I hate to say it.  It goes against everything in my DNA.  My body screams 'noooooo!' as I write this but my mind says, 'yes, it must be said.'  Especially, since I have such long and strong ties to the Apple brand.  So here it goes. Apple is on the verge (in my and a host of other's opinion) of the Apple store's undermine what ...

The following is an excerpt of a story that brings home the power of influence and social networking.  This is an off-line example that took place back in 2004/2005.  The account is written in first person and took place in the Midwestern United States.  It is sort of long and I didn't want to edit it down, as it would lose some of ...

Recently, there has been a lot of chatter about the importance of social media and influential consumers.  Recently, there was an article published (see 'What's Plaguing Viral Marketing', Advertising Age, July 16) in which Duncan Watts, a professor of sociology at Columbia, asserted that influential consumers don't play as much of role as ...

For me especially, the firm Brains on Fire evokes an interesting set of emotions.  The reason is pretty complex.  BOF (Brains on Fire) is a competitor to ComBlu.  They are talented people, so they are a worthy competitor.  One of their WOM team members, Virginia Miracle (Vee Dub) used to be ComBlu's client when she ...

The other day I was talking with somebody who made a really smart comment that led to a fascinating debate.  His point was that brands are terrified to a) embrace customers as part of the innovation process.  You know, those best customers who really get it (aka Customer Advocates) and b) fire those toxic customers who do nothing ...

Well the stock market is on fire again.  On Thursday, it hit another record.  Of equal but not as well reported importance was that the S&P hit 1,500, which it hasn't done since 2000.  Why is this important and what does this have to do with marketing? An excellent question grasshopper.  The answer is measurement ...

They say that the proof of the pudding is in the eating.  Who 'they' are and why 'they' say this, I do not know.  The last couple of mornings I have began my day in two different coffee houses, neither of which were Starbucks (yes, they exist!) This post has to do with one of these.  I was in a coffee house that was about a half ...

Well, I have returned from the WOMMA conference and am back in the routine.  For those of you who are not familiar with WOMMA, it stands for the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (www.womma.org).  The FTC in 2006 sanctioned WOMMA's code of word of mouth ethics (the rules and toolboxes) as 'safe harbor'.  So if you are ...

I have had a new hobby to occupy my time during those late night periods of time where your eyes pop open precisely at 2:59am each night for a couple of nights in a row.  C'mon, you have to admit that this has happened to you at least once.  Maybe like me, you ask yourself the question, ''Is it my mind working on something that is ...