Insights & Strategy

As Costco fans, we watched a documentary by CNBC called, The Costco Craze. It was interesting to see the reporter delve into all the reasons that Cosco is so successful with a loyal following. The show focused on a few major points: low prices fostering a sense of discovery with unexpected, frequently changing items limited…

By Sonia Coleman This is a summary of an article that originally appeared in the Tech 360 Briefing published by IDEA entitled, “What’s Driving Purchasing Changes?” Disruption is occurring in many established industries…and the wholesale industry is feeling the heat from the Amazon effect. For IDEA’s Tech 360 Briefing, I spoke with people from all sides…

Many years ago, I noticed that my bosses kept asking to me explain what I was doing. I felt like they didn’t trust that I could get the job done. Everything was under control, and I was frustrated that they didn’t trust in my proven track record. Then I came across an article about messy…

3 Ways to Boost Your Marketing Awesomeness You want your business or organization to be top-of-mind, make an impact, be successful and grow. You know that better marketing is the key to take it to the next level, but aren’t sure how to go about it or who to turn to. Discovery is the first,…

Scandals. Bad leadership. Poor communication. This trio of bad news might be great for must-see TV series, but it often poses a more serious threat to leaders than they expect. The CEO of Target Gregg Steinhafel just resigned amid the bad press over the retail store’s data breech, which negatively impacted thousands of consumers. Chicago-based Challenger’s…

Every day we see companies doing things to market their companies… and hoping that it will equal more sales. Sending out an email. Creating a sales sheet. Cold-calling prospects. Paying for an ad. In fact, quite often we get a call from someone at company and they say, “We need a… (fill in the blank).”…

I came across an article in the St. Louis Business Journal about a successful retired entrepreneur, Steve Blanks, who was open sourcing his knowledge as an entrepreneur. Blanks has taught this information in classes at Stanford, Berkeley, Columbia, and Caltech. An interesting concept. We see open source working with technology, but knowledge is usually a…

Web design is swiftly changing, especially when you consider just how young the internet is. In it’s infancy, websites were purely sources of content, and high-tech styling consisted of table layouts and maybe, just maybe, colored (or blinking) text. As usage has continued to explode, the technology to make content readable, accessible, and even enjoyable…

Creativity is a muscle. Everyone has it. Some personalities are driven to pump it up, while others are in denial that a creative anatomy exists within. The key to developing this elusive muscle is simple: practice. The Process From marketing and design to scientific research, the world depends on people who will reference their knowledge…

From the first time we heard Matt Mullenweg (the WordPress founder) speak about his company’s philosophy of getting the best talent around the world without having to be in a central location, we were intrigued. In fact, I would love to write a book about it. Matt has selected a global team that mostly works…

PBS Off Book created a mini documentary on logo design, and although it’s impossible to capture the essence of the history, purpose, style, and process of creating logos in six minutes, it’s fun to at least get a glimpse. My top take-away: Design with the brand’s personality in mind. This “mask” will represent your brand…

I was researching social media trends the other day. The most interesting thing I read was about 24,000 people donating $541,000 to send a bullied bus monitor grandma in NY on vacation. We’ve all seen viral videos and enjoyed many of them, like the dog talking and the baby laughing. But most of those videos…

I cleaned my desk this week. Actually, I should say I cleaned my office because I left no surface unturned, including my digital desktop. Other than gaining some mental relief, I also read a lot. Interesting articles. Notes I had jotted down. Letters from friends. Magazines… you know the little things you keep because something…

A few years ago, I read an article in John Maxwell’s leadership newsletter where he shared a tip for staying positive when you are not in charge at work. He said that when he was in a subordinate position, he started keeping a list of “Things I’ll Do Differently When I’m In Charge.” He said…

Normally I stick to communication and business tips on this blog. However, today, I will deviate to share a funny, but surprisingly true story about money. Credit cards to be specific. Considering the current “financial crisis” that’s impacting everyone’s businesses, I think it’s relevant. Last night I had to call one of our banks, Bank…

This is my second post on an innovation presentation that I recently attended by Kathie Thomas of Fleishman Hillard at the PRSA St. Louis monthly luncheon. Although Thomas presented many great ideas, one of the takeaways I enjoyed most was the brainstrorming guidelines. We’ve all been a part of such ridiculous brainstorming sessions at work…

I recently went to an excellent presentation on innovation hosted PRSA St. Louis. The speaker was Kathie Thomas of Fleishman Hillard (headquartered here in St. Louis). She’s their innovation guru, and this presentation was also presentated at a national PRSA conference. I thought I’d share a few bits of her presentation that I found interesting.…

“Gratitude is the ‘forgotten factor’ in happiness research,” according to researchers Robert Emmons (Univ. of California, Davis) and Michael McCullough (Univ. of Miami). A workplace news brief in ASAE’s Associations Now magazine, tells how these researchers are conducting a long-term study on gratitude, its causes and its effects on health and well-being. Highlights from the…