Category Archives: Uncategorized

Let’s not get off on the wrong foot here. Contrary to what YouTube and your social media platform of choice would like you to believe, six seconds isn’t enough time to build a brand. It’s barely enough time to read a headline and certainly isn’t enough time to do anything that would create customer loyalty.Continue reading “Brand building in six seconds or less.”

I first realized the irresistible power of advertising when I was just 16 years old. My father, who was a textile salesman back when sewing plants were still a thing in the South, made me a partner in his side hustle where he secured overruns of clothing from these businesses and sold them at regionalContinue reading “The power of a simple message — a short story.”

Tired of those muscle-bound super brands kicking sand in your face every time you show up on consumer beach? Well it doesn’t have to be that way. While it’s true that bigger is better when it comes to advertising budgets, it is possible to deliver a Charles Atlas message with that 98-pound frame by workingContinue reading “Does your 98-pound advertising budget dream of being buff?”

You and your customers. It started off as a match made in heaven. You had the perfect product, they bought it, and life was good. For years it went on this way. Then one day you woke up and realized you didn’t know each other any more. And before you could say mid-life crisis, youContinue reading “Is there any romance left in your relationship?”

As the retail nation tries to find its footing in our current start-again-stop-again marketplace malaise, the experts will tell you that capturing every potential customer is more important than ever. But really, when was that not important?  Retail stores live and die according to foot traffic. And as anyone in retail marketing will tell you,Continue reading “Will customers return to brick-and-mortar stores? Signs point to “yes.””

The next time one of your cohorts utters that phrase in reference to marketing, you can feel safe in agreeing with them 100%. It’s nothing like rocket science, it’s much harder. Those guys from NASA can always rely on zero being zero, actions spurring reactions and a straight line being the shortest distance between twoContinue reading “It ain’t rocket science.”

Sustainable packaging isn’t just a green thing. It’s no longer even a political thing. Today, delivering your products in a package that’s eco-friendly is much more of a business survival thing. Don’t believe it? Well, do you really think McDonald’s would commit to having 100% renewable and recyclable packaging by 2025 if it didn’t makeContinue reading “Think switching to sustainable packaging is expensive? Consider the cost of doing nothing.”

What can a Broadway musical can teach us about maintaining marketing focus? As first appeared on the Archer Malmo blog, Kaleidoscope. To quote the lead characters from Stephen Sondheim’s sensational Broadway musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” times is hard. In the show, Mrs. Lovett spent her days bemoaning the state of her pieContinue reading “Are you stuck crying about your meat pies or are you busy sharpening your razor?”

Have you ever played that game where everyone sits in a circle and whispers a message from person to person until the message gets back to the person who spoke it first? It never fails, the message always gets screwed up somewhere along the line. It’s not intentional. Usually someone doesn’t listen very well, andContinue reading “You’re all the in same boat, so row together.”

Never in your lifetime will you ever have a marketing budget as big as you want. Face it, there are only so many Proctor & Gambles in the world. When you finally do get enough money to redo your packaging, you’ll want a new catalog to help push your product into the pipeline. If youContinue reading “If you give a marketing director a muffin.”