Anchor Your Brand with Business Audio Theatre
I CAN IDENTIFY!
What anchors your brand in the minds of your investors, vendors, employees, and customers? Is it your logo, your slogan, your imagery? We think the most powerful brand anchor is your brand story! It is through your story, that folks learn about you, what you stand...
The Beginning of the End of Consumer Packaging Disposal
THE BOX STOPS HERE!
For years, fulfillment companies and on-line marketers have left it to the consumer to dispose of their delivery packaging, mostly cardboard and plastic. In the days before the virus, when most consumers would leave their homes and physically shop, they first got paper bags, then plastic...
Get Your Work-From-Home Employees Back to the Corporate Office by Rebooting Your Company Culture
“IT FEELS LIKE A PRISON!”
Many companies are already planning to eventually bring their remote employees back to the corporate offices. Interestingly, productivity has not taken a hit with work-from-home. So why bring them back to the office? Perhaps, now employers feel their employees can work more safely back at the...
Conveying Culture and Values to a Remote Work Force
“I LOVE WHAT MY COMPANY STANDS FOR!”
“As of late June (2020), 42% of the US labor workforce was working from home, and a third was unemployed – making it a work-from-home economy.” That, according to Alexandra Marvar writing for Biznow. She goes on to add, “During that time, TopResume monitored job satisfaction...
How to Turn Your Customers into Advocates (Even During a Pandemic)
I RECOMMEND THIS BRAND!
The pandemic has resulted in many businesses closing. Many are hanging on by a thread. Others have been turned upside down. And many more have lost customers and sales. What can you do about it? Some may advise you to advertise more. That can be effective....
Stop Trying to Have Virtual Conferences on Your Phone
TINY FACES ARE LESS REAL!
Just like everybody else these days, we are being thrust into virtual conferences. We had them before the virus, but now they are mandatory. Unfortunately, this situation was thrust upon us so fast that we didn’t have time to develop and agree upon a set of...
Un-Masking Opportunities in a Crisis
JUMP ON IT!
In the 1960’s and 70’s it was determined that it would be a whole lot cheaper to seal all the windows in most commercial buildings. Basically, no fresh air - except from the air that was added to the HVAC systems from the outside. That was...
“You can fool some of the people all of the time. You can fool all of the people some of the time. But you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” – Abraham Lincoln
RE-WRITING HISTORY – NOT!
Whether your brand is personal or a can of beans, your brand promise is not what you say it is, it’s what you have demonstrated over time to your customers. It’s what they say it is! It’s their experience that counts more that any marketing campaign....
Your Customers Want You to Stand Up or Stand Down
ARE YOU CONSPICUOUS BY YOUR SILENCE?
It used to be, just a few years ago, that companies didn’t want to take sides on what they saw as “political” issues. But basic rights, like the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, have been documented as far back as the Declaration...
It’s Past Time for a Green Economy!
BACK TO WORK
The unemployment and consequent recession heaped on our economy by the pandemic and the mounting climate crisis has us all facing new priorities. From a strictly business standpoint, we must redefine our values, create new jobs and survive these existential threats. The climate crisis is not...
“Show Them Who You Are Before You Show Them What You’ve Got!” -Jeffery Madoff, Author and Playwright
THE BUY BUTTON
Some old-fashioned values are making a comeback during this COVID crisis. Our priorities have changed. Being indefinitely sequestered has made folks more skeptical about who they choose to do business with. Before the shutdowns, there was so much noise out there that it was almost impossible...
Entrepreneurship is an Alternative to Unemployment
THE ROAD MAP
We have written extensively over the years on business, especially on our own experiences and the lessons we learned building the famous Barefoot Wine brand. Now, due to the coronavirus and the associated massive unemployment, more people than ever are considering starting their own businesses. Many...
When It Comes to Shelf Signage, Size Matters!
CAN YOU SEE IT FROM FOUR FEET AWAY?
So, you are fortunate enough to get your CPG product on the retail shelf. Now you have an opportunity to be discovered by shoppers, but they have got to see you and you’d better have a compelling message. Because retail shelf space is so limited, you...
Support Your Local Businesses – Quick, While You Still Can!
LAST CHANCE!
Due to a toxic combination of short-sighted selfishness, lack of national leadership, and outright incompetence on many levels, we are about to lose one of the foundations of our economy, Small Business. Small Business is responsible for most of the jobs, most of the choices, and...
Now, Everybody Change Lanes!
MAKING THE MOVE
We recently had friends who are in the real estate business over for a socially distant dinner at our place. They have been in business for thirty years buying and selling properties for their hundreds of clients in San Francisco and Sonoma County. They said, in...
They Don’t Buy Your Value Proposition, They Buy Your People!
PERSONALIZED ATTENTION
With the virus, we have all been rocketed, kicking and screaming, into the future of a remote work force. We were headed there anyway. The problem is, we are not evolving into it in a thoughtful and experienced way like we could have done over time....
Road Trips Are Back! Take Audio Theatre Along for the Ride!
TURN YOUR CAR INTO A THEATRE!
When we started Barefoot Wine, we spent a lot of time in our car. We live north of San Francisco but had customers all over the country. We would often drive south to Los Angeles, San Diego, north to Portland and Seattle, and east to Reno,...
Consumers Vote With Their Pocketbooks
TAKE A STAND …WHILE YOU CAN!
While many politicians give lip service to effecting change in the wake of the brutal George Floyd murder, a recent article appearing in Forbes offers an effective prescription. It’s a prescription we believe to be the most effective and have been advocating for decades: “Voting with...