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…

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.

Hope you had a great Superbowl Sunday! Did you know that Super Bowl Sunday is the second biggest snack day of the year? Second only to, you guessed it, New Years Eve. I confess that I’m far more interested in the ads, and the strategy that sits underneath each of them, than the actual game.

Last year’s ads were terrible. This year’s weren’t much better. It seems that all the time spent home thanks to COVID did nothing to spark any big ideas.

How have the elections impacted your business?

For many, especially those who sell large ticket items like machinery, cutting edge technology, or even facelifts, its like a large number of clients have hit the pause button. They’re waiting. Not sure for what exactly as life goes on either way. It’s a pattern we see before every election, most especially the week before – and if you know it’s coming you can not only prepare for it, but profit from it too …

“Good products can be sold with honest advertising. If you don’t think the product is good you have no business advertising it.”

- David Ogilvy

Yesterday I went to see the kid-friendly movie The War With Grandpa. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the movies. We sat the obligatory 10 seats apart from the group over, bought a large popcorn and patiently waited for the movie to start.

But first, the ads…