Doing Well by Doing Good

By Anne Ready   LOS ANGELES – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” During the Civil Rights Movement, the goal was to achieve one great ideal: equal rights. The goal today is for corporations to show creative compassion and care for employees and customers. Forbes reported that, in the …

A Brand By Any Other Name

To paraphrase Shakespeare, what’s in a brand name? Pretty much everything! But the Dunkin’ Donuts brand you once knew is going. In its place is the newly reformed “Dunkin.”  And loyal customers are upset. USA Today writes:  We buy Cokes, not sodas; Starbucks, not coffee; iPhones, not mobile phones. Typically, brands make us feel like an item is of higher quality …

When is a customer not a customer?

Do you have to be a paying customer to receive customer service? Recently, two African American men were escorted out of a Starbucks in Philadelphia. They asked for the restroom and occupied a table in the store, although, they hadn’t made a purchase. Calling the police on them seemed extreme. Many questioned  whether kicking these men out was simply company protocol or racial injustice. …

How to Avoid #Hashtag Hazards

The hashtag, when used correctly, can reach a broader group of people than those who follow you on Twitter or connect with you on LinkedIn. It facilitates branding and allows companies to create catchy slogans motivating audiences to remember and to respond. However, the hashtag is more complicated than just throwing a few words together. Here are a few basic …