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When you’re shopping for a new dry cleaner, do you ask a friend with nicely pressed clothes where they go? When you want a new haircut, do you ask a nicely coiffed neighbor for a referral? When you need a new employee, do you ask your customers? They already know you, and they like you […]

Why is the sky blue? Why does the dog stink? Why do I have to go to bed? The questions of a child are as infuriating as they are thought provoking. Sometimes we make up the answers as we go along, combining folklore with the bits we remember from school: “Well, Johnny, it’s because the […]

Keeping it real. Real life. Reality television. You might have your own little reality show going on inside your company, but is Ms. Jones watching? You can bet she’s too tied up in the melodrama playing out in her own life to get caught up in yours. How do you become relevant to her? 97 […]

Nexus (nek’ses) – noun: 1. A means of connection, 2. a connected series, 3. the core or center of a matter or situation. It’s the drive aisle that winds through your store. It’s the good design that enables adjacencies and flow, seamless transitions from living to dining and contemporary to traditional. It’s the “focal point” […]

“International Talk Like A Pirate Day” is celebrated every year on September 19. So, ahoy! Let’s put the periscope up to your eye (not the one with the black patch). What do you see, Matey? What’s on the horizon? Do you see land ahead? Is there an area in your market that’s growing? Or shrinking? […]

Terms of Endearment. Bridges of Madison County. Beaches. Steel Magnolias. Grab the tissues, because Ms. Jones will watch them again and again. They’re the female equivalent of Top Gun, Hunt for Red October and Rambo. Melodrama is the spice of a girl’s life. “Ideas that spark emotions, elicit involvement and make a woman feel as […]

Can you talk the talk? Are your commercials full of female buzzwords like “beautiful,” “pampering,” “soothing,” “nurturing” and “pretty?” Do your print ads use pastel colors and swirly shapes? Does your POS marketing feature a softly smiling Mrs. America contestant airbrushed within an inch of her life? Well, congratulations! You’re using Lady Lingo! And Ms. […]

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed […]

Perception is reality. That is, Ms. Jones’ perception is the reality you have to deal with every day. The reality may be that Ms. Jones is a middle-aged woman facing an empty nest and semiretirement. She droops where she used to perk. She used to be a trendsetter, but now she thinks animal prints are […]

“In the 1930s in New York City, users in a large new high-rise office building consistently complained about the wait times at the elevators. Engineers consulted concluded that there was no way to either speed up the elevators or to increase the number or capacity of the elevators. A designer was then called in, and […]