The world of marketing has evolved, and today the companies that supply marketing communications and brand strategy are very different. There was a time when ad agencies were also the chief brand builders for their clients. It was called the 20th century. But that era is over and even big and brilliant agencies are no longer qualified to work on brand strategy.
From all my years in research and consulting, I think I’ve learned a thing or two about marketing worth sharing. Enduring fundamentals, mostly yet often overlooked. So, this year, I’m sharing some for your consideration. I hope they’re helpful. This week’s thought: Change is overrated. Marketers love fads and fashions. Change is the watchword of marketing. I’m in the trends and futures business, so I’m not unhappy about this. But part of studying trends and...
At Amazon, there are no PowerPoints at key meetings. Rather, a well-written and reasoned Word document is distributed and read by everybody at the meeting. Then a real meeting, which involves discussion and interrogation of the material, takes place. Everybody has the same information, and reading the information is far more time-effective than being paraded through a few words or charts flashed in sequence slowly. In many cases, even this well-crafted Word document may not...
Consumer anxiety has been building over the last two years, and it changes the face of optimal marketing and communications strategy. Rampant uncertainty is being nourished by upheaval over what the future looks like, impacting the chemistry of what people want (greater control) while the rules of culture-informed behavior and expectations around them relentlessly shift.
One morning, I noticed something curious in my city. Within just a few hours, I saw three different versions of the same brand: the REMAX logo from 2005 on a moving truck, their 2017 logo on a for-sale sign, and the latest 2025 version on a bus shelter ad. Three identities, one brand—coexisting in plain sight. I call this “brand residue”: the traces left behind each time a brand changes its skin. While designers are...
