The Blog

The Search for Authenticity

When we use a search engine, sometimes we aren’t sure what we are searching for.  “I'll know it when I see it” or “It just felt right.” Whatever the case may be, it's definitely not because we’re looking for something that's fake.  Unfortunately, as we know all too...

Brands Are People Too

When it comes to brand identify the question isn't "what" a brand is as much as it's "who" a brand is. Obviously, to be successful. a brand has to function and fill a need or desire in the marketplace. But that's just table stakes. It also has to have the ability...

Alchemy and Social Amusia Don’t Mix

Commonly known as tone-deafness, amusia is an inability to distinguish differences in musical pitch.   Tone-deafness is also a term that applies to those who are oblivious to public sentiment, opinion, or taste. Think of it as social amusia.  At best, social...

Dear 80’s, We Miss You

growtingtoaA recent survey asked 20- to 60-year-olds what decade they thought was the best to live in, or wish they had lived in.  Ranging from 1900’s to the 2000’s the majority of decades selected for best decade were from the 1970s to the 2000s.  Two things about...

Is Your Brand Under Too Much Control?

No one had ever heard of Beck David Hansen.  Now known monomously as "Beck", he was at the time a completely unknown music artist playing in small coffee houses.  And yet, somehow his very first recorded song "Loser" was inexplicable success.  It was a strange song...

Culture is the Ultimate Marketing Machine

When I was a kid, my cousins and I used to poke fun at my abuela who used Vicks VapoRub for everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything. Once time one of my cousins hid her arm inside the sleeve doused the empty sleeve with ketchup, and ran into the...

The Myth of the Iconic Brand

sinphyafircowaHiThe first official brand in the United States emerged in 1818, and since then nearly 90,000 of them have come and gone.  Today there are 50,000 active brands out of which roughly 5% to 8% will become memorable.  Of those, only a chosen few become...

The Art of the Question

Asking questions about what we want to know seems pretty straight forward.  Truth is, how those questions are asked has a significant impact on the accuracy and quality of the responses.  Question-asking is not as simple as it seems. There’s an art to it. Good...

Should You Use Latinx, Latino, or Hispanic? It Depends.

Does whether to use Latinx, Latino, or Hispanic have you walking on eggshells?  You’re not alone. Many people use Hispanic and Latino interchangeably.  Latinx gets a fair amount of attention in college university environments as a monolithic term but is a matter of...

Are You Biased?

Did you answer “no”?  If so, then you have a bias.  It’s called a blind spot.  But don’t be too hard on yourself.  Truth is, we’ve been hardwired for bias since we were Neanderthals.  It was necessary for survival.  See that tiger?  Maybe you saw one just like it...

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