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Plan? I’m Wide Open

There’s a scene at the end of The In-Laws (the original, not the awful remake of a few years ago) when Sheldon and Vince are up against a wall facing a firing squad.  Shelly asks Vince for the plan – how are they going to escape?  Vince replies “Plan?  There is no plan.  I’m wide open” and it dawns on Shelly that they’re going to be shot.

That quote has stayed with me over the years because I can’t believe how often it’s appropriate in business.  The latest instance of this came just last week based on a survey by Digital Brand Expressions on corporations‘ use of social media. Continue reading

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10 Trends To Watch

As I wrote yesterday, I was fortunate to have been invited to the BMO Capital Markets Advertising and Marketing Services Conference. It’s run by a really smart guy named Dan Salmon, BMO Capital Markets’ Marketing & Advertising equity research analyst.  He was the event host which included a full-day agenda of presentations, panels and fireside chats.  In Dan’s words:  “The conference focused on the changing trends in innovation, technology and consumer behavior and their impact on the marketing and advertising industries.”

I came away from the day with a notebook full of thoughts I want to discuss with you but for today, let me tell you about Dan’s eye-opening presentation that began our day and set everything into context.  He identified 10 Trends to Watch and I think you’ll find them of interest.  They are:

  • The integration of technology into other industries
  • The unprecedented explosion of data
  • The need to coordinate connections
  • Transactional marketing
  • The fact that addressable TV is almost here
  • The continued rise of in-store marketing
  • Reputation management
  • The emergence of the digital marketing hub
  • New privacy laws
  • Brazil

Over the next little bit I want to explore many of these with you since they will affect almost anyone in business over the next year or so.  What amazed me (as usual) was how much is going on in marketing that is having an enormous effect on us all while remaining pretty below the radar, particularly with respect to the explosion of data and the push into local digital advertising by a lot of service firms.  So have a good weekend and come back Monday ready to think in some new ways.

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Coach Wooden

John Wooden at a ceremony on Oct. 14, the coac...

John Wooden passed away over the weekend.  I wrote about him last year and as I reread what I had written at the time, I thought it was appropriate to share it again.  Do yourself a favor and print out a copy of his Pyramid For Success. It’s always sad when we lose someone who was the best there ever was at something. Continue reading

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