Note to CMO: Storytelling, Persuasion and Death by Power Point

December 29, 2009

Dear CMO:
“When you do a Power Point presentation, you hide everything negative behind your statistics and your quotes from authority. You hide all the problems, everything that didn’t work. When you tell a story, the whole gist is to admit the negative side, then dramatize the positive side of how the courageous little company overcame [...]

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Note to CMO: Closure as Competition, from Alexander to Schiphol’s Porcelain Flies

December 21, 2009

Dear CMO:
If Alexander the Great had overseen the development of Schiphol Airport’s urinals, he would have moved the designer forward and to the right.
You see, Alexander had a system that made everything in his army work: life was a competition, and winners were rewarded in the most public way of all – they were given [...]

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Note to CMO: Coke, Costco and Winning the War

December 14, 2009

 Dear CMO:
Coke won.
I don’t care about the specifics, the back room negotiations or whatever happened in Kirkland. Coca Cola has won a resounding victory, not just in retail distribution but in branding, brand power and market muscle. Of the three players in this comic drama, Costco is cast as the petulant child who reluctantly is forced [...]

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Note to CMO: Seeing What Others Don’t See and Parking Your Car for $12 a Month

December 4, 2009

Dear CMO:
I’m going to get this story slightly wrong because I forgot exactly where I heard it or read it, but hopefully the meaning will be clear enough. I’m sharing this with you for one big reason: if you squint at it and think of ways to apply it to what you’re doing, it might [...]

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Note to CMO: What Hostage Negotiation Teaches Us About Business

November 24, 2009

Dear CMO:
Nothing you do in your work day is as important as what Victor Bazan does in his.
I met Vic through a mutual friend. He describes what he does in an off-hand manner, the way you or I would talk about how we dole out marketing development dollars to a difficult buyer. We roll our [...]

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