This past Friday I hosted a one-year reunion of the Virtual Happy Hour group I started this time last year. We met weekly at 4pm on Fridays for 16 weeks during 2020. I dissolved the sessions in July because I thought they had served their initial purpose – to check in with a global group of folks on how they were adapting, share some laughter and connection, and allow us to … [Read more...]
New Behaviours Becoming Habits & Habits at Scale Becoming Trends
As we enter the eighth month since the pandemic began, it is becoming evident that many changed behaviours are becoming habits. While external forces such as lock downs, concern for safety, or just plain availability and changed distribution systems may have prompted the initial shift, along the way we've seen internal reasons emerge for staying with the new pattern - we found … [Read more...]
Customer Delight as Marketing
This week I’ve been preparing material for a couple upcoming workshops and client presentations this fall. I’ve been mixing it in with a healthy dose of cabin life admittedly, but it’s been fun to get ahead of a couple of projects that will be “coming in hot” once I return to Vancouver later this month. Two of them are about customer service as marketing, which I prefer to call … [Read more...]
Change or be changed: How substitutes and hybrids are altering consumer markets
The last 12-14 weeks since the pandemic began has brought about a tremendous period of change. We've changed where, how and when we work. Commuter, transit and driving patterns have been impacted. How and where we learn has shifted. Dining out and dining in has changed. Our entertainment options have been impacted, as have grocery shopping patterns and overall consumption. And … [Read more...]
Response, recovery & renewal: a three stage approach to marketing in a pandemic
I’ve been working on two different marketing strategy plans for clients this week. Both projects were well under way for completion when the Covid-19 crisis hit. Like many businesses, we were caught initially flat foot at the speed of change, and have had to make major adjustments. In once case, I essentially started over, and in the other we modified the initial plan and then … [Read more...]
