Moving On

After almost 4 years of running Mantra, I'm headed back to office life. I accepted a position at Prophet, a niche management consulting firm specializing in brand strategy for Fortune 500 companies. I'm writing this post from my hotel room in a resort just south of Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, as we wrap up a very fun all-company retreat. Everyone here works hard but also knows how to play hard, and we've had a terrific time. I'm excited about working here; the projects are much larger and more complex, and there's a nice balance of left and right-brain activity. Never a dull day.

So I'll start writing more about my thoughts and learnings around our key service offerings, including a new one focused on marketing effectiveness. We have an amazing research & analytics team who can actually tell you which 50% of your advertising dollars are wasted versus working. I also have the honor of working down the hall from Dave Aaker, the vice chairman of Prophet and the man who literally wrote the book(s) on brand strategy. I'll be posting some interviews with him as well as a few other senior execs  here on strategy-related issues and trends. So stay tuned.