Irrespective of whether you’re writing an email, a tv show, a radio ad, or an Instagram post, the headline you use will determine the lion’s share of its effectiveness.

A stronger headline means substantially more people will notice your ad.

But a weak headline means people will ignore your ad, regardless of how good your offer might be…

What happens when your customers get tired of you? At that point, chances are you are in significant peril as a brand and business. You will find it difficult to assert yourself in your industry and target market, ceding ground to competitors who can offer your audience a better version of those relations, stories, and magic.

At its core, it's usually a branding problem…

Would you say alcohol is a stimulant or a depressant? 

If you visit a bar on a Friday evening the noise and laughter can be deafening – strong evidence that alcohol is a stimulant (beer goggles anyone?) But fast-forward to 3 a.m. and the same raucous behavior has dwindled to people slumped on bar-stools, asleep in the corner – or on a park bench somewhere.

Scientifically speaking, alcohol is a powerful depressant, but its short-term effects are the exact opposite.

The same can be said of the marketing effects caused by the wrong kind of marketing strategy.

"Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity, not a threat."

— Steve Jobs

Innovation as a business concept is an enigma. It's somehow obvious and easy to understand, while also being incredibly complex and difficult to implement. At its core, it's about nothing more than seeing change positively, and working hard to implement that change. Getting there, though, is far easier said than done.

When I was a child, I remember watching some grainy, black-and-white footage of an 8-foot zombie-type guy. He had a pudding bowl haircut, banged-up green skin, and bolts protruding either side of his neck. Not one for scary movies, I’m sure I would have scuttled out of the room and tried hard to forget the image I just saw.

Many decades later I can still see the original image of Frankenstein in my head as clear as day – his britches too short, his arms too long, his body lurching from side-to-side as he lumbers after his next target.

Turns out this childhood trauma ended up being a great metaphor for a very common marketing affliction, what I call Frankenstein marketing…

One cold, January morning, a young man in a baseball cap walked to a local subway station in Washington. He pulled out his violin, and, over the next 45 minutes he played his heart out, playing five of the most complex pieces of music ever written. Over a thousand people walked past. It was morning rush hour.

But no one took much notice. A few people stopped and threw a couple of dollars into his open violin case. One child yanked on his mommy’s hand and told her he wanted to stay to listen to the “cool music,” but they ended up staying only a few minutes. He counted the money he made - a total of $32.17. How ironic, given that the young man was none other than Joshua Bell, a Grammy award winner and one of the world’s most accomplished musicians.