With Apple's announcements yesterday it seems the brand is taking another full step into the direction of being an average consumer electronics device company. Compared to Steve Jobs' previous absence due to his ouster in 1985 this time they are at least remaining profitable and floating above water with the competition. For now. Apple will now be offering two …
Personal friend Hillsborough County Commissioner Victor Crist deservedly received good coverage today with this story in the Tampa Tribune. As I bring my own apparel and merchandise brand Corporate Empathy to market and partner with local brands like the Black & Denim Apparel Company it is nice to see this project's focus. This "Made in Tampa Bay" …
The terms "knowledge economy" and "digital age" have been thrown around by professionals, pundits, academics, and politicians in some form or another for at least 20 years. Until this week however not one of them has presented a real grasp of the nature of this new economy. Most everyone has attempted to measure and understand the knowledge economy …
In "Section I: Visions Lost" of my book Corporate Empathy I write about Walt Disney's biggest most daring plan ever. A plan that was scrapped and disregarded as too risky after he died. A plan that if attempted then or today (it is still viable) would completely reshape the economic landscape of the state Florida. The …
This week's unimpressive announcement by Apple about the new features to be included in iOS 8 following last month's news that Google had overtaken Apple as the worlds most valuable brand highlights how severely damaged the company's ability to innovate has become after the loss of Steve Jobs. Apple's second shot at doing business without Jobs …
Imagine for a moment a structural engineer who has been tasked with engineering a bridge to cross a wide river. The engineer understands the strength and weight of the steel, concrete, asphalt, and other various materials that will be assembled to build a sound structure. The engineer also understands the pressures that wind, water current, temperature, …
An Adweek article showed up in my feed this afternoon from a friend, Construction Workers Yell Messages of Empowerment to Women in Snickers Stunt featuring construction workers yelling at women - with messages of empowerment. The commercial shows construction workers who instead of yelling sexist catcalls, shout positive messages like, "I'd like to show you the respect you …
Last week's move by Chipotle is a great preview of how corporations may someday keep each other in check without tight regulation as they compete to outdo each other's social impact. This entry is an excerpt from my book Corporate Empathy that you can read or watch below. America’s Constitution created a republic and adopted capitalism as …
This week Chipotle has made another move in their campaign to change the course of corporate agribusiness and continues to expand a brilliant case study in brand development. After the success of last September's Scarecrow the restaurant chain has stepped into new territory again by debuting an original comedy series "Farmed and Dangerous" on Hulu and Hulu …
UPDATE: I just became aware today of JCPenny's reintroduction of appliance sales a few months back in January 2016. Almost exactly two years after I published this suggestion below about letting companies die and brands to evolve. The announcement by JCPenney this week that they will close 33 stores and lay off around 2,000 employees is generating a …
A much better idea of what I want to do...
I just turned 40 and my life is going through some major life changes. I wasn't really sure what direction my life was headed, much less how to get there. It honestly left me feeling kind of stuck and like my life had no direction. The Personal Futures session with Vinny Tafuro was truly what I needed. It helped me to gauge where in my life I was and gave me a framework for how to think about my future and which direction I want my life to go. Now I have a much better idea of what I want to do and what steps I need to start taking to get there. I am grateful for feeling like I can now move forward with my life. – HL
The future is far less terrifying...
I have ADHD and have so many plans, desires, and needs going through my head but have such a hard time focusing enough to put everything in order and definitely see the forest and not the trees. I'm also self-employed with two businesses so I have a lot going on which compounds this issue.
Vinny really took the time to listen to my needs and to get to the core of my values before we even began the process. We widdled down to three overall subjects then widdled those down to goals I can aim for over different points in time then finally widdled them down to easy tasks I can start within the next 24 hours. I work best with a checklist of tasks and it was extremely helpful to have someone help me lay it out. The future is far less terrifying and I can actually see a plan for myself for more than the next year or two. I'm incredibly thankful for Vinny's expertise and encouragement. – LP