarts. We want to see the giant fall and the hero triumph. It’s a universal story told for timeless generations around the world. This story is the heart and soul of Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath In Your Industry and it gives us all timely – and
- [How Ignorance Can Be Your Biggest Competitive Advantage: 4 (+2 Extra) Outsider Rules](https://www.stephendenny.com/how-ignorance-can-be-your-biggest-competitive-advantage-4-2-extra-outsider-rules/) - “If I were a brand manager at P&G, could I have come up with the same idea (of launching a Method-like brand)? No, definitely not. If I did, I would look at the business as an insider, I would know too much.” Eric Ryan, Method. Paul Brown explains that experience is over-rated in his article
- [Go Daddy, Super Bowl Advertising, and the Decline of the Chattering Class](https://www.stephendenny.com/go-daddy-super-bowl-advertising-and-the-decline-of-the-chattering-class/) - "Go Daddy reported a doubling of its previous best-ever immediate Web spike and converted the Internet traffic into sales and new customers unlike ever before in the company's seven-year Super Bowl history, according to a company news release the day after the Super Bowl." Dear Chattering Class: Until Chrysler, Doritos and VW post similar
- [In Watson, IBM Has Found Its “Neil Armstrong” Statement ](https://www.stephendenny.com/in-watson-ibm-has-found-its-“neil-armstrong”-statement/) - In the sweep of Giant Killer contests – Hollywood notwithstanding – it would be hard to imagine that humanity would come in second to a computer in the nuanced world of context, puns and trivia. So we have to give credit to the newest entry in the Killing Giants lexicon: Watson, from IBM. Last night,
- [Killing Watson: Defeating Alien Intelligence by Questioning the Givens and Changing the Game](https://www.stephendenny.com/killing-watson-defeating-alien-intelligence-by-questioning-the-givens-and-changing-the-game/) - My eyes started darting when I realized what Watson was doing—preying on our cognitive blind spot and vacuuming the highest-value clues off the board before we had a chance to gain our sea legs. But my response surprised me—by my second match, I was doing the same thing. What do you do when confronted by
- [Hit Them When They're Shifting Gears: the Role of Timing in Giant Killing](https://www.stephendenny.com/hit-them-when-theyre-shifting-gears-the-role-of-timing-in-giant-killing/) - The borderlands are where the hurt happens – whether the no-man’s land at the US / Mexican border or the 20 feet or so beyond the breakers where the big pelagics slowly patrol. But zones aren’t just physical. Shifts of any kind create disruptions. Shifts produce changes in behavior and changes in behavior create opportunities for
- [3 Ways to Kill Giants in Your Career ](https://www.stephendenny.com/3-ways-to-kill-giants-in-your-career/) - I was asked after a keynote last May how I would apply the ideas in Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath In Your Industry to jazz. Apart from being a sales rep, he was a musician, and he saw the connections between these seemingly disparate subjects before I did. To my surprise,
- [Brand Tension + Why Being Known for One Thing Is Never Enough](https://www.stephendenny.com/brand-tension-why-being-known-for-one-thing-is-never-enough/) - Join us on Monday, March 28th at 8:00PM Eastern / 5:00PM Pacific for #MMChat on Twitter to discuss Brand Tension! “A lot of people said you can't have a brand that is both luxury and irreverent. We disagreed.” Geoff Ross, founder of 42Below vodka. Conventional wisdom says that branding is all about leaving a single,
- [The Role of Leadership in Decision Making: Input, Alignment & Execution](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-role-of-leadership-in-decision-making-input-alignment-execution/) - We're discussing this idea of the Role of Leadership in Decision Making on Tuesday, March 29th, at 8:00PM Eastern, 5:00PM Pacific, on Twitter at #LeadershipChat - join the discussion! I interviewed over 70 business leaders – CEO’s, founders and others in positions to make things happen and motivate effort – in Killing Giants: 10 Strategies
- [Storytelling, Brand Identity and the Power of Context](https://www.stephendenny.com/storytelling-brand-identity-and-the-power-of-context/) - Join us on Friday, April 1st, at 9:00AM Pacific time/12:00PM Eastern, for #kaizenblog on Twitter, where we'll be discussing this idea of brand storytelling. “I learned about ducking and diving from the police everyday to avoid the road blocks. I didn’t have a white employer. To go into those areas every day was quite risky.
- [Three Things You Can Change Today to Topple the Goliath You Face](https://www.stephendenny.com/three-things-you-can-change-today-to-topple-the-goliath-you-face/) - A week and a half after launching Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath In Your Industry, I’ve learned three important lessons. First, I have a supportive group of friends. Thanks for everything – all of you – from subtle forms of encouragement to sending me a carton of books (my books, that you’ve
- [Three Cups of 60 Minutes and the Downside of Lying](https://www.stephendenny.com/three-cups-of-60-minutes-and-the-downside-of-lying/) - Author Greg Mortenson, who sold a zillion copies of his book, Three Cups of Tea, is now accused by television’s 60 Minutes and by others of fabricating the main elements of his book. It didn’t happen that way, the records purport to show, and thus the entire house of cards upon which his book is
- [How Barnes & Noble’s Nook Just Shifted the Playing Field: a Giant Killer In The Making?](https://www.stephendenny.com/how-barnes-noble’s-nook-just-shifted-the-playing-field-a-giant-killer-in-the-making/) - A minute ago, the Nook was an overpriced book reader from a traditional bookseller being beaten by its web-driven competitor that was late to the market anyway. Now, it’s a very attractive, cost-effective Android tablet – and did you know you could download all of Barnes & Noble’s books on it, too? From niche
- [How to Make Money by Charging Nothing: JetBlue and a $9 Flight](https://www.stephendenny.com/how-to-make-money-by-charging-nothing-jetblue-and-a-9-flight/) - JetBlue will fly you from Boston to Newark, NJ, for $9. I don't think you could catch a bus for that cheap. You may not be in either town, but you still need to care about this for one big reason. When your product, service, experience, or stuff in general is guaranteed to change
- [How to Out-Maneuver Goliath’s Lawyers](https://www.stephendenny.com/how-to-out-maneuver-goliath’s-lawyers/) - What happens when Goliath maneuvers you into court? I’ve spoken to a good number of entrepreneurial groups since Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath In Your Industry launched in March, and this question has come up a few times. Giants have more lawyers than you do, can afford to spend more legal fees
- [Never Believe Anyone Who Says That We Live in a “Post-Marketing World” ](https://www.stephendenny.com/never-believe-anyone-who-says-that-we-live-in-a-“post-marketing-world”/) - “We do not live in a "post-marketing" world. We live in a "post-bad-marketing world." It's still your job to do your job. Go get 'em.” I run into the sentiment that we're living in a "post-marketing world" a lot, mostly on social media sites. Which probably explains it, right there. Social media in general
- [3 Questions to Answer on Your Way to Becoming Larger Than Life](https://www.stephendenny.com/3-questions-to-answer-on-your-way-to-becoming-larger-than-life/) - I have three questions for you if you plan on killing the giant in your industry. How are you going to become a bigger idea than the category you play in? How do you plan to change how the world thinks about what you do? What is the missing 3rd piece of the puzzle
- [How Amazon Might Just Have Saved Barnes & Noble](https://www.stephendenny.com/how-amazon-might-just-have-saved-barnes-noble/) - For all you out there looking to “completely change the game,” take heed. Sometimes it’s easier to win the game you’re in. I have a hunch that has yet to be borne out completely in the real world of results, but hear me out anyway. I think that the explosion of e-readers has changed the book
- [What You Can't - And Probably Shouldn't - Learn from Steve Jobs](https://www.stephendenny.com/what-you-cant-and-probably-shouldnt-learn-from-steve-jobs/) - You can’t throw a stone on the Internets right now without hitting ten dozen posts on What Steve Jobs Taught Us. Or perhaps, What We Can All Learn from Steve Jobs. Or something identical. I’ve got a problem with all this. I don’t think we have too much to learn that we can actually apply.
- [Your Opinion is Dangerous.](https://www.stephendenny.com/your-opinion-is-dangerous/) - “In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.” I’ve noticed something over the years, both as a corporate executive and as a consultant: if you’re the guy in the room with a point of view – someone who has a vision of where the ship needs to go and how
- [The Secret Power of Poets: Where Liberal Arts Majors Win](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-secret-power-of-poets-where-liberal-arts-majors-win/) - We’ve read that the majority of liberal arts degree majors coming out of college will be well suited for the burgeoning barista segment of the service industry in the coming years. We’ve read that trade schools are far better uses of your educational dollars than a liberal arts BA from a 4 year school. And
- [When Giants Miss the Structural Shifts: Sony - A Cautionary Tale](https://www.stephendenny.com/when-giants-miss-the-structural-shifts-sony-a-cautionary-tale/) - Quick: close your eyes and describe to me what a cordless toothbrush would be like if it was designed by Apple. What color would it be? What would the finish look like? What materials, what tactile feedback would it give? What would it feel like on your teeth? What would it sound like? We used
- [How to Strategically Retreat: Patagonia and "Don't Buy This Jacket"](https://www.stephendenny.com/how-to-strategically-retreat-patagonia-and-dont-buy-this-jacket/) - Don’t Buy This Jacket. Outdoor athletes – the real high achievers, in particular – understand Patagonia’s tagline. And Patagonia’s tagline clearly shows that they understand their core market to a remarkable degree. That’s nice, for a change. Outdoor enthusiasts do things that the rest of us don’t. They spend time on mountains. In winter. On
- [Marketing Prof's U: A Q&A with Denise Lee Yohn on Retail's Balance of Power & the Role of Technology vs. Humanity](https://www.stephendenny.com/marketing-profs-u-a-qa-with-denise-lee-yohn-on-retails-balance-of-power-the-role-of-technology-vs-humanity/) - (This is the second in a two-part blog-exchange on brand decision-making I’m doing with Denise Lee Yohn. I kicked things off last week with a post called “Killing Retail Giants” and today Denise answers the questions I posed to her about retail small businesses. We’re both teaching sessions in the Marketing Profs University course, Marketing Your
- [The Future of Work: 4 Trends That Matter To Your Work + Life](https://www.stephendenny.com/the-future-of-work-4-trends-that-matter-to-your-work-life/) - I see four significant trends impacting the future of work and I’ll describe them here, along with the implications of them for employers, workers and everyone in between. This comes from consulting with fun and interesting clients in the US, Asia and Europe in industries from telecom and technology to performance apparel, food and other
- [Everything Wrong with Marketing in 30 Seconds](https://www.stephendenny.com/everything-wrong-with-marketing-in-30-seconds/) - Why do we even make commercials anymore? Will it sell more burgers? Who can say. That’s frankly all that matters in the world of Jack In The Box advertising, as I’m sure their franchisees would agree. So let me briefly step into the somewhat unfamiliar role of Ad Critic – a sub-species of social
- [BNET Interview on Killing Giants](https://www.stephendenny.com/bnet-interview-on-killing-giants/) - All - thought I'd share this from BNET.
- [What Groupon’s CEO Should Have Said](https://www.stephendenny.com/what-groupon’s-ceo-should-have-said/) - The following memo, penned by someone other than Groupon’s CEO, was not posted on Groupon’s blog yesterday: Dear Customers, Super Bowl Viewers and Ad Critics: What a game! I personally thought the Steelers were going to come back with 2 minutes left like they did against the Cardinals, but hey, that’s football. Hope you
- [Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath In Your Industry ](https://www.stephendenny.com/killing-giants-10-strategies-to-topple-the-goliath-in-your-industry/) - You compete against Goliath. A competitor with more people and money and resources than you can ever hope to match. A household name. They have more people in R&D than you have in your whole company and they spend more on off-site meetings than you do on marketing. Where they seem to have no
- [Re-Labeling Isn't Re-Branding (And Corn Sugar Is Still High Fructose Corn Syrup)](https://www.stephendenny.com/re-labeling-isnt-re-branding-and-corn-sugar-is-still-high-fructose-corn-syrup/) - It’s not high fructose corn syrup, it’s “corn sugar” – you know, just like “cane sugar”! It sounds so close that it must be OK. But it’s not. It’s high fructose corn syrup called by another name. There is no such thing as global warming – it’s “climate change”! This gives us the needed wiggle
- [Coke, Pepsi and Costco's Alternative Girlfriend](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-coke-costco-and-winning-the-war/) - Coke won. I don't care about the specifics, the back room negotiations or whatever happened in Kirkland. Coca Cola has won a resounding victory, not just in retail distribution but in branding, brand power and market muscle. Of the three players in this comic drama, Costco is cast as the petulant child who reluctantly is forced
- [Note to CMO: Moments of Power, Found and Lost](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-moments-of-power-found-and-lost/) - Dear CMO: I was sitting in a coffee shop yesterday with a colleague of mine - another influence strategist, as luck would have it - and we both watched an unfolding vignette that would go on to animate not only some of the best in social influence, but also how subtle nuances can fall flat.
- [Old Spice Reloaded: The Sell Through ](https://www.stephendenny.com/old-spice-reloaded-the-sell-through/) - Hello, marketers. Look at your AC Nielsen data. Now back at me. Now back at your data. Now back to me. Did I ever tell you that I spent much of my formative years neck-deep in AC Nielsen data, judging year-over-year, month-over-month, weekly, SKU-level and key account level sell through data? I did. It wasn’t the sexy
- [Note to CMO: Closure as Competition, from Alexander to Schiphol's Porcelain Flies](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-closure-as-competition-from-alexander-to-schiphols-porcelain-flies/) - Dear CMO: If Alexander the Great had overseen the development of Schiphol Airport’s urinals, he would have moved the designer forward and to the right. You see, Alexander had a system that made everything in his army work: life was a competition, and winners were rewarded in the most public way of all – they
- [Note to CMO: Experts, Raffa, and the Other Michelangelo](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-experts-raffa-and-the-other-michelangelo/) - Dear CMO:Two blogs of note pushed me into this frame of mind today -- Jennifer's recent post over at Brains on Fire and Valeria's always good insights at Conversation Agent. Jennifer discussed the recent Wimbledon finals from a non-player's perspective. Valeria just happens to love Caravaggio. For the rest of us, please pick up your
- [Note to CMO: Starbucks is Just Like You](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-starbucks-is-just-like-you/) - 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 like
- [Note to CMO: iApologize](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-iapologize/) - 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 people who waited
- [Note to CMO: Advantage Makers](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-advantage-makers/) - Dear CMO:We've spoken a lot about influence over the past few months -- even the past few days, to be honest -- so I'm glad to point you to a new 'must read' coming out on August 27th from an old friend, advisor and corporate guru, Steven Feinberg, entitled, "The Advantage-Makers: How Exceptional Leaders Win
- [Note to CMO: Killing Giants, Part 2 (courtesy of the Fix)](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-killing-giants-part-2-courtesy-of-the-fix/) - Dear CMO:I won't re-hash the full story posted up on The Daily Fix -- take a look at the full story on Killing Giants, Part 2 up there. But a quick recap is worth the "Post-It to CMO" size retelling.In Killing Giants, Part 1, we reviewed the following lessons:Lesson #1: Aikido -- use their popularity
- [Note to CMO: Killing Giants, Part 1](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-killing-giants-part-1/) - Dear CMO:Giants exude a smug arrogance. They may have earned their way to the top but often they forget that a one time masterpiece does not a dynasty make. They start believing their press. They’re clinging to the back-end of a rocket and convincing themselves that they’re steering. It’s our job to bring them down.
- [Note to CMO: The Quantitative Analysis and Statistical Extrapolation of Complete Nonsense](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-quantitative-analysis-and-statistical-extrapolation-of-complete-nonsense/) - Dear CMO:Robert Ardrey provides a brief mention of Sir Solly Zuckerman who, at the time of Ardrey's African Genesis, was the head of anatomy at Birmingham University. The Social Life of Monkeys and Apes was his great work. The book was at the time a masterpiece of observational research on the social interactions of primates.
- [Note to CMO: All the Good Things About Piracy](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-all-the-good-things-about-piracy/) - Dear CMO:Lots and lots of talk flying around the blogosphere about word of mouth, about user generated content, all swirling around the concept of "letting go of your brand." Sure, it's all scary stuff, but I think we've covered this ground already. So let's take it one step further. Suppose your product is digital. It's
- [Note to CMO: CGM and the Defense of Amateur Hour](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-cgm-and-the-defense-of-amateur-hour/) - Dear CMO:Like blogging for business, “Consumer Generated Media”, or CGM for fans of the TLA (three letter acronym), has become the haute buzzword of the day. CGM will kill the agency model as we know it today. Agency senior management publicly decries the spread of CGM, calling it all varieties of nasty words. Pundits are
- [Note to CMO: Profiting Badly](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-profiting-badly/) - Dear CMO:One of my favorites in the blogosphere is Brand Autopsy. Great stuff, consistently presented. A recent article, "Bad Profits Dissected", discussed the difference between "good profits", which come from delighting your customers, and "bad profits", which come from dinging them for not reading the fine print. Recent headlines suggest a third option: heinous profits."I'm
- [Note to CMO: On Being the Chief Sell-Through Officer](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-on-being-the-chief-sell-through-officer/) - Dear CMO:You know how hard it is to explain to your mother what it is that you do. She pretty much makes it up when she explains it to her friends. Apparently all of her friends’ kids have easy jobs to remember, like “doctor”. No, sonny-boy does something altogether too complex to describe the same
- [Note to CMO: Show is Better than Tell](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-show-is-better-than-tell/) - Dear CMO:Isn't 'up and to the right' brand positioning a great place to be? We all love getting higher prices for our stuff, making more gross profit, and basking in the adoration of our captive markets. All this, of course, is predicated on the rather huge assumption that your customer base agrees with your ad
- [Note to CMO: Why I Love Focus Groups](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-why-i-love-focus-groups/) - Dear CMO:Using focus groups to answer questions is asking them to perform an unnatural act. Like asking a classroom of pre-schoolers to sit and listen, asking a group of PTA parent volunteers to check their egos at the door, or asking your family to just get along during the holidays, groups of seemingly normal people
- [Note to CMO: Snakes On A Plane Branding 2 -- The Display!](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-snakes-on-a-plane-branding-2-the-display/) - Dear CMO:I recall a thought-provoking paper written by a head of marketing some years ago describing the state of the art in the science of retail. The writer described how in order to drive increased revenue per consumer they were studying consumer foot traffic patterns as they moved through the store. They did this with
- [Note to CMO: Marketing with Real Guerillas](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-marketing-with-real-guerillas/) - "The revolutionary war is a war of the masses"Mao Tse-Dong"A journey of a thousand li begins with a single power point presentation"(unknown)Dear CMO:Warfare is an overused business cliché. We run campaigns, launch flanker brands, have our ‘war room’ in the back where it smells like Lysol, and every once in a while, our CEO stands
- [Note to CMO: Snakes on a Plane Branding](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-snakes-on-a-plane-branding/) - Dear CMO:Just a short note today before I hit the road about this weekend's biggest hit, Snakes on a Plane, and what it means for your branding. No, I have absolutely no intention of dissecting the 'return on internet buzz' metrics that thousands of my erstwhile peers and associates are lathered up about. Suffice it
- [Note to CMO: A Good Story, Well Told -- Screenwriting and Marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-a-good-story-well-told-screenwriting-and-marketing/) - Dear CMO:Writing a compelling story is the inner game of marketing and, not surprisingly, it is often the exclusive realm of the creatives in your selected agencies. The client participates by scowling during the presentation, inquiring if the logo could be a bit bigger, and then picking the execution they think is the funniest. This
- [Note to CMO: Marketing and the "No-Brainer Metric"](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-marketing-and-the-no-brainer-metric/) - Dear CMO:Lots of water-cooler chatter from friends about the last post, specifically the point about the lack of a marketing no-brainer metric. Everyone with boardroom tenure has a metric, from sales to finance to operations to manufacturing. Marketing has to pay cash at the bar with their program specific ROI’s.Under less-than-scientific scrutiny, though, these patterns
- [Note to CMO: The Branding Ride](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-branding-ride/) - Dear CMO:I was absolutely sure, about ten years ago, that the whole question of branding was divining where on the axis of freedom and fear you fell. You were aiming at one or the other. In a way, this is still true. You want to drive the XTerra because Lenny Kravitz is singing "Fly Away"
- [Note to CMO: What is Hip?](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-what-is-hip/) - Hipness is what it is...and sometimes hipness is what it ain't...(Tower of Power, 'What Is Hip?')Dear CMO:Look for 'What Is Hip' by Tower of Power when I pen my iTunes Celebrity Playlist. Not sure about the timing at present, but I'm ready when they are. I'll do this right after James Lipton interviews me on
- [Note to CMO: The Dangers of Promotional Crack](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-the-dangers-of-promotional-crack/) - Dear CMO:I am a chronic user of euphemisms. Home-grown acronyms completely crack me up. (In my Sony days, we used to say the company stood for, “Soon Only Not Yet”, which holds true to this day, now that you think about it). In current news, I absolutely love the phrase, “undocumented worker”. It makes it
- [Note to CMO: What Marketing Does](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-what-marketing-does/) - Dear CMO:You remember Bobby Riggs -- the tennis pro who went on to host the 'Battle of the Sexes', losing a tennis match in his 50's to Billie Jean King? Bobby once told a great story about his life as a tennis hustler. He would play guys while holding a broom under his hitting arm.
- [Note to CMO: Why Packaging Matters](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-why-packaging-matters/) - Dear CMO: I have a confession to make. I hope you understand why I have to get this off my chest, because your role in your company makes you the only one I can talk to about my irrational, implacable hatred of bad packaging. Maybe it was my upbringing. I learned good habits early, and
- [Note to CMO: Marketing the Little Stuff](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-marketing-the-little-stuff/) - Dear CMO:The artboards adorning your office are works of art, delicate balances of light and shadow, power and emotion. They make cultural icons of products and heroes of wise purchasing decision-makers. Product is king, long copy sells, white space above all, and less is more. The thunderous imminent consumer ground-swell will certainly float generations of
- [Note to CMO: You, Your Passport, and Asian Retail](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-you-your-passport-and-asian-retail/) - Dear CMO:You may have heard rumors that there are potential customers for your products outside the borders of the United States. These reports, unsettling as they may be, are true. Their potential, however, is up for debate. Many do not speak English, may require more of you than your current customers do, and may need
- [Note to CMO: Vanilla Retail](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-vanilla-retail/) - Dear CMO:You know what makes Baskin-Robbins so great? The thirty other flavors. Vanilla is supposed to be safe, less-than-exciting, basic. A post-Seinfeld, "thanks, I'll just have the salad" sort of choice. It shouldn't apply to your account management strategy.Which brings us to retail. Vanilla means you've shown up, put your name tag on, and grabbed
- [Note to CMO: Marketing, Movies and Money](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-marketing-movies-and-money/) - Dear CMO:Congratulations are in order, I believe, for your recently announced multi-tiered, pan-regional, symbiotic multi-picture licensing deal. I'm sure your Hollywood-insider-agency has represented your interests well and has taken your financial interests to heart so you won't get fleeced before it's all over.Yes, fleeced is a harsh word and an unfortunately often unavoidable condition. Sometimes
- [Note to CMO: It’s about Marketing, not Advertising](https://www.stephendenny.com/note-to-cmo-it’s-about-marketing-not-advertising/) - Dear CMO:I know Power Point and email are waiting, but I was hoping you could clear something up for me. Since when did “CMO” begin standing for “Chief Advertising Officer”? Sure, we all aspire to direct, but for now remember that your job is about selling stuff.Marketing is the science of predicting the human behavior

## Pages

- [Home](https://www.stephendenny.com/) - Stephen Denny is a speaker, author, trend researcher, and consultant helping brands boost results through sharper strategic marketing and execution.
- [Syndicated Research](https://www.stephendenny.com/syndicated-research/) - High-stakes decision support and consumer sentiment trend research on the future of work and brand values alignment for the "everything is political" age.
- [Speaking](https://www.stephendenny.com/giant-killer-keynotes/) - Giant Killer Keynotes. Marketing strategy, disruption, competitive strategy, guerilla marketing, speed as a competitive weapon, culture & execution.
- [About](https://www.stephendenny.com/we-create-giant-killers/) - Stephen Denny: Consultant + Speaker. We create Giant Killers. Helps brands struggling with the "We're #2... and we hate it" trap.
- [The AIM Program](https://www.stephendenny.com/training/) - The AIM Program has helped major technology brands effectively boost mindshare and lead flow through their indirect channel and strategic alliance partners.
- [Test Carousel Page](https://www.stephendenny.com/test-carousel-page/) - [recent_post_carousel slides_to_show="3" slides_to_scroll="1"]
- [Thank You for Stopping By!](https://www.stephendenny.com/thank-you/) - Deep Cuts is my monthly newsletter than provides deeper dives into the interviews and discussions behind my book, Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath in Your Industry (Portfolio, March 2011). E-mail address: First Name: Last Name: The book that all my interviews have gone into creating is now available - you can order
- [Thank You For Your Leadership Training Inquiry](https://www.stephendenny.com/thank-you-for-your-leadership-training-inquiry/)
- [Power of 3](https://www.stephendenny.com/power-of-3/) - What’s the Power of 3? We tend to think of problems in 2 dimensions – our challenge and the forces affecting it. I’ve found that introducing a 3rd “lens” changes how we perceive these original 2 elements and we can often discover solutions that were hidden in plain sight. This is a powerful “thinking tool”
- [Thank You for Your Speaking Inquiry](https://www.stephendenny.com/thank-you-for-your-speaking-inquiry/)
- [Articles](https://www.stephendenny.com/articles/) - "Seeing What Others Miss: Creating Advantages Through Tactical Shifting," The Conference Board Review, Winter 2011. Authored by Stephen Denny + Dr. Steven Feinberg, Decision Triggers. At The Daily Fix: "Three Rules for Rule-Breaking Products" (Jan. 7, 2011) "Create Truisms and Make Every Touch-Point Count" (Aug. 24, 2010) "Arm Punches and War Dances: Creating Brand Rituals" (July
- [Register](https://www.stephendenny.com/resources/register/) - Fill out my online form.
- [Thank You For Your Workshop Inquiry](https://www.stephendenny.com/thank-you-for-your-workshop-inquiry/)
- [Members](https://www.stephendenny.com/members/)
- [Contact](https://www.stephendenny.com/contact/)
- [Resources](https://www.stephendenny.com/resources/)
- [The AIM Program](https://www.stephendenny.com/aim-program/) - Activate, Incentivize, and Monetize Your Channel Partner Relationships The AIM Program solves the 3 biggest problems most channel-focused brands – and channel executives – have. #1. “We can’t get into the conversation.” For most channel-focused brands, this is the biggest problem of all. The channel partner “owns” the customer and the brand struggles
- [Killing Giants: Tools](https://www.stephendenny.com/tools/) - How are you going to put the stories in Killing Giants to work for you? I shared one set of exercises for Winning in the Last Three Feet in Killing Giants - now, download my worksheet for the Thin Ice War Room Exercises and see how you can develop the kind of messaging that your giant
- [Consulting](https://www.stephendenny.com/consulting/) - Complex problems call for more than cookie cutter approaches. You’re facing a Goliath and need to craft the right strategy to leverage your strengths while putting your larger competitor in an awkward position. You’ve got assets in hand that represent the makings of a real competitive advantage. You just aren’t sure that they’re being used
- [Killing Giants](https://www.stephendenny.com/killing-giants-book/) - “When a giant is forced to face off against an upstart brand, there is virtually no upside in winning—but the downside is severe. The upstart, however, has nothing but upside. This asymmetrical game of chicken is ideal for the underdog.” - from Killing Giants Everyone thought Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry were crazy to start Method, a new cleaning products
- [Newsletter Sign Ups + Free E-Books](https://www.stephendenny.com/eigenvalue/) - Sign up for the Deep Cuts newsletter! Deep Cuts is my monthly newsletter than provides deeper dives into the interviews and discussions behind my up-coming book, Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath in Your Industry (Portfolio, March 2011). E-mail address: First Name: Last Name: And while you're here, please feel free
- [Sign Up Confirmation](https://www.stephendenny.com/confirmed/) - Thank you very much for signing up to our newsletter. This is a confirmation that you've successfully subscribed. Check out our newsletter archives:
- [Thanks for Signing Up](https://www.stephendenny.com/thanks/) - Thank you for signing up for my newsletter! You'll receive a verification e-mail shortly that contains a link which you need to visit in order to confirm your subscription. Once you click on the link, you'll get a confirmation that you're in and you'll get access to my archive of previous newsletters. Please feel free

## Downloads

- [The Killing Giants Interviews - Koichi Kimura, CEO and founder of Miki House](https://www.stephendenny.com/downloads/the-killing-giants-interviews-koichi-kimura-ceo-and-founder-of-miki-house/) - Here's the full transcript of my interview with Koichi Kimura, the CEO and founder of Japan's MIKI House - a very unique children's clothing brand that has expanded into retailing, publishing, education, sports sponsorship and more. It's a fascinating - and rare, given that it's in English - discussion on mission, values and "the ideal
- [The Killing Giants Interviews - Eric Ryan, co-founder of Method](https://www.stephendenny.com/downloads/the-killing-giants-interviews-eric-ryan-co-founder-of-method-2/) - Here's the full transcript of my Killing Giants interview with Method co-founder Eric Ryan on brand tension, the power of subject matter naivety, and the dangers of being a single attribute brand. This is an outstanding discussion for anyone interested in branding and the role of nuance in brand development.
- [The Killing Giants Interviews - Tamsin Smith, former president of Product (RED)](https://www.stephendenny.com/downloads/the-killing-giants-interviews-tamsin-smith-former-president-of-product-red/) - Tamsin Smith, former president of Product (RED), talked with me in November of 2009 about the licensing brand's start, creating a point of view bigger than your brand, and how she and partners Bobby Shriver and Bono used "jujitsu" to entice giants to help those who weren't able to help themselves - those who couldn't
- [How Advantage-Makers Achieve Breakthrough Results with Smaller Budgets](https://www.stephendenny.com/downloads/how-advantage-makers-achieve-breakthrough-results-with-smaller-budgets-2/) - Hear the post-mortem on a campaign that Dr. Steven Feinberg and I collaborated on a few years ago with what looks like an impossible goal: to get more than our fair share of Fortune 500 CIO's to bite on a high stakes program aimed at enterprise wide adoption of the brand's solution - in a
- [Influence, Money & Changing Behavior: How the Social Psychology of Influence Affects Marketing Performance](https://www.stephendenny.com/downloads/influence-money-changing-behavior-how-the-social-psychology-of-influence-affects-marketing-performance-4/) - Money rarely changes anything - especially behavior. In this short piece, we discuss the "decision triggers" that influence behavior - and back them up with actual case studies of real marketing programs that have delivered 10X returns.
- [The Killing Giants Interviews - Noel Lee, Founder and CEO of Monster Cable](https://www.stephendenny.com/downloads/the-killing-giants-interviews-noel-lee-founder-and-ceo-of-monster-cable/) - "Head Monster" Noel Lee, founder and CEO of Monster Cable, discusses with me the "art of attachment selling," turning products into processes, and the crash course in lifestyle marketing with Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre that propelled Beats by Dre into the #1 headphone brand in the world. All this and a remarkable founder's story
- [The Killing Giants Interviews: Jim Koch, CEO and Founder of The Boston Beer Company](https://www.stephendenny.com/downloads/the-killing-giants-interviews-jim-koch-ceo-and-founder-of-the-boston-beer-company/) - My complete transcript (slightly abridged) of the Killing Giants interview with Boston Beer Company founder and CEO Jim Koch from 2009. One of the first Killing Giants interviews and one with tremendous take-aways.
- [The Killing Giants Interviews: Bob Parsons, CEO and Founder of Go Daddy, Inc. ](https://www.stephendenny.com/downloads/the-killing-giants-interviews-bob-parsons-ceo-and-founder-of-go-daddy-inc/) - Here's an abridged version of my interview with Bob Parsons, the CEO and founder of Go Daddy, Inc. It's worth the read just to hear his thoughts on the role of advertising alone. Great interview.
- [The Killing Giants Interviews: Sergio Zyman](https://www.stephendenny.com/downloads/the-killing-giants-interviews-sergio-zyman/) - My conversation with Sergio covered a lot of ground, from Sprite 's positioning and the "Obey Your Thirst" campaign to the Tab Clear kamikaze attack on Crystal Pepsi, the hidden brilliance of the Pepsi Challenge, the launch of Fruitopia as a model of how a flanker brand is best used, and more.

## Articles

- [Brand Fast-Trackers Podcast: Jabra's Pete Fox on The Killing Giants Framework](https://www.stephendenny.com/articles/brand-fast-trackers-podcast-jabras-pete-fox-on-the-killing-giants-framework/) - On the Brand Fast-Trackers podcast, Jabra's US president Peter Fox describes his success with The Killing Giants Framework

## Books

- [Killing Giants](https://www.stephendenny.com/books/killing-giants/)

## Reviews

- [Rick Darnaby](https://www.stephendenny.com/reviews/rick-darnaby/) - Denny cuts through the fat and gets into muscle. No models, no fluff, no disclaimer—just hard-hitting success stories and lessons learned. Denny reverse-engineers some true giant-slayings and leaves you with actionable insights. Read if you’re looking to do the impossible.
- [Guy Kawasaki](https://www.stephendenny.com/reviews/guy-kawasaki/) - Learn why quick and dirty is better than shock and awe in this timely new book.
- [Michael Port](https://www.stephendenny.com/reviews/michael-port/) - Killing Giants is an essential manual for any company with a habit of fighting above its weight class. If you want to take on the big boys and win, this is required reading.
- [David Meerman Scott](https://www.stephendenny.com/reviews/david-meerman-scott/) - Size and scale are not the only formula for success. With examples from around the world, Denny outlines powerful strategies that you can use to overtake larger competitors in any business and marketplace.
- [Roger von Oech](https://www.stephendenny.com/reviews/roger-von-oech/) - Chock-full of provocative marketing strategies, this book might just give you the stones to take out the Goliath in your industry.
- [Marty Neumeier](https://www.stephendenny.com/reviews/marty-neumeier/) - A mind-clearing book for start-up entrepreneurs, cash-strapped strategists, and other Davids armed only with their wits.
- [Eric Ryan](https://www.stephendenny.com/reviews/eric-ryan/) - If you’re planning to run through the legs of goliath, meet your play book. In your hands is a manifesto to run fast, fight dirty and change the game by flipping any Giant’s strengths against them.

## Categories

- [advertising](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/advertising/)
- [Branding](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/branding/)
- [Channel Marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/channel-marketing/)
- [Consulting](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/consulting/)
- [Contrast Phenomenon](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/contrast-phenomenon/)
- [exclusivity](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/exclusivity/)
- [execution](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/execution/)
- [guerilla marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/guerilla-marketing/)
- [implementation](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/implementation/)
- [influence](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/influence/)
- [killing giants](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/killing-giants/)
- [management](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/management/)
- [marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/marketing/)
- [psychology](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/psychology/)
- [reciprocity](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/reciprocity/)
- [Strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/strategy/)
- [thinking tools](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/thinking-tools/)
- [Unfiltered Marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/unfiltered-marketing/)
- [Culture and Technology Intersection Study](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/culture-and-technology-intersection-study/)
- [Speaking](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/speaking/)
- [Keynotes](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/keynotes/)
- [trends](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/trends/)
- [Culture](https://www.stephendenny.com/category/culture/)

## Tags

- [Uncategorized](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/uncategorized/)
- [aikido](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/aikido/)
- [apple](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/apple/)
- [authority](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/authority/)
- [Barack Obama](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/barack-obama/)
- [best buy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/best-buy/)
- [Cialdini](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/cialdini/)
- [Coca Cola](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/coca-cola/)
- [Coke](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/coke/)
- [competition](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/competition/)
- [consensus](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/consensus/)
- [consistency](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/consistency/)
- [Content](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/content/)
- [context](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/context/)
- [Conversation Agent](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/conversation-agent/)
- [conversion](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/conversion/)
- [Cool It](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/cool-it/)
- [copywriting](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/copywriting/)
- [cows](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/cows/)
- [Creative Think](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/creative-think/)
- [creativity](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/creativity/)
- [culture](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/culture/)
- [customer service](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/customer-service/)
- [demographics](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/demographics/)
- [Dennis Miller](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/dennis-miller/)
- [Denny Marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/denny-marketing/)
- [Digital Marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/digital-marketing/)
- [direct marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/direct-marketing/)
- [Don Imus](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/don-imus/)
- [don't taze me bro](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/dont-taze-me-bro/)
- [Drudge](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/drudge/)
- [Drudge Report](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/drudge-report/)
- [drug abuse](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/drug-abuse/)
- [drug awareness](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/drug-awareness/)
- [election 2008](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/election-2008/)
- [english grammar](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/english-grammar/)
- [ethics](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/ethics/)
- [ethnography](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/ethnography/)
- [evangelism](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/evangelism/)
- [executive on-boarding](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/executive-on-boarding/)
- [experts](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/experts/)
- [faith-based marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/faith-based-marketing/)
- [Feedburner](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/feedburner/)
- [Feinberg](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/feinberg/)
- [flickr](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/flickr/)
- [Fortune 500](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/fortune-500/)
- [Fox](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/fox/)
- [Fox News](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/fox-news/)
- [Framing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/framing/)
- [Fuji](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/fuji/)
- [Fujitsu](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/fujitsu/)
- [Geico](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/geico/)
- [George W Bush](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/george-w-bush/)
- [Gerald Zaltman](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/gerald-zaltman/)
- [global warming](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/global-warming/)
- [globalization](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/globalization/)
- [Globetrotters](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/globetrotters/)
- [gmac](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/gmac/)
- [Google](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/google/)
- [grammar](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/grammar/)
- [grass-fed](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/grass-fed/)
- [greek fire](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/greek-fire/)
- [green marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/green-marketing/)
- [Harlem Globetrotters](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/harlem-globetrotters/)
- [Heraclitus](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/heraclitus/)
- [hollywood](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/hollywood/)
- [hubris](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/hubris/)
- [I Am Legend](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/i-am-legend/)
- [illegal immigration](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/illegal-immigration/)
- [InService America](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/inservice-america/)
- [insurance](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/insurance/)
- [IOC](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/ioc/)
- [iomega](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/iomega/)
- [iPhone](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/iphone/)
- [iphone complaints](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/iphone-complaints/)
- [iPod](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/ipod/)
- [iPology](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/ipology/)
- [IRS strategies](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/irs-strategies/)
- [ISA](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/isa/)
- [iTunes](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/itunes/)
- [Jaeger Le Coultre](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/jaeger-le-coultre/)
- [Jamil Hussein](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/jamil-hussein/)
- [Japan](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/japan/)
- [Jerry Garcia](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/jerry-garcia/)
- [Jet Blue](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/jet-blue/)
- [Jet Propulsion Laboratory](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/jet-propulsion-laboratory/)
- [jim koch](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/jim-koch/)
- [John Keegan](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/john-keegan/)
- [John Mackey](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/john-mackey/)
- [John McCain](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/john-mccain/)
- [K-Fed](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/k-fed/)
- [Kaleidescape](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/kaleidescape/)
- [karate](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/karate/)
- [Karen Hughes](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/karen-hughes/)
- [kata](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/kata/)
- [Kem Meyer](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/kem-meyer/)
- [Kentucky Fried Chicken](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/kentucky-fried-chicken/)
- [Kevin Federline](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/kevin-federline/)
- [KFC](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/kfc/)
- [knowledge transfer](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/knowledge-transfer/)
- [kumite](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/kumite/)
- [LA Times](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/la-times/)
- [leadership](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/leadership/)
- [leadership styles](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/leadership-styles/)
- [leadership training](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/leadership-training/)
- [les halles](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/les-halles/)
- [LeVar Arrington](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/levar-arrington/)
- [Lewis Green](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/lewis-green/)
- [liking](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/liking/)
- [linked in](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/linked-in/)
- [Lizard](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/lizard/)
- [Luxury](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/luxury/)
- [MacGyver](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/macgyver/)
- [Marcella Hazan](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/marcella-hazan/)
- [Marcus Aurelius](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/marcus-aurelius/)
- [Mark Pollan](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/mark-pollan/)
- [marketing strategies](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/marketing-strategies/)
- [marketing strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/marketing-strategy/)
- [Mask of Command](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/mask-of-command/)
- [maxell](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/maxell/)
- [Media training](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/media-training/)
- [memorex](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/memorex/)
- [Mentos](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/mentos/)
- [Mercedes Benz](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/mercedes-benz/)
- [merchandising](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/merchandising/)
- [messaging](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/messaging/)
- [Mexico](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/mexico/)
- [Michael Port](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/michael-port/)
- [microsoft](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/microsoft/)
- [Miki House](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/miki-house/)
- [Monimus the Cynic](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/monimus-the-cynic/)
- [NASA](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/nasa/)
- [natan sharansky](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/natan-sharansky/)
- [National Geographic](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/national-geographic/)
- [NBC](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/nbc/)
- [networking](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/networking/)
- [New 7 Wonders](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/new-7-wonders/)
- [New Media](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/new-media/)
- [NFL](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/nfl/)
- [Nike](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/nike/)
- [Note to CMO](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/note-to-cmo/)
- [NPR](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/npr/)
- [Olympics](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/olympics/)
- [Omega Man](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/omega-man/)
- [Omnivore's Dilemma](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/omnivores-dilemma/)
- [organic](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/organic/)
- [organizational behavior](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/organizational-behavior/)
- [Oxy-Clean](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/oxy-clean/)
- [packaging](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/packaging/)
- [panoz racing school](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/panoz-racing-school/)
- [pastured](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/pastured/)
- [Pepsi](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/pepsi/)
- [persuasion](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/persuasion/)
- [Piracy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/piracy/)
- [plantronics](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/plantronics/)
- [podcast](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/podcast/)
- [point of sale](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/point-of-sale/)
- [poker](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/poker/)
- [POP Workshop](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/pop-workshop/)
- [positioning](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/positioning/)
- [powerlines](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/powerlines/)
- [PPC](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/ppc/)
- [PR](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/pr/)
- [principles of persuasion](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/principles-of-persuasion/)
- [Project (RED)](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/project-red/)
- [psychographics](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/psychographics/)
- [rat](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/rat/)
- [re-engineering](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/re-engineering/)
- [recession](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/recession/)
- [recession marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/recession-marketing/)
- [reconquista](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/reconquista/)
- [recording media](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/recording-media/)
- [Redskins](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/redskins/)
- [research](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/research/)
- [retail](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/retail/)
- [Robert Ardrey](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/robert-ardrey/)
- [Robert Cialdini](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/robert-cialdini/)
- [Robert Smith](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/robert-smith/)
- [Roger von Oech](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/roger-von-oech/)
- [role management](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/role-management/)
- [RSS feeds](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/rss-feeds/)
- [SABMiller](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sabmiller/)
- [sam adams](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sam-adams/)
- [science of influence](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/science-of-influence/)
- [SEM](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sem/)
- [seneca](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/seneca/)
- [SEO](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/seo/)
- [Seth Godin](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/seth-godin/)
- [sharper image](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sharper-image/)
- [Sheryl Crow](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sheryl-crow/)
- [Simon Cowell](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/simon-cowell/)
- [skip barber racing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/skip-barber-racing/)
- [snickers](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/snickers/)
- [social media](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/social-media/)
- [Sony](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sony/)
- [Sony V](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sony-v/)
- [Southern Baptist Convention](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/southern-baptist-convention/)
- [Starbucks](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/starbucks/)
- [Starbucks Coffee](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/starbucks-coffee/)
- [Steve Cone](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/steve-cone/)
- [Steven Covey](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/steven-covey/)
- [Stevie Ray Vaughn](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/stevie-ray-vaughn/)
- [Stihl](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/stihl/)
- [Stihl Chain Saws](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/stihl-chain-saws/)
- [strategic capacity](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/strategic-capacity/)
- [strunk and white](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/strunk-and-white/)
- [Sub-Zero](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sub-zero/)
- [super bowl](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/super-bowl/)
- [SWOT](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/swot/)
- [t-shirt](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/t-shirt/)
- [taxlifeboat](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/taxlifeboat/)
- [tazer](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/tazer/)
- [tazer gun](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/tazer-gun/)
- [tdk](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/tdk/)
- [Technorati](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/technorati/)
- [The Daily Fix](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/the-daily-fix/)
- [the travel channel](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/the-travel-channel/)
- [thin ice](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/thin-ice/)
- [time](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/time/)
- [Time Magazine](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/time-magazine/)
- [tivo](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/tivo/)
- [Tokyo](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/tokyo/)
- [translation](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/translation/)
- [travel video bootcamp](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/travel-video-bootcamp/)
- [treo](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/treo/)
- [Tripodi](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/tripodi/)
- [twitter](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/twitter/)
- [UGC](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/ugc/)
- [UN](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/un/)
- [Valeria Maltoni](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/valeria-maltoni/)
- [Verizon](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/verizon/)
- [videocassettes](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/videocassettes/)
- [virgin mobile](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/virgin-mobile/)
- [vodka](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/vodka/)
- [Volkswagen](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/volkswagen/)
- [VW](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/vw/)
- [washington redskins](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/washington-redskins/)
- [Wharton](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/wharton/)
- [Whole Foods](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/whole-foods/)
- [Wild Oats](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/wild-oats/)
- [Wolf](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/wolf/)
- [WOM](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/wom/)
- [world bank](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/world-bank/)
- [youtube](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/youtube/)
- [zombie](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/zombie/)
- [7 Deadly Sins](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/7-deadly-sins/)
- [Advantage Makers](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/advantage-makers/)
- [Archimedes](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/archimedes/)
- [Be The Ball](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/be-the-ball/)
- [behavior](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/behavior/)
- [Boetti](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/boetti/)
- [buzz](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/buzz/)
- [CFO](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/cfo/)
- [coffee](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/coffee/)
- [consumer insights](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/consumer-insights/)
- [cybernetics](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/cybernetics/)
- [decision triggers](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/decision-triggers/)
- [Denny](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/denny/)
- [Dr. Robert Cialdini](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/dr-robert-cialdini/)
- [Eigen Function](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/eigen-function/)
- [green](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/green/)
- [Heinz Von Foerester](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/heinz-von-foerester/)
- [HP](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/hp/)
- [Influencer](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/influencer/)
- [Influencer Marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/influencer-marketing/)
- [innovation](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/innovation/)
- [interview](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/interview/)
- [IP](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/ip/)
- [Knowledge@Wharton](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/knowledgewharton/)
- [Koichi Kimura](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/koichi-kimura/)
- [Learn & earn](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/learn-earn/)
- [polycom](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/polycom/)
- [Pricing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/pricing/)
- [Principles of Persuasion Workshop](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/principles-of-persuasion-workshop/)
- [product development](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/product-development/)
- [roger van oech](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/roger-van-oech/)
- [ROII](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/roii/)
- [satisficing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/satisficing/)
- [scarcity](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/scarcity/)
- [scarface](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/scarface/)
- [science of persuasion](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/science-of-persuasion/)
- [shopper marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/shopper-marketing/)
- [Stephen Denny](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/stephen-denny/)
- [steven feinberg](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/steven-feinberg/)
- [strategic shifting](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/strategic-shifting/)
- [tennis](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/tennis/)
- [testimonials](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/testimonials/)
- [texas hold 'em](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/texas-hold-em/)
- [TomTom](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/tomtom/)
- [topography](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/topography/)
- [trance states](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/trance-states/)
- [War of the Flea](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/war-of-the-flea/)
- [Winning in the Last Three Feet](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/winning-in-the-last-three-feet/)
- [word of mouth](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/word-of-mouth/)
- [customer engagement](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/customer-engagement/)
- [decision trigger](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/decision-trigger/)
- [CEDIA](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/cedia/)
- [Viking](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/viking/)
- [Turbo Tax](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/turbo-tax/)
- [2016](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/2016/)
- [Rio](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/rio/)
- [map](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/map/)
- [vividness](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/vividness/)
- [Method](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/method/)
- [Anwar Sadat](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/anwar-sadat/)
- [Nobel](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/nobel/)
- [Nobel Peace Prize](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/nobel-peace-prize/)
- [Robin Li](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/robin-li/)
- [Herman Mashaba](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/herman-mashaba/)
- [Baidu](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/baidu/)
- [Black Like Me](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/black-like-me/)
- [influence strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/influence-strategy/)
- [marketing psychology](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/marketing-psychology/)
- [Joe Louis](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/joe-louis/)
- [Billy Conn](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/billy-conn/)
- [boxing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/boxing/)
- [competitive strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/competitive-strategy/)
- [boston beer company](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/boston-beer-company/)
- [classe](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/classe/)
- [negotiation](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/negotiation/)
- [hostage](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/hostage/)
- [Victor Bazan](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/victor-bazan/)
- [business negotiation](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/business-negotiation/)
- [hostage negotiation](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/hostage-negotiation/)
- [influence training](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/influence-training/)
- [Dr. Steven Feinberg](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/dr-steven-feinberg/)
- [closure](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/closure/)
- [Alexander the Great](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/alexander-the-great/)
- [Schiphol Airport urinal](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/schiphol-airport-urinal/)
- [loyalty](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/loyalty/)
- [compliance](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/compliance/)
- [Storytelling](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/storytelling/)
- [sergio zyman](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sergio-zyman/)
- [snapple](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/snapple/)
- [fruitopia](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/fruitopia/)
- [pepsi challenge](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/pepsi-challenge/)
- [sprite](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sprite/)
- [flanker](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/flanker/)
- [flanker brand](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/flanker-brand/)
- [Go Daddy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/go-daddy/)
- [godaddy.com](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/godaddy-com/)
- [Bob Parsons](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/bob-parsons/)
- [Think Different](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/think-different/)
- [Eric Ryan](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/eric-ryan/)
- [vision](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/vision/)
- [Shawn White](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/shawn-white/)
- [snowboarding](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/snowboarding/)
- [narwhal](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/narwhal/)
- [GoDaddy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/godaddy/)
- [Sales Genie](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sales-genie/)
- [controversy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/controversy/)
- [Super Bowl advertising](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/super-bowl-advertising/)
- [Searle](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/searle/)
- [Richard Hinson](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/richard-hinson/)
- [Arthrotec](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/arthrotec/)
- [source similarity](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/source-similarity/)
- [Self-interest](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/self-interest/)
- [grant marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/grant-marketing/)
- [Pat Fischer](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/pat-fischer/)
- [Steven Pressfield](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/steven-pressfield/)
- [Resistance](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/resistance/)
- [Inner Game](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/inner-game/)
- [Sports Psychology](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sports-psychology/)
- [Pepsi Cola](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/pepsi-cola/)
- [comparative marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/comparative-marketing/)
- [brand strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/brand-strategy/)
- [customer insight](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/customer-insight/)
- [BP](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/bp/)
- [Tony Hayward](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/tony-hayward/)
- [Disaster](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/disaster/)
- [Oil Spill](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/oil-spill/)
- [BP oil spill](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/bp-oil-spill/)
- [BP Gulf of Mexico](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/bp-gulf-of-mexico/)
- [BP Branding](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/bp-branding/)
- [Rees' Pieces](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/rees-pieces/)
- [Robert Bryce](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/robert-bryce/)
- [Gusher of Lies](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/gusher-of-lies/)
- [Red Bull](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/red-bull/)
- [Red Bull Racing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/red-bull-racing/)
- [Formula 1](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/formula-1/)
- [Sebastian Vettels](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sebastian-vettels/)
- [Ole Schack](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/ole-schack/)
- [speed](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/speed/)
- [speed cultures](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/speed-cultures/)
- [Laura Ries](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/laura-ries/)
- [clorox](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/clorox/)
- [green works](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/green-works/)
- [vote daisy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/vote-daisy/)
- [legal marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/legal-marketing/)
- [game theory](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/game-theory/)
- [Vibram](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/vibram/)
- [Five Fingers](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/five-fingers/)
- [Vibram Five Fingers](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/vibram-five-fingers/)
- [Tony Post](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/tony-post/)
- [Georgia Shaw](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/georgia-shaw/)
- [B2B Strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/b2b-strategy/)
- [OEM Strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/oem-strategy/)
- [Eigen Value](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/eigen-value/)
- [Domino's](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/dominos/)
- [brand](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/brand/)
- [re-launch](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/re-launch/)
- [brand re-launch](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/brand-re-launch/)
- [Tamsin Smith](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/tamsin-smith/)
- [Porsche](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/porsche/)
- [MINI](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/mini/)
- [racing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/racing/)
- [brand ritual](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/brand-ritual/)
- [corona](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/corona/)
- [MINI Cooper](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/mini-cooper/)
- [change management](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/change-management/)
- [marketing consulting](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/marketing-consulting/)
- [All Blacks](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/all-blacks/)
- [haka](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/haka/)
- [Stella Artois](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/stella-artois/)
- [Mark Oakes](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/mark-oakes/)
- [Ted Coine](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/ted-coine/)
- [disaster planning](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/disaster-planning/)
- [contingency planning](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/contingency-planning/)
- [project management](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/project-management/)
- [project management strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/project-management-strategy/)
- [Sony Monkey](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sony-monkey/)
- [Walkman](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/walkman/)
- [Olympic marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/olympic-marketing/)
- [USOC](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/usoc/)
- [old spice](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/old-spice/)
- [I'm on a horse](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/im-on-a-horse/)
- [Write the Future](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/write-the-future/)
- [World Cup marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/world-cup-marketing/)
- [Eigen Culture](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/eigen-culture/)
- [marketing tips](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/marketing-tips/)
- [mission](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/mission/)
- [sell-through](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sell-through/)
- [accountability](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/accountability/)
- [AC Nielsen](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/ac-nielsen/)
- [Brandchannel](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/brandchannel/)
- [Tom Peters](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/tom-peters/)
- [Mike Myatt](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/mike-myatt/)
- [Organizational Strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/organizational-strategy/)
- [organizational development](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/organizational-development/)
- [teamwork](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/teamwork/)
- [story](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/story/)
- [Joseph Campbell](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/joseph-campbell/)
- [Robert McKee](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/robert-mckee/)
- [Dr. Norman Holland](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/dr-norman-holland/)
- [Ground Zero Mosque](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/ground-zero-mosque/)
- [communications strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/communications-strategy/)
- [Panasonic](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/panasonic/)
- [VHS-C](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/vhs-c/)
- [camcorder format wars](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/camcorder-format-wars/)
- [agency](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/agency/)
- [business development](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/business-development/)
- [consulting strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/consulting-strategy/)
- [agency growth strategies](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/agency-growth-strategies/)
- [agency growth strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/agency-growth-strategy/)
- [agency new business development](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/agency-new-business-development/)
- [consulting new business strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/consulting-new-business-strategy/)
- [client retention](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/client-retention/)
- [Tom Asacker](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/tom-asacker/)
- [Sandbox Wisdom](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sandbox-wisdom/)
- [A Clear Eye For Branding](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/a-clear-eye-for-branding/)
- [Opportunity Screams](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/opportunity-screams/)
- [marketing wisdom](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/marketing-wisdom/)
- [Eigen Values](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/eigen-values/)
- [5ive Words](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/5ive-words/)
- [management strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/management-strategy/)
- [ChangeThis.com](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/changethis-com/)
- [Change This](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/change-this/)
- [Trevor Ginn](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/trevor-ginn/)
- [The Boston Beer Company](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/the-boston-beer-company/)
- [42 Below](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/42-below/)
- [Geoff Ross](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/geoff-ross/)
- [This Sentence Has 5ive Words](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/this-sentence-has-5ive-words/)
- [costco](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/costco/)
- [retail strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/retail-strategy/)
- [All Whites](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/all-whites/)
- [Michael Foods](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/michael-foods/)
- [Melanie Taurig](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/melanie-taurig/)
- [egg substitutes](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/egg-substitutes/)
- [health club marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/health-club-marketing/)
- [brand re-invention](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/brand-re-invention/)
- [Prizeotel](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/prizeotel/)
- [Marco Nussbaum](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/marco-nussbaum/)
- [Karim Rashid](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/karim-rashid/)
- [Re-invention](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/re-invention/)
- [Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/marketing-lessons-from-the-grateful-dead/)
- [MLGD](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/mlgd/)
- [David Meerman Scott](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/david-meerman-scott/)
- [Brian Halligan](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/brian-halligan/)
- [42Below](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/42below/)
- [Conservation International](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/conservation-international/)
- [GAP](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/gap/)
- [Gap logo](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/gap-logo/)
- [logo](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/logo/)
- [marketing research](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/marketing-research/)
- [creative strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/creative-strategy/)
- [logo best practices](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/logo-best-practices/)
- [branding best practices](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/branding-best-practices/)
- [rebranding tips](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/rebranding-tips/)
- [rebranding best practices](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/rebranding-best-practices/)
- [Old Spice results](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/old-spice-results/)
- [ROI of social media](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/roi-of-social-media/)
- [social media ROI](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/social-media-roi/)
- [10:10 Campaign](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/1010-campaign/)
- [Hillary 1984](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/hillary-1984/)
- [Fast Company](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/fast-company/)
- [Fast co.Design](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/fast-co-design/)
- [Steve McCallion](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/steve-mccallion/)
- [Ziba Design](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/ziba-design/)
- [decision support](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/decision-support/)
- [Howie Lipstein](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/howie-lipstein/)
- [Faris Yakob](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/faris-yakob/)
- [bias](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/bias/)
- [non-sampling error](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/non-sampling-error/)
- [iconic branding](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/iconic-branding/)
- [branding with color](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/branding-with-color/)
- [viral video](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/viral-video/)
- [viral video results](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/viral-video-results/)
- [Future of marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/future-of-marketing/)
- [future of marketing virtual conference](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/future-of-marketing-virtual-conference/)
- [corn sugar](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/corn-sugar/)
- [HFCS](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/hfcs/)
- [re-branding](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/re-branding/)
- [re-labeling](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/re-labeling/)
- [wikileaks](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/wikileaks/)
- [greenpeace](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/greenpeace/)
- [DKNY](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/dkny/)
- [scott brown](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/scott-brown/)
- [rob willington](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/rob-willington/)
- [Fiskateers](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/fiskateers/)
- [competitive intelligence](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/competitive-intelligence/)
- [sales strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sales-strategy/)
- [managing success](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/managing-success/)
- [strategy for managing demand](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/strategy-for-managing-demand/)
- [Ken Rosen](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/ken-rosen/)
- [Jeffrey J. Davis](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/jeffrey-j-davis/)
- [42below vodka](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/42below-vodka/)
- [provocative branding](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/provocative-branding/)
- [edgy branding](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/edgy-branding/)
- [publicity](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/publicity/)
- [design](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/design/)
- [Starbucks logo](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/starbucks-logo/)
- [logo design](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/logo-design/)
- [MTV logo](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/mtv-logo/)
- [Seattle's Best Coffee logo](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/seattles-best-coffee-logo/)
- [brand tension](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/brand-tension/)
- [The Conference Board Review](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/the-conference-board-review/)
- [tactical shifting](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/tactical-shifting/)
- [Adobe](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/adobe/)
- [business psychology](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/business-psychology/)
- [strategic innovation](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/strategic-innovation/)
- [management training](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/management-training/)
- [Oi Mobile](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/oi-mobile/)
- [Intuit](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/intuit/)
- [Burt Sugar](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/burt-sugar/)
- [Dr. Conrad Crane](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/dr-conrad-crane/)
- [Steve Jobs](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/steve-jobs/)
- [leave of absence](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/leave-of-absence/)
- [Akio Morita](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/akio-morita/)
- [HBR](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/hbr/)
- [Harvard Business Review](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/harvard-business-review/)
- [Anat Keinan](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/anat-keinan/)
- [Journal of Consumer Research](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/journal-of-consumer-research/)
- [upstart brands](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/upstart-brands/)
- [challenger brands](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/challenger-brands/)
- [brand story](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/brand-story/)
- [Paul Brown](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/paul-brown/)
- [competitive advantage](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/competitive-advantage/)
- [Super Bowl advertising ROI](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/super-bowl-advertising-roi/)
- [advertising ROI](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/advertising-roi/)
- [Groupon](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/groupon/)
- [Watson](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/watson/)
- [IBM](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/ibm/)
- [Neil Armstrong](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/neil-armstrong/)
- [anchor points](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/anchor-points/)
- [AI](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/ai/)
- [artificial intelligence](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/artificial-intelligence/)
- [Question the Givens](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/question-the-givens/)
- [Jeopardy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/jeopardy/)
- [career](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/career/)
- [Conference Board Review](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/conference-board-review/)
- [culture change](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/culture-change/)
- [decision making](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/decision-making/)
- [organizational change](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/organizational-change/)
- [underdog](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/underdog/)
- [giant killer](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/giant-killer/)
- [underdog brand biographies](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/underdog-brand-biographies/)
- [fighting dirty](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/fighting-dirty/)
- [inconvenient truths](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/inconvenient-truths/)
- [Three Cups of Tea](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/three-cups-of-tea/)
- [Greg Mortenson](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/greg-mortenson/)
- [Barnes & Noble](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/barnes-noble/)
- [Nook](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/nook/)
- [JetBlue](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/jetblue/)
- [Denny's](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/dennys/)
- [upstart marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/upstart-marketing/)
- [legal strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/legal-strategy/)
- [Jack In The Box](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/jack-in-the-box/)
- [online video](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/online-video/)
- [video marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/video-marketing/)
- [Seize the Microphone](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/seize-the-microphone/)
- [Product RED](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/product-red/)
- [amazon](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/amazon/)
- [kindle](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/kindle/)
- [Patagonia](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/patagonia/)
- [Denise Lee Yohn](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/denise-lee-yohn/)
- [Marketing Profs](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/marketing-profs/)
- [Marketing Profs U](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/marketing-profs-u/)
- [retail marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/retail-marketing/)
- [Future of Work](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/future-of-work/)
- [workplace technology trends](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/workplace-technology-trends/)
- [consumerization of IT](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/consumerization-of-it/)
- [virtual office](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/virtual-office/)
- [The Killing Giants Framework](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/the-killing-giants-framework/)
- [Jabra](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/jabra/)
- [Brand Connections](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/brand-connections/)
- [Peter Fox](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/peter-fox/)
- [Noel Lee](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/noel-lee/)
- [Monster Cable](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/monster-cable/)
- [Beats by Dre](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/beats-by-dre/)
- [consumer electronics](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/consumer-electronics/)
- [consumer electronics marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/consumer-electronics-marketing/)
- [licensing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/licensing/)
- [advertising](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/advertising/)
- [Branding](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/branding/)
- [Channel Marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/channel-marketing/)
- [Consulting](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/consulting/)
- [Contrast Phenomenon](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/contrast-phenomenon/)
- [guerilla marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/guerilla-marketing/)
- [influence](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/influence/)
- [killing giants](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/killing-giants/)
- [management](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/management/)
- [marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/marketing/)
- [psychology](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/psychology/)
- [reciprocity](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/reciprocity/)
- [Strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/strategy/)
- [thinking tools](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/thinking-tools/)
- [brand values](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/brand-values/)
- [brand values alignment](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/brand-values-alignment/)
- [cause marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/cause-marketing/)
- [Culture and Technology Intersection study](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/culture-and-technology-intersection-study/)
- [Denny Leinberger Strategy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/denny-leinberger-strategy/)
- [Trends](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/trends/)
- [coronavirus](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/coronavirus/)
- [covid19](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/covid19/)
- [work from home](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/work-from-home/)
- [consumer trends](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/consumer-trends/)
- [coronavirus trends](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/coronavirus-trends/)
- [productivity](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/productivity/)
- [collaboration](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/collaboration/)
- [covid-19](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/covid-19/)
- [scenario planning](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/scenario-planning/)
- [planning](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/planning/)
- [stakeholder capitalism](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/stakeholder-capitalism/)
- [shareholder capitalism](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/shareholder-capitalism/)
- [WEF](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/wef/)
- [Business Roundtable](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/business-roundtable/)
- [workplace culture trends](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/workplace-culture-trends/)
- [managing egos](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/managing-egos/)
- [phil jackson](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/phil-jackson/)
- [high performing teams](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/high-performing-teams/)
- [mike cassidy](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/mike-cassidy/)
- [sales](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sales/)
- [insight](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/insight/)
- [account based marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/account-based-marketing/)
- [unfiltered marketing](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/unfiltered-marketing/)
- [adidas](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/adidas/)
- [co-creation](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/co-creation/)
- [Trump2020](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/trump2020/)
- [Biden2020](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/biden2020/)
- [unfiltered marketing book](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/unfiltered-marketing-book/)
- [macro trends](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/macro-trends/)
- [Raw](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/raw/)
- [AIM Program](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/aim-program/)
- [WFH](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/wfh/)
- [RTO](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/rto/)
- [Magnet](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/magnet/)
- [syndicated research](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/syndicated-research/)
- [Culture & Technology Intersection](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/culture-technology-intersection/)
- [messaging architecture](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/messaging-architecture/)
- [sales enablement](https://www.stephendenny.com/tag/sales-enablement/)

## Sources

- [Killing Giants](https://www.stephendenny.com/sources/killing_giants/)