Think of the list as a simple set of heuristics to be mated, recombined, mutated, adapted, and evolved for specific needs. Also, feel free to debate the hell out of them. Here we go, in no particular order … DEFINE INSIDERS & OUTSIDERS Mike used to say this like a broken strategic record. Strong brands are bold enough to define who’s in and who’s out, who makes the cut, and who is left behind. Most brands, […]
By now, we all know what a giant success the recent Old Spice work has been. Yes, Virginia, it’s even moved product – culminating with a 107% sales increase in June. Nicely done, W+K. As ad folk (and as humans), we tend to have short memories. We’re good at remembering spectacular hits and not much else. With that said, it’s easy to forget just how long Old Spice has been experimenting with many of the artistic […]
There are two types of clients that pay for strategy work. There’s the client that is deeply curious about outside perspectives and looks for a strategy partner with a set of skills that compliments their own. Client No. 1. Then there’s the client that feels too busy to do the strategy work for themselves, and who reaches out to a strategy partner to think on their behalf. Client No. 2. And for each client type, there’s really […]
Behavioral change has become the topic du jour in marketing, but as always, there’s little to show in way of actions per the volume of conversation. Moreover, it seems as though that the same tactics are being chased without a holistic strategy. The Theory of Planned Behavior proposes a model for how human action is guided. It predicts whether or not a specific behavior will be taken, provided that the behavior is intentional, through developing […]
In the 1960′s, the historian, Alfred Chandler, crystalized his vision of corporate organizational theory with the phrase, “structure follows strategy.” Times have changed, markets have changed, the inherent usefulness of the corporation has changed, and strategies have evolved – thus it’s time again to address the structure of organizations around the globe – ours and especially our client’s. Chandler, the first true business historian, studied how the chemical company Du Pont, the automobile manufacturer General Motors, […]
I wrote this post in 2010 and it generated hundreds of comments on my site and dozens of responses across the web. Looking back, I think I was right about the conditions inside most big agencies – but the market hasn’t shifted away from them yet. Apparently there’s a roaring interest in a model for the advertising agency of the future. My aim for this post is to address some of the ideas put forth […]
Above is a video we released last week at Deutsch LA for Volkswagen. In a matter of a few days, with only one broadcast airing, we’ve already picked up over 6 million views. The LA Times wrote a nice complimentary article, with the headline – VW’s Super Bowl teaser video ‘The Bark Side’ goes viral. The headline is untrue. We did not go viral. This video is popular because people chose to spread it – not because […]
Alright, let’s put a nail in this zombie’s head. How a virus works: A virus is essentially a set of genetic instructions wrapped in a protein. Outside of a living cell, a virus is inert. Once attached to a host cell, a virus injects its instructions into the cell, which takes over the normal machinery of that cell for the express purpose of producing more virus particles and assembling those particles. The virus particles then reach […]
I’ve been working at start-ups and small businesses since I was 14 years old. My father and his father before him owned and operated their own small businesses. There’s something about the fight for survival for a small team that’s coded in my DNA. I doodled this little venn diagram in my notepad during a meeting in 2009 and when I published it online, people went crazy for it. Over the years, I’ve found myself […]
Eric von Hippel coined the term ‘lead user’ in 1986 while identifying sources of innovation. According to von Hippel, a lead user was a user that exhibited novel behaviors by being both an early adopter of technology and an early adapter of technology. These are people who are quick to join a new platform and adapt that platform and other existing technology in unforeseen ways. von Hippel asserts that these users are important to focus on […]
I must confess. I’ve been leading a double life. On Twitter, I’ve been masquerading as Bud Melman, a mailroom clerk at Sterling Cooper Advertising in 1962. I also built WeAreSterlingCooper.org. And for a short period of time, I ran a wiki where I tried to get many of the other Mad Men characters to play along and create story arcs between episodes. I’ve written a full report about my other life, along with what it could mean […]
