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Showing posts from 2016

Virtual Assistants a growing reality.

Alexa, mark my words, literally.  Voice Assistants will set new expectations for how customers want to interact with brands, hardware, shopping sites and apps. Then again, I saw this coming back in 2013 when I coined the expression  #HandsFreeWeb  in describing the future of web-enabled houses! Now that Apple has announced HomePod, we will likely see an epic battle with Amazon Echo and Google Home for leadership in interactive voice. Amazon Echo has become a surprise hit, putting Amazon well ahead of Google to lead the race toward applying natural human language to search and perform tasks.  In a race to catch up, Google Home also uses AI to understand what users are saying and respond conversationally. Going forward, I can see a day when typing into a keyboard, whether a phone, tablet or PC, will be viewed as time consuming and old fashioned.

Want to work in Marcom? Learn to write!

This was drilled into me when I started my career at Ogilvy. I am a better business leader as a result. This is a must read...and do.

Your brand's multicultural strategy is also its growth strategy.

New census data shows that minorities are now the majority in 12% of counties across the U.S.  In 370 counties across 36 states, non-Hispanic whites accounted for less than half the population as of July 2015. And this trend will accelerate.  Three quarters of Americans age 55+ are white.  Whereas among those aged 18-34, that figure drops to only 56%, and even lower among minors. In explaining his greatness, Wayne Gretzky credited his father's advice to skate to where the puck is going, not where it is. For marketers, that mean skating to an increasingly multicultural customer base.

Why I love working in advertising.

I love working in advertising. We help companies care about their customers' hopes and dreams.  We help companies grow.  We get to collaborate with smart, funny, talented people with diverse backgrounds and interests. Several times a year I serve as a guest lecturer at University of California, Irvine and Chapman University.  I enjoy mentoring the next generation of advertising professionals.  They remind me how lucky I am.  When I look out across the classroom, I see in their eyes that they would walk across hot coals to be doing what I do. I always begin my talks with my profession of love and appreciation for my career in advertising, for being able to spend my days at the intersection of business and everything imaginable .  A day in advertising is a day spent absorbing market dynamics; social trends; new technologies; design; emerging media platforms; pop culture influences.  It's a business of ideas – ideas born of hard work, knowledge and serendipity. True, it ca

Hard work and luck.

Companies can be customers.  Or clients.  Or even partners.  But to me they have been teachers.   I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with 17 companies listed in Fortune Magazine's 2016 compilation of the world's most admired companies.  P&G – Coca-Cola Company – Unilever –  UnitedHealth Group – Aetna – American Express – JP Morgan Chase – Hilton – Sony – Medtronic – Applied Materials – Pulte Homes – Best Buy – United – Ryder Systems – Toyota – Ford.  I continue to learn from all my clients.  

How social media is changing new product reveals.

This New York Times article offers a fascinating perspective on how social media is changing product reveals. This is now the case in fashion.  I wonder if this dynamic is also in play in automotive and consumer electronics – two industries that also reveal products well in advance of the on-sale date. Interestingly, the music industry is embracing a different reveal strategy – artists now "drop" a new release with no advance notice.  In doing so they own the social news cycle,  burning hot and bright at the very moment when the "product" is on sale. Something for marketers to consider.