A remarkable thing happened to me the other day. I was in a client meeting, and the CEO opened the meeting with a statement that surprised me. He said, "This is a very important meeting about the future of our media strategy. That's why I need everyone here to be absolutely honest. I know we have problems, and we're looking for solutions. So you are protected here. Whatever you say will not impact your job in a negative way whatsoever. I'm looking for real answers, and I need you to be completely honest and accurate." Then he opened it up for discussion. ... read more

I had an interesting experience recently when talking to the marketing director at a major Christian ministry. His organization is going through a difficult transition, has some financial challenges, and the future is uncertain. Especially from a communications and branding perspective, they need real help. So the marketing director went to the head of the ministry and suggested they bring my team in to explore the possibilities. The leader responded that he really liked what Cooke Pictures had accomplished with other organizations and agreed that we were excellent at what we did. But he ultimately decided ... read more