If we ever needed an illustration of how social media has changed the dynamic of corporate communications, we need look no further than Chick-fil-A. It's no secret that the leadership of the quick-service chicken chain is openly hostile towards same-sex marriage; they donate millions of dollars...
Kurt Eichenwald, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, has investigated what he calls Microsoft's Lost Decade—a period of lackluster performance and diminished profitability. He lays blame squarely at the feet of a cannibalistic corporate culture. The story is getting lots of attention, particularly as it...
We join with the world in sorrow and grief over the Aurora, Colorado massacre. As a culture, we'll be a long time figuring out what went wrong, and why. As business leaders, we have to understand the impact of events like this have on our customers. For...
Last week, we talked about a powerful Thai campaign designed to encourage people to stop smoking. There are lots of people who get pretty happy when folks kick the cancer-causing habit, but we have to admit that the sentiment is hardly universal. Tobacco farmers aren't big...
Abraham Maslow postulated that humans have an ascending order of needs and used a hierarchal pyramid to prioritize them. At the bottom levels of the pyramid are our physiological needs—like food, shelter, and clothing—that we need to survive. As these needs are met, progressively higher needs...
Tobacco is one of the most addictive substances on the planet. It was way back in 1987—a quarter century ago—that smokers were first told that it was easier to give up heroin than cigarettes. Today, the CDC reports that 19.3% of American adults smoke. That's nearly...
We're starting to hear the rumbles, here and there, from businesses of every type and every size. Social media, the marketing tool that was supposed to deliver amazing results, doesn't seem to work very well for some companies. They say effort invested isn't providing anything...
What do you call a brand that has enjoyed long-term success, remaining profitable and vibrant for over 30 years, while the vast majority of their early competition struggles for relevancy? In the music world, you'd call that brand Duran Duran. Get ready for your 80's flashback!...
In Customers First, we talk about Starbucks and some of the ways that the brand appeared to be heading off track. It's only right and fair that we should raise our coffee mugs and salute Starbucks when they get it right. Check out this NY Times...
It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye! It was almost a year ago when we wrote this post, highlighting an innovative, effective emergency preparedness educational campaign from the Center for Disease Control. In an effort to get people to stock up on bottled water,...