In Quebec, welfare checks are issued on the first day of the month. That same week, virtually every grocery store has almost no important sales or specials, aside from a few loss-leaders. Regular items, which are used to measure the cost of living (basics/essentials, like milk, bread, meat and vegetables) and items regularly purchased by [...]
The illusion of “Free”: the Internet’s urban legend
Here is the deal with free… it isn’t really free. Nothing is free. It’s just that we haven’t been the ones paying for it until now - Someone else is. And they are usually getting something in exchange. Google and Facebook, for example, get more information on you than you would ever share with the government. [...]
Defining your definitions (or: Catalog sales are increasing)
How do we define a Catalog? A catalog is essentially a thick, bi-annual publication that proposes goods to consumers, like the mail-order catalog, right? In that sense, catalog sales are down. WAY down, since civilization has adopted the internet. That is, of course, assuming that a catalog is hundreds of color pages printed on paper [...]
Offending people – the key to success?
Why does virtually every brochure, website and eBook I see have a picture that combines MOST or ALL of the following: an asian, man or woman, smiling a black person, smiling an older white guy, smiling at least one woman, smiling or talking a laptop, unbranded Is this really what your meetings look like? People smiling at [...]
Which approval process will oppress and discourage creativity?
Take a look at yours, it is probably doing exactly that. Seriously. It is easier to approve or stamp or modifiy and sterilize everything before you send it out, than it is to do a proper follow-up, analysis and objective review. Which is why most PR, Communications and Marketing is sterile and flavourless. Don’t be [...]
What good is know-how if no one knows about it?
François Blanc, the founder of Monaco as we know it today, once said: “À quoi bon le savoir-faire sans le faire-savoir?” (What good is know-how if no one knows about it?) François Blanc built Monaco’s glamourous foundations from scratch, and was very clever about how to get visitors; Monaco’s newspaper (which he published) partnered [...]