The Marketing Funnel is Failing You: Growth is a Flywheel
The marketing funnel is pervasive. This framework—the dominant mindset among marketing professionals, whether B2B or B2C—is built on a series of assumptions:
The Brain’s Guide to Building a Brand
You only need to look at a fraction of one of these logos, and your brain fills with images and experiences.
The Power of Positive Intent: Building Customer Trust
Imagine you’re in the airport, famished, waiting for a flight. You buy an enormous, puffed-up bag of potato chips. You tear into the bag, relishing the idea of stuffing yourself with salty, greasy goodness.
Longevity: The Undervalued Brand Growth Strategy
This is my Coach purse. It recently caught my eye in a photo taken 13 years ago when I noticed it hanging over my shoulder. I had purchased it years before that and have used it nearly every day since
Introducing the Marketing Hippocratic Oath: Redefining Industry Practices
First, do no harm. This is a central theme of the modern Hippocratic Oath, a set of principles governing patient care that most medical schools administer to their students. Most, if not all professions, have some form of a code of ethics that outlines behavioral expectations, and marketing is no exception.
Stop Selling, Start Dating: All Marketing is Matchmaking
Picture this: You’re at a speed dating event and notice that many of your dates fall into one of three personality types.
Navigating the Green Guides: Valuable Principles for Marketing Claims
I started writing this article solely from the lens of environmental claims, with the intent of educating brand leaders about the Green Guides.
Life Cycle Thinking: The Best Tool to Help Brand Leaders Master Sustainability
A common dilemma I have is whether to recycle my yogurt containers. I know they are made of a recyclable plastic, and my children constantly urge me to recycle, but it’s not so simple.
Unmasking Greenwashing: How to De-Risk Your Brand
In 2016, Keurig launched a recyclable K-Cup pod. Customers were thrilled. Those disposable pods, often the boon of environmentally conscious consumers who love a single cup of coffee, could now be dropped into the recycling bin. An asterisk in small print noted: “Check locally, not recycled in all communities.”
Beyond the Buzzwords: Why Accurate Environmental Claims Matter
I was recently gifted a reusable, insulated travel mug. The box and informational leaflet included numerous claims of “sustainable,” and “eco-friendly.” Excited and curious, I wondered what made it more sustainable. Were the materials sourced differently than traditional travel mugs?
Creating Conscious Messages Part 4: Taking Accountability Beyond Words
"I'm sorry. It was my fault."
I have come to learn these are among the six most powerful words I can speak as a parent or spouse. Unexpected, disarming, humble, effective, and yet, even with frequent practice, difficult to say.
Creating Conscious Messages Part 3: Shift from Aspirational to Achievable Marketing
Effective marketing that influences viewers can, on a larger scale, influence culture. Therefore, the way we communicate—the words we use, the images we select, the values we implicitly or explicitly endorse—all have more power than we realize to shape cultural norms.
Creating Conscious Messages Part 2: Balance Emotional and Functional Messages
In the book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, John Mark Comer rails on advertising, calling it “a multibillion-dollar industry that is intentionally designed to lie to you – to get you to believe that if you will only buy this or that product then you will be happy. Or at least happier.”
Creating Conscious Messages Part 1: Replace Fear with Value
This article series is about messaging: how to do it in a way that is transparent, realistic, and uplifting vs. exaggerated, manipulative, and negative.
Conscious Marketing: It’s Time for a Revolution
When I applied to my first job as a brand manager, I explained to my brother what the job entailed. He clarified, “So you’re going to manipulate people into buying things they don’t want?”
4 Reasons Your Company's "Good" Should be Part of Your Core Business
Frederick Buechner asked: “At what points do my talents and deep gladness meet the world’s deep need?” This is a great question to pose when searching for personal purpose, but it also applies to brands and companies.