It sure is getting crowded in the C-Suite these days! The conference rooms and board rooms probably aren't big enough to accommodate all the new C-title influences that are roaming around the corridors of the corporate world today. They're everywhere you look and across every job competency you can imagine.
Maybe it is the economy, stupid, but it seems like there is renewed interest in depicting 'business' in the motion picture industry. Very seldom is business portrayed in a positive light, in whatever medium. Business is at the very epicenter of what we do and who we are. Many people make the mistake of judging people based on what they do rather than who they are. Face it, business and business careers are a fabric of the American psyche.
Giving back has taken on new meaning over the past week. The outpouring of support from all segments of the corporate world for Haitian relief has been nothing short of incredible. The reach of the support for Haiti far outpaces the tsunami relief programs of six years ago.
It is fascinating to watch product/sales categories emerge and die, especially if you're a marketer. One story is playing out daily - the e-reader and eBook category. It dominated the book world over the holidays. It is redefining all the accepted norms of product life cycles. As a voracious reader, I find it compelling. I don't want hard cover books to die, but I might not have a choice!
There once was a time when Amway was a household name in product marketing and branding circles. It seems as if Amway disappeared from my brand consciousness over the past decade or so. That is why I was so curious about the multitude of Amway commercials that I saw over the holidays. They dominated sporting events from NCAA Bowls, the NBA, and ESPN's ubiquitous SportsCenter.
As a marketer and brand strategist, it has been fascinating to watch the complete unraveling of the Tiger Woods brand. You would be hard pressed to find a more disastrous brand case history equivalent in size and scope. Maybe Tylenol back in the eighties would rival it for speed of brand dissent. All the brand pillars and tenets of Tiger have proven to be as phony as he is as a person.
It struck me last week during a wonderful benefit Holiday House Tour in New Canaan that kitchens are getting bigger and bolder with extreme design touches everywhere you look. It makes sense, given that the kitchen is at the epicenter of a family. Statistics bear that out. According to the National Kitchen and Bath Association, 80% of most people's time is spent in the kitchen. Why not make it as comfortable and functional as possible?
It is often said that logos are what we see and brands are what we feel. Face it, brands are an extension of who we are and what we want people to think about us. They control us in many ways, both emotionally and rationally. It's all about reaching both the heart and the mind. The greatest example of exercising power over our collective psyches and wallets is Nike.
If you've been in this business long enough, you're bound to have come across a look-alike and/or sound-alike advertising campaign from competing brands. In fact, many times the creative ideas and concepts are almost identical. It's as if the same creative teams worked on them. It happens in all product categories. It is especially noticeable in categories that are intensely competitive with huge media dollars behind them.
There is big money to be made with convicts today, not just by attorneys, but also consultants who are living the age-old adage of following the money. Based on the surge of convictions for federal crimes over the past decade, a new consultant niche is upon us - prison consultants.
