by Jeff Slater | Jul 22, 2016 | Interesting Brands, Marketing Advice, Marketing Start Ups
In 1982 an emerging computer company was roaring onto the stage. Osborne computer had the world’s first “luggable” computer. It was portable, but it was so heavy at 26 pounds, that you didn’t just carry it – you hauled it around. But it was a leading computer...
by Jeff Slater | Jun 8, 2016 | Foodpreneurs, Interesting Brands
One of my favorite parlor games is thinking about how someone outside of the industry, might see a different category. Take greeting cards and Hallmark. They sell a product that is organized by occasion. Not by country of origin, by the source of ink, by price or...
by Jeff Slater | Jun 3, 2016 | Foodpreneurs, Interesting Brands, Marketing Advice
Where did you get that coffee? I don’t mean Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts or Harris Teeter. But which farm grew the bean. How did they get to your kitchen? Did the farmers who grew these products get a fair price or are all the margin sucked up by importers,...
by Jeff Slater | May 30, 2016 | Interesting Brands, Marketing Advice
I have noticed a common problem with many brands who seek out my marketing consulting services. Their intention is sound, but they make the same mistakes over and over again. They think of marketing as if it is a noun, not a verb. Marketing is an action that involves...
by Jeff Slater | May 23, 2016 | Foodpreneurs, Interesting Brands, Marketing Advice
A friend who owns a marketing agency is frustrated. He doesn’t like that I think of him as an email expert. His agency has dozens of other competencies, yet I see him as an email guru. Another client I help owns a brand that stands for something that mattered...
by Jeff Slater | May 9, 2016 | Advertising, Interesting Brands, Marketing Advice
The hardest thing for a business to get from a marketplace is attention. You can interrupt prospect by advertising to them but often they don’t notice you. What happens in many companies is they look at the other ads run by competitors and assume that they...