My Daily Emails

I want to make these emails more valuable to you. But I can only guess what you like unless you tell me. Do you prefer: Should I focus more on:

It happens fast. You’re scrolling TikTok and see someone demonstrating a product in their kitchen. No fancy lighting. No script. Just genuine excitement about how well something works. Suddenly you

A great product deserves great support. Yet too often, customer support is treated as a cost center — something to minimize, automate, outsource. The math seems simple: fewer human interactions

I enjoy social media, at least most of the time. Bluesky’s freshness and kindness have been a pleasant surprise. X and LinkedIn keep me connected to interesting minds and opportunities.

Product success stories are inescapable. They’re all over YouTube, LinkedIn and X, and marketers gobble them up. But the ones that didn’t make it? Those product stories can teach you

Strategy work isn’t always about maintaining professional distance. It’s possible to dive so deep, you find yourself on the other side of the world, pitching your client’s innovative food ingredient

AI makes me a better strategist by being a worse one. Let me explain. Every day, I use a variety of AI tools. They take on tasks I never loved,

The 1983 “Cabbage Patch Riots” sound almost mythical now. I’m old enough to remember it well. Parents literally wrestling in store aisles. Clerks getting trampled. Someone drove 1,000 miles to

Sometimes success creates its own problems. Tesla revolutionized the auto industry, pushing electric vehicles into the mainstream through bold innovation. But recent data suggests concerning patterns: The latest J.D. Power

My American friends really know how to layer tradition with commerce. In four days, they’ll combine family feasts with football and pilgrims. Then right at peak gratitude — boom —

Growth usually happens in steps. Until it leaps. I witnessed this firsthand working with an Asian food producer. The business leader had impressive credentials — co-founder of his province’s largest

I have a Stanley vacuum bottle that belonged to my father. Hammered green finish, probably as old as I am, still working perfectly. My grandfather had one too. Back then, these

Some rebrands make you wince. Jaguar just unveiled new branding ahead of its all-electric future. The iconic leaping cat has been caged, and the typography… well, imagine James Bond pulling

Our third self — that part of us that dreams and aspires — has a weird relationship with treats. We want the indulgence. We crave the satisfaction. But we also

Perfect timing can transform a product from interesting to essential. Last week, Disney and Lululemon announced their first-ever collaboration — a 34-piece collection launching just in time for holiday shopping.

A simple font formatting change could dramatically affect how urgently people want your product. A fascinating study of five controlled experiments across three universities revealed something unexpected: italicized fonts increase

What makes someone spend $55 on foam clogs? For a senior with arthritis, Crocs solve genuine problems — easy on/off, comfort for swollen feet, non-slip stability. The need is clear,

The Dog Brain loves instant gratification. But what delights one buyer might leave another cold. After thirty years of product marketing, I’m still surprised by who falls in love with

Sweden wants to trademark… Sweden. This unprecedented move, announced Tuesday by press release, highlights something I encountered just yesterday: the growing challenge of protecting product names in an increasingly crowded

Remember the Sears “Wish Book”? Growing up in a small town, the arrival of that Christmas catalog opened a portal to possibilities. Local stores had modest toy selections, but that

A product’s greatest value lies in who we become through using it. I’ve seen this demonstrated at a local coffee shop where the barista uses a matte black Fellow kettle

There’s a specialty knife shop near my hometown that’s become something of a pilgrimage site for chefs and serious home cooks. Walking in feels like entering a temple dedicated to

My doctor recently handed me a Neilmed sinus rinse starter kit. Inside: an empty plastic bottle and one lonely packet of “magic dust” – sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate. Basically,

“Advanced Technology Inside!” “Maximum Strength!” “Used by Professionals!” If your unique selling proposition could be claimed by any competitor, it isn’t unique. It’s what I call a POS – Puffery

I just received this Amazon review, and I’m honestly floored: “I thoroughly enjoyed the book, ‘I Need That.’ My background is marketing direct to the consumer, products like Sonicare, OxiClean,

List member Heather responded to Tuesday’s “Two Pens” email with an illuminating observation: “Another functional item where value varies broadly is home lighting: from the cheapest desk lamp, to the

“Which watch is better — my Apple Watch Ultra or my pal Blake’s Garmin Quatix 6?” It’s a trick question. Blake is an avid kayaker. He needs a watch that

Yesterday, I met a dear friend to sign copies of my book he’d bought as gifts. I pulled out a pretty cool pen I’ve owned for 20 years. He produced

A robotics engineer who recently joined you as a list subscriber shared something fascinating with me. “Robotics is prone to the fallacy of providing a solution searching for a problem,”

At fifteen, I desperately needed a Cateye Solar cyclocomputer. Not wanted. Needed. My existing bike speedometer did its job just fine. But after seeing that sleek new digital device in

For the past couple of years, I’ve been interested in e-bikes. My deep dive started with a client who develops them. I learned all about stepless shifting, maintenance-free belt drives,

My kids’ Halloween haul this year was mind-boggling. Spread across our dining room table, I noticed something fascinating: The same chocolate bars appeared in multiple sizes. Take Snickers, for example:

When canned water in tall boys becomes a billion-dollar company, product makers take notice. Liquid Death’s success seems to offer an intoxicating formula: Irreverent marketing + viral social content =

Remember when chewing gum was all about fun? Growing up in the 1970s, I was mesmerized by commercials featuring people blowing massive bubbles with Hubba Bubba. In some of the

Ever notice how many concert halls have Yamaha pianos? It’s sort of a recurring thought for me, always at a time when it’s not polite to whip out my phone

In August 2023, something fascinating happened in Canada: Kimberly-Clark announced it would stop selling Kleenex tissues here. Let that sink in. In my country, people with a runny nose don’t

My five-year Peloton journey has included two moves, one surgery, countless business trips, a few vacations, and a major home renovation. Oh, yeah… and a bit of a global pandemic.

Nobody talks about the scariest part of injury recovery: starting over. After minor surgery last year, my normal workout routine was off the table. My hard-earned fitness metrics? Old news.

Ever wished you could high-five a family member during a Peloton workout, but they’re not there? It’s ironic. My wife and I have two bikes in our home’s dedicated wellness

When I first clipped into a Peloton bike in November of 2019, I had no idea how deeply this platform would transform my fitness journey. It was in a mall

I used to be a dedicated coffee shop patron, dropping hundreds each month on my daily caffeine fix at Starbucks and independent cafés. The baristas often knew my name, my

One of my clients makes a fiber reinforcement product that increases road longevity by 30% and significantly reduces rutting in asphalt surfaces. It’s a clear win for municipalities and taxpayers.

Remember when augmented reality (AR) headsets were supposed to be the next smartphones? Seems like the future isn’t quite here yet. Apple is reportedly working on a cheaper version of

With just over 2 weeks before what will likely be a very tight US presidential election, there’s a lot of talk about the importance of voting. But have you ever

More than once, I’ve had a client suggest they wanted to launch a product at a premium price by creating a status brand with a luxury look and feel. It’s

Exciting news, product (and audio) enthusiasts! For those of you who prefer to learn on the go, I’m thrilled to announce that “I Need That” is now available as an

When I first started Graphos in 1993, it was a generalist design and marketing agency. We did a bit of everything, working with anyone who needed graphic design and marketing

When my wife and I embarked on an extensive home renovation a couple years ago, we quickly realized something counterintuitive: it might have cost less to start from scratch. But

Remember the thrill of unwrapping gifts as a kid? In “I Need That,” I talk about how the fantasy about the gift was often better than the gift itself. And