Kill the silos, not the messenger
- Written by: Martha Bartlett Piland
Does your organization make outbound calls to support your issue or invite people to an informational event? Here's a very, very wrong way to go about it...possibly the worst voice message ever.
But it's premature to shoot the messenger.
When the left brand doesn't know what the right brand is doing
- Written by: Martha Bartlett Piland
Please come to our fair city. Spend money at the shops—and some more with the cops.
A recent visit to downtown Grand Junction, Colorado felt like that. Mixed messages, brand dissonance...so, do they want me or not?
"Don't Buy This Jacket"
- Written by: Alexandra Reilly
At a glance, this seems like a gimmicky marketing ploy. But is it?
Early last year Patagonia began a campaign that discouraged shoppers from spending on Cyber Monday and told them to "buy less."
I double dog dare you to call
- Written by: Martha Bartlett Piland
I'm not sure if this is a series of coincidences or a disturbing trend. But this week, I've had two "asks" for sizable charitable donations via email or Facebook. And I've had at least five sales people try to pitch me with a cold call via email. Really?
The dating game: how does your brand stack up?
- Written by: Martha Bartlett Piland
When they're hiring, lots of companies spout "great benefits" and "positive work environment" to anyone who will listen. But they don't think about the type of person they want to attract. That's right. Attract. Shouldn't it be more like dating?
Do your ambassadors wear the colors?
- Written by: Alexandra Reilly
Recently my children went back to school. A sheet came home asking parents to have their children wear specific colors for the first two weeks of class. The reason: our kindergarteners need help learning their colors. First it was Red Day. Then Brown Day.
6 ways to ensure reengineering success
- Written by: Martha Bartlett Piland
Team Tomato has 50 ideas. Team JuJube has 65. The competition is on overdrive and the company reengineering is well on its way... or is it?
A friend just gave me the lowdown on the year-old effort at her company. It's grinding to a halt.
Can upset employees sell Forever?
- Written by: Martha Bartlett Piland
"Dear (employee), We're cutting your hours and your benefits. If you have questions call nameless HR person. Oh, and by the way, please keep selling our great products with passion."
That's my take on a leaked employee letter from Forever 21 as reported by Jezebel.
How Borgification is fatal to brands
- Written by: Martha Bartlett Piland
Even a casual Star Trek viewer has heard of the legendary Borg. So united in purpose and mission, they were stronger than almost anyone else. The Borg were also scary, evil and incredibly nasty.
How ancient Chinese wisdom rallies internal brands
- Written by: Martha Bartlett Piland
There are lots of reasons to read the Art of War. Though it's literally about military strategy, I'll argue that it's equally applicable to a company's success:
"He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks."
