"if you’re told that you’re doing a great job, you should ask, what specifically am I doing well? Then, ask even more questions to see how these current strengths can set you up for future success. “Ask questions and use specific job roles that are higher than your level,” Kuhl said. An example of this would be, am I ready for the vice president of operations role?" …see more

#Chicago ! We've just wrapped Black History Month, now it's Women’s History Month, and soon we'll be awash in rainbows for Pride Month. Join me for an important discussion 3/26 exploring how brands are getting involved in these movements, and how some are dangerously pandering. Learn: 1. Which brands are using the power of marketing to create meaningful change (and how to tell using a simple litmus test). 2. Why cause-aligned marketing is everywhere 3. The impact of brand hypocrisy on social movements and brand integrity. 4. How to hold the companies you buy from, and work for, accountable. Free, but space is definitely limited. Hosted by the phenomenal humans at dscout and featuring their important inclusivity research in #UX https://lnkd.in/e-GKweE …see more

Hot off the press, we surveyed Boston Content 's community about 2020 #content trends. Most notable? When asked what content challenges they foresee for 2020, a majority (69%) of our survey responded that scaling content creation would be their #1 challenge. https://lnkd.in/enDveAc …see more

Almost 60 percent of US consumers are influenced to buy a brand, product or service by the words, actions, values and beliefs of a company’s senior executives and other employees.

"...to sell something surprising, make it familiar; and to sell something familiar, make it surprising"

“Who does the audience love? What do they love? And what is the story that can be told to turn that love into engagement, loyalty and revenue?” Fascinating insight into the process behind blending personal and corporate brands with the amazing Nataly Kogan and Kim Donlan …see more

This is a great company with an exciting job opening for content marketing pros in Boston.  "We believe in the power of content to change ideas, create awareness, and move our buyers to action. We’re looking for someone to harness the passion, ideas, and innovation happening within our four walls, and turn that into brand assets that help fuel our future growth."  Apply at the link within. Happy to answer any questions or make a warm referral for qualified applicants. …see more

"Marketers don’t always talk about their activity in the language of the rest of the business. The truth is, the common language across every department is money." Jocelyn Brown

When a company basically ignores brand, it is essentially saying that they are unconcerned with what their customers' needs are. Last week's GameStop / AMC Theatres stock blowup gave us a chance to witness one company, Robinhood flail, while a competitor Public.com rise to the occasion. The difference was knowing what their customers need the brand to be. #brand #robinhoodapp #public #trading #fintech #brandlessons #brandpositioning #communications #gamestop #wallstreet #amc #hedgefunds …see more

This is some impressive thinking. Install solar panels over water canals. All the benefits of solar power combined with big reduction in evaporation. This should be standard everywhere. #solarenergy #solarpower #innovation #smartenergy #evaporation #solarpowersystem …see more

Instead of just asking why a customer is canceling, subscription-based businesses should always try to gauge future intent of their canceling customers in their exit survey (and should definitely have an exit survey). The canceling customer signed up with the company to solve a problem. And for whatever reason, the product or service isn't hitting. It could be any number of reasons - price, convenience, accessibility, marketing claims don't match what was delivered, etc.). But the problem they were seeking a solution to hasn't gone away. And they will seek to solve it somehow. By asking about future intent, a company gets a clearer picture of how they think about solving that problem which can then inform how they message, create new features, etc. It is also important is to recognize that some folks need to cancel for reasons beyond the control of the company. Be gracious in letting them cancel. That way they're not only more likely to come back but also to recommend as well. #subscription #futureintent #customerretention #CX #cancellation # #subscriptions #exitsurvey #strategy …see more

The future of marketing is not just personalization, it's personalized curation. Taking input signals from everywhere and combining them to serve up not only what the customer "might like" but items and experiences that enhance their purchases in ways they hadn't considered and that build the brand. #brand #brandbuilding #cx #shopping #inappshopping #mobileshopping #personalisation #personalization #curation #curating #businessstrategy #futureofmarketing …see more

If the goal is to build a long-lasting, independent company, one of the worst things that companies do is "trend-jumping." Here I share why that's a fools errand and how to go about creating brand assets, from copy to websites, that speak to who your brand is and what you target audience needs to see, feel, and hear. Thanks to Gary Kenji McMath and Marc Röger for their editorial assistance. #brand #brandpositioning #brandstrategy #design #branddesign #websitedesign #squarespace #wix #webflow #netflix #generic …see more

Netflix has come full circle. As a content aggregator, it was imperative that we built a brand that was cohesive and meant something more than the individual pieces of content. With the switch to Netflix Originals, the company’s brand shifted to one defined by the content it created and how each audience connected to those properties. And rightly so. But in the days since, many more companies are creating high-quality content. Which means Netflix risks becoming one of many. In a sense, the idea of high-quality original content has become table stakes. So now Netflix is once again, seeking to build brand that is cohesive and means something more than the individual pieces of content. And rightly so. This ties in with my post yesterday about brands needing to build an emotion-based connection with consumers. Also, I would argue that the loading bar is nowhere near "the most controversial part of their UX." #brand #branding #brandmarketing #brandpositioning #Netflix #netflixoriginal #marketingandadvertising #marketing #hulu #disneyplus #appleTVplus #amazonprimevideo …see more

Vita Coco is apparently dancing in the end zone today. Yesterday, they received a lot of attention for this tweet exchange as they rushed headlong into trying to be culturally relevant. I’m sure it felt like a “win” and yes, a lot of people found it funny and they got a lot of attention for it. No disputing that. Unfortunately, “sick burn, bro!” isn’t a smart brand move (unless that the entire brand acts that way). What’s worse is they just associated the one product they sell, coconut water you drink, with urine. So, I think this is great time to remind everyone that brand is the sum total of everything you do, how your company interacts with the world, and how the world perceives it. Chasing short-term wins at the expense of long-term brand is not a good move. #brand #socialmedia #vitacoco #brandpositioning #dontsothis …see more

At first, one might be tempted to say, "But Amazon already has Whole Foods Market and Amazon Go." But with the launch of Amazon Fresh, they're not only filling gaps in its coverage to own more of the grocery landscape, but they're also setting up delivery hubs. Smart move. #amazon #amazonfresh #wholefoodsmarket #amazongo #groceryretail #groceryindustry #groceryshopping #grocerydelivery …see more

Consider your desired outcomes when creating features. Then work backward to explore the different ways it might take to get there. For example, Facebook recently rolled out the ability to make avatars. And like most avatars, these have to be built from scratch using a vast array of options. Having those options is great because it means everyone can ostensibly create an avatar that reflects what they think they look like. The outcome that Facebook was probably hoping for was to have everyone on Facebook create and actively use an avatar. But building an avatar is an exercise of time and patience. Because it's being built from scratch, it's not uncommon to have to start over a couple of times. And many people I know, myself included, simply quit making them because it was tedious. So, given the desired outcome, it seems like having only one path to achieve is a miss. What could they do differently? How about in addition to the build option, create an option were someone could upload a photo, Facebook creates an avatar based on it, and the person can then fully customize it? My guess is they'd get a lot more people reaching the desired outcome. Looking at the desired outcome allows a company to create multiple paths to that outcome. #Facebook #UX #userexperience …see more

I’m sharing this because it’s something not too many folks talk about. Great advice from Netflix co-founder and first CEO, Marc Randolph . You can test ideas without tons of resources. In the early days of Netflix , we would frequently put comps of ideas in front of folks to get directional feedback. Those comps usually consisted of jpgs dropped into HTML with hot zones, not fully fleshed out functional HTML. The equivalent of using scotch tape and paper. But we got the read and feedback we needed to move quickly. #prototype #prototyping #ideas #netflix #netflixhistory #testing #testingideas …see more

A high level of self-awareness, or emotional intelligence, can mean everything to a leader's performance not just with products, services or markets but with people.

This news about Bing from Microsoft serves as a great reminder to not make assumptions about your target market based on your behavior unless you are the target market (which, let's face it, is often not the case). And yes, Google is still running the tables but the fact that Bing could grow this much in a few years in interesting. Hat tip to Tobias van Schneider and the tweet that inspired me to share this. #marketing #targeting #consumerbehavior #bing #microsoft #google …see more