On June 16, 1997, at age 27, I placed a bet on myself, eliminated my steady paycheck, and hung out my shingle as a positioning and strategy consultant. My employment record at that time included nearly five years as a marketer manager at Van Melle, where I launched products like…

“If the big boys are doing it, it must be working.” ~ a former boss, who could not have been more wrong on this point It hasn’t been the best few weeks for Peloton. There was the treadmill recall in the first week of May. That’s been covered elsewhere, but…

“As a one-person operation, I can only do so many things to grow my business. So I need to choose wisely. But sometimes I’m paralyzed by the sheer number of options. How do I know which choices are best for me?” I coach other freelancers, and that’s how I’d summarize…

In my last post, I proposed five principles of brand differentiation: 1. The goal is not “difference.” The goal is value and meaning. 2. Differentiation is not something you find. It’s something you create. 3. In branding, as in life, what we do matters more than what we say. 4…

Harvard’s Michael Porter famously said that there are exactly two ways to compete: Cost leadership and differentiation. Are you Walmart or Amazon? No? Then differentiation seems like the way to go. Practical example: If you own an independent flooring store, and a Home Depot opens up half a mile away…

There’s a question that’s asked far too rarely as we develop brand and business strategies. It’s simple but extremely powerful, since it shapes everything that you’ll do as a team or organization. The question: Who do we want to be? It’s challenging to lead an organization in the best of…

“Which ad did you like best?” is about the worst question to ask. — Friends, the Super Bowl is just a few days away. That means the Super Bowl ads are just a few days away. And that means the advertising media, and a few pundits, are working themselves into a lather right about now. Take Gary Vaynerchuk. He’s on record as saying: “Super…