creativity

Create A Playbook of Successful Strategies

Kaihan Krippendorff — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:04:51 -0500

Tomorrow at 11 a.m. EST (9 a.m. PST) I will be holding an executive briefing on ePrize, the world’s largest interactive promotions company. Sign up now for this FREE webinar by clicking here.

Unconscious Conditioning Can Make or Break Your Business

Kaihan Krippendorff — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:31:12 -0500

As I finish my review of Vistaprint, I wanted to provide a link to the Vistaprint executive briefing webinar I held a couple of weeks ago.

Smile at Your Competitors to Gain Market Share

Kaihan Krippendorff — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:57:16 -0500

We like to view the world in black and white, good and bad, friend and foe. But as industry lines blur, such clear distinctions become even more difficult to see within our complex reality. This creates an opportunity for those willing to seize it. You can befriend enemies.

The Importance of Brands

Louis Louna — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:12:06 -0500

People often ask, ‘‘What is brand equity?’’ There are many ways to answer this. Some say it’s everything associated with the brand that adds to or subtracts from the value it provides to a product or service. Others emphasize the financial value of the brand asset.

Get Your Hands Dirty

Joe Duffy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:47:05 -0500

Twenty-five years ago, I decided to quit my day job as a partner and creative director for a small advertising agency, which I had started four years prior, to get back into design, from whence I came. My reason at the time was to get my hands dirty again. I was sick of the management responsibilities and politics that came from the ad game, not to mention the creative compromising that was part of everyday life at our little shop. But the biggest reason was that I wasn't really "making" anything--I don't mean money, I mean "stuff."

L.A. Is the Creative Capital of the World: Report

Alissa Walker — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:13:23 -0500

The Most Important Most-Important-Thing

david heitman — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:02:10 -0500

According to a recent poll cited in Newsweek, the number of Americans who believe that global warming is caused by human activity is 36%. That’s down from 47% just a year ago.

Only 57% of Americans believe the world is warming at all, down from 71% a year ago.

So what has changed? Have millions of Americans spent the last year studying the scientific evidence and changed their opinion?

Vistaprint Disrupts a Six-Century-Old Industry

Kaihan Krippendorff — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:59:17 -0500

To understand how Vistaprint has become the world’s leading provider of printing services to small businesses, you need a brief overview of the printing industry.

How about a reality show titled "my so-called expertise?"

Kelly Blokdijk — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:46:55 -0500

These days one doesn’t have to go far to stumble upon experts in just about every possible category. The interesting thing is that for most situations, there really doesn’t seem to be a uniform method to evaluate whether those who label themselves as experts, do in fact possess any quantifiable expertise. Perhaps the current popularity in television’s reality show genre would be the ideal way to sort this out.

Is Imitation the Hidden Key to Creativity?

Cliff Kuang — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:26:23 -0500

Panama: The Future Hong Kong of Latin America?

Kaihan Krippendorff — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:20:07 -0500

I just came back from conducting my program in Panama, and while I have been through the Panama City airport several times, I had never stepped outside its walls. This is a fascinating country. We had 150 attend the seminar including government leaders, CEOs, and entrepreneurs.

Vistaprint: Completely Changing the Printing Industry

Kaihan Krippendorff — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:39:58 -0500

Robert Keane had one year to plot out his business.

Escaping Your Inner Mental Prison

Dr. Alex Pattakos — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:45:20 -0500

"Live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now," the world-renown psychiatrist and author of the classic bestseller, Man's Search for Meaning, Dr. Viktor Frankl, advises us.

Not Disruptive...Destructive

david heitman — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:21:58 -0500

Whew! The recession is over. Well, that’s a relief

Or so said the Commerce Department. The 3.5% GDP growth in Q3 proves it. Right?

The announcement has been greeted with understandable and almost universal skepticism. It obviously comes as small comfort to the nearly one in ten unemployed Americans and their millions of underemployed brethren.

Rage Feeds Rage: So Take A Bite Of Some Happy Pie

Kaihan Krippendorff — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:35:23 -0500

A while back I wrote about how angry America seems to be and how as business people, we need to make sure our products don’t wind up on the forefront of consumer rage. The piece got me thinking about another question – why are we so angry?

When the Media Gets Mediated

david heitman — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:32:25 -0400

One of the biggest impacts of social media is the way that traditional forms of advertising have had to adapt to it.

As companies begin to embrace social media marketing, that means that a portion of their attention, time and marketing budgets are being diverted from traditional print and broadcast media to address social media opportunities.

The Power of Simplicity

david heitman — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:20:49 -0400

Looking at politics through the lens of communication theory reveals a lot of good lessons. For example, despite a recent uptick, the falling approval ratings of President Obama (http://tinyurl.com/nlgfn) coincide with the increasing complexity of his message to the American public.

Iraq’s Official New History Provides Insight On Crafting Company Narratives

Kaihan Krippendorff — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:25:18 -0400

Last week the Iraqi government launched a new version of its official history.

Rosetta Stone: Uniting The World Through Language Learning

Kaihan Krippendorff — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:01:24 -0400

We see over and over that companies that are thriving are pursuing something good. While many traditional companies try to paint themselves “good,” under a thin veneer they maintain near exclusive commitment to growing short-term shareholder value. While many “good” organizations try to make a profit, they remain rooted in a traditional non-profit mentality.

Fix It--Even If It Ain't Broke

Kaihan Krippendorff — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:30:49 -0400

When something works, people grow fixated on it. They stop looking for alternative options. And this fixation creates an opportunity for those willing to reconsider the accepted approach. The company I introduced last week, Rosetta Stone (RST), hasn’t been satisfied with the fact that its products work. Instead, it continues to challenge the norm.

The New Work Space: Will Lounge-Like Office Furniture Inspire Big Ideas?

Cliff Kuang — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:02:14 -0400

PearsonLloyd, the British design firm, has a knack for making boring design challenges sexy; one of their greatest hits has been their nightclub-ish interior spaces for Virgin Atlantic. And now, they've taken on contract furniture, for the Austrian company Bene.

Hard Work's Overrated, Maybe Detrimental.

Cliff Kuang — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:39:43 -0400

Caterina Fake, who, with her husband Stewart Butterfield, founded Flickr, knows a thing or two about bliztkreig work schedules. But she points out that late nights are seldom very useful in the grand scheme of things. Hard work? Overrated:

Don’t Be A Chicken Little: Rosetta Stone Knows The Sky Isn’t Falling

Kaihan Krippendorff — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:20:17 -0400

The market has fallen two weeks in a row and the analysts are already running around like Chicken Little. While it is so tempting to get caught up in these daily dramas, it is also short-sighted.

Where do you fit with today’s consumer mindset?

Mike Doherty — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:39:04 -0400

Like any other loss, people progress through difficult times like a recession in stages. The first stage is “Distress” which includes feelings of anger and sadness. I think we are past that.

The next stage is “Acceptance” which is eventually followed by the third stage: “Moving On”. While my colleagues and I would assert that consumers are in stage two, we don’t believe anyone will be “Moving On” anytime soon. Given that, marketers should consider how they position themselves for today’s mindset.

Don't Let Your Product Get Booed

Kaihan Krippendorff — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:40:39 -0400

Every night from June to August, we watched as town hall meetings erupted into screaming matches. On September 9, South Carolina Republican Rep.