Articles

I was sitting in a meeting with a client. It was our first meeting and we were talking about building a brand. As a senior executive he had experience with conversations about brands and branding, but this time it was different. He didn’t know how or why it was different, but he struggled to maintain the normalcy of this conversation that he thought he had had so many times before.

What he didn’t know at the time, was that he wasn’t having that same conversation. This time it was different.

Yo…

Diversity is a hot topic that is not going away…nor should it. It is going to become an expectation by consumers that your brand takes a stand and then follows it up with actions.

While many companies have claimed to be diverse, the reality is, for many, it has just been lip service. Currently, 75% of the companies listed on Nasdaq do not meet this requirement.

On December 1, 2020, Nasdaq Inc. proposed a rule requiring that all companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange will have to publicly disc…

You’ve probably heard that you should “always” include a custom message when you send a connection request on LinkedIn. While that is a good intention, the reality is that not every opportunity to send a connection request on the platform allows you to customize it. For example, if you are going through the LinkedIn suggestions after you just sent someone a connection request, and decide that you want to connect with someone, LinkedIn doesn’t give you the option to include a customized message w…

I was in a meeting the other day and the topic of digital disruption came up. The person I was meeting with described it as something that should almost be feared, which surprised me. I dove deeper into why he felt this way, what I learned was it was a response to some media-driven content that he was exposed to. So, I want to share with you how I explained digital disruption as an opportunity for him.

“Digital” is not a thing—it’s just as much a part of our lives as going to work, figuring out…

Unless you are engaging with your connections or with the LinkedIn community, LinkedIn is nothing more than the world’s largest Rolodex® and you will receive nothing from it.

I know that was harsh…and well it’s true.

Remember, every aspect of LinkedIn is searchable so the more you can engage, the more relevant you are, and the higher you appear in search results. The best way to do this is by engaging on others' posts in the news feed and their articles. I guarantee you, that you will build mo…

As a result of the BLM movement, many companies announced commitments to rebranding products that have been known to be insensitive or to display racial stereotyping to the BIPOC communities. As new brands are released, I’ll update this and share my insights about the rebrand that they are moving forward with.

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Aunt Jemima -> Pearl Milling Company. February 2021.

PepsiCo, owns Aunt Jemima's parent company, Quaker Oats abandoned the 131-year old brand name. The nam…

Despite the consistently proven impact, qualified marketers are rarely invited to join corporate boards.

Ever since I started my business, I have always been on at least one board. When I went back to get my Executive MBA was the first time, I had stepped off all boards. It’s been a few years now and I wanted to start looking into getting involved with a board again, but this time I want to do something different. I want to challenge myself and expand my skillset. So, I started looking into for…

Every expert will have a different take on this. My answer is “it depends.” What are your goals? What are you trying to achieve? What are you going to be sharing? Those questions and a few others will influence the actual advice I would give you, but generally here is my advice.

All original content should go on your personal or company blog first. From an SEO perspective, the search engines give credit to websites that regularly produce original content. Why would you want to give that credit …

Gen Z is just getting started and the future customer of every business. They were born between the years of 1996-2010. While they are young, they have all grown up with the Internet in their pocket, smartphones and tablets, and they prefer to use them over a computer.

What Key Events Influenced Gen Z?

• 2000+ - Global Terrorism
• 2000s – Increased Awareness of Shared Family Responsibilities
• 2007-2009 - The Great Recession
• 2007-2013 – Increase in Gun Violence
• 2008 - Election of Barrack Obama…

The generation that the media loves to hate and is the most targeted in marketing was born between the years of 1980-1995. They have taken over the workplace and some don’t even remember a world without the Internet or cell phones.

What Key Events Influenced Millennials?

• 1970s-1990s - Rise of the Personal Computer “A computer on every desk and in every home” <-Microsoft’s First Mission Statement.
• 1980s – Rise of Video Games in the Entertainment Industry
• 1990-1991 – Operation Desert Storm /…