Burger King’s latest misstep is totally on-brand Lacking a meaningful identity and position of their own, Burger King long ago staked out their role as the king of the substitute QSR brands by drafting off the category leader McDonald’s and committing to a strategy of regular promotional gimmicks and periodic…

Of all the scenes in one of my favorite films- the 1990 fantasy/adventure/romantic comedy Joe vs. the Volcano starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan- one of the few I enjoy most is on the surface about the simple task of a man seeking luggage for his upcoming trip; but the…

On the enduring philosophical resonance of a deceptively simple comedy. — At least a decade ago we started a tradition of watching Groundhog Day (1989, dir. Harold Ramis) intentionally on or around February 2nd, in this bleak stretch of the midwest winter when any holiday joy is long forgotten but spring is still an improbable dream. …

The answer is yes. — In working through my long list of books to read I am always happy to take a Seth Godin detour, and this one from 2005 holds up surprisingly well- and is disturbingly relevant in an age of misinformation and disinformation. …

Facebook’s recent rebrand to Meta is a handy case study in brand architecture- and a helpful reminder of who really owns a brand. — Facebook’s recent announcement changing the name of their company to Meta elicited reactions ranging from sycophantic to highly skeptical. While a promotional video with their founder Mark Zuckerberg praising their forthcoming ‘metaverse’ received a light-hearted parody courtesy of Iceland, the Facebook critics saw this rebrand as a PR campaign from…

It was probably 2003 or 2004 when was majoring in cinema at the University of Iowa and taking a course called Nonfiction Video Production taught by David Ellsworth, when he decided to show us something called The Dancing Outlaw. My first reaction, probably like many others, was ‘is this real?’…

The first time I visited Seashore Hall as an undergraduate student employee in the department of dance, I’d never heard of this neglected-looking building lurking in the background of downtown Iowa City like Boo Radley’s house. After graduating when I was hired as a videographer at the now-defunct Center for…

Your most valuable business asset has less to do with logo or tagline than promises and expectations. — Brand in the sense that matters most is the sum of all the associations people have in relation to a business, a product or a service. It’s everything from basic awareness and reach, to understanding, meaning, and reputation. It’s the experience, sentiment as expressed in social media or product reviews…

Last weekend I had to install a new door in my home office. I felt confident having done this a few times already and also having watched enough YouTube DIY videos at 2x speed to visualize what by now seemed like a straightforward project. So I got the old door…