Are you investing in high quality marketing or just throwing money away? With creative work (concepts, copy, and design) it’s sometimes hard to tell the difference until you count the results. But creative quality is vitally important — excellent creative multiplies results, while poor quality creative can waste money and seriously damage your brand.
Read more on Are you investing in high quality marketing or just throwing money away?…
It doesn’t seem to matter what the topic, people sure are quick to give you their opinion. Often at top volume.
I can’t look at Facebook without seeing friends rant and rave about something – gun control, the economy, gay marriage, Congress, the President, you name it.
Read more on Heated discussions? All that energy has to go somewhere….
My wife and I just met up with some of our best friends for a few days of R&R in Florida. One of the guys is a college roommate of mine that I hadn’t seen for a few months, and I was floored when I saw the difference in him just since New Year’s Eve.
Do you love your job? Is there a different job you’d love to have but you’re either a) not qualified, b) too lazy to apply for it, c) don’t dislike your current job enough to leave, or d) don’t have an updated resume.
I’m a big fan of Scouting. It’s part of our family history. My Dad was active as a Scout leader, my brother and I are both Eagle Scouts. My wife even earned the Girl Scout equivalent of First Class. So naturally she and I got re-involved in Scouting when our two sons started Cub Scouts, and we were thrilled that they both continued on to become Eagle Scouts.
I was walking through Best Buy yesterday and walked past a big display of telephones. Really. The ones you plug into the wall. I immediately said to my husband: “Who buys phones any more?”
For years we’ve heard about the possibility of Wal-Mart becoming a bank. First there was merely speculation that Wal-Mart would seek a traditional bank charter, then it happened. However, credit unions and banks dodged that potentially harmful bullet courtesy of the F.D.I.C.
A few items that have crossed our radar lately:
The Gen X Sandwich
If you are one of the 41 million GenXers, I feel sorry for you. After all, you have had to deal with us Baby Boomers your entire career. Too young to be your parents, too old to be your buddy, Boomers are the ones that hired you, fired you, supervised you, and otherwise helped shape your career – for good or bad.
Read more on GenX sandwiches, when marketing takes over IT, and grumpy websites…
As Lisa mentioned last week, many of the financial and business pundits are calling JC Penney’s recent rebranding and “Fair and Square” pricing strategy an epic failure.
The idea behind “Fair and Square” pricing was that consumers were tired of sales, gimmicks, and the associated drama and uncertainty, so from now on, pricing would remain pretty much steady — you could drop in any time to buy socks and shirts without wondering if your goodies would go on sale next week. Now, of course, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, everyone is calling this an obviously stupid move, the CEO has stepped down, and the sales, coupons, and gimmicks are back.
There, I said it. And it’s true. Credit unions aren’t for everyone.
The latest numbers bear this out — according to Callahan, credit unions hold 6.6% of assets and 8.7% of deposits nationally. That’s a niche group if I ever saw one.
I admit it. I’m a sucker for quick-to-read motivational books. Especially when they are as delightful as The Accountability Effect by Bassam Tarazi (whose name means “the smiling one” according to the author’s bio at the end.) The book is written in two parts, and at least for awhile you can download the first part for free, courtesy of Seth Godin. Here are a few tastes:
Have you noticed that the more upset some people get, the louder they become?
I was at lunch the other day and someone at the next table started talking about what happened at work, including recounting the conversation she had with her boss. The more she spoke, the more upset and louder she got, until her companion finally had to “shush” her — but not before everyone in the dining area was frowning at either her or their own food. Her bad mood went viral in that restaurant within just a few moments, and it was several more minutes before the conversations around the room returned to a normal buzz.
In a recent article, shaven ultra-blogger Seth Godin pointed out that people are astonishingly bad at making decisions about money.
Well, duh. That’s hardly news.
Or is it?
If you’re working at a credit union, you’re probably pretty good with dollars and cents. And you’re surrounded by people who are also pretty good with money, or at least basic accounting.
A good friend stopped by my office today to tell me he was turning his life around, that he was not going to be so negative. Which was great to hear, because, as he referred to it, a “big black dog (of depression) had sat on his chest” and kept him down for the last couple of years.
Branding is a key component to the success of any company. We talk a lot about Branding here at iDiz and this is how we define it:
Things like logos, colors, tag lines and characters are all important parts of implementing and communicating a brand, but they’re not the brand itself. Branding includes all the emotions people have about your company. These emotions lead to behaviors…
So it was with quite a bit of surprise that I read today about McDonald’s complete overhaul of their image. They’re changing their image so much that many people might not even realize they’re in one of the newly revamped McDonald’s. Most notably, their designers are taking cues from both Starbucks and Apple, both viewed as considerably more upscale establishments. Out are the red roofs, front counters and immovable steel chairs. In are earth tones, wooden tables, lamps and comfortable chairs. In addition to the look, they’re also adding more upscale foods and beverages and free Wi-Fi. And that famous golden arch? It’s being reduced to a golden “brow.”
Loading ...
If you like reading SharediDiz, you're just the sort of client we'd love to work with!
Give us a call at 877.576.0602 or shoot us an email with your biggest, ugliest, hairiest marketing problem!
iDiz Inc. helps credit unions grow membership and market share through strategic branding, creative marketing promotions, and member-friendly web sites.
Why credit unions? Because credit unions make the world a better place. We like working for the good guys!
