Howard Schultz of Starbucks knows that customers don’t always know best. So how do you listen to customers without taking orders? You incorporate true innovative leadership.
The top 100 list of brands mentioned on Twitter. Which brands are making the most of Twitter? Find out in this list of the top 100.
Have you seen this? For those of you familiar with the church culture (esp. Southern Baptist), you’ll take away far too many nuggets of revelation from this one. The creator, Beyond Relevance, rants on “biblical marketing principles.” Very interesting. Tip o’ da hat to John. Also, here’s another great blog, Christian Java, for church marketing [...]
I like that Starbucks is closing its doors today for 3 hours to focus on training. Good move, and I actually like the message to consumers. However, they could have taken it one big step further. . . . They should be encouraging their afternoon ‘regulars’ to donate that $3.25 they would normally drop on [...]
I’ve been reading Starbucks Experience by Joseph Michelli, and he points out one of the five key components of Starbucks’ success: Surprise & Delight. When is the last time you genuinely surprised your customers? When is the last time you exceed the expectations of your clients? Meeting expectations is expected. What can you do to [...]
Enjoy this week’s version of Weekend Reading: 20 Reasons Why Corporate Sucks: This is a pretty complete list. My favorite is the commentary on sick days. The Power of “I Don’t Know”: Why does it feel like we’re failing when we admit we don’t know something? As this post explains, there’s actually more power in [...]
Matt at 37 Signals posts on his recent experience at an Apple Store and the personal attention he received. The article he quotes speaks of the “aura” of the Apple Store, and its importance to the growth of the company. Call it the “aura,” the “experience,” the “impression,” whatever – regardless, it’s interesting just how [...]
As always, here is some great reading I stumbled upon over the weekend. Dissecting the 2008 Presidential Logos: The New York Times critiqued the logos of the major players in the race. Pretty interesting, and pretty sad how many of them look very similar. “Dying” to be the market leader: In a continuation on his [...]
