Longtime readers of my blog know I find ideas for blogs everywhere, from psychology experiments to work events to the origin of words and phrases. Lately, however, books have become my primary source of inspiration. In fact, it’s not uncommon for me to have multiple blog ideas after reading a book. That was the case…
For U.S. retailers, Halloween kicks off the end-of-year holiday spending spree (time to panic: it’s only 54 shopping days until Christmas). Even though Halloween didn’t become a commercial holiday until the early 1900’s, it is now the fifth most profitable holiday for US retailers behind Christmas, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and Easter. Various reports show…
You’re gonna need a bigger boat. — Roy Scheider as Martin Brody in Jaws For nearly 30 years, a good friend and I have had an on-going debate on the greatest movie line of all time. Actually, for the first few years, it wasn’t much of a debate. We both agreed “Luke, I am your…
It might have started with the Frappuccino, the line of frozen coffee beverages sold by Starbucks. The term was coined as a combination of the words frappé (in Boston: a thick milkshake with ice cream) and cappuccino (in Italian: espresso coffee with frothed milk). While the 500+ calorie beverage was only introduced in 1995, it…
If you’re not in the discipline of Marketing, you may not know there’s an on-going debate whether art or science is more important to producing good results. While there is clear evidence the pendulum has swung from Mad Men to Math Men, I’ve always believed both are required for true success. The real issue is…
The 57th Annual Grammy Awards, honoring excellence in the music industry, will be held Sunday February 8, 2015 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Grammys were originally called the Gramophone Awards which explains the gilded statues presented to the winners. According to legend, music executives created the Grammys in reaction to the rising…
For 40 years in a row, the LSSU-Nation folks at Lake Superior State University have been curating a cra-cra list of “Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness”. During last week’s polar vortex, I hacked the entire 800+ word list to understand if the authors should swag for their skill…
After multiple opportunities to do field research this holiday season, I’ve come to the conclusion most of us choose wine based on brand, rather than taste. Sure, many people have an oenophile friend who knows that a bottle of 1787 Château Lafite with the initials Th.J. etched on it sold for more than $150K. However, most of us…
My philological studies have satisfied me that a gifted person ought to learn English (barring spelling and pronouncing) in thirty hours, French in thirty days, and German in thirty years.– Mark Twain, “That Awful German Language” Twain was likely making a joke but, in my experience, he is directionally accurate. He provides several examples of…
People seem to be obsessed with executive tenure. Executive search firm Spencer Stuart reports the average tenure for a Chief Marketing Officer is now 45 months, based on analysis from the top 100 advertised brands. This is a significant improvement from five years ago, when studies showed that the average CMO tenure was anywhere from…