Want Some Emotion with That Website?

As a web community guy, one of the most common problems I see is the failure to communicate emotion properly when people interact online. A remark intended as humorous can be perceived as a personal attack, or an expression of sympathy…

Scent Marketing vs. Social Media

The other day, Ad Age's CMO Strategy Section ran a column by Harald Vogt on scent marketing. Vogt may not be entirely impartial on the topic - he is the founder and chief marketer of the Scent Marketing Institute - but he makes some good…

Sugar as Brain Food

This isn't great news for dieters, but sometimes sugar can be a good thing. Roy Baumeister, a psychologist at Florida State University, had subjects perform a mentally taxing task - watching a video while being careful to ignore random…

Sacrifice for Brand Success

In developing a brand, it's tempting to appeal to as many people as possible. We all want to be liked, and all too often organizations tread lightly with their branding message to avoid impairing their appeal to specific groups of…

Just Say NO to Bland College Branding

I've been reading the recently released second edition of Differentiate or Die by Jack Trout, and there are some powerful (and timeless) messages there for all brands. Although the entire book is geared toward commercial brand…

Differentiate or Die

Book Review: Differentiate or Die by Jack Trout (Second Edition) If someone asked you what set your product or brand apart from the competition, would you answer "quality" or "customer orientation?" If your answer is "yes," you might be in…

Talking Back Makes Kids Smart

Once again, I'm going to depart from marketing for one post for another neuroparenting topic. This time, it's about kids "talking back" to their parents and how that interaction can actually enhance cognitive development.

The Neuromarketing of Burgers

There's hardly a shortage of places to buy hamburgers in the US, but the restaurant chain Five Guys has opened 300 stores in the last five years, and has contracts for many more. Locally, I'd been hearing about the fantastic hamburgers…

Brain Fight: Who’s the Decider?

One of my favorite chapters in How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer is The Brain is an Argument. In this chapter, Lehrer highlights how complex our decision-making process really is, and how competing options battle for supremacy.