A recent article highlighted 94-year-old Martin Gerstell’s regular use of Uber. Uber’s and Lyft’s efforts to market to Mr. Gerstell and his peers are the inspiration for this week’s Lesson Found.
It seems counterintuitive for Uber and Lyft to be directing marketing toward seniors. But a closer look reveals the opportunity. (more…)
Speech scientist Rapul Patel remembers watching a little girl and a grown man conversing but only hearing one voice, no matter who was talking. That is where our Lesson Found begins.
The little girl and grown man were both using synthetic voice devices that generated the exact same adult-male voice. Clearly, that voice did not accurately represent the individuality of at least one of the speakers. Situations like this spurred Dr. Patel to found VOCALiD, (more…)
Eight decades after its introduction, the last Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the assembly line on July 10th. The innovations that extended the Beetle’s life are the source for these Lessons Found.
Total sales of the VW Beetle topped 23 million cars, making it the world’s fourth most popular car model. This success is based on a history of innovations well beyond model updates. For example, the Beetle’s “Think Small” advertising campaign was (more…)
I was on a bicycle ride recently when another cyclist sprinted past me. I immediately picked up my speed to catchup. That effort is where this week’s Lesson Found begins.
My instinct was to use this cyclist as a pacer to increase my own speed. (more…)
Which would you prefer: A guaranteed $750,000 now or a possible $1,000,000 that you only get if everything goes according to plan? This was likely the question Burger King marketers had in mind when deciding to offer a subscription for a daily cup of BK Café. BK’s decision is the catalyst for this week’s Lesson Found: Packaging products and services to increase cash flow and boost sales. (more…)
How many pirates can you name? I’ll bet the first (and maybe only) one is Blackbeard. That is a testament to Blackbeard’s genius at branding! The foundation of this genius is Blackbeard’s consistent alignment of his branding with his “company’s” mission. And Blackbeard’s genius offers us all a Lesson Found. (more…)
When I think of the need for planning, I’m reminded of the husband who volunteered to plan and prepare Thanksgiving dinner for his wife’s extended family. Following his well-meaning plan, he started preparations the evening before including taking the turkey out of the freezer. It was still frozen the next morning when he went to start cooking it. Needless to say, his wife was not happy. But at least his plan included ample appetizers, side dishes and desserts. Imagine what it would have been like had there been no plan!
Businesses are a lot like Thanksgiving dinner. A poorly thought out plan will result in crisis. Having no plan leads to (more…)
Two experiences reminded me of the importance and scope of branding. The first happened when I added a new website address meant to reinforce my branding, StrategicBizGroup.com, and then created this email address using that URL. The result was a number of you asking which of my emails to use.
Also, a few of my clients have recently asked for feedback on their logo, using the words “branding” and “logo” interchangeably. This channels the marketing teacher in me which immediately starts to explain the difference between a “logo” and “branding”. (more…)