When reality is too real for its own good.
Ever wonder if all those characters used in insurance marketing work? Ad Age did some research recently on the most liked and remembered ad insurance spokes-characters. The rankings* themselves didn’t really interest me as much as this sentence from the article: “According to the poll, one reason they (spokes-characters) work is that they make intangible …
Why does everything look and act the same?
Ever wonder if all those characters used in insurance marketing work? Ad Age did some research recently on the most liked and remembered ad insurance spokes-characters. The rankings* themselves didn’t really interest me as much as this sentence from the article: “According to the poll, one reason they (spokes-characters) work is that they make intangible …
We get to do this
After college I was one of the lucky kids to snag an extremely low-paying job at a massive Madison Avenue ad agency. While most of my friends got jobs on Wall Street trading stocks and bonds and stacking up piles of cash into their savings accounts, I went the creative route and chose a career …
How do you measure what's working?
After college I was one of the lucky kids to snag an extremely low-paying job at a massive Madison Avenue ad agency. While most of my friends got jobs on Wall Street trading stocks and bonds and stacking up piles of cash into their savings accounts, I went the creative route and chose a career …
My biggest lesson.
There I was, working in my window-less office in the middle of a high rise in Philadelphia, when my boss’s boss stopped by my office. This was circa 1993 and at the time I was an account manager on The Wall, a new line of record stores owned by WH Smith that we had launched …
"Forget everything."
There I was, working in my window-less office in the middle of a high rise in Philadelphia, when my boss’s boss stopped by my office. This was circa 1993 and at the time I was an account manager on The Wall, a new line of record stores owned by WH Smith that we had launched …
How much is convenience worth to you?
I remember the first time the concept of Personally Identifiable Information, aka PII, was introduced to me. It was 2003, and I worked for an agency that had just been acquired by Avenue A, a leading digital media shop. On our first trip to their office the legal team dragged us into a large conference …
Don't just spend. Fix.
I remember the first time the concept of Personally Identifiable Information, aka PII, was introduced to me. It was 2003, and I worked for an agency that had just been acquired by Avenue A, a leading digital media shop. On our first trip to their office the legal team dragged us into a large conference …
When being wrong is so very right.
There we were, observing remote user testing, and a prototype we had created for one of our clients was failing. Spectacularly. And repeatedly. We have worked with this client, a large financial services institution, for years and have a lot of familiarity with their digital properties and how people use them. One of the insights …
The hidden superpower
There we were, observing remote user testing, and a prototype we had created for one of our clients was failing. Spectacularly. And repeatedly. We have worked with this client, a large financial services institution, for years and have a lot of familiarity with their digital properties and how people use them. One of the insights …
“You can do whatever you want.”
What could you do with your digital property if you discarded all those strict brand guidelines, publishing templates, back end requirements – never mind those pesky budgets? How easy could you make it for your customers to accomplish a task? What’s that big problem you could finally solve? Here’s a suggestion: go through that hypothetical …
What makes some brands last so long?
What could you do with your digital property if you discarded all those strict brand guidelines, publishing templates, back end requirements – never mind those pesky budgets? How easy could you make it for your customers to accomplish a task? What’s that big problem you could finally solve? Here’s a suggestion: go through that hypothetical …
When a few weeks becomes a full year.
“Our plan for the coming weeks.” That was the subject line of the email I sent to the Shiny team on March 15, 2020 outlining our plan to pivot to working from home as a result of the growth in Covid-19 cases. Those anticipated weeks have stretched into our working fully remote for a year. …
This post should be longer.
“Our plan for the coming weeks.” That was the subject line of the email I sent to the Shiny team on March 15, 2020 outlining our plan to pivot to working from home as a result of the growth in Covid-19 cases. Those anticipated weeks have stretched into our working fully remote for a year. …
Reddit Won It
Now that the Super Bowl is over all of us in adland can start our annual parsing of which ads were great, which weren’t, and debating the Ad Meter scores. In my—and many people’s —opinion, Reddit won the game. The :05 buy was brilliant. It cut through, literally forced people to stop, rewind and read …
Even a millennial can learn a few social media tricks.
Now that the Super Bowl is over all of us in adland can start our annual parsing of which ads were great, which weren’t, and debating the Ad Meter scores. In my—and many people’s —opinion, Reddit won the game. The :05 buy was brilliant. It cut through, literally forced people to stop, rewind and read …
Three business lessons I learned from having my blood drawn.
Like most (all?) people, I don’t really enjoy having blood drawn. Between the mandatory fasting (definitely a problem for me) and a few uncomfortable needle sticks in the past (the old “let’s try the left arm, no the right, okay back to the left” and my favorite “ugh…your vein just rolled over on me”), I …
I received a credit card offer and you'll never guess what happened next.
Like most (all?) people, I don’t really enjoy having blood drawn. Between the mandatory fasting (definitely a problem for me) and a few uncomfortable needle sticks in the past (the old “let’s try the left arm, no the right, okay back to the left” and my favorite “ugh…your vein just rolled over on me”), I …
The skyline isn’t the only thing changing in Wilmington.
When I was asked to write this piece and give my perspective on the regional business environment I was immediately whisked back to an evening in the early Fall of 2014. My future business partners and I were eating burritos from El Diablo and having an important conversation that boiled down to “Are we really …
It’s Got to Work the First Time
When I was asked to write this piece and give my perspective on the regional business environment I was immediately whisked back to an evening in the early Fall of 2014. My future business partners and I were eating burritos from El Diablo and having an important conversation that boiled down to “Are we really …
Why does everything look and act the same?
I kept coming back to that question as I re-read the Accenture Fjords Digital Trends 2021 report. In it they shared an overall theme about the need for businesses to map out new territory in the digital arena. The central idea is that the people who create digital experiences have relied too heavily on tried-and-true …
How do you measure what's working?
No doubt you’ve heard the quote famously attributed to the noted retail giant and marketing pioneer John Wanamaker back in the early 1900’s, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.” Late into the 20th Century the answer to this conundrum was barely improved. Marketers relied …
"Forget everything."
That was the advice we recently gave one of our clients who is looking to undertake a seismic re-imagining of their digital experience. An experience they’ve been improving in increments for several years, using a traditional test-and-learn approach both in lab and in the real world. An approach that got them to a point where …
Don't just spend. Fix.
The other day I was talking with a marketer in the financial services space who was sharing that they weren’t getting enough people through their online application. He described their app as like something from the 1990’s, which was causing significant drop off issues. Then, almost in the same breath, he said they wanted to …
The hidden superpower
Early in my advertising career I remember hearing the saying that “if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but as a life-long runner I thought to myself, “great, I will go alone. I like going fast.” I was recently …
What makes some brands last so long?
Recently our team got into a debate about the relative value of a brand’s heritage. Some believed the longevity and endurance of a brand brought intrinsic and positive value; others argued that a brand with a long and storied history might have overstayed its welcome in a modern market filled with innovation. We happened to …
This post should be longer.
Black History Month, and seeing Amanda Gorman and Vice President Harris at the Inauguration, got me thinking of the amazing Black women I’ve had the opportunity to work with, and learn from. That made me want to sing their praises and make sure more people know about them. With no further ado, following in alphabetical …
Even a millennial can learn a few social media tricks.
A few weeks ago, a member of the Shiny team, who shall remain nameless, asked a favor: Could I provide an education on social media? I laughed, thinking this was a good-natured joke at my expense. When I realized it was not, in fact, a jab at my relative youth I immediately agreed. After all, …
I received a credit card offer and you'll never guess what happened next.
A couple years ago, I made a few big-ticket purchases and decided to finance them on a 0% interest credit card offer in order to pay them off over time. Once the balance was paid and the no-interest offer was over, the card went to the dreaded back of wallet position. It had served its …
It’s Got to Work the First Time
As an Airbnb/friend’s couch kinda guy, I don’t often stay in hotels, but I did a couple weeks ago for an extended weekend. On the drive there, I pulled up the hotel app (I was a passenger). It greeted me with, “Today’s the day!” I’m already impressed. The app knows why I’m there and follows …
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