Can a brand possibly become well known (and respected) by taking the high road in a low key approach? There’s a great commentary by Aaron Baar in MediaPost about the Will Smith brand, and how he (and his management team – no doubt) do a phenomenal job at … Read on >

I am officially a sucker for the Olympic Games. Just thinking about them brings back a lot of memories of my brother, sisters, parents and I feeling so proud of the athletes for … Read on >

1) Shopping centers are clearly, and not surprisingly, feeling pains in today’s economy. Stories like this Wall Street Journal piece and this USA Today piece describe the trouble developers are facing in trying to lease space, and the lengths to which some malls are … Read on >

With boarding passes becoming the latest billboard space, advertising just got more ubiquitous. Independently thinking marketers may want to consider the 180 degree option for “wow-ing” their customers: giving the captive ad audience a little white space, on them.

I wrote about this in my latest Huffpo piece. … Read on >

Here’s a clip from Mary Pilon’s Wall Street Journal “Journal Women” blog post:

“A recent study from Sony Ericsson showed that women in the U.K. spend £391 a year (roughly $773) on electronics. In the U.S., women control more than $50 billion in gadget spending, according to the … Read on >

Especially in an industry is rooted in the construction and building industry (where bigger and more imposing have long been "better"), it can be hard to even wrap your mind around how the consumer actually experiences the space. Imposing structures do not inspire a lingering shopper – who knew?

So, … Read on >

For a few days last week I worked with Jim Oswald* (see more on him below) on a graphic illustration project about what vibrant community means. The idea was to gather the words and thoughts of passersby at the Pacific Coast … Read on >

No one is to blame here, but high level marketing types are apparently still spending more money on branding and promotions than they are on gathering consumer insights.  This seems odd, since no amount of money you throw at those two things will actually be effective (for the long term, … Read on >

In my latest eBrandMarketing post, I write about how to make women seem less foreign as consumers. Yes – they are worth “studying,” but mainly it’s time to interact with them.

Here’s a clip:

In the marketing realm, there is much evidence of the same sort of fear of the … Read on >

1) Aliza Sherman-Risdahl, one of the pioneers of women in technology and author of several books (including her latest, The Everything Blogging Book), just launched the Small Biz Tech Girl podcast. Her years in the business, experience with her own entrepreneurship and ability to make technology … Read on >