Scott’s Blog

Intelligence that’s artificial isn’t emotional

artificial intelligence isn't emotional

The first of my many exposures to the brilliance of Hoosier author Kurt Vonnegut was his 1952 short story “EPICAC,” in which the narrator prevails upon the world’s most powerful computer to draft a poetic marriage proposal for his lovely colleague. EPICAC’s series of poems fulfill the romantic objective, but there’s a hitch. The computer … Read more

The most natural-sounding videos are carefully scripted

shooting videos

If you’re shooting a video and want comments from company officials, customers, and other stakeholders to sound completely natural, make sure you script them before they say a word. Think it’s counterintuitive that the best way to make the people in your videos sound unrehearsed is to put words in their mouths and have them … Read more

Smarter ways to review a creative’s portfolio

portfolio

When confronted with a portfolio of samples from a writer, designer, or web wizard, intelligent businesspeople typically become less than savvy. Losing sight of the fact that they’re about to make a critical business decision, they scan the contents, nod their approval, then point to an example or two and say, “I really like this … Read more

Unintended messages undoing your marketing

unintended messages frustrate woman

I’m not sure that a welcome mat in front of a business ever made anyone feel truly welcome, or a notation on a receipt saying that it has been someone’s pleasure to serve you made up for the indifferent treatment delivered by the server who dropped it on the table. Businesses put a lot of … Read more

What Janet’s brief shower can teach marketers

If I mention the word “psycho,” there’s a good chance a certain image will spring to mind. An image in black and white: water trickling into a shower drain, slowly being supplanted by a darker fluid, all punctuated by ear-piercing shrieks. There’s also a good chance that you just shuddered a little. Assuming that image … Read more

Marketing shouldn’t involve either/or decisions

marketing decisions

When people ask me whether they should create an email newsletter, run radio commercials, step up their social media, or use billboards, my answer is always the same: yes. It’s not a matter of being indecisive. It’s just that the expectations of consumers (and by “consumer,” I also mean those who buy business-to-business services and … Read more

Yes, you can become a thought leader

thought leader in chemistry

You’ve seen them in your industry and your community: the names you recognize instantly, sharing their knowledge. We call them thought leaders, and joining their ranks may be easier than you expect. You may have sat in the audience at conferences or other industry meetings, listening to people whose backgrounds were similar to yours. But … Read more