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The Yin & Yang of Marketing – Are your efforts in balance?

John Furgurson — Wed, 28 May 2025 22:21:21 +0000

In Eastern philosophy yin yang represents the concept of duality. Two halves working together toward wholeness and harmony. It’s the dance of opposites — where seemingly contrary forces are actually complementary. Like marketing strategy and tactics. “Wholeness” in marketing — ie optimal results — is only achieved when you strike that delicate balance between […]

Where marketing goes wrong

John Furgurson — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:34:21 +0000

Surely, you’ve been let down. If you’ve been in business for any length of time you’ve probably been underwhelmed, disgruntled, or downright ripped off by “marketing people.” Sorry to hear that. So have I. The fact is, more than 5 million people provide marketing services of some sort in the U.S. There’s no barrier to […]

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How to judge your advertising

John Furgurson — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 20:22:01 +0000

When you grow up on the creative side of the advertising industry you learn the hard way, how to judge your own advertising. Because your direct boss, the Creative Director, is screaming “IT’S SHIT! DO IT OVER. TRY AGAIN!” That person is usually a much harder sell than the client. Creative Directors know what constitutes […]

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Does website design matter? Yes, as long as first impressions matter.

John Furgurson — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 23:32:37 +0000

There was a group discussion on LinkedIn recently that started with this question: “Does website design really matter? ” It provoked quite a debate… Graphic designers and advertising people in one camp, web programmers and entrepreneurs in the other, arguing their respective positions. The paint-by-numbers group believes web design doesn’t really matter at all. Design […]

Definition of digital marketing — 4 things you HAVE to know

John Furgurson — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 18:30:41 +0000

Surely you’ve heard the online chatter about “digital marketing.” There are a million platforms, channels, systems, software programs and “strategies” that are guaranteed to help you “kill it” online. Every month it’s something new. (You using Facebook Messenger as an ad platform yet? What about TikTok?) If you’re a business owner you have better things […]

Stock images & brand image photos – Beware of visual clichés.

John Furgurson — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 12:15:14 +0000

Every business needs brand image photos… (Your brand image can’t be built on words alone.) Unfortunately, most people turn immediately to free stock photo sites or Ai tools. Doesn’t matter if the images are for the website, ads, sales materials, email campaigns, social media posts or powerpoint presentations, they turn to the quick fix solution. […]

Who reads long copy these days? The hungry ones.

John Furgurson — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 18:00:47 +0000

I’m really tired of people telling me no one reads anything anymore. “Copywriting doesn’t matter.” “Long copy is dead.” Those are the same Chicken Littles who post headlines on LinkedIn like “Social Media is dead,” “Content Marketing is Dead,” and “Advertising is Dead.” They’re just hype mongers and click-bait peddlers. A prospect recently told me […]

Easy Ad Hacks — TMI is killing your advertising

John Furgurson — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 19:33:02 +0000

Contrary to popular belief, information is the enemy of persuasion, not the friend. Too much information is the number one killer of advertising. So if you’re looking for easy ad hacks, just reduce the amount of information. As my old Journalism professor used to say, Boil! Boil! Boil!!! Boil your campaigns down to one simple […]

4 common advertising mistakes — Bad puns, bribes and other branding blunders

John Furgurson — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 05:43:22 +0000

Here’s a news flash: Great advertising is hard to come by. And advertising mistakes are much more common than home runs like “Got Milk” or “Just Do It.” Advertising is hard for corporate brand managers who have big ad agencies, market research firms, and millions of dollars at their disposal. Advertising is hard for the […]

Sorting through a landslide of “marketing opportunities”

John Furgurson — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 22:09:53 +0000

The marketing landscape isn’t really a landscape anymore. It’s more like a fast moving landslide, snapping trees and engulfing unsuspecting business owners up to their ears in muck. Most clients I know are wearing so many different hats, they can’t begin to sort out all the “marketing opportunities,” much less make sound strategic decisions regarding each one. […]