Lies Of Omission

Probably the best definition of selling I’ve ever heard came from Wizard of Ads© partner Steve Clark, who said: “Selling is the transference of confidence from the seller to the buyer.”Well, advertising is selling, isn’t it? Therefore, advertising should create...

Feel The Need, Part II

In addition to a couple of readers disagreeing that remote controls for car radios are designed for, and marketed to immature men, I also got this comment following last week’s essay on creating demand:”McKay, read your claim that advertising can’t...

Feel The Need

Phineas Taylor Barnum’s most enduring quote is “There’s a sucker born every minute.” I suspect he was right. But then, Barnum never expected to see the same customer twice.Hucksterism can create a sale, but it can’t create a market. Advertising can’t create a...

Investing In A Bad Economy

The oldest rule in investing is “buy low, sell high.” You can apply the same rule to marketing your company.Over the last 100 years there have been 20 recessions – ten since World War II. Simple arithmetic would indicate that we’re roughly two years away from...

The Big Three And The Single Quarter Manager

WARNING: The following article contains bragging. (I’ll let you know when it’s going to get thick).I was first introduced to the concept of the Single Quarter Manager in 1994 over lunch with Ben Rast; Senior Vice President of Morgan Stanley’s office in Columbia, South...
A Coffee Shop On Every Corner

A Coffee Shop On Every Corner

I had a meeting with the owner of a coffee house in Spokane. We were talking about advertising. He asked an excellent question: “What message could we possibly use that would make people drive across town to buy coffee? There’s a coffee shop on every corner.” I looked...