Mark and Lorraine draw their second season of the Brand Shorthand Podcast to a close. Join them as they reminisce on this last season’s biggest hits, from SuperBowl ads to myriad guests, and how companies can best avoid those pesky boycotts.Spend 30ish with Mark and Lorraine as they talk all things marketing, advertising, and of course … positioning!
Between sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing, why do so many brands only appeal to the visual? Join Mark and Lorraine as they walk through a few jingles and audio logos. Then they discuss the topic of branding through smell, touch, and audio. From MasterCard’s “haptic logo” to smelling money through your phone, learn the different ways you can develop a brand that touches multiple senses!Spend 30ish with Mark and Lorraine as they talk all things marketing, advertising, and of course … posi...
Join Mark and Lorraine as they conclude their interview with Calvin Holston, the founder and CEO of Smeeple, an app designed to connect people to curated experts across a variety of specialties. In the second half of this interview, Calvin discusses Smeeple’s position among his competitors, as well as the effects his entrepreneurship has had on his faith and his family.Spend 25ish with Mark, Lorraine, and Calvin as they talk all things marketing, advertising, entrepreneurship, and of course …...
Bringing the experts right to you! Join Mark and Lorraine as they interview Calvin Holston, the founder and CEO of Smeeple, an app designed to connect people to real authentic experts across a variety of subjects, from sports to HVAC to homesteaders. Learn how Calvin came from nuclear engineer to entrepreneur, the origins and meaning behind the name “Smeeple,” and how it works to curate and cultivate the best of the best.Spend 30ish with Mark, Lorraine, and Calvin as they talk all things mark...
Whether it’s lateral CEO hiring from Chipotle, commoditizing the coffee experience at Starbucks, or boiling down branding to fit in with the crowd, it seems that a lot of big business brands are starting to feel the same. Join Mark and Lorraine as they navigate the seas of sameness flooding through modern advertising and discuss how differentiation and positioning can help you stand out in a cluttered market.Spend 30ish minutes with Mark and Lorraine as they talk all things marketing, adverti...
With the fall of the Tupperware titan, it can be hard to see where innovation ends and getting lazy with your position begins. Thankfully, Mark and Lorraine are here to weed through the mess of brand extensions — the good and the bad. Listen along as they discuss the rise of Lume deodorant and their battle with Dove, beverage companies expanding into the alcohol market, and how La-Z-Boy got its lazy back.Spend 35ish minutes with Mark and Lorraine as they talk all things marketing, advertising...
Disney, Apple, and Boar’s Head — something is rotten in the state of Denmark! And it’s not just the liverwurst. Join Mark and Lorraine as they tackle the tough topics of lawsuits, poisonings, and deaths with the help of special guest and PR and Content Manager, Merce Brown. Discover why Crisis Communications starts well before the crisis and should be a required asset in your C-suite.Spend 35ish minutes with Mark, Lorraine, and Merce as they talk all things marketing, advertising, crisis comm...
Have you ever wished that drinking water was… cooler? Well, the answer to your prayers is here, alongside some of the most extreme marketing promotions and campaigns to date. Join Mark and Lorraine as they cover jet giveaways, death-defying stunts, and borderline strange endorsements as they ask the question: will Liquid Death continue to make a killing, or will it die trying?Spend 30ish minutes with Mark and Lorraine as they talk all things marketing, advertising, and of course … positioning!
Explore all the fun and excitement of cult brands like Disney, Apple, and Coke—no blood oaths required! Follow along as Mark and Lorraine discuss the golden rules of Cult Branding (as laid out by marketing consultant Bolivar Bueno), the highs of sticking to your core audience… and the lows of companies who drank the Kool-Aid.Spend 30ish minutes with Mark and Lorraine as they talk all things marketing, advertising, and of course … positioning!
While tech companies like Best Buy, Verizon, and BitCoin’s Verse are refreshing their logos, women’s accessory companies like Zales and Vera Bradley are introducing entire brand refreshes. Join Mark and Lorraine as they talk the differences between a brand refresh and a brand new logo. The positioning duo tackles the latest marketing overhauls, the origins of Singer Corporation, and some successful past brand refreshes.Spend 30ish with Mark and Lorraine as they talk all things marketing, adve...
Taco Bell vacation clubs, motorcycle gangs, off-key musical numbers, and... Carrie Underwood? Join Mark and Lorraine - and brand new producer and editor Denver Wittmer - as they discuss the latest blunders of big-name brands. From boycotts on classic American brands like John Deere and Harley Davidson to misfired marketing attempts from Target, Mark and Lorraine cover a wide range of companies that owe their customers a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T.Spend 30ish with Mark and Lorraine as they talk...
Etsy versus the rest of the field, such as GoImagine. Nike versus everyone. Hear what Mark and Lorraine think about Etsy's new campaign focused on human makers, GoImagine's up-and-coming challenge to Etsy, and Nike's apparent fall from grace. Is it too late for Nike to Just Do It!?! And can Etsy stay on top with challengers such as GoImagine?Spend 30ish with Mark and Lorraine as they talk all things marketing, advertising, and of course ... positioning!
Before the positioning duo dives into the rise of Dr. Pepper, Mark and Lorraine tackle the tough topic of politics -- without talking politics! Learn their perspective on the recent Republican National Convention and the re-positioning that has been done to do the hard job of changing perceptions. Then learn why Dr. Pepper is now #2 in the soft drink category... from the iconic Be a Pepper campaign to the more recent Fansville commercials.Spend 30ish with Mark and Lorraine as they talk all th...
Pirate Ship? GymShark? Who are these brands and what do they have in common? They both have identified a tight niche and taken a unique approach to a tired category. Call them the Uber of shipping or the Stanley of the gym rat. Unique. Exciting. And fun for our special guest, Cheryl Henderson -- creative director at Innis Maggiore -- to wax phil-arrrrr-sophical. Join the positioning gurus, including Cheryl, as we discover a few new brands who have become overnight sensations.Spend 30+ ish wit...
If you haven't heard the news about Dr. Pepper overtaking Pepsi as the #2 soft drink, you might have been living under a rock. Mark and Lorraine dive into the reasons that might have caused Pepsi's decline. The positioning duo has a long discussion on the "Pepsi generation's" position and why moving away from it is the most likely culprit in its fall from #2. Then they finish surmising how Pepsi can reverse the decline.Spend 30+ ish with Mark and Lorraine as they discuss all things marketing,...
Today, our positioning duo is joined by Mike DeVilling, President and CEO of WestShore Public Relations. Mike brings his wealth of knowledge and experience to the podcast to share valuable insights on how brands can leverage public relations. The discussion also uncovers all the new tactics, channels, and platforms available to public relations professionals, and how media relations has changed over the past couple decades. A big thanks to Mike for joining the positioning gurus!Spend 40ish wi...
In the final part of Positioning for Professionals, Lorraine and Mark knock down the last five positioning myths: 11) All clients are good; 12) full-service exists; 13) focus is limiting; 14) more means more; and 15) the middle is safe. Find out why these myths are simply not true, and what you can do about it. Mark also laments the "expiration" of so many great brands who have lost their positioning way. Spend 30ish with the positioning duo as they discuss everything marketing, advertis...
What is Papa John's doing? Or is that Papa Johns without an apostrophe?!? Mark and Lorraine dive in on this topic before they get to Positioning for Professionals, a book by Tim Williams that discusses how positioning works for professional service firms. The positioning duo walks through the next six myths about positioning that many service firms claim keep them from differentiating themselves. This episode covers the next six myths: 5) Bigger is better; 6) Brand is only about adverti...
Do you have a stale brand? Are McDonalds' and Starbucks' problems related to positioning? Mark and Lorraine dive in on this topic before they get to Positioning for Professionals, a book by Tim Williams that discusses how positioning works for professional service firms. The positioning duo walks through the myths about positioning that many service firms claim keep them from differentiating themselves. This episode covers the first four myths: 1) The better company, product, or service wins;...
Before the positioning gurus tackle the marketing strategy of Designing and Building a New Category, they throw a red flag on Apple's latest iPad ad, and Starbuck's trend downward. Then Mark and Lorraine cover the next six rules of designing and building a new category. Learn what inverted marketing, insulating siding, getting there first, shooting losers, and Segways have to do with category creation. One of THE greatest moves you can make as a marketing is to build a new category, but it's ...