Granted it might not happen every day, but many of us have, at some point, been so touched by a television commercial that it moved us to tears.

That’s pretty amazing for a 30-to 60-second advertisement. I bet an Internet advertisement or piece of direct mail never had the same effect on you. Last week, I [...]

The other night I was doing my part and sitting through a dreadful television show my wife couldn’t wait to see. I don’t think I was exactly the target demographic the TV producers had in mind for this particular show. A commercial break came on, and in rolled the advertisements for products such as fabric [...]

The Great Recession may be over, but it will continue to impact how we think, and rethink, our business strategy for years, even for the remainder of our careers.

One thing that certainly did test us during the recession was change, and how we communicated it. While change done strategically can create better efficiencies and leaner [...]

Staying on message is one of the most fundamental rules of any type of external and internal communications. IBM repeated the word “excellence” in its advertising during the 1980s until the lines became part of pop culture.

Martin Luther King Jr. repeated “I have a dream” in his famous speech at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963.
Business [...]

By Josh Sommers
Published:  05/21/10

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is now considered the nation’s worst environmental disaster in decades and will have devastating consequences for years to come.

Ever since the April 20th fire on an oil rig that killed 11 people, an estimated 210,000 gallons of crude oil a [...]

By Josh Sommers
Published: 05/14/10

Marketing is about presence. Are you the company that the marketplace thinks of for your product or service? Well, that certainly is where you want to be. Part of creating that top-of-mind awareness is event marketing. A great place to do that is at trade shows and consumer expos.

Expos come in many [...]

By Josh Sommers

Published 05/07/10

When marketing your business, you have to think big. Part of thinking big is investing marketing resources to create “buzz.” While traditional advertising always remains important, many companies enlist event marketing to generate that all-important buzz in the market.

Do you now have a new product or service you are offering? Are you [...]

By Josh Sommers
Published:  04/30/10
Marketing and positively positioning your firm in the market starts at home.
You can have the best business-development program, but if your team isn’t equipped to serve the new clients you earn, you’ll go around in circles. A good marketing plan includes equipping your service team to succeed. That’s why I urge small [...]

By Josh Sommers
Published 04/23/10
Most often, 80 percent of a company’s business can be attributed to 20 percent of its customers. OK, that’s no big revelation. But when developing strategies to grow your business, it’s vital to market with the 80/20 rule in mind.
Going after new business through advertising is important. But the lowest-lying fruit in [...]

By Josh Sommers
Published: 04/16/10

As a “PR man” and marketing strategist, I’m an optimist and positive thinker. I try to bring that vibe and culture to the companies I work for.

Late last year, I wrote, with some level of prematurity, that the worst was behind us. This was part of my advice that companies should position [...]