Chapter six:
Deep Thoughts
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The Overdog’s Dilemma: What Happens When Challengers Win?
Does the recent commotion about the shortcomings of the new iPhone seem out of proportion to both the problem and the newsworthiness of the whole
Long-term Greedy Is a Story; Quarterly Earnings Is Not
I’ve been trying to make sense–story sense–of the Goldman Sachs fiasco. After all, for years we’ve been saying that you don’t really have a brand
Give Me Back that Filet O’ Fish, Give Me Back My Self Control
I just saw the one-year follow-up to the Give Me Back that Filet O’ Fish commercial from McDonald’s and I was disappointed by the effort.
The War on Food
A couple of weeks ago I was talking to a senior marketer at a major global food company and he described the current environment as
Warrior or Mercenary?
I read the Ad Age interview with Bob McDonald, Procter & Gamble’s new CEO, with great interest. Two things jumped out at me–in fact, they
The Purpose of Purpose
It seems like a lot of brands are starting to understand that making the most money isn’t an emotionally engaging reason to exist. Certainly, making
The Road to Hell is Paved…
Six weeks ago I added a blog posting entitled Brands that outrun their story, in which I speculated that Starbucks is having a difficult time
Politics, Story and the Sitcom Factor
So we’re having a little political intrigue in Portland, Oregon, home of Character LLC. It’s a sadly familiar drama. Apparently, our mayor, Sam Adams, had
Brands That Outrun Their Own Story
We’ve been thinking recently about different kinds of brand stories, and particularly about whether there are some brands whose very success causes them to outrun
Is Your Business a Force for Good?
I’ve been reading a fascinating book, which I have found quite inspiring, called The Necessary Revolution, by Peter Senge. You may already be familiar with
Conflict as a Source of Joy
Earlier this year David Altschul sent along links to a couple of TED talks that we found interesting and that we thought might be relevant
Something to Buy Into
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about handy tools marketers can use to test their brands for latent story energy. One idea–of which I was