Posts by Judi Friedman
Discovering the “Why” of Where You Live
For a moment, think of your local government: your city, your county, your municipality. What comes to mind—anything exciting? Most people will probably imagine long lines at bland, overcrowded offices, obscure municipal statutes and regulations, and that drab, gray utilitarian architecture that is the mark of bureaucracy. But this dull conception of local administration is…
Read MoreBe Like Water
Since the crisis hit, I’ve seen some major changes in my approach to work, as well as changes in the way we design, develop and run our marketing campaigns. The lessons I’ve learned in campaign disassembly/reassembly and working in crisis mode, I think, might be helpful to others. I learned quickly that plans just don’t…
Read MoreDoes Marketing Matter?
I keep think about this recent headline—“Peleton hits breaks on marketing as at-home fitness sells itself”—from MarketingDive. A friend once told me that sometimes it’s important to stop and question your most basic assumptions, to interrogate your foundations a little just to see what surprises you might find. So, with a global pandemic still spreading…
Read MorePeloton Nation: Staying Active Indoors
Peloton is not what you think it is. You may be under the impression that it’s a stationary bike with a video screen. But you’d be wrong. Peloton is a logistics-technology company and a social movement—it’s like Apple for fitness. The brand sells complex internet-connected tech products, through which it offers services that have attracted…
Read MoreFrom Heaven to Hell in a Single Week
Did you ever get so frustrated by a bad experience with a product or a service that you just had to tell everyone you know about it? I ask because lately a lot of marketers seem to be talking about the importance of the customer journey or “buyway.” And they’re right that it’s important. But…
Read MoreCan Your “Why” Really Die?
Yes, it can. And quicker than you think. Your brand story, if it’s going to truly resonate with your consumer family, must be rooted in your “Why”—why you do what you do. And if your “Why,” or your brand story, no longer resonates with your target audience, well, it won’t take long for the negative…
Read MoreMarketing Is Marketing, No Matter the Audience
On most marketing-related topics, I admit, I hold some very strong but unorthodox opinions. Not everyone agrees with my views but, trust me, I’ve come to them purely out of experience. I’ve written on this very blog about how social media influencers aren’t real influencers, how millennials aren’t your friends, and why those thousands of…
Read MoreMillennials Don’t Want to Hang Out with You
Allow me to make something crystal clear. My definition of “word-of-mouth marketing” refers to one-on-one conversations—and nothing else. Individual people, in real life, having conversations, together. Beyond face-to-face conversations, I may occasionally be thinking of text conversations or the various online interactions that require two people speaking to each other. I never mean social media,…
Read MoreAn Open Letter to Social Media Marketers Everywhere
Dear Friends— I’ve been thinking about you lately. I’m worried you’re not seeing what I’m seeing, or at least not taking it seriously enough, so I decided to write you this letter. Often, personalized outreach is more effective at communicating important information. At least that’s what studies say. So, I thought I’d give it a…
Read MoreDirect Mail Matters
Are you trying to think outside the social media or digital advertising box lately? I have news for you. Year after year, direct mail works better. It should really be no surprise in today’s hyper-digitized market that receiving a piece of actual paper mail—a handwritten letter, a flyer, a postcard—is now as uncommon, meaningful, and…
Read MoreThe People You Should Be Listening to Are Not Online
I’ve said it before, but I’ll reiterate: “Influencers” are people living among us who love to share ideas with others. Period. That’s it. They don’t have to be famous. They don’t even have to own a computer. Whether they’re online doesn’t matter much at all. According to Keller and Berry’s book The Influentials, 10% of…
Read MoreThis Generation Is Reshaping Our World (It’s Not the One You Think)
For decades, conventional wisdom has cast Generation X—those born between the early 1960s and mid-1980s—as too disreputable, too insignificant or too uncategorizable for advertisers to bother with. Some research suggests that they are a small, iconoclastic group of skeptical budgeters who are rarely swayed by those bright, shiny campaigns that we imagine capture the hearts…
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