Ode to the Lanyard

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru I returned from a conference in Atlanta to discover that my wife had thrown out my lanyard collection. Before you begin mentally flogging her for such an obvious and unspeakable transgression, her mistake (though horrific) was not malicious. In fact, it was quite accidental and she felt, and continues to feel, absolutely […]

Ride, Winston, Ride

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru Last month my family spent a total of $969.45 on…wait for it…gasoline. We aren’t ostentatious—we don’t drive Hummers or giant SUVs; we don’t commute hundreds of miles a day, we observe the speed limit, have our oil changed on a regular basis and make sure our tire pressure is properly maintained. Yet, […]

Out of Gas

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru It seems that all anyone can talk about this summer is the high price of gas. Watching the prices rise to unprecedented and heretofore unimaginable highs is about as much fun as a trip to the dentist sans Novocain, but it has become somewhat of a national past time. Most people see […]

Fair Play

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru I spent all day with my six year old at the county fair. It was great fun and we both ended up with the stomach aches to prove it. I haven’t eaten that many honey roasted peanuts, ice cream sandwiches and corn dogs since, well, since last year. We rode every ride […]

Dream a Little Dream

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru I recently dreamt that I was a celebrated bullfighter named Pablo Federico Prometheus Escobeche living in Pamplona. The entire dream was in Spanish, which I don’t speak, so I’m not entirely sure what happened but from what I could piece together, I was on a caliente streak. I was a local hero, […]

Marketing is for Everyone

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru So, you don’t think your business is big enough to worry about marketing? Well, as my great granddad used to say, “Marketing, like a good cigar, is for everyone.” His example may not be relevant, but he was right about marketing. Whether your business is big or small, growing or around forever, […]

Yankee Doodle

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru Independence Day is associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, picnics and baseball games, but the day holds an even greater meaning for the patriotic among us. It is after all, the official date of our country’s independence and serves as a symbol of freedom and a reminder of all we have to […]

Product Placement

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru Dedicated readers may have noticed my sudden, unexpected and unexplained leave of absence. My unfortunate sabbatical was due to a near career ending double hand injury I suffered while attempting to change the blades in my lawnmower. I won’t go into all the gory details, since I know many of you take […]

Satellite Dreams

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru My family and I returned from a recent vacation to discover that some rowdy opossums or oversized squirrels (it still isn’t entirely clear) had disconnected our satellite dish. We were horrified to discover that not only were our favorite programs not recorded for a whole week, but we were without live TV […]