For many professional service organizations, the creation and marketing of content over the internet is a highly effective way to improve organizational reputation and build brand. The problem is, it creates both patience and persistence…two commodities that are often to come by.

The first one that is…the one that occurred right before WWII. This white paper includes lessons learned from many venerable brands of the last century. Lesson One: never give up, never give up, never give up. Maintain your spending and market presence and emerge with greater marketshare.

It can be puzzling…how do you market to people who often seem to resent marketing? The Millennial cohort is the largest and most empowered group since the fabled Baby-boom generation. And, they are nothing like boomers. Begin with the fact that as a group they were absolutely cherished by their parents and grandparents, were born “digital natives” and are the most tech savvy population group in history (obviously). But they are also cynical, fiercely individualized and generally post-modern in their musings.

We live in a “surplus economy.” There are more products and service than there are humans. And, most of them aren’t that different from one other (the products…the people are pretty different).

This white paper is about projective techniques, ideation and the use of our “triangulation methodology” to uncover business opportunity.

That “kernel of insight” can be more difficult to come by than ever. It often seems as though the marketing world has been taken over by “oddvertising,” “crowd-sourcing” and an obsession with social media marketing. And, while all of these tactics have their place, none of them is a replacement for the kind of insight that defines a marketplace and creates strategic advantage for the brand in possession of it.

This white paper is a historical perspective of the insight business and an overview of some of the processes and techniques at candescence to get and exploit market insight.

All marketers are not evenly skilled across the skill-sets that define success at retail. If you are a manufacturer, you know that retailers expect more and more of you. if you are a retailer, you are overwhelmed by me-too, parity and under-supported products.

This white paper outlines the “Traction II” framework and its four skill-sets: brand meaning, traffic building, in-store experience and post-sale relationship-building. We suggest the specific criteria you will need to master to compete more effectively.

Why do some new ideas proliferate more rapidly than others? It turns out there is a well-documented set of empirical factors that control the way products move through a population and through a culture. In other words, there are specific characteristics that can improve your chances and become the strategies that support a product launch.

This white paper overviews everything from the invention of the plow to the introduction of Pringles in an attempt to understand product diffusion. Read this and begin thinking how you can accelerate the adoption of your product or service.

We all have at least a fuzzy notion that the world has changed, is changing and is changing at an increasing rate. And, it is a little scary. But how, exactly, has it change and why? Post-modernism is the mother of all trends; we believe it is foundational to so many other trends, including the shifts with which marketing executives constantly grapple.

This white paper is about the iconic and seismic shifts in the culture that change everything. Begin with Allen Ginsburg’s “The Howl” and leading right up to The Big Short, this trend is responsible for the importance of social media, the demise of the marketing spokesperson and the success of personal devices.

Shopping is deeply embedded in our DNA. Shopping is part of being human. In one way, the fundamentals are unchanged...we want to be informed, entertained, enjoy a social experience, get a good deal. But Obviously in other ways, everything has changed. This white paper is about what is fundamental to retail success...including navigating the changes.