Do you like "Big Data"? McKinsey released an interesting report last year that does a good job of laying out the key ways data is being employed in a business environment. The report identifies five broad categories: Transparency Performance metrics Customer...
Is your business incentivizing employee collaboration? The NFL does not have guaranteed contracts. This means that you can negotiate your multi-year deal, but if your get injured, sneeze the wrong way, or otherwise lose your marketability, then you end up on the...
Wrapped in the Chick-fil-A controversy is a warning to small business owners. It's not about free speech (you can say whatever you want). Nor is it about the wisdom of a dose of self-censorship (just because you can say it doesn't mean you should). And I'm certainly...
Once upon a time, I found over $100,000 of fluff in my condo association's budget proposal. I wasn't a board member. I wasn't on the budget and finance committee. I was "just" a co-owner--and I was mad. I hadn't paid a lot of attention to the budget until then, but I...
Sometimes it's the little things that represent your brand the best. Like these prescription bottles from Target. Notice the brand colors and the red rubber rim collars that evoke the company's logo. The little bottle with the whimsical triangular design. Don't they...
I have a secret: I hate mobile sites. Okay, not all of them. I love that Amazon lets me find and buy pretty much anything with one touch. (Which, by the way, is a pretty smart sales strategy too.) And StubHub's screen navigation makes changing or updating listings...
I have a big announcement, and I wanted you, my blog readers, to be the first to know. I'm launching a new business! (Don't worry, Steigman Communications--and Independent Thinking--aren't going anywhere.) Social Biz Smarts is all about leveraging "social" more...
Minnesota Public Radio has a fascinating article on Best Buy at a crossroads. At one point, a Best Buy worker tells the interviewer: "Executives ... focus on issues that are not crucial to Best Buy's competitiveness or survival. For instance, he argues Best Buy has...
What do CEOs need to know about social media and the digital space? I joined Walter Lukens and Robb Lee on a panel about social and the C-suite at the Direct Marketing Association of Washington's 2012 Social Media Summit. Lukens talked about how his firm advises its...
When a friend of mine turned 40 her sister told her that she had better take care of herself because she was competing with 20-year-olds. My thought: Why would you want to date a man who wants to date a twenty-something? I feel the same way about Klout. There's a long...