Gender and racial fluidity. Social and environmental causes. Smartphone addicts. Social media as news. Less focused multitaskers. Independent. Global. Most entrepreneurial. Most racially and ethnically diverse. Best-educated. Growing up fast, too fast. These are just a few attributes….

Wall or no wall, Republican or Democrat, the topic of immigration has always been an emotional one.  Emotions so charged that facts are often ignored and disputed.  The notion of immigrants threatening our security and culture is a partisan rhetoric.

The retail industry has been challenged by increased levels of online shopping, fierce competition and demographic shifts. Many marketers in the age of Big Data believe that demographics limit the total picture of consumers, leading into stereotypes that can be dangerous in advertising…

In a previous blog, I provided a strategy toolkit, what it is, what it’s not and 10 questions to test your strategy.  So you may ask, isn’t that the same as a value proposition?  Yes and No.  Value proposition is an element of strategy.  The element that looks outward at customers, the demand side of business.

Even decades after the book, Men are from Mars Women are from Venus, we are still seeing the same level of gender stereotypes and biases in both men and women. Some marketers stick to these stereotypes, mainly because it still sells, but also because it’s easier to get.….

In order to define strategy, we have to know what it is and what it is not. Strategy is not about being the best, whether it’s operations excellence, best practices or marketing communication tactics. Strategy is about being different. Differentiations and competitive advantages…

Did you know women own 60% of personal wealth in the US and control 85% of consumer buying decisions?  Did you know 40% of US women outearn their husbands and 70% of all new businesses are started by women? 

Every leader knows that analyzing trends should be at the core of any planning process. Sure, we want to know what worked and what didn’t work in the past, so we can shift and adjust our strategies and tactics. But planning and forecasting for the future should be build on trends, not history. 

This largest generation cohort is not just about digital dependance, education, multiculturalism & social/environmental. They also dominate poverty, lower household counts even with high population numbers, single motherhood, and renters…..

Census data on race and ethnicity are used to redraw congressional district boundaries and enforce voting and other civil rights laws, as well as research data for businesses to analyze customer segmentation. They tested different ways of combining race and ethnicity questions….

I always keep an eye on macro and micro trends in my continuous focus on the New World Marketplace–so here’s my list of 7 important trends for you to understand and explore regardless of where you are in your planning process.  These trends are not going anywhere.

We’ve heard many business cases for gender equality, but have you ever wondered how the true economic returns can be measured if outcomes are based on flawed decision process? Bias hurts everyone across gender, race, class, caste, ethnicity & nationality. A study showed that bias for only 1% of variance in evolution scores led to 35% of the discriminated-against group being represented at the top–without bias, each group would’ve held 50% of these seats.

Identifying your growth strategies should start with which customers. Your core target customers. They are not everyone who will come in contact with your business, but those who love your products and services. Do you know who they are? Who are your best customers that make up bulk of your revenue and profits?

All research I’ve done over the years pointed to our younger generations leaning toward progressive culture, color blindness, gender neutrality. Not so, says GenForward June 2016 poll, published by Washington Post last week–the first ongoing, monthly survey of young people that focuses on major racial and ethnic groups.

Media outlets and pundits cite Trump’s campaign as dog whistles to White Supremacists and angry white nativists. I think Trump’s rhtoric has shown us all that there is no need for dog whistling when blatant racist comments and race-baiting is still working remarkably well in today’s modern-day American politics.

These 8 demographic trends drive cultural changes, social order and consumption patterns. And they impact every aspect of business planning, branding strategies and your Value Proposition(s).

Are women from Venus and men from Mars? I don’t negate biological differences. But I don’t believe we are different species from different planets. Many believe women and men are hardwired differently. But how can different brains have similar values, abilities, achievements, lives?

Reports show Bernie Sanders receiving 84% of all young people’s votes under 30, including women–versus 14% for Hillary. Bernie is getting the majority of women 30-44 as well at 53%. How does a 74-year old white male resonate so well with the multicultural youth?…

Every time I watch Donald Trump speak, I think he’s gone too far–only to find out that he has drawn a bigger crowd to his rallies, occupied bigger space and time in all media, and providing late show hosts and satirists even better content for comedy. Surely, he is not an idiot—although some think he is—but perhaps he is a great strategist afterall.

We know women represent half of the population and half of the work force. But they represent 85% of consumer buying decisions–$7 trillion in consumer and business spending.  Women are considered the largest market opportunity in the world, controlling $20 trillion in annual consumer spending globally….