From the monthly archives:

May 2008

Turn your weaknesses into strengths #2

May 31, 2008

Waiting at the gate in airport terminals while your flight is delayed is more the norm than the exception now. While you’re waiting for your flight, you’re getting pissed off at the airline for failing to do its job. Meanwhile, the airlines are cutting service, adding to your cost, etc. Seems like a broken business. […]

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Turn your weaknesses into strengths

May 27, 2008

I was at a Walgreens today picking up a prescription. Now I should mention that I am not a fan of Walgreens but it was just across the street from my doctor and I am a big fan of convenience. Nothing against Walgreens BTW, just that whole industry bugs me. I am also, BTW, not […]

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The phony allure of marketing ROI

May 26, 2008

It’s hard to read the marketing literature today without seeing an article on how tough it is for CMOs and how demanding companies are to see a return for their marketing investment. There is so much angst and so much ink spilled talking about how to measure the impact of marketing. Especially around “new” media […]

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Borders misses the point

May 26, 2008

I was at an innovation conference last week in Boston. Borders books had set up a booth to sell innovation related books. OK. That makes sense. But they really missed a chance to shine. They had a table of mostly hardcover books. Many looked quite interesting. But I’m thinking: who wants to carry back a […]

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Movie prices are set to rise. Don’t let them!

May 19, 2008

I recently posted my request to you all to boycott movies for a month. They cost too damn much and we need to remind this industry that we matter more to them then a handful of pampered Hollywood superstars. Apparently both of the people who read this blog have insufficient clout at the box office. […]

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Where to draw the line?

May 19, 2008

It is the nature of boundaries to create incentive differentials. Entities are generally designed to maximize their own utility without regard for the utility of others so there is one set of incentives for what lies inside of an entity’s border and another for what lies outside. Furthermore, there are an infinite number of boundaries […]

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Will you pretend to love me if I bribe you?

May 15, 2008

I’m pretty sure nobody takes this route on their quest for true love in their personal life. So why do marketers continue to market this way? We give coupons to consumers to “incentivize” them (please people, this is not a word) or to reward loyalists. If you’re giving a coupon to a consumer because they […]

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Don’t be a tease – you’re not that cute

May 15, 2008

I recently became a fan of Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr. Pepper. I love the product. It was very hard to find though so I emailed the company asking them how I could get the product. Here is what they sent back:Dear Mr. Schorr: Thank you for contacting us about Dr Pepper Diet Cherry Chocolate. Your […]

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Boycott Movies!

May 12, 2008

Movies have just gotten too damn expensive. I’m really tired of paying so much to finance the ridiculously lavish lifestyles of the Hollwood elite. Enough is enough. Let’s all stop going to the movies for one month. UPDATE: OK, a friend pointed out that maybe the post above is too terse. [Thanks for the feedback.] […]

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Risky compared to what?

May 11, 2008

The risk management approaches typically employed by companies seem off base to me. (I think financial services companies usually do this well when not caught in the throes of the lunacy that overtakes them every few years.) The error is in the baseline assumption they make. That assumption is usually one of a risk-free world. […]

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