In life, there is no separation between one’s vocation and one’s avocation, between our day jobs and the other things we do to remain inspired. That’s the principle that guides Yvon Chouinard, founder of the [Read More]

Companies large and small are going to great lengths to keep employees motivated, build camaraderie, and stimulate creativity. Some of the more curious team–building activities include team skydiving, team drumming, taking an improvisational comedy class, [Read More]

Employee newsletters, a critical component of any integrated marketing communications plan, get a bad rap, for good reason. They’re mostly bad. Their intent — to educate and to boost morale — may be admirable, but [Read More]

For an industry that pretty much fuels the whole capitalist engine, advertising is getting a sound snubbing these days — a Tom Petty-ish, “don’t come around here no more” message. Fatigued consumers, looking to free [Read More]

It’s really quite simple: Either your integrated marketing communications plan is delivering meaningful ROI or it just plain sucks. That may sound harsh, but integrated marketing guru Mark Stevens has been around the block enough [Read More]

Dealing effectively with dissatisfied customers requires special skills and behaviors. To help you maintain calm when others are out of control, Lydia Ramsey, a relationship marketing expert and the author of Manners That Sell: Adding [Read More]

In the early 19th century, guerrillas, soldiers who used unconventional marketing tactics to combat their enemies, were instrumental in defeating the French dictator Napoléon. Today the term has attached itself to marketing — unusual, fresh, [Read More]

Market research has shown that an animal mascot can elevate a brand’s identity. Consider the meteoric rise in name recognition for the once-obscure insurance provider Aflac. When President George W. Bush was introduced to Aflac [Read More]

Palomar Mountain Premium Spring Water has long relied on the Yellow Pages, billboard advertising, direct sales, and ad insertions for generating sales leads in what has become a highly competitive industry. Now, the Escondido, Calif.–based [Read More]

In 1975, after 14 years with Bic, Shaw joined Pilot Pen Corporation of America, where he is now president and CEO. His tenure at the company has been as unconventional as it has been successful: [Read More]