jan zlotnick

What is it about brands you trust, brands you don’t trust, and brands you don’t even give a thought to? How do you feel when you’ve lost that lovin’ feelin’…and been wooed to bring it back?

“The Republicans flipped the script,” Mike Shields of MediaWeek wrote today. “After watching President Barack Obama dominate online media in 2008, Republican Scott Brown ran circles around his Democratic opponent Martha Coakley on the Web…,” Shields wrote.
“…the Brown campaign deftly employed online advertising, search marketing, social media and text messaging….Starting last Thursday (Jan. 14), [...]

Most CEOs, COOs, Presidents, and CFOs, are aware of these facts:
It took the telephone 45 years to penetrate half the homes in America; radio, 20; color TV, 15; computers, 10; cellphones, eight; …Internet, a mere six. And most likely, the c-suite is already aware that:
- Five years ago Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Hulu and iPhone didn’t exist.
- Today Facebook has 350 million [...]

Psychologists and behavioral economists are getting a picture of why it is we tend “to put off until tomorrow what could be enjoyed today,” reports John Tierney in the New York Times.

It’s not about delaying what’s unpleasant. It’s about “the strength to cash in your gift certificates, drink that special bottle of wine, redeem your frequent [...]

Even if your brand isn’t Apple or Nike, even if it’s what others might call dry, your company, your brand, your products and services, can benefit from the life stream of social technology.
After all, a financial technology company that captures unique reporting and reduces investment risk is hardly dry to a hedge fund manager or [...]

This is a story of innovation and the perfect kiss.
So, you say you’re all about innovation? Sorry to sound cynical, I’m really not. Like your consumers I want to believe. Because, hey, I need the next big thing from you to win, to beat my competition. But, sorry, I’ve been courted and cooed by brands [...]

See what makes you and your customers happy. And how it can lead to greater sales. From Gladwell and Seligman to McCloud and Ueli Gegenschatz. Great thinkers rethinking the art and value of happiness.
Below, Malcolm Gladwell on spaghetti and happiness…(hint: don’t rely on your customers knowing exactly what makes them happy!)

Below, Stefan Sagmeister on designing [...]

The business metrics of ROI are changing in ways even successful management may not be aware of, especially if historically it has been left-brain dominant. But, successful management can use its left-minded logic to resolve that something new is happening that requires something new to keep ahead and succeed.
In Daniel Pink’s two recent books, “A [...]

CNBC is on my newsfeed. I am finding gold nuggets, sometimes whole treasure chests, in their business programming. At some point down the road, I will get around to editing this into segments sans commercial interruption, as I did the Google show (see my blog, “google this: how can company culture create greater sales?”). Meantime, [...]

NO, YOU’RE NOT GOOGLE, BUT the relevant business questions are, what can you learn by rethinking your own particular culture, your own internal and external relationships, your own marketing objectives, to create and cultivate a distinct brand leadership and ROI? Below, I’ve broken down into bite-size segments a rare inside look into Google. Each [...]

Below is a post of the highlights of the New York Times article, “Why Twitter Will Endure” by David Carr http://bit.ly/4sli08
I can remember when I first thought seriously about Twitter. Last March, I was at the SXSW conference, a conclave in Austin, Tex., where technology, media and music are mashed up and re-imagined, and where Twitter first [...]

Left-brain thinking — logical, sequential, lateral, data/knowledge-based thinking — has ruled the last century. But data and knowledge has become abundant and thus less valuable. Left-brain thinking is yielding answers that are too easily mastered and made digitally commoditized. This problem of parity has caused traditionally left-brain dominant businesses and institutions to rethink how to [...]

How does this little box of cookies imported from England in the late 1800’s inspire new brand rethinking for a 21st century multbillion-dollar global high-technology brand? For any brand for that matter? Quite simply, because Barnum’s Animals Crackers is beloved by the “clients” who buy it, talk about it, share it, and buy it some [...]

Social is what we are. Telling our stories, spreading the news, is what we do. Social Media is the best new technology for the oldest, most trusted way to sell and brand: word of mouth. Traditional media still dominate the metrics, but, as Joseph Jaffe said at Brandhackers the other night at Red Sky, traditional [...]

Olivier Blanchard Basics Of Social Media Roi
View more presentations from Olivier Blanchard.

Business Case For Social Media (Revised 2009!) – Steve Latham – Spur Interactive
View more presentations from Steve Latham.

Apps, or rather users’ response and use of Apps, show us a better, organic and authentic new way to be a leading brand. Apps, if we listen and are savvy to what we hear, teach us that it’s about Conversation between customers first and foremost, not between brands and customers. Next up: Courage in the [...]

I sought out and spoke with designer Stefan Sagmeister when I first started The Zlotnick Group. I was blown away by his rethinking, and man, did he and his work ring true. Stefan’s designs for business cards alone were powerfully engaging brand stories. (And why shouldn’t one’s card be?) Anyway, it was very cool to [...]

It has been reported that as people’s purchasing habits have changed from “wants” to “needs” in this new economy, their happiness has increased by 67%. Now, that’s counterintuitive. This video is a compelling hypothesis for why we could still find joy, regardless of our predicament. The speaker is Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, Dan [...]

Your brand is serious stuff. But if that leads you to be boring, you’re only disengaging your consumers. So, to be a player, rethink how your brand can play. To win. Nothing’s more fun than winning…
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Nobody really wants to be advertised or marketed to. So, rethink first how you might better develop authentic customer relationships — and an authentic brand — through the kind of refreshing, real stories customers love to share with each other. Then when you do remind them (vs try to lead them) with an “ad,” it [...]