30 2026 April
What We Can Learn from the Complex Legacy of Tim Cook
One of the biggest tech stories this month was related to Apple CEO Tim Cook’s decision to step down after 15 years leading Apple into...
Read Now23 2026 April
Heinz Shows the Underappreciated Power of Manufacturing Significance
Brand positioning is usually all about what makes your product or service different. Usually that’s based on something real, but it doesn’t always have to...
Read Now22 2026 April
Skimpflation and Why Hershey Is Quietly Going Back to Using Actual Ingredients in Reese’s PB Cups
Brad Reese is the grandson of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups inventor H.B. Reese and apparently has spent much of his adult life going out in...
Read Now07 2026 April
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: I Bottled My Mother by Monica Nassif
This is the story behind the “cult-favorite cleaning line inspired by Monica’s real-life mom, Thelma Meyer: a whip-smart, no-nonsense Midwesterner who raised nine children with...
Read Now25 2026 March
Meta and Amazon Both Prove in the Same Week That Tech Company Greed May Have Some Limits
Last week, three seemingly unrelated stories offered a glimpse into a perhaps hopeful version of reality. After losing over $84 billion dollars, Meta finally shut down...
Read Now05 2026 March
How Anthropic Is Winning the AI Platform Marketing War by Being Less Evil
Anthropic is winning the AI platform marketing war. In the quest to become the dominant category-defining player, OpenAI had the largest lead with ChatGPT. Then...
Read Now18 2026 February
These Professors Just Proved the Power of Having a Visual Metaphor for Your Strategy
Strategy comes to life when you can make it visual. That’s probably not news for most of you, but an article from HBR this week dug a...
Read Now21 2026 January
The Unexpected Problem With E-Bikes Might Start with the Name
The dangers of e-bikes are starting to get more attention. Crashes involving these bikes are more serious, have a higher likelihood of fatality and are...
Read Now15 2025 December
The Recent Chanel Subway Show Is Typically Unapproachable, But Masterful Storytelling
The theatricality was on full display for Chanel’s annual Métiers d’Art show as they took over a decommissioned New York Subway station subway station beneath Bowery on...
Read Now05 2025 December
The 2025 Non-Obvious Holiday Gift Guide
Today we continue with my annual Non-Obvious Holiday Gift Guide, featuring a few products that caught my eye throughout the past year. 9. Lego Star...
Read Now31 2025 October
All Online Outrage Is Fake
Remember the “outrage” generated online by the revised logo for Cracker Barrel restaurant? According to a new piece this week from the WSJ, much of...
Read Now08 2025 October
What You Can Learn About Marketing from Flavored Vodkas
I accidentally tried Smirnoff’s Spicy Tamarind Vodka. It was a gift from a friend, and I didn’t have high hopes. It was more of a...
Read Now02 2025 October
The Swedish Perfume That You Pay for with Your Time in Nature
Deep in the Småland woods of Sweden, there is a “forest-based perfumery” where perfume brand Koyia invites customers to “pay” by spending 599 seconds being...
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