This ad ran once, almost 50 years ago in 1964 (and 3 more times on the news) and it affected the result of the US presidential election. As students of the art and science of influence, we have to ask ourselves, how far is too far in pursuit of the results we seek? Sold on [...]

You gotta see this documentary by Brigitte Berman about former children’s magazine employee, Hugh Hefner. Hef and the Playboy brand he created are great examples of branding but branding by nature can appear one dimensional and almost a caricature–Have you seen the “man about town” in Down With Love?) This guy is anything but one [...]

Not just a pretty face, George Clooney, is leveraging his celebrity by luring the spotlight to places it might not otherwise go. In theatre, a spotlight is often called a Follow Spot, ’cause that’s what it does; it follows the lead character around. George Clooney is using his celebrity to attract the media to follow [...]

After years of rumors, Trump confirms that he’s considering running for President of the United States of America. According to the Globe and Mail, Trump doesn’t really want to run but would consider it to “stand up to America’s rivals”. I’m guessing he’ll just walk into the boardroom and tell all of America’s detractors that [...]

I don’t watch The View. Some of us work during the day–writing silly little blog posts etc. But I was a little disappointed that I missed Obama, the first reigning (sitting?) American President in history to be interviewed on a TV talk show, disappointed until I saw this clip. Doesn’t look like I missed much. [...]

How often does it happen? A guy wins a Golden Globe for best actor in a movie and thanks his stand-in, a guy named Lloyd. The guy deserves the thank-you as much as all the pretty actors; Bridges said that Lloyd has been his stand-in in over 60 films. But how often does it happen? [...]

Found great quote on speaking in Jay Conrad Levinson book: “Be sincere. Be brief. Be seated.” Franklin D. Roosevelt 32nd President of U.S. Share and Enjoy:

I have long been using Obama as an example of a guy who demonstrates the principles outlined in Step Into The Spotlight! back from when I first spotted him in a story about the 10 contenders for the democratic nomination. Obama knows what he’s doing in the arenas of personal branding, marketing, publicity, public speaking, [...]

This is not a political blog. But I got an interesting email from a respected colleague from the land down under. Speaking of a current conflict, under the subject line “Every Story Has Two Sides”, he says As a sales & marketing professional, I always said the other side is doing a much better job [...]

With the election results not yet fully in, I thought it’d be appropriate to post the 3rd segment in my three part series on The Casting of An American President. It’s important to know how to talk good. Need I say more? Share and Enjoy: