Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Business, Entrepreneur, Marketing, Social Media, Word-of-mouth marketing by Kathy Heasley
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A while back I asked the folks on Twitter to submit their biggest marketing problems. One tweeter wrote, “How do you convince the C-suite that word of mouth works, i.e. spending $ on customer gifts & special attention.” Well, getting support from the top is a problem most marketers can relate to, particularly if you work in old guard companies that haven’t seized new methods and ideas.  What do you do?  (more…)

Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Business, Customer Service, Entrepreneur, Marketing, Moments, Social Media, Word-of-mouth marketing by Kathy Heasley
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Who says you can’t deliver a product or service from the heart no matter who you are, where you work or who you work for? Building a brand with heart starts one person, one day at a time. Meet this TSA (Transportation Safety Administration) worker. I met him passing through security on my way to give a speech on branding in London, England last month. There I was, standing in a long line, the lone American in a sea of foreign exchange students from Korea, parents and children from the countries of Europe, Asia and Africa and business people from South America, Australia and everywhere else in the world. My ears were filled with a collage of languages, few of them English. (more…)

Filed under: Branding, Business, Customer Service, Entrepreneur, Marketing, Moments by Kathy Heasley
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Old Spice? Yes, if you are a baby boomer, Old Spice was your dad’s after shave lotion. It was of an era where masculinity was akin to images of the sea and the great courage of sailing tall ship vessels. Huh? For real…

Enter the 60’s when few mod girls wanted their guys smelling like their uncool “establishment” dads. And the 70’s disco era brought on designer fragrances like Pierre Cardin with its phallic-shaped bottle conjuring up images of bare-chested, disco-dancing  John Travolta, not dear old dad. 

Tough market. The 80’s and the 90’s weren’t any more friendly; Old Spice was what grandpa smelled like, not Rick Springfield or Kurt Cobain. Old Spice seemed dead in the water never to be resurrected again.  Until…2010 and one of the most brilliant brand revivals ever staged.  Maybe it is because most original Old Spice wearers are long gone, may they rest in peace. Or maybe it is the brilliance of branding–specifically writing and casting–that has put Old Spice back on the map. Whatever it it, a brand that seemed all but gone is back.  (more…)

Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Social Media by Kathy Heasley
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Filed under: Branding, Business, Marketing, Social Media by Kathy Heasley
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People may not say it out loud, but sometimes I know they are thinking it.  What’s heart got to do with business?  Especially when I’m talking with marketing directors or corporate VPs who have been trained to believe that great brands, and therefore great businesses, are built by the numbers.  Well, there is no doubt that numbers in business are important.  I’m a business owner; we track the numbers to be sure.  But as a business owner, and a former employee of several companies, I know that the way to create a really great company—one that consistently delivers great numbers—is by making sure you are a company with heart.  Don’t believe me?  (more…)

Filed under: Branding, Business, Entrepreneur, Marketing, Uncategorized by Kathy Heasley
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Succeeding with social media is simple, right?  Anyone can create a Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn page and make instant strides in sales and marketing.  (Cue laugh track…laugh track, go!)  Yes, people actually believe this, and while it would be great if it was true, success with social media just isn’t that simple.  It takes a lot more strategy, creativity and old-fashioned marketing smarts to make it work.  Use it incorrectly, and you can do more damage than good.  Save yourself from creating your own social nightmare by avoiding these business-busting blunders.  You’ll be glad you did. (more…)

Filed under: Branding, Entrepreneur, Marketing, Social Media by Kathy Heasley
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Randy, Ellen, Kara, Simon.  Every week millions of TV viewers across America welcome them into their homes for the most popular music show on the tube: American Idol.  But is it really a music show, or is a branding show? Think about it.  Marketers and business owners can learn a lot from the music world, a place where great brands crank out products that make a bundle.  If you sing it they will come?  Not really, unless you’re a brand. (more…)

Filed under: Branding, Entrepreneur, Marketing, Moments, Pop Culture by Kathy Heasley
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Okay, so Kindle has a snazzy commercial series complete with stop-action video that makes you keep watching.  Watching, that is, if you happen to be paying attention to commercials, and who does that anymore?  The spots have music that forces you to glance up from playing Ragdoll Blaster on your iPhone just long enough, to see if The Gap or Target has a new commercial on the air.  But no…it’s Kindle.  The spots are a big step up from their earlier tries which were amateurish and lacked a cool factor, but that’s about it. (more…)

Filed under: Branding, Marketing, Technology by Kathy Heasley
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