So. You’re KFC, and you run out of chicken in 500 of your 900 UK locations. Quick: What do you do? Well, internally, I’m sure you fire some Operations folks. And externally, you have a PR problem to deal with. Because when the world’s biggest chicken joint runs out of chicken, the media has an absolute field day with it. So you assemble your corporate marketing and communications and PR staff and your ad agency (Mother London), and you discuss an appropriate response. A key question: What’s the right tone to strike? And somebody in the room has the courage…
READ MOREWant a social media presence? Dumb question, right? Every business does. Just be a little careful about what you ask for. As ever in the social media space, the ground is shifting beneath our feet. Fast. And what used to be a nice, comfortable Facebook/LinkedIn/Instagram/Twitter presence in, say, 2015, has become an utter minefield over the past 18 or 24 months. Perhaps you’ve noticed that public discourse of all kinds has coarsened — and no more so than in the digital realm. Courteous conversation? Rational exchange of views? The valor of discretion? Out, out and out. They’ve ben replaced by…
READ MORE“Let me out! Let me out of here! Get me the hell out of here! What’s the matter with you people? I was joking! Don’t you know a joke when you hear one? HA-HA-HA-HA. Jesus Christ, get me out of here! Open this goddamn door or I’ll kick your rotten heads in! Mommy!” – Dr. Frederick Frankenstein The panicked doctor wasn’t referring to 21st century marketing communications. But he could have been. Because in the name of “content marketing,” today’s companies have created a monster. Marketing content has exploded into a dizzying number of forms. All made possible by the no-cost miracle…
READ MOREWhen you see a Facebook ad or Yahoo junk mail for a product immediately after you’ve done a search for it, it’s a wee bit unnerving, no? Sure, the NSA is tapping our calls, texts and emails, but that’s invisible. When Zuckerberg throws a too-personalized ad at you, though, he’s essentially saying, “I know what you’ve been doing online, and here’s proof.” Creepy? No doubt. But color me impressed as well. Throughout my umpteen years as a brand/marketing communications consultant, I’ve continually hammered home a central tenet for success: first determine who your customers are and what they want, then…
READ MOREBoehringer-Ingelheim, Danbury, CT
Cadillac, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Church & Dwight Co., Inc., Princeton, NJ
FRAM, Danbury, CT
Frito-Lay, Dallas, TX
Gillette, Boston, MA
The Heschel School, New York, NY
Heublein, Hartford, CT
Honeywell, Danbury, CT
June Jacobs Skin Care, New York, NY
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Irving, TX
Pepsico, Purchase, NY
Reckitt-Benckiser, Wayne, NJ
Austin-Kelley, Atlanta, GA
Big Green Door, London, UK
The Breton Group, Pelham, NY
Carpenter Group, New York, NY
Colangelo-Synergy Marketing, Darien, CT
Corebrand, New York, NY
Direct Ventures Inc., Larchmont, NY
Fuse3, Ridgefield, CT
Futurebrand, New York, NY
Gabardine, Westport, CT
Glazer & Kalayjian, Westport, CT
Inergy Group, Wilton, CT
MarketWave, Dallas, TX
Masius, New York, NY
McCann Erickson, New York NY
Optima Group, Fairfield, CT
Pappas MacDonnell, Southport, CT
Ryan Partnership, Wilton, CT
Spire, Dallas, TX
Susan Magrino Agency, New York, NY
TechCom Partners, Dallas, TX
T1ER ONE, Stamford, CT
TDO Inc., Irvington, NY
TFI Envision, Norwalk, CT
Tyrrell Web & Design, Milford, CT
Universal McCann, New York, NY
Whitespace, New York, NY
Wit+Mind, Westport, CT
AARP, Washington, DC
Acclivus, Dallas, TX
Advanced Technologies Group, Inc., Chicago, IL
Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), Dallas, TX
Alden Learning, Westport, CT
Amigos Library Services, Dallas, TX
Baker Tanks, Long Beach, CA
Cognizant Consulting, Teaneck, NJ
BroadReach Partners, Stamford, CT
Cenveo, Stamford, CT
Davis & Gilbert LLP, New York, NY
DLC Retail Properties, New York, NY
EMCOR Group, Norwalk, CT
Executive Jet Management, Cincinnati, OH
FedEx, Memphis, TN
Gartner Group, Stamford, CT
George P. Johnson Company, Easton, MA
Howard & Company, Dallas, TX
Icon Recognition, New York, NY
iPotential, San Mateo, CA
Pitney Bowes, Inc., Stamford, CT
Receivables Management Service, Bethlehem, PA
Thrivent Financial Services, Minneapolis, MN
SureAir Inc., Stamford, CT
United Parcel Service, Atlanta, GA
VRH Construction, Englewood, NJ
Xerox Corporation, Rochester, NY
Advanced Technologies Group, Inc., Chicago, IL
Adverdian, Norwalk, CT
Airband, Dallas, TX
AperServ Technologies, Vienna, VA
Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), Dallas, TX
The BEAST, New York, NY
ChipData, Inc., Richardson, TX
Clipper Windpower, Carpinteria, CA
Cognizant Consulting, Teaneck, NJ
Colangelo-Synergy Marketing, Darien, CT
Cognizant Technology, Teaneck, NJ
decalog Inc., New York, NY
enamics, Stamford, CT
Fabless Semiconductors, Dallas, TX
GE Capital Corporation, Stamford, CT
Haemoscope Inc., Chicago, IL
Hewlett-Packard (Compaq/DEC), Maynard, MA
IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY
iWeb.com, New York, NY
Lineage Power, Mesquite, TX
LookSmart Technologies, San Francisco, CA
NetSolve, Dallas, TX
Panasonic, Newark, NJ
Perot Systems, Plano, TX
Presideo, Sebastian, FL
Prime Response Inc., New York, NY
Remote Technologies Corp., Greenwich, CT
SAP, New York, NY
SilTerra Inc., San Jose, CA
Spearhead Systems, New York, NY
Sprint, Kansas City, MO
Sungard Investment Systems, Hinsdale, IL
Tagetik, Lucca, Italy
Thunderhead Software, Hertfordshire, UK
Trintech, Dallas, TX
Verizon, New York, NY
Xerox Corporation, Rochester, NY
Admiral Insurance, Cherry Hill, NJ
Aetna Insurance, Hartford, CT
AXA Equitable, Stamford, CT
CVS Caremark, Woonsocket, RI
Donegal Insurance, Marietta, PA
GHI, New York, NY
Glaxo SmithKline, Philadelphia, PA
Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, NJ
Haemoscope, Chicago, IL
Intuit / Interactive Insurance Services, Alexandria, VA
McKesson Corp., San Francisco, CA
Medco, Franklin Lakes, NJ
New York Life Insurance Co., New York, NY
Pennsylvania Life Insurance Co., Orlando, FL
Perot Systems Health, Plano, TX
Pfizer, New York, NY
Stamford Health System, Stamford, CT
Unilever, New York, NY
United Care Group, Brooklyn, NY
Universal American Financial Corp., Rye Brook, NY
Advanced Technologies Group, Inc., Chicago, IL
Weight Watchers, New York, NY
Abacus Advisors, New York, NY
Alliance Capital, New York, NY
American Express, New York, NY
Association Capital Bank, Dallas, TX
Asterisk Financial, Inc., Corona del Mar, CA
Citigroup/Citibank, New York, NY
Commonfund, Wilton, CT
Deutsche Bank (Bankers Trust), New York, NY
decalog Inc., New York, NY
Dreyfus Investments, New York, NY
Ernst & Young, New York, NY
Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA
Financial Guaranty Insurance Company, New York, NY
GE Capital Corporation, Stamford, CT
Howard & Company, Dallas, TX
Illington Fund Management, Pleasantville, NY
Jamison Prince Asset Management, New York, NY
John Hancock, Boston, MA
Legg Mason, Stamford, CT
MainStay Investments, Wayne, NJ
Manulife Financial, Boston, MA
MasterCard, Purchase, NY
Mellon Bank, Pittsburgh, PA
Morgan Stanley, New York, NY
People’s Bank, Bridgeport, CT
Receivables Management Service, Bethlehem, PA
Reuters, New York, NY
Riggs Bank, Washington, DC
Samoset Investment Management, Darien, CT
Scarborough Alliance, Irvington, NY
SunTrust Bank, Atlanta, GA
The Riverside Company, Cleveland, OH
Texas Capital Bank, Dallas, TX
ThomasLloyd Group, Pleasantville, NY
Thomson Reuters, New York, NY
UBS, New York, NY
Union Bank of California, San Francisco, CA