I've yet to meet a manufacturing leader who wakes up in the morning excited to talk about marketing. Growth? Absolutely. New customers, stronger recruiting, increased market share, a successful acquisition, a healthier sales pipeline? Those conversations get attention. Marketing, on the other
Who Are You? Identify Your Personal Values
Start with who you are and what matters most. Then use that to shape everything else. We like to put people in boxes. It’s a shortcut our brains use to make sense of the world. Marketers do it, too. We segment audiences by age, income, gender, or geography because it’s supposed to improve
Sell More, Hire Better: Start by Getting Clear on Your Values
Why Marketing Isn’t Your Real Problem In 2019, I wrote that most business problems—poor sales, high turnover, a weak reputation—are really communication problems. I was wrong. It goes deeper than that. You can’t fix a communication issue if you don’t know what you stand for in the first
What Your Customers Really Value
What Your Customers Really Value: Understanding the VALS Framework Have you ever wondered why some marketing messages connect instantly, while others fall flat—even when the product is exactly what someone needs? The difference is values. People buy for emotional reasons first, and
Case Study: Raising Visibility During an Acquisition
How a Wisconsin manufacturing company used values-driven communication to build trust and momentum during a strategic acquisition When a Wisconsin-based manufacturer was ready to grow through acquisition, the executive team knew they needed more than legal paperwork and financial due diligence.
Start Now: Leading with Values Isn’t Reserved for the C-Suite
Based on insights from From Values to Action by Harry Kraemer Too many professionals think they have to “wait their turn” before making a real impact—wait until they get the title, the bigger team, the right platform. But From Values to Action reminds us that leadership isn’t about title. It’s
How to do Marketing During a Merger
Is your company going through a rebrand, merger, acquisition, or other brand transition? How do you know where to start? Having helped ten companies in the last five years go through successful rebrands, I’ve got some ideas to make your transition smooth. Here’s a marketing and communication
Sustainability, Hats, and Secondhand Shopping
I was in a specialty shop. It was snowing outside. I was wearing a hat. A store employee told me she liked my hat and asked where I got it. I told her the name of the secondhand store where I found it. She huffed, told me she would never walk into that store, and walked away. As a business