Here’s Proctor & Gamble’s purpose: “We will provide branded products of superior quality and value that improve the lives of the world’s consumers, now and for generations to come.”  Now get this part: “As a result, consumers will reward us with leadership sales, profit and value creations, allowing our people, our shareholders and the communities…

As we move en masse toward life on the web, one crucial question has to do with reaction time.  If an event takes place in the real world, how quickly can you capitalize on it online?  It doesn’t even have to be your event.  When a huge section of the San Francisco Bay Bridge was…

When people were asked recently what they valued at work, job security outperformed high pay two to one.  Because your people are a key (maybe “the” key) driver of your brand, why not tie job security to brand building?  Those employees (from the mail room to the boardroom) who live the brand and demonstrate the…

A recent study revealed that during this recession, the brands which remained strongest did so because they were among the most trusted.  The brands that fared worst were often brands who lost the trust of consumers – especially those in the financial sector.  This suggests that a primary goal of your ongoing marketing and public…

A successful web presence takes two very different disciplines.  It requires left-brain programming prowess to make sure everything is built correctly, well-organized and fully functional on a variety of browsers (and to make sure the site gets found by search engines).  It takes right brain creative skills to design original content and develop a pleasing…

If your brand could use a role model, try the United States Marine Corps.  Its new advertising campaign focuses on how only the toughest and best become Marines.  Shot at Parris Island by a director who helped direct the Normandy Beach footage for “Saving Private Ryan,” it shows real Marines enduring all the rigors of…

There are plenty of salespeople out there calling on the same prospects as you.  They’re calling on your customers, too.  It would be depressing except for one fact – so many of them do it so badly.  Just seconds into most sales calls, it becomes clear that the salesperson wants to tell you everything except…

Sometimes you have to recognize when your own rule works against you.  A recent blog post observed that most concerts begin with the obligatory ban on cameras and recording devices.  Not a Wiggles concert.  The silly, snug-shirted kids’ combo starts by encouraging the audience to take all the pictures and video they want – and…

Have you (or more likely, your kids) ever heard an ice cream truck, scrambled for some cash and dashed out the door, only to find the truck receding in the distance?  Makes you wonder why some enterprising ice cream truck driver doesn’t figure out which neighborhoods offer the best potential (lots of houses close together,…

Now that cash registers do all the math, no one has to count change back to a customer anymore.  Unfortunately, this has introduced an irritating, omnipresent annoyance.  When you get change back today, it’s bills first, then coins on top.  What happens?  Half the coins try to slide off the bills before you can grab…