BLINKIST RELEASES AN AUDIO SUMMARY OF “BRANDING BETWEEN THE EARS”

You would think that with the slaughter of 19 kids in their school in Uvalde, Texas, a heart-broken nation would recoil in horror and give up its guns. But that hasn’t happened and with the road the nation is on, it is unlikely to. So, what gives? As we commiserated…

Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever, has pushed each of its 400 brands to have a social or environmental purpose. …

What You Can Do to Change That With Mike Connors, Jim Evans and Benjamin Ho If you have ever heard Patrick Lencioni talk about his book “Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” then you know there is no better advocate for 360o employee feedback surveys than him. When executed well, they…

On being strategic by design Originally published in Cerenti QuickShot, December 26, 2019 When it comes to the annual business plan review, it may seem like your boss is out to get you. Maybe it is that he is just a little out of it after having seen tens of…

First published in Cerenti QuickShot August 5, 2013 Would you believe that the one firm that ought to know something about consultative selling to clients is the very one that forbids its senior executives (partners) from using the word “sell” in their vocabulary? “Never sell anything! Do you know of…

Are high scores hiding mediocre performance and making your company complacent? This was authored by Cerenti execs Jim Evans, Benjamin Ho and Mike Connors. Can a company with mediocre service routinely chalk up amazingly high scores? Many do. And that is not good for business! Consider, Mary Bradshaw, the senior VP of Store Operations at a $2 billion consumer retail business. The company has got the basics in place. They have…

Chapter 2: Beyond Illusions of the Past By permission from publisher McGraw Hill 2022 Does your company have kick-ass brands? Yes? No? Regardless, there is real good news for you. Advances in social psychology and behavioral science are giving us a precise understanding of how the human brain makes choices…

When “Brands with Values” clash with “Value Brands” If you have been keeping up with the headlines, you probably saw the very public breakup between Neil Young, one of the legendary singer and song writers of our time, and Spotify, the largest streaming music service. In summary, Mr. Young decided to take issue with Joe Rogan, a controversial…

A cognitive science based critique of two Superbowl commercials — one very good and the other not. Superbowl 2022 ads were priced at a reported $6.5 million for 30-seconds. Hyundai and Facebook (Meta) went for a whole minute in their commercials. How did they do? BRAND SCORECARD: A+ for Hyundai’s EV CAR Ad ‍ Hyundai’s new Superbowl ad for its all-electric IONIQ 5 gets a two thumbs up from me. The 60-sec spot features Jason Bateman as a prehistoric caveman…