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In the Jungian world of psychology (don’t worry, you don’t need to know what that means), a persona is the face you show the world. In your store, a persona is a fictional customer based non-fictional data (yes, you do need to know what this means). At R&A Marketing, we’ve named this persona “Ms. Jones,” […]

The headlines soured my morning coffee with gloomy news of “bleak economic reports,” “signals of recession” and a “housing slump.” Hmmm. Not good. Then a builder friend of mine mentioned that his remodeling business is picking up, while his new home construction is slowing down. Hmmm, again. Money’s tight. The economy’s uncertain. It’s even an […]

You studied civics in high school. You did your civic duty on the jury. You went to a game at the Civic Center. Get used to the word, because you’re going to be hearing a lot more of it from Ms. Jones. Even if she doesn’t call it by its Latin derivative, Ms. Jones is […]

“Our biggest sale of the year!” So what have you been doing the other 364 days? Ripping people off? Of course not! You work your tail off every single day to offer the exact goods Ms. Jones wants at a fair price that still lets you pay the bills. You probably keep close track of […]

The only “efficient” thing about an efficiency apartment is your ability to cook dinner while sitting on the sofa, which is also your bed and probably your dining room table, too. The all-purpose living-dining-bed-and-rec room concept doesn’t work well for most of us, at least once we’re out of college. So what is “efficient,” anyway? […]

It’s an unpleasant word. Just listen to the sound of it: BUDGET. The beastly “b” and the ugly “u” and the edgy “dg” followed by the terse “t.” No one likes to talk about their budget. No one likes to make a budget, keep a budget, fit something into a budget or look at their […]

What’s hot? What’s the hottest ticket in your town? Where does everyone go on a Friday night? Where are all the kids? What are their parents doing? What’s being talked about over the water coolers on Monday morning? Is your company in touch? Are your people involved? Do you have banners in the right places, […]

From oatmeal to email, we live in an age of instant gratification. Breakfast comes in a bar or can. Work moves at the speed of light. People actually walk over to a coworker’s desk if they  don’t get feedback to their instant message fast enough. That’s twisted. How have the timeframes of doing business changed […]

Why do you put your two cents in, but you only get a penny for your thoughts? Where does that extra penny go? If you’ve got pennies to spare and something to say, you can start a blog, leave feedback, post comments, “contact us,” fill out a comment card (online or in person), phone a […]

From French fry portions to fat people, we’re into extremes. You can’t just make over a room anymore, you’ve got to send the family on a dream vacation, demolish the whole house and rebuild in seven days. Game shows don’t offer $1,000 jackpots anymore, but millions. We don’t sing in the shower, we want a […]