My daughter is about to finish graduate school, and we often enjoy socializing with her friends. Some of them are looking for employment, and it’s always interesting to me how many people beginning a career overlook a simple strategy—that of personal branding. This is important no matter what sort of job you’re after. I recall a friend of hers who was looking for a part-time job here in Jacksonville where he was going to college. Despite being talented and having a solid work history, he wasn’t getting positive results. So what do you do when the door won’t open no matter how…
Absolut “In an Absolut world” advertisements are based on the company’s ‘Visionaries’ campaign, but a recent ad doesn’t quite fit my definition of ‘visionary,’ at least if you’re looking forward rather than backward. A description on the Absolut website says the campaign embodies “Bold ideas that can only happen ‘In An ABSOLUT World’.” Advertisements were created through a series of collaborations between ABSOLUT and some of the world’s “leading creative lights” in which the brand realizes their visions. Kanye West and editors from treehugger.com are among those “visionaries.” The vision got a little skewed, however, in an ad aimed at…
I’m easy to please about most matters, but there are some matters I won’t compromise. Among those are the detergent we use (I despise doing laundry), the wines we drink (expensive does not always mean pleasing), and perfume (to avoid that funeral parlor scent). With the perfume, I see I’m in great company because Nicole Kidman is classy. Why do some brands earn a place of reverence?
I’ve worked on a number of marketing campaigns for both large and small businesses. One of the most memorable involved an entrepreneur who owned a clothing shop in South Carolina. Thomas Moseley decided he’d had enough of the state’s Blue Laws, regulations prohibiting Sunday sales of alcohol, tools, and hundreds of other items including clothing. Moseley wanted to open his store on Sundays.
Many had tried to have the laws overturned—merchants’ associations, the hospitality industry, the alcohol industry and others. No S.C. legislator wanted to fight churches that supported these ancient laws. So Moseley gathered the creative types he knew—there were…
