I recently picked up a book called “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business.” It’s a fascinating read about how and why the brain develops habits, how they affect our lives and how to change habits you don’t like. One of the most interesting portions of the book [...]
Do you hear it? That rumbling, dark rush of water? Wait, it’s changed. Now it sounds like the sweep of a hummingbird wing, rapid and delicate. But, in seconds, the noise evolves again, this time emerging as the steady, pounding whine of a buzz saw. Where are we? We’re in a business meeting. Make no [...]
Last week, Michael de la Merced wrote a column in The New York Times about Goldman Sachs’ reputational wake-up call. The article, “Once Remote, Goldman Sachs Puts on a Friendly Public Face,” discusses how chief executive, Lloyd C. Blankfein, is trying to repair Goldman’s image by speaking publically about the company’s focus on clients and [...]
The future isn’t social media. The future is all media. Yes, that means you too, Wall Street. The channel agnosticism conversation is happening now and in 2012 it will reshape communications strategies in the financial world. The thrust of the concept is simple. Dispense a message using all vehicles at our disposal to reach key [...]
While recently thumbing through one of my favorite magazines, The Week, my eye was drawn to an advertisement for Ally Bank that read “Remember When the Word “Bank” Didn’t Make You Angry.” I was struck that this bank was highlighting the industry’s woes. It got me thinking. More than three years after the financial crisis [...]
It’s not clothes that make the man (or woman), it’s words … and how they’re used. Now I may be biased because I’ve been in the word business for 40+ years. But I maintain that people who are sloppy with word usage will be equally sloppy in discharging managerial duties or being good team players. [...]
There is a (seemingly) hole in the wall pizza place in Brooklyn , Di Fara, that makes the best pizza in NYC. Trust me – visit the restaurant. It earns the title. What makes the pizzas here so good? Sure, they have top-notch ingredients and a great oven. But I think what makes their pizzas [...]
At our company retreat in January, we did a groupthink exercise using Seth Godin’s post on “optimistic enthusiasm as a form of realism” and Mark Schaefer’s post on “The best creativity technique known to mankind” as our inspiration. Everyone wrote their “big idea” about how we can grow our business in 2012 on a [...]
A couple weeks ago, I attended the Publicity Club of New York’s luncheon on infographics, which featured a panel of creative minds from Huffington Post, CNNMoney, Associated Press and Mashable. All of the speakers were phenomenal and offered valuable advice on infographic development; however, one of the biggest themes discussed was the thought process before [...]
A few weeks ago, a college senior asked me a familiar question: “What’s the biggest challenge facing PR professionals today?” I started to give my usual answer – i.e., the blurring of boundaries between traditional marketing disciplines (PR, branding, advertising, digital, interactive, customer service). Mid-sentence, I realized I had it all wrong. Integration isn’t the [...]
