Spies, Drones and the NSA: America’s Branding Problem

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This may be heretical.  It may be offensive.  However, I’m going to talk about America’s civil liberties from a marketing perspective—not whether it is right or wrong. I once read an article where an incident which occurred in a foreign country was discussed in terms of being a PR problem for their leader—not whether it was just or unjust.  I strongly disagreed.  I felt that the core discussion shouldn't be this foreign leader’s PR, but whether the parties involved had been treated according to Continue Reading

An Autumn Ritual

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The sun was shining on the Mississippi as we headed upriver along the bluffs above Alton, Illinois. The oppressive St. Louis summer was winding down and the first notes of fall were in the air. A touch of cool through the open car windows hinted at Halloween, leaf piles and hot cider without coming right out and stating it. It was apple picking time. An hour north of St. Louis in the highlands above the little river town of Grafton, Illinois, is Eckert’s orchard. Replete with red barn and a Continue Reading

Be Your Own Celebrity

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I’m not sure why it is folks read People magazine. It’s basically a voyeuristic look into the lives of other people.  It’s raw spectatorism, plain and simple.  It’s just watching what’s happening in a bunch of other people’s lives, as though they’re more important than your own. There comes a point where a celebrity is famous just as a personality–just for being HIM.  The fame is no longer about the movie he played in, the amazing talent he has, or what he is capable of.  It’s no longer Continue Reading