What You Are Saying And Who You Are Being

As world leaders converge on Copenhagen for the U.N’s conference on climate change — which has been dubbed as the last best chance to save the world from global warming — they’ll arrive in a fleet of carbon-coughing gas guzzlers. 140 private jets 1,200 limousines And a carbon footprint the size of Bulgaria So do you believe our world [...]

Continue reading...

Yep, Phil Did It!

As predicted, Phil Van Treuren won his Council-at-Large seat. In a follow-up to last month’s blog post, Sending Tiny Credible Signals That Go Beyond Words, I thought I’d share an email I received from Phil this morning: From: Phil Van Treuren Date: November 4, 2009 Title: You Are Nostradamus Subject: Tom, you are the man. You were right, I beat [...]

Continue reading...

Where’s The Conflict In Your Message?

Communication is powerful when actions and words agree. But credibility crumbles when there’s conflict between what you are saying and who you are being. The brain immediately recognizes any inconsistencies, and reacts by raising a bright red flag of disconnect and doubt. So cheap talk won’t win your customer’s loyalty or trust. But aligning your actions [...]

Continue reading...

Does GM’s Signal of Confidence Hit the Mark?

GM believes its vehicles are better than the competition’s. Do you agree? Like most consumers, you’re probably not buying it. Here’s the problem: GM’s words carry no credibility. For decades, the automotive company has delivered irrelevant messages and crappy products. And it’s damn hard to break out of the doghouse when you’ve been a dog for that long. GM [...]

Continue reading...

Screaming Fire in a Crowded Theater: Marketing Ploys and Gimmicks

Relevancy is the filter used by the human brain to discount that which is unimportant. Without relevancy, even surprising facts won’t get through to the decision-making part of the brain. For marketers, this means that advertising ploys and gimmicks have a short shelf-life. Consider the humdinger of a marketing stunt put on by one Ford dealership in [...]

Continue reading...