Fresh Perspectives
Vice President, Marketing
Denise's career has been a 20 year evolution from design to marketing to operations management and back again. In her current role as VP of Marketing, she directs Cheskin’s marketing and PR strategy, manages brand experience and oversees Cheskin's studios.
Denise's interests lie in building a strong relationship and understanding between design, marketing and business. Prior to joining Cheskin, Denise was Senior Designer at Ampex Corporation where she was responsible for national sales campaigns, corporate communications, advertising and identity management. She also maintained her own freelance design business, working with clients such as Oracle, Stanford University and SOMA Magazine.
Denise received BAs in both Graphic Design and French from Cal State University, Fullerton. She also received a Certificat d'Etudes from the Université d'Aix-Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, France.
23 January 2008
As a marketer and a wine drinker, and a member of a company whose founder first developed the concept of "sensation transference," I was very interested in the recent study by the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the California Institute of Technology on how price affects wine drinking pleasure.
The study, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and already widely commented on, showed that among a small sample of male graduate students who occasionally drink wine, the more the wine cost, the better it tasted.
I certainly don't question the validity of the study - Louis Cheskin proved similar concepts in work he did decades ago, and many marketers understand that how you package and position a product (especially a commodity, which arguably some wine has become) has a much greater influence on purchase than the characteristics of the product itself.
I think one key thing is missing from this study though. Baba Shiv, associate professor of marketing who co-authored the paper titled "Marketing Actions Can Modulate Neural Representations of Experienced Pleasantness," speculates that the results of the study would probably be replicated even among wine connoisseurs. On this point, I have to disagree.
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Posted in
Consumer Goods Trends
| Meaningful Experience
| Positioning & Branding
by Denise Klarquist
12 October 2007
These two phrases might seem the same, but from my point of view, it's the former that really matters. Here's an example of what I mean...
In a previous life, when I was at Ampex in the early 90's, the company talked a lot about the future of video technology - how could they make their technology relevant for the inevitable market desire for video on demand. While we can't deny that Ampex has been credited with a lot of invention, their approach to innovation was flawed. They tried to "make their technology relevant" by cramming more and more terabytes of capacity into a smaller footprint instead of understanding what would be relevant to the end-user experience.
A brand and product that was loved by consumers never leveraged the underlying and changing needs of their audience to "make relevant technology." And so what was a thriving giant in consumers' minds disappeared from our radar. A brand once associated with the wonder of music and entertainment now makes ugly boxes for data.
I contrast that to YouTube.
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Innovation & Design
by Denise Klarquist, 0 comments
13 March 2007
Three things get us excited at Cheskin: people, culture, and change. Talk about technology innovation or new new types of emerging behavior and we start to drool. Combine that with meaty challenges from clients where we can substantially contribute to their bottom-line success, and it's almost more than we can bear.
On the topic of emerging markets - those developing economies that are becoming more market-oriented and include Latin America, South and Southeast Asia, and China - Wikipedia states, "It appears that emerging markets lie at the intersection of non-traditional user behavior, the rise of new user groups and community adoption of products and services, and innovations in product technologies and platforms." So, it comes as no surprise that we're tantalized by emerging markets.
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China Markets
| Emerging Markets
by Denise Klarquist, 0 comments
20 February 2007
I was sad when I heard of JetBlue's recent problems last week and their resulting challenges. I liked JetBlue, I liked the brand and what it stood for. And for the most part they've historically done a good job at following through on their promise of "bringing humanity back to air travel." And while I've done my time cooling my heels in JetBlue terminals waiting for delayed flights, that was a compromise I didn't mind making. After all, I was one of those privileged passengers taking advantage of free internet, my own in-flight TV, cool blue chips, and saving money!
But in the last year, the bloom was beginning to fade for me. The terminals were looking a tad shabby, the ticket agents seemed slightly stressed, and free internet wasn't such a unique experience anymore. And the fact that I had to shop for my lunch no matter what airline I flew meant I could buy my own blue chips or just about any other gourmet snack I desired. I didn't want JetBlue to become just another commodity airline, but the signs were there.
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Positioning & Branding
by Denise Klarquist, 0 comments
5 February 2007
In this morning's Monday Morning Must Read, courtesy of Core77, one of B.L. Ochman's 12 Tenents of Social Media Marketing was highlighted, ...
V. Thy communications must pass the "who cares?" test
Abandon ye all communications that are long-winded, formulaic, boring as hell, and laden with superlatives and marketing babble.
Write down your concept in one sentence. Then ask yourself, and answer honestly, "So what?" If it still sounds like a good idea, proceed to rewrite it, over and over, until it has not one extra word.
I hold this close to my heart and use it every chance I get. But it's much easier said than done.
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
2 November 2006
An ongoing conversation at Cheskin, as within almost any company, has been one of assessing and helping to improve productivity, quality and performance. A big question is what really contributes to and hinders our ability to perform our at our best. In a company where collaboration, creative processes and innovative thinking are an essential part of our DNA, there are not always obvious answers. One thing is for certain though - technology is an essential component.
As a company where a majority of the people here are on the road somewhere in the world almost 40% of the time, technology is essential - email, IM, cell phones, PCS connection cards for wireless laptops, Blackberries, WebEx, camera phones, digital everything - you name it. None of this is unfamiliar. Yet what is the tradeoff for this level of immediacy and information?
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Posted in
Consumer Technology Trends
by Denise Klarquist, 0 comments
6 April 2006
I read recently about Mr. Luna, "a guy from Long Island who teaches kids science, and cares about the world in which they will live." Mr. Luna is remarkable because has turned a simple lightbulb into a meaningful experience. His goal is to have "every child in America plug just one Compact Fluorescent (CFL) bulb into their favorite lamp. [By his estimates,] this will help fight global warming by reducing our carbon emissions from electric power plants, save Americans at least $2.3 billion in electricity costs, and help put America on the path to environmental sustainability." Ultimately, he says, it's about our kids' futures.
How great is it that one person can take something as simple as a lightbulb and make it the hope for our children's future? How cool would it be if GE, instead of marketing their CFL bulbs based on functional benefits like light quality and longer life, focused on the more meaningful benefits of CFLs? In fact, how much more profitable might it be?
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Posted in
Meaningful Experience
by Denise Klarquist, 0 comments
15 March 2006
Recently I was in the Apple store buying a gift. A salesperson approached me and said "Can I help you? You're Denise, aren't you?" My first thought was, "Interesting. They've now got facial recognition systems in the Apple store." Of course the truth was that the recognition came the old fashioned way - they salesperson knew me from somewhere else. But what was surprising was that I wasn't surprised by my initial assumption.
I guess I'm just used to the fact that amazing things are becoming common place. Facial recognition technology is not new, though thankfully not yet implemented at the Apple Store.
A colleague yesterday told me about a paper thin camera a friend had purchased that took very high quality shots. My reply... "Oh, that's nice" as opposed to "wow, that's unbelievable!" As it turns out, she was referring to the Casio Exilim, but my web search did reveal that even 2 years ago, paper thin lens technology was available. So I won't be surprised when someone pulls out a business card that happens to be their camera. (In fact, I found quite a few paper thin technologies - phones, TV screens that could be put on magazines a la Harry Potter, batteries and most of these links were old.)
So if technology innovation is no longer creating surprise, what will take its place?
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by Denise Klarquist
23 January 2006
This weekend I attended the compostmodern conference in San Francisco, a collaboration between the AIGA and IDSA to promote sustainability. I was inspired by the likes of Kalle Lasn from Adbusters and Chris Hacker, Senior Vice President of Global Design and Design Strategy at Johnson & Johnson, that latter underscoring the business case for environmental sustainability - a nice change from the typical "do it because it's good for you" message.
Paul Saffo wrapped up the conference on a more threatening note, essentially saying "do it or perish." He too noted that we need to create a stonger motivation in order to shift from a throw away culture to one that values conservation, environmentalism and sustainability. Like all the speakers who proceeded him, he made a strong case for the power of design.
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Posted in
Innovation & Design
by Denise Klarquist
3 January 2006
I love the new year – a chance to look at what was accomplished… and what wasn’t; what worked… and what didn’t. It’s the opportunity to course correct, build on success and start fresh with a renewed sense of what’s possible.
We’re fortunate that we’re starting out of the gates with great momentum – a new website (please feel free to take a look around) and a new book (on store shelves in a few days). Like a good race strategy though, the key will be in a careful plan and a moderated pace that will keep us on track and not too burned out before the end.
However, I don’t believe in slow and steady wins the race either. You have to make room for spontaneity and unforeseen opportunities – that’s where you learn and that’s what makes it all fun. So what is Cheskin making room for in marketing this year?
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
18 December 2005
I just read Niti Bhan's provocation on the benefit of design councils on CPH127. While some success is apparent in other countries, I think that the ability of the US to establish a successful national design council could be challenging at best.
While we Americans may be becoming more sophisticated in our appreciation of attractively executed products, I'm not sure that we generally agree on what constitutes good design, or design in general.
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Innovation & Design
by Denise Klarquist
16 November 2005
This morning I received an email from the person who has been editing our upcoming book, Making Meaning. It read, "Speaking of meanings, we have a gong here at Peachpit (Steve, Nathan, and Darrel have seen it), that we bang when a book goes to press. Making Meaning actually left the building yesterday, but we held off gonging until today. It acknowledges the meaning of accomplishment, and we’d love to share it with as many of you as can participate. It only takes a minute, if that."
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Posted in
Meaningful Experience
by Denise Klarquist
22 September 2005
As I write this, I’m on vacation sitting in a friend’s apartment in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Over the past 2 weeks I’ve been struck by how small the world is and yet how different its nuances.
For instance, today I was in Liberdade, a section of Sao Paulo populated by generations of Japanese immigrants where sushi bars and Sanrio knockoffs line the latern covered streets. As I was buying a coffee flask made in China from a Japanese man speaking Portuguese, my assembled in Mexico cell phone rang with a call from my car repair shop in San Francisco letting me know that my tires had arrived for my German made car.
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
6 September 2005
While collaboration is defined as people working together, I like to think of it more as the sharing of ideas, techniques, tools and even objects that result in something greater than the sum of parts. Two recent examples come to mind:
I ran across this website today as I was scanning the Cool Hunting newsletter. Alyce Santoro's Sonic Fabric designs are beautiful, no doubt, but what I was more impressed by was the inspiration that lead to the innovation and how the concept of collaboration is woven throughout (pun intended).
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Posted in
Innovation & Design
by Denise Klarquist
7 July 2005
I was recently introduced to a new blog on Design and Innovation - CPH127. As we at Cheskin address design and innovation challenges for our clients regularly, it's clear that these fields, if we can even use that term, are increasingly fluid and evolving.
Ask just about anyone now to define "design" and you'll get as many answers as people you ask. Innovation is not far from that as well. The guys at CPH127 underscore this just by their very nature... "Our team consists designers, MBAs, dot-com entreprenours and all the other folks you would never expect to be on this kind of blog."
I was especially fond of a recent post by Ian McArthur on new skillsets for designers.
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Posted in
Innovation & Design
by Denise Klarquist
27 June 2005
I'm getting back into managing our Cheskin blog so the pressure is on to refocus on what's new in the blogosphere. I've just spent the last couple hours browsing new places and visiting some old faves. I'd forgotten how useful and how distracting blogs can be.
I was very happy to see that Dina Mehta whom I had the pleasure to meet a few years ago, was given an honorable mention in the AO/Technorati Open Media 100. The list is quite impressive as is Dina's blog. She very much deserves the honor.
I also found that John Porcaro has been having the same problems as me when it comes to keeping up with blogging. But his most recent blog on Microsoft's CMG was insightful and very relevant to the work we do with that group.
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist, 2 comments
17 June 2005
Yesterday McDonald's Corp. announced it will begin selling skateboards and bikes bearing the fast-food company's brand in a new effort to get kids to burn off burgers and fries with exercise.
Their efforts to extend their menu into healthy alternatives is certainly a move in the right direction, however I'm not convinced this newest brand extension will fly. In our recent study on brand extendibility, consumers gave McDonald's very little room in general to extend beyond their current space.
McDonald's and fun...OK, I'll buy it. McDonald's and community service... they set the original standard with Ronald McDonald house. But McDonald's for healthy living and lower body fat via skateboards? At least they aren't sponsoring a tie-in with the Lords of Dogtown. ;-)
Posted in
Positioning & Branding
by Denise Klarquist
7 June 2005
I just ran across the new Inside Market Research blog by Gregory Kohs. I’m flattered he listed us on his site (thanks Gregory!). I’ll be curious to see how his site evolves given that he’s cut a wide swath from survey research to consulting, where Cheskin characterizes itself (though certainly grounded in customer experience).
While public opinion surveys and their results are quite fun (my guess for the missing cat names are Tiger and Shadow… am I close??), my interest lies in the insights within the results. What do these names really say about cat lovers?
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist, 2 comments
6 June 2005
First off, I admit that I don’t own an iPod… yet. Nevertheless I have to blog about it. I’m continuously in awe of how a single product can inspire such cult-like passion. But I’m starting to suspect something…
I received an email the other week from a girlfriend. The subject line was “Oh my god.” The message said “I bought an iPod this weekend ... this may change my entire life. I may never need a job, a man, or anything else other than my iPod ever again.” This from a successful woman who owns her own business.
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by Denise Klarquist
20 April 2005
I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell's new book, Blink. I also spent last weekend crewing in a sailboat race on the Bay. And I'm working on analyzing our current operations systems processes and metrics at Cheskin.
So what do these have in common? They all deal with information and decision making - and as a result of all three I've been thinking very hard about what determines the necessary and minimal amount of information I need to make my best decisions quickly.
As Gladwell points out, more information doesn't necessarily result in better outcomes. Yet going with our "gut" isn't always the best course of action either. So how can I know which pieces of data are the right ones to focus on?
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by Denise Klarquist
29 March 2005
Shortly after Sarah Jessica Parker turned 40, GAP announced her replacement - 17 year old Joss Stone . A few days later I hopped on a commuter flight and was seated between a man giving a presentation in Oakland and Bethany, an 8 year old visiting her grandparents in Seattle. As soon as we were situated, the first (and only) of us to flip down the tray table and flip open a laptop was Bethany. That would be a pink Barbie laptop . This, after visiting my sister where my 4 year old niece declined my help to launch her favorite CDs on the Mac and navigate through the games and stories.
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Posted in
Consumer Technology Trends
by Denise Klarquist
14 March 2005
Amazing how easy it is to forget that there are opportunities that exist outside of what we think we know. I work for a company that bases its value on this simple idea - you'd think I wouldn't need a reminder.
My neighbor and I need to replace the fence that separates our yards. I called our contractor, got a bid and passed it along to her. Her first response was, "That's great! Now we just need to know what kind of fence we want."
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Posted in
Innovation & Design
by Denise Klarquist
12 January 2005
In my role at Cheskin leading Operations, I receive an intense amount of information, and share a lot as well. I often wonder what our limit is for information stimulation. When does too much information become a bad thing?
This weekend I watched Jacques Tati's M. Hulot's Holiday from 1953 and immediately after saw the Bourne Supremacy (I know - it was a weird night). The 2 films couldn't have contrasted more - Hulot was simple, quiet and allowed me to explore the nuances of the scenes. Bourne bombarded me with action, dialog, 10 cuts in 5 seconds. No chance to catch the nuance. All I could do was react and try to keep up. Hulot's Holiday allowed me the space to create connections, imagine, anticipate and look (rather than watch). Bourne grabbed my attention but didn't give me a minute to think.
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
23 December 2004
Last night when I pulled up in front of my house in Potrero Hill, I was confronted with about half a dozen kids shouting to each other as they stretched a chain of construction paper links down the block. One girl with clear leadership potential stood at the corner yelling orders to her cohorts. Another ran down the block with a stapler, ready for emergency repairs.
A gang of shouting children isn’t something that's heard on a regular basis at 7pm. I soon learned from the boy that let me pass over the chain to my front door, that it took eight kids two and half hours to create the 3-block long paper chain. It stretched from Goat Hill Pizza on one corner, encircling the block to Chatz Coffee on the corner just below it.
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
10 December 2004
I was reading something today that lamented the famous taglines that had been retired this year, namely those of GE and Xerox.
I remember when Xerox first launched its new brand identity and tagline "The Document Company." At the time I remember thinking it so risky and innovative. The pixeled X - would their customers even get it?! I admired Xerox for stepping out and emerging as a force in the new digital frontier. Well, how things change.
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Positioning & Branding
by Denise Klarquist
2 December 2004
Reading Lisa's and few other colleagues' posts just now reminded me of my own product obsession - my vacuum cleaner. Mine is not just any vacuum, but a big bright yellow muscular Dyson. A vacuum that many of my designer friends covet, since it appears in museums and the pages of ID magazine, while other friends think it's the most ridiculous thing they've seen. To be honest, I was part of the former, and managed to acquire my machine at a design auction. But that was only the beginning of the experience.
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Innovation & Design
by Denise Klarquist
21 October 2004
Growing up in the suburbs of southern California in the 60s and 70s, an appreciation for cultural diversity wasn't something we were raised on. After spending my junior year abroad, I became a passionate spokesperson for the necessity of having culturally immersive experiences. I hadn't realized until then how naive so many of my friends were when it came to recognizing that the rest of the world is just not like us... nor do they want to be.
Fast forward 20 years later...
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
7 October 2004
"Pop Up" shops, those temporary retail stores that last a season at best, have been around for a while. Think mall Christmas store that suddenly appears around Halloween and vanishes by New Years. But brands of all kinds are now really running with this idea, and at least from the buzz they're getting, it's working.
Last night I went to the opening of Method's new pop up store in Union Square. It was a mob scene. I'm sure the free wine and cheese had something to do with that, but people were buying stuff too... and a lot of it. The products are great, but you have to wonder what kind of world we live in when you see people standing at the register with a shopping basket brimming with designer cleaning products - we're talking dish soap and laundry detergent. OK, I have to admit that I walked home with an armful of product too (I was told Karim Rashid hand soap makes a great gift).
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Positioning & Branding
by Denise Klarquist
24 September 2004
I recently returned from a trip to Spain. My ability to speak Spanish is rudimentary at best. But my exposure to the language everyday at Cheskin has given me the ability to understand a little and at least get the gist of many conversations.
I traveled with a friend fluent in Spanish and so found myself included in many a conversation with shop owners, cab divers, waiters and locals. I'm sure most Spaniards assumed I was as fluent as my companion, so politely directed their conversation my way as well, while I of course politely smiled, nodded and interjected an occasional si si. So were we communicating?
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
1 June 2004
As you might have noticed via Jennifer's posts or our careers page, we're hiring a lot of people lately. I sat in a meeting this morning with a number of these new people. In fact three of them - Michelle Vasquez, Alyson Madrigan and Julie Norris - just started today.
At Cheskin we have a set of design principals, one of which is "be a powerful presence." All of us are expected to embody this value in some way, however those of us in senior positions here are specifically charged with being strong voices of leadership. Yet as I sat in this morning's meeting I was overcome (or I should say, overjoyed) by the powerful presence of my newer colleagues.
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
11 May 2004
I just spent the last half hour writing on my experience visiting Disneyland for the first time in over 20 years. In one errant keystroke I accidentally deleted my entire blog. I'm trying again. More briefly this time...
I went to Disneyland for the first time in over 20 years with four kids (3, 5, 7, 11 - my sister's, not mine ;-). I wanted to have fun and see it through their eyes. I also wanted to pay attention to what was different and see if the Disney brand experience was what I hoped it could be.
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Positioning & Branding
by Denise Klarquist
30 April 2004
Not that I ever doubted my career choice, but now I know I made the right decision. My horoscope today reads "Spend quality time in the wonderful world of research and development. Your harvest is rich." And so it is... ;-)
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by Denise Klarquist
20 April 2004
Following on my last post, I gave a presentation last night to the SF chapter of the National Charity League. Thirty mothers of teenage daughters listened as I explained how consumers and media are changing, and how marketers and advertisers are responding.
It was different talking to an audience of media consumers, rather than marketers. This was most apparent in the questions they asked throughout. It's easy to explain to a client why they should care about things that are important in their customers lives. It's very hard to explain to a mom why a company would ignore what's important (or in their opinion, ethical) just to promote a brand.
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Positioning & Branding
by Denise Klarquist
14 April 2004
A few weeks ago I was invited to give a presentation to the local chapter of the National Charity League. They suggested that I might be able to address the topic of subliminal advertising. The presentation is next Monday, so naturally I'm waiting until the last minute to gel my ideas into a PowerPoint. But in the meantime I've been listening, reading and collecting ideas about advertising with this event and particular request in mind.
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
24 March 2004
I recently received an email from Network Solutions introducing their 100 Year Domain Service. Just think, 100 years from now Cheskin can feel secure that cheskin.com is still ours. No worries. Well, except for the fact that I'm not sure that Cheskin will be around (at least not in its present configuration) and I'm not sure that Network Solutions will either. And for that matter, I'm pretty well convinced that typing xxxx.com to locate information on the web will be ancient history. In fact typing anything will probably be a bit passé.
I'm not basing any of these assumptions on in-depth information or acute insights into the future. All I know is that change is inevitable, and the changes I've seen in the last few years assure me that technology will look a whole lot different 100 years from now. But it's good to know that for $9.99 a month, I at least won't have to worry too much about it. ;-)
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
16 March 2004
I discovered a new word today, SNAM, which refers to email networking spam. (thanks to Geoffrey Gonzalez whose blog referenced the term and got me investigating). Each time I'm invited to join or add someone (frequently unknown to me) to my Linkedin network, or asked to update my contact information via Plaxo (again, usually by someone I barely know) I wonder how far my online social network extends. And how useful it really is. I'm still intrigued and excited by the possibilities of online social networking. But I'm hoping to see more of the benefits before the noise dampens my enthusiasm.
Posted in
Consumer Technology Trends
by Denise Klarquist, 1 comments
9 March 2004
I've found myself in a remarkable situation lately. Last year when we began our weblog, I was one of its biggest proponents doing all I could to motivate, inspire and cajole people to contribute. I was rarely at a loss for topics to write about or suggestions that others could build on. I couldn't understand why so many people found it so difficult to log on and jot down a few insightful thoughts.
Now I see why. Now I'm the one receiving pleading emails from my colleagues trying to explain how easy it is to contribute to our new blog. It's a humbling experience to be "on the other side."
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist, 3 comments
19 November 2003
Since we started our corporate blog, people have asked what the challenges are in managing blogs in a corporate setting. One of the big ones is inspiring people to take the time to post. Many people here will tell me that they'd love to blog but they can't commit the time and I'm the first to suggest all sorts of ways to blog without it taking hours.
Now here I sit feeling very guilty for not posting for 3 weeks! (I had no idea). However, I've learned a valuable lesson - it's not that easy to be a constant presence online. I still maintain that the rewards are great for companies who blog. But now I'm a bit more humbled by the challenges.
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist, 0 comments
29 October 2003
Last night I had the wonderful pleasure to share gobs of italian food with Dina Mehta and gang at Buca di Beppo. I know Dina via her blog and a few months ago we began a great converstion about how to inspire blogging within corporations. Unfortunatley we didn't get much of a chance to explore this topic more thoroughly, but I'm ready when you are, Dina!
I was excited to meet more fans of Dina (and vice versa) but began to get a bit intimidated as I did my pre-dinner research... Phil Wolff has been blogging almost longer than I've been using email. Little did I know 2 months ago as I explained blogging at a company meeting and referenced his site, that I'd be sharing limoncello with the guy! (side note - Phil subscribes to 1000 RSS feeds - now I can justify my intimidation). And then there was Stuart Henshall who I see as another tremendous well of social network information and who gave me a very simple understanding of the business potential of skyping. Getting this applied at Cheskin will be one of my next personal projects (surprise Christopher ;-). While Clynton Taylor isn't blogging yet, I'm sure he will be by the end of the week if any of us has anything to do with it!
Toward the end of the evening, Danah Boyd and her entourage joined us. Yikes - smart girl! Will enjoy seeing where you go and what you influence. I think my only advice may be that RedBull probably shouldn't be your drink of choice.
Too many responsibilities have been keeping me from blogging. Thanks Dina and everyone for getting me excited again about the potential!
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
17 October 2003
I'm currently working on a small marketing tool to encourage more web visitors to investigate our innovation capabilities. It's not a big project, and normally would be considered a fun experiment.
When I say "normally" I mean before I was fully awakened to the seriously viral nature of the Internet. For years we and others have been espousing this vehicle for creating buzz - nothing new there. Now that I'm blogging, and more tuned into the undercurrent of conversation, do I recognize the greater potential and risk.
Three or 4 years ago, I might have played around more and experimented with different marketing techniques or messages on our website. Today I'm not nearly as cavalier. I spend much more time considering the possible reactions and feedback, testing and perfecting. Not to say that I'm completely risk averse, or that everything is perfect (please). But I'm much more careful, and perhaps a bit less playful. If my experience so far with blogging has shown any downside, this might be it.
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
15 October 2003
The other day I received a very nice email from Gunnar Loy, the Managing Partner at Triibe Media, a brand and media consultancy. He was kind enough to translate the posts I had mentioned earlier in the German blog, Industrial Technology & Witchcraft. Thanks Gunnar!
Triibe's site is nice and incorporates audio in an interesting way. You don't find audio very often as part of a web brand, perhaps because it still has its pluses and minuses. (We wrote about audio branding on the web years ago, and other than the technology, not a lot has changed). The downside is that in an open office environment like ours, the sudden explosion of unexpected audio from a website can be quite startling. And sometimes embarrassing - I was recently researching toys which everyone near me knew as soon as they heard my laptop exclaim "hi, I'm Barbie!"
Perhaps it's time for some headphones ;-)
Posted in
Innovation & Design
by Denise Klarquist
10 October 2003
As Christopher mentioned, we've been doing some talking internally about grassroots marketing and social networks. A recent article made its way around about Nokia's efforts using blogs to create visibility for its 3650 camera phone. Nokia worked with Project Blog to target bloggers who could potentially market the product.
Project Blog (by Richards Interactive) is worth looking at. It's very upfront about how they interact with bloggers to help market products. They don't hold anything back about the potential value they place on the a blogger's social network and the nature of the transaction. And they don't tell the blogger what to write. This all raises a few questions:
-- Could this result in better products? It takes guts to place a product in the hands of anyone who has a penchant for talking too much to groups of loyal readers and has nothing to loose by trashing your product (except maybe more free stuff) .
-- How do you target the right blogging network and leader? Is it volume or variety, as discussed in a recent Reveries Cool News article.
-- Will bloggers become suspect and blogging just another jaded form of online marketing?
On this last point - I hope not.
Posted in
Consumer Technology Trends
by Denise Klarquist
1 October 2003
Yesterday Cheskin and Fitch:Worldwide released a new research study on corporate innovation. Much to PR team's dismay, in spite of vigorous pre-pitching, the study didn't seem to catch on with the media (at least not yet). Nevertheless, on the day of the release, with only a BusinessWire distribution to our credit, our web traffic soared. To date we've had over 500 downloads of the report just from the Cheskin website (it's on the Fitch site as well).
Clearly, innovation is a hot topic. An equally important factor is the power of the blog - a huge amount of our web traffic yesterday was via blogs. Blogs and bloggers spread the word, including apple news, Rob Korver, and a German blog - Industrial Technology & Witchcraft (if I could read the site, perhaps I'd get the name, anyway...).
PR firms, PR departments and companies themselves need to take note of the power of this media over traditional media. It is truly amazing.
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Innovation & Design
by Denise Klarquist
17 September 2003
I'm part of a committee that plans events for the San Francisco chapter of a large non-profit design organization (AIGA). I do it mainly for the fun of being among young creatives and keeping a hold of my graphic design roots. The committee has grown quite large and at last night's meeting there were easily 15 people, all graphic designers - most fresh out of school, freelancing, or settled in small design studios. We spent the evening brainstorming future events for next Spring.
None of these people had the word "marketing" or "public relations" in their title (other than me). Many would run from any such label. Yet they intuitively knew how to market - how to create relevance, how to promote, how to partner with other organizations for visibility, how to set an appealing price point. The word "marketing" never came up, but it was a strong part of the conversation.
The committee was good at this because they instinctively know their audience - they are the audience. Most of us in corporate marketing don't have that luxury. It's the best lesson we can learn though. Intuitively know the customer and marketing becomes intuitive. It's not rocket science (even if we try to make it that way).
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by Denise Klarquist
4 September 2003
A colleague of mine at Fitch:Worldwide remarked that coming back from vacation was more like being dropped out of a plane than coming in for a smooth landing. So far my week has been like that. I'm only just finding time to read some of the blogs I follow. The funny thing is that a number of them are talking about vacation. I liked Jason Kottke's the best because it reminded me the most of my vacation (although my scary airport had a bathroom). My colleague Darrel also had a lot ot say about getting away. It's nice that we remind ourselves and each other how important these times are.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program... I'm working on a study on innovation that I think will be terrific. It's very exciting to hear what companies around the country think about this evolving yet critical concept. Also, I neglected to mention earlier that I was flattered to learn that I made it into Seth Godin's latest e-book . An interesting collection of opinions about Google, but more fun I think was seeing the kinds of people who contributed insights. Some of the mini bios were wonderfully refreshing.
Is it time for vacation again yet? ;-)
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
3 September 2003
Can't believe I haven't touched my blog for over 2 weeks. Last week I was out of the country on vacation, and while the small Costa Rican town I visited seemed to have more Internet cafe stations than people, I still resisted the urge to log in. My primary reason was that I really wanted to observe and absorb what was around me, without having to analyze and report. A real vacation - what a concept ;-)
I learned a lot on my trip, but it wasn't about the latest marketing strategies or online technologies. I learned 4 different Spanish words for beautiful. I learned about a plant you can rub on yourself if you forget your Deet. I learned trust is a concept that extends well beyond protecting my online identity, taking on new meaning when descending in a small plane with no airstrip in sight. I learned that I can forego wearing a watch for a week and still never be late.
Most of all I learned that one of the best ways to gain perspective is to look from a distance.
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
13 August 2003
Yesterday I had breakfast with John Porcaro from Microsoft, as those who read his blog already know. (thanks John for the very nice words). He mentioned Dina Mehta's blog so I checked it out this morning. Both John and Dina really get the value of research and the insights that come from literally listening to your customers. I also want to mention that I think John is a truly insightful marketer - it was a pleasure talking. OK, enough of the John and Denise show ;-)
Later in the day, I had a long conversation with a potential client (hopefully) on a small focus group project. A big obstacle for her was going to be convincing the president of the value of qualitative research. I just sent her the link to Dina's blog. Not only does it really explain the value, but because of the blog context, it's a tremendous first-hand endorsement. Better than any journal article I could have sent.
As I continue to blog, and am introduced to more blogs and bloggers, I'm increasingly convinced that this particular medium will impact business in significant and very positive ways.
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
11 August 2003
I missed the game of Duck Duck Goose in Dolores Park on Saturday. But the fact that the flash mob event was chronicled in the Chronicle is an interesting event in itself. With blogging mainstreaming more and more, and links to the organizing groups published in the national news, what does it take to be underground anymore? And how quick will trend watchers have to be when so many people are monitoring blogs every day?
And speaking of blogs mainstreaming, I've met many people lately who follow blogs more closely for their daily news and opinions than formal publications or newsletters. I was chatting at a party on Saturday with a group and the conversation quickly shifted to blogs - "did you read Joichi Ito's recent blog?" "What did you think of the live blog during the DC conference?" " I just blogged that last week." etc. Not one person asked "so what's a blog?" Yes, these were Silicon Valley people, but they were also VCs and home owners and regular people hanging out at a BBQ.
Blogging has definitely come into its own.
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
6 August 2003
Last week I had the privilege of sharing an evening with a number of talented friends and colleagues, and to meet some wonderful new people. I attended a BBQ at Kelly Goto's work/live space in San Francisco, arranged to entertain out of town board members of the AIGA Brand Experience group. The party was also attended by a number of local artist/neighbors from the Allied Box Factory lofts, many of whom opened their studios for the event.
Later that evening, I had dinner with some of my own neighbors to celebrate the arrival of one of an out of town friend.
What struck me at both events was the sense of community that pervaded - the community of artists, of neighbors, of brand experience people from around the country. This wasn't about virtual community or online groups - the proximity made it special. Community meant not only shared interests, but shared places as well, not to mention shared resources among neighbors (like garden tools and dog walking).
The lesson I took away was that personal contact - real proximity - makes stronger relationships, and creating a sense of community in business requires more than a few emails and a website. Companies talk about creating a community of customers. We have to admit it takes a huge effort to really achieve this.
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
28 July 2003
I feel like one of the privileged folk to be able to honestly say that I like my job. I don't pop out of bed like a piece of toast every morning in gleeful anticipation, but I honestly find happiness in what I do. The reasons are simple - I'm surrounded literally and virtually with nice, smart people who inspire me and whom I learn from almost daily...
This morning I found that Doc Searls had paid us a very nice compliment on his blog. Thanks Doc - it made my day.
This afternoon my colleague Darrel showed me the joys of Froogle, Google's new product search. In return I showed him the new Google toolbar.
I read a nice set of customer service guidelines (for lack of a better term) from Diane Reischling from Microsoft, via John Porcaro's blog. 1. Let go - everyone gets to play 2. Be yourself - be real 3. This moment matters. In an earlier blog, I noted how John opened up the doors of the blogosphere to me by taking the time to answer some of my more naive questions via email. And I've never met the guy, but he's given me an even greater appreciation for the people at Microsoft
I also got a nice note back this morning from Business Week writer Gerry Khermouch regarding a comment I sent him on his great article on Brands in the Age of Anti-Americanism.
None of the people above were asking anything in return for sharing their information or thoughts. They're all really busy people, so the time they took was very generous and given without considering "what's my time worth." That's nice. That's why I love my job.
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
25 July 2003
Getting the facts straight in a universe that changes hourly isn't easy. And as much as I love to blog and find it personally rewarding, I realize that I have a responsibility to be as accurate as I can - or at least put caveats on my posts.
So in the spirit of keeping up, I found out a few things after my last post...
Bloglet isn't operating anymore. It's unclear exactly what happened to the developer of the blog subscription app, though this offers a good explanation, but I won't be adding it to our blogs anytime soon unfortunately.
I grossly underestimated the size of the blogoshere. According to Blogcount, total active weblogs worldwide seem to be closer to 2.5-2.9 million with Blogger claiming about a quarter of that. My estimate of BloggerPro subscribers was rough and not based on info from them, but if anything I underestimated again. It's still a chunk of change though. I also discovered that subscription rates will be rising a bit. Nevertheless, my original point still holds up.
It also appears that AOL will be offering blogging capability.
Yup, things are changing... fast.
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
23 July 2003
Christopher has been invited to speak on a panel at a CEO Summit in the Fall. The question came up about how she might be able to add something to the tired topic of succeeding in a rebound economy (providing it's really rebounding of course).
INHO, I think one of the keys lies in rethinking the concept of innovation or looking for competitive advantage outside of the tried and true. What comes to mind (just having finished a presentation to my company about the wonders of the blogosphere) is how technology is really changing. I hate the phrase "paradigm shift" but when you think of the implications of [free] weblog technologies on business, just to name one, it's amazing.
One conversation in my presentation was about cost. I couldn't figure out how Blogger made enough money to survive (pre Google), considering how useful the product is and the amount they must spend on supporting and hosting their client base. Then I realized that probably at least 1/4 of blogs use BloggerPro at $35/yr (~200,000 bloggers). That's $7M/yr. doh! Good for them, great for me.
I'll probably add another app [for a small donation] to allow visitors to easily subscribe to our blog, and other parts of our site, and get automatically pinged when we add more content. This will take maybe 4 hours of my time, but will save me dozens of hours in "old fashioned" email newsletter marketing.
Tim asked if blogs could be used for collaborative data gathering and analysis for a global project. Easily [for free] (aside from some server security issues)
Microsoft OneNote may revolutionize the way we organize and manage shared knowledge resources if we decide to use it in a simple unique way. It will be cheap (I think ;-)
The new term I'm hearing for multi-skilled people is "versatilist." I think as people strive for richness and balance in their lives, you'll see a growing talent pool of people with expertise in diverse areas - how can an avid gamer with an industrial design background who writes code and marketing plans be used? What advantages can those types of people bring to an organization?
My point is, a hyper-awareness of and curiosity for new technology and change, and an open mind can yield advantage and efficiencies for business if it's applied in creative ways. And it won't break the budget if the economy doesn't rebound as quickly as we think.
Posted in
Innovation & Design
by Denise Klarquist
18 July 2003
In a news article linked today in Reveries - Virus Viral Marketing - ZDNet reported on a Marketing campaign that uses virus spreading techniques to send email to everyone on a person's contact list once they view a video clip. Apparently the user agreement stipulates that this will happen, and ActiveX warnings provide another indicator, but who reads those things anyway?
I love what technology can do for marketing. I love what's taking place in the blogoshere and the tools that are helping me make more people aware of the thinking that goes on in my company. I love that it's now easy for our audience to get relevant current information from us on their terms. But I'm angered when technology like the above gives internet marketing a bad name.
Regardless of the technology, the goal always must be to put the customer experience first - a great experience with a company or product is the best kind of virus.
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Etcetera
by Denise Klarquist
16 July 2003
Storage keeps shrinking. According to John Gillmore (via Cory at Boing Boing) in 10 years, we'll have drives the size of sugar-cubes with enough capacity to store all the movies, books, music, art and text ever created, that can be powered by a hard shake and are cheap enough to put in a Christmas Stocking.
I wouldn't argue John prediction. So what will it all mean?
I looked at my CD rack, realized I had room for only 5 more CDS. After that I will either will accept that my room will eventually become a mess, or that I will have to completely redesign how I acquire, store, and play music. I can already store weeks worth of images on the tiny 128MB card in my camera. Some of my colleagues carry their flash storage on their keychains. I'm beginning to get more of my monthly bills online, and pay them online as well, so no more need for file cabinets at home.
Life is miniaturizing. Mobility will have a new meaning when you can fit your entire music collection, financial history, and photo collection in you pocket (or maybe wear as jewelry). As our stuff takes up considerably less space, what will that mean?
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by Denise Klarquist
15 July 2003
One of Cory Doctorow's posts on Boing Boing referred to Dodge's new Tron-like concept motorycle. Made me think - how far have we come since the early 80's. Personally, I was learning about the concept of computer graphics by filling in graph-paper boxes with colored pencils to simulate pixel layouts. And Tron was on our recommended viewing list.
Now, I still sometimes edit a Photoshop graphic one colored pixel at a time. I've interacted with others via their online avatars (but a real gamer, I'm most definitely not) and I've been mentally sucked into many an online experience. I'll have to go back and rent that movie again, if only to see Bruce Boxleitner. ;-)
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by Denise Klarquist
11 July 2003
There seems to be a rant attitude going around here today. Here's mine...
I just got a call trying to get me to subscribe to yet another over-priced marketing newsletter. The calls are always the same - "Hi, I'm calling from blah, blah Marketing Newsletter. Let me just ask you 2 brief questions. What do you feel is the most critical issue facing marketing executives today?..." It doesn't matter what I say, because they will insist that I'm not alone in my opinion and that's why their newsletter is so important to me.
Now why would I possibly want to invest almost $300 a year on critical new marketing insights, when they are pitching me with the most tired tactic in the book?
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by Denise Klarquist
7 July 2003
Last night I rented the 1967 James Bond movie, You Only Live Twice. Bond and his cohort spend a lot of time zipping around Tokyo in a nifty white Toyota convertible. They converse real-time with Tanaka via a tiny TV monitor in the dashboard with a rather prominent Sony logo. I kept thinking "what blatant product placement" even though I knew my reaction was colored by the state of today's movie deals and I doubt such negotiations took place 36 years ago. I suspect the audience reaction back then was "what a cool brand."
The scene struck me all the more this morning when I glanced over at a colleague's Vaio and there was the same Sony logo in the same place under the screen. And I thought - what an enduring cool brand. Go figure.
Now when is Toyota going to come out with the retro-styled version of that convertible?
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by Denise Klarquist
2 July 2003
I never realized in my zeal to jump into this blog thang (and take my company with me) how complex this world is. Initially it looked cool and refreshing, how hard could it be? I envisioned myself a champion swimmer (or at least someone with a competent backstroke), but from a technical standpoint, I'm feeling good if I don't swallow too much water as I try to get across the pool.
But the positive aspects of blogging overwhelmingly outweigh the challenges. There are lifeguards like John Porcaro who pointed me to great technical resources. And who clearly seems to be a good mentor by the way (I suspect his team is lucky to have him lead). Then there are my own Cheskin blogging colleagues who sometimes reveal their human side more easily here than they do in the office (interesting phenomenon). I enjoy hearing how they think.
So I'll keep paddling away because right now, I'm having a ball.
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by Denise Klarquist
24 June 2003
Yesterday within 2 minutes of each other, I got an email from a colleague about moblogs linking me to a recent post by Xeni Jardin on BoingBoing about phonecam blogging and then a Business 2.0 Tech Investor newsletter about camera phone privacy issues (where Xeni Jardin was quoted by the way).
I took this as a not so subtle hint that this is probably something to keep an eye on - huge privacy concerns naturally, but my biggest curiosity is what photo blogging indicates about our culture. Taking a look at some of the photo blogs around, it's a little reminiscent of accidentally picking up someone else's pictures by mistake - a voyeuristic look at what others find interesting, but unless you're a cultural anthropologist, not a whole lot else there. Admittedly, there's always the sex angle, evidenced by the 1st International Love Hotel Moblogging Conference.
Once the technology buzz wears off though, it will be very cool to see what emerges as the most relevant use.
By they way, here's a favorite picture of mine - I felt I needed to contribute something visual ;-)
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by Denise Klarquist
20 June 2003
I admit that I'm a Harry Potter fan. Like millions of others, I'm looking forward to burying myself in 800+ pages of magic spells and adventures. And I have quite few friends - executives, lawyers, educated people who barely remember being 14 - who are as addicted as I am. We're not camping in front of the bookstore this weekend, but that's only because we're best friends with the manager.
Contrast this with the other things I read regularly - like marketing books, newsletters, or the nearly unintelligable email correspondence I've been having with people on Craigslist interested in some stuff I'm selling (want to buy a vacuum?)
I find this madness for Harry Potter encouraging because it means that people still appreciate good story telling. And maybe they'll be encouraged to tell better stories themselves - whether they're writing a business plan or an email. I can only hope.
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by Denise Klarquist
18 June 2003
Deloitte Consulting has just recently released a beautiful little software tool they offer for free - Bullfighter. My hat's off for creating such a great marketing effort. It works - I tried it and plan to continue using it - it's based on widely accepted solid science. It's viral ("send and e-card!"). It's branded. But best of all it is perfectly tied into their positioning. My guess is that every page on their site scores a nearly perfect 10 using this tool. More importantly, it is a beautifully executed, tangible metaphor for their straight-talk approach.
Granted, the consulting industry was the worst cultprit when it came to spin. And with business's new focus on transparency and accountability, this new positioning was inevitable. From what I can tell the 10-month project was driven by the company, for the company (and their industry), and the jargon database it pulls from was populated by their own consultants (who better). Additonally, the tool has been used to evaluate a number of companies, with the understanding (and validation) that a company's clarity of communication is equated with financial performance. So it becomes a nice little consulting product in itself.
So great to see something done so well!
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by Denise Klarquist
30 May 2003
I can't seem to get over the delight of good customer service, nor the disappointment that it's not more prevalant. It's almost become a cliche in sales and marketing, yet there are so many sectors (like telco) that are still notorious for bad experience. Just this morning a colleague was lamenting his recent DSL woes, not dissimilar to mine 3 years ago. Yet on the other hand, I also just experienced great service when I went to tirerack.com to buy tires. Not only was their online buying experience easy and filled with information and choices, but someone actually called me the next day to discuss the delivery info that was already well communicated on their site - a real live person called me... to chat!
The fact is that there is a tremendous amount to gain by understanding the meaning of service. Not the automatic, generic follow-up, or the defacto long-stem rose that my car dealer repair shop gives every customer (what's that all about anyway - don't they realize I'd love them more if they just remembered me and my car, and maybe removed the dirty paper floor mat before they gave it back to me?).
Granted, real personal service equals human labor and that costs dollars. But one delightful interaction with a customer is worth more than 100 long-stem roses.
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by Denise Klarquist
15 May 2003
Lately I've been noticing a phenomenon emerging (or at least it's just come into my view) - the popularity of "vignettes" or small glimpses of daily reality. A professional colleague of mine adds a 2 or three sentence "moment" in the signature area of his email - his latest described his dogs playing. A recent New York Times article discusses the popularity of Dave Walker's blog, which contains achingly simple entries like "The room was quiet so I tapped the arm of my chair. It wasn't a particularly interesting noise, so I stopped after about 4 taps and sat in silence." What I've personally found compelling in my own experience is the fact that my new digital camera will record a 12 second video with audio. I love capturing, watching, and sharing these seemingly unremarkable clips.
At this point, I'm not sure what this all means - one guess is that we long for the mundane as we confront the chaos of our busy lives. Or perhaps these simple vignettes give us the opportunity to imagine the story surrounding them, in contrast to the mind-numbing overload of information and details we are bombarded with regularly.
I'm sure there's an opportunity here though, and a lesson that less is more and simpler might be better.
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by Denise Klarquist
30 April 2003
I was in a heated theoretical debate yesterday about the acts of marketing and advertising. My adversary argued that marketing is essentially aggressive competition gone too far, and that the world would be better off if cooperation, rather than competition, was the rule, and advertising ceased to exist.
I appreciate debating an extreme view, and I like the idea of cooperation, however I can't see the world abandoning marketing. Mainly because I think it's built into our DNA. I don't think we are born to fill the airwaves with bad beer commercials, but I think we all do marketing - it's how species survive. Even animals work hard at promoting themselves to help grow their bloodline - have you ever watched the nature channel? Humans have without a doubt taken it to an extreme, but curbing our desire to want to make our product or service stand out in a crowd - not possible.
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by Denise Klarquist
23 April 2003
I'm a marketer - my job essentially is to attract people's attention. I'm also a consumer and a really busy person who doesn't appreciate being distracted by all the other people trying to attract my attention. I just found out that the Spam blocking software I was panning to download is no longer free, meaning I am being asked to pay to not get stuff I don't want in the first place. I realize I pay for advertising I don't necessarily want when I watch TV or buy a magazine, however at least it's somewhat relevant.
Yes, I'm taking this opportunity to vent, but I'm also wondering when the tipping point will occur. I get about 200-300 spam emails each weekend now. Important emails from colleagues are getting lost or accidentally thrown out. Marketing has essentially evolved beyond an irritant, to a virtual threat to my job performance. As a marketer who uses the Internet as a vehicle, the way that I maneuver must be incredibly well-considered and careful, and respectful of my audience who are much like me. It doesn't get any easier
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by Denise Klarquist
14 April 2003
In today's Wall Street Journal, Lee Gomes writes about the difficulties that technology companies have in predicting the future - how the hype never quite matches the outcome. He cites a number of revolutionary technologies, like the laser printer, whose initial launch never touted the keys to their eventually success. He also mentions some overly hyped products that never lived up to the future they envisioned.
I think the points that Gomez makes can be applied to industries and issues beyond just technology, and are especially relevant to marketing. First, often the greatest breakthroughs come by "doing something useful, simple and slightly new" that people can immediately embrace and build on. Second, he states that "While all predictions are problematic, we should be especially wary of those that don't contain a healthy sense of respect for the way people do things now." The key words being "respect" and "people." To understand if something will succeed or fail, it's crucial to understand people - how they live and what makes sense in our lives. Lastly, Gomes notes the irony of the Valley - "the more hype something gets, the less likely it is to amount to anything." I think the lesson here might be under promise, but over deliver.
We can invent the future, but we shouldn't be so cocky as to declare what it's going to be. At best, we can keep our eyes open, study the scenarios, and be ready when it comes.
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by Denise Klarquist
4 April 2003
I just received an email from a colleague who heads a marketing services firm. Her email was a personal plea to raise awareness of a pervasive form of cancer that had struck her family. Coincidentally, her firm had just finished a campaign for a new client whose product is used to test for this disease. Clearly this email was also an attempt to bring visibility to her firm's services and her client's product. But overall the stronger message was a sincere commitment to the personal and professional well-being of her friends, colleagues, employees, and clients.
We babble on about authencity in marketing, the importance of being honest. I think the most potent form of marketing is that which truly comes from the heart.
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by Denise Klarquist
21 March 2003
I don't have the exact figures, but it's clear that a large portion of our media fare is now reality based. This trend toward the raw, uncoated version of life is having its impact on marketing as well. People want the raw facts, not the glossy hype that typified brands and campaigns of the past. Clearly, the popularity of blogging is just one more aspect. "Don't finesse your communications - tell me what you think and tell me now," is what we're asking for. Introducing "Reality Marketing."
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by Denise Klarquist
20 March 2003
How do companies determine the best message in turbulent times. Marketing backlash is high, yet economic risks of laying low are even greater as attention shifts to basic needs.
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by Denise Klarquist
4 March 2003
TED 2003 gave us a feast for thought, including the motivation to begin our own blog. Welcome to the inside track of what we think about. At this point we're not guaranteeing a regular torrent of information, but there's no doubt that there'll be quite a few pearls. And controversy of course. Stay tuned.
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by Denise Klarquist
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