Come Here Often?

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru My father is a fantastic marketer, wonderful husband and great father—he is also an infamous punster and is known for dropping lame one liners into everyday conversation. When a waiter asks him how his meal was, he is fond of gesturing to his empty plate and saying, “I didn’t care for it.” […]

Curb Appeal

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru Anyone who knows me, even a little bit, knows I am a big fan of the HBO comedy, “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” The title sums up my feelings about almost everything except marketing and promotional products and the curmudgeon in me celebrates the show’s creator and hero, Larry David, and his daily struggle […]

Innovation

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru One of the main perks of ‘Gurudom’ is the opportunity to get a sneak peek at cool products that haven’t hit the marketplace. I attended a conference last week that was all about technology and innovation—and one of the most amazing innovations I saw was 3-D HD TV. I slipped on a […]

Basil-rific

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru For those of you who missed it, my birthday was September 7th and my dear, lovely wife threw a little soiree to celebrate my successful passage into another year. She has always been a creative party giver and this one was no exception. Since we happened to have a bumper crop of […]

Sausagefest

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru What does an alligator and rattlesnake have in common? On the face of it, not much, alligators and rattlesnakes can both be dangerous and I wouldn’t want to cross paths with either of them, but other than being reptilian, that is where the similarities end. What they do have in common is […]

Mall Rats

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru Devoted readers have probably noticed my short absence and for that I sincerely apologize. I hate to disappoint my fans and I hope you’ll forgive my recent lapse in posting. I have been on a mall tour with one of my top clients for the past few weeks and, in my travels, […]

Thai One On

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru I was complaining about my sore neck to a friend of mine who promptly recommended I try Thai massage and insisted I see his favorite masseuse, Bee. Since I am a fan of Thai cooking, I assumed I’d enjoy a Thai massage and was looking forward to a relaxing hour. Those of […]

Summer School

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru Much to her chagrin, my daughter is attending summer school for the third year in a row. It’s not that she’s not intelligent, it’s just that being studious takes a backseat to being social and my eldest child tends to let her homework go undone a bit too often for her teacher’s […]

Smiley Face

Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru I recently read an amusing article about the city of Paris launching a smile campaign to induce tourism. Paris is often thought of by (American) tourists as snobby and unfriendly and has recently experienced a significant decline in tourism, due in part to the city’s unfriendly reputation. In attempt to change that […]