I recently watched the documentary film No One Dies in Lily Dale (on HBO) about a quaint and bucolic spiritual community in rural NY state, started in the late 19th century, which is described as a sort of “Disneyland for your spirit.” The film is a conventional style documentary that respectfully visits the lives of the mediums that live in the community and the visitors who go to them to commune with loved ones who have passed on.…
A marketer's guide to parenting. Improve communication, build rapport and create unity in the home by using the principles of brand strategy and the power of qualitative research practices to improve family interactions.
D'Hanis TX
Code of the West
I recently passed through D’Hanis, TX a tiny town in the western part of the state and noticed these posters touting the Code of the West and Cowboy Principles. As a New Yorker, a researcher and as a mom, small town values interest me. I was impressed with the Code of the West and the principles that support it:
Code of the West Principle:
Do What Has to Be Done
Cowboy Qualities:
Reliability and Responsibility
Reliability:
Believe in yourself and never quit
Be trusted to follow through and perform
Be dependable, independent and trustworthy
Responsibility:
Answer the call of duty
Be dependable and trustworthy
Accept the consequences of your actions
These are simple values, stated directly and with an unflinching tone. No self-esteem movement jargon in the Code of the West. Do what has to be done – be reliable and responsible. These values put the onus on the individual. I like that.…
It seems a lot of parents spend so much time and money on enrichment programs, activities, and products for their children. Dance classes, yoga lessons, art therapy, telescopes, paper-making kits, you get the idea. Parents want to make sure their child is exposed to the widest range of activities and outlets for expression. They also want to fill their children’s time while mom and dad are at work.…
Food is one of the most important elements of the Family Brand. The foods we grew up with shape our memories and our values. I was lucky. My parents both cooked. My dad’s love of all things from the sea and my mother’s commitment to making the perfect roast beef with Yorkshire pudding most Sundays when I was growing up taught me the value of good food, well prepared.…
All the coverage on the Trayvan Martin killing mentions that he was unarmed carrying only a bag of Skittles and that he was wearing a hoodie. These are the salient “brand” details. Let’s look at them one by one, first the Skittles. I find it interesting that the Skittles are always mentioned by brand name — they don’t say he was carrying a bag of candy, do they? No. And the reason lies within the power of the Skittles brand. A young man is killed by a paranoid sociopath, a trigger happy vigilante, or even a confused armed man (yes, I know he is entitled to a fair trial etc.…
I’m not one for buying greeting cards. I tend to make them. I even have been known to make wrapping paper. It all began because I hate shopping and I don’t plan ahead very well. So occasions arose and I would make cards for my daughter’s birthday or whatever. Now, Cassie does the same thing. It has become part of our Family Brand. I don’t think my daughter has ever given me a purchased card for my birthday or for Mother’s Day. I think we both would be shocked if the other bought a card and just signed it.…
Have you ever looked in an old person’s closet or cupboards? They usually have their brand set pared down to the basics. They know what they like, what works for them and what they need. They don’t make much space for aspirational brands. Old people know who they are, they aren’t trying to figure it out.…
I’ve spent the past week with Barb, a dear friend and fellow consultant, working on a shared project where we analyzed the various positionings of the power brands in the cat food category. Our total immersion into all things cat was surprisingly interesting. The brands tend to be positioned as either very emotional or very rational and scientific. But within those camps there are many variations and psychological nuances to explore. One thing we did to gain insight into the brand differences was look at other categories for analogous brands. We looked at nutritional supplements, candy, cosmetics, cereal and so on. This exercise added a depth of insight and understanding that just looking at the cat food category would not have yielded.…
A recent report from the Surgeon General reports that one in four U.S. high school seniors smokes cigarettes. Most of these kids will continue to smoke as adults. Smoking may seem like a rite of passage that teens can get through and a habit they can give up. The reality is that tobacco use leads to lifelong addictions for most who start smoking in high school.…
I am just emerging from a solid week of being sick in bed and then the days of catch-up immediately following. Really, I was an idiot. I knew I was getting sick but went into full denial. I can’t be really sick, I thought, I was rock wall climbing only a few days ago. I am strong. I can fight this. I can beat it. Wrong. So instead of getting to the doc immediately, I waited a week.…