Forbes Contributing Writer

I’ll never forget interviewing a woman about her favorite brands when I researched my first book. She had just bought her third consecutive Lexus, and when I asked her why she liked it so much, she laughed out loud and said, “Do you have half an hour?” I settled in for a good…

Are you dreaming of traveling this summer, after a year of pandemic living? Me too. But like most things these days, it’s complicated. As the traditional summer-travel season looms before us, health and safety factors have become a critical part of trip planning, including road trips. Throughout the pandemic, businesses…

When I walk past my closet and look at my “formal” work clothes, hanging unworn and untouched after a year of COVID-19, it’s like looking at a museum. Now that vaccine distribution is underway, how has the pandemic changed the way consumers think about presenting themselves to the world, after…

It’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and that means it’s prime time for snow sports. Recently, I caught up with Elysa Walk, senior vice president of international and Americas for Burton, the world’s leading snowboarding company. We talked about everything from that infamous Bernie Sanders meme (yes, he was wearing a Burton jacket with…

Phew, we made it to 2021. Now what? It can feel daunting to embark on strategic planning for life after COVID-19 while we are still in the midst of the pandemic. This is especially true when it comes to serving the consumer market, where women dominate. You already know that women’s…

Our world is changing by the minute (or so it seems), but amidst all the disruption, one thing remains constant: women’s domination of consumer spending. That fact alone provides a valuable compass for innovating your customer experience during Covid-19, as well as reimagining what it could look like post pandemic. Research shows…

I’ve yet to meet anyone who has ever taken a class on how to conduct brand communications during a pandemic. Maybe this topic will become a fixture in future college courses, but for now, conventional wisdom is out the window and most marketers are navigating without a rule book. I…

With so many things out of our control due to the coronavirus crisis, it can be useful to focus on what’s still within our control, like how we communicate with customers. Here are five tips to help maintain your connection with customers during this anxiety-inducing time: Acknowledge what’s happening in…

There are two parallel forces reshaping the consumer market: technology and women’s rising economic power. No doubt you’re paying close attention to technology (and rightly so), but how much time are you spending on the latter? My guess is not enough. Two of the biggest revolutions of the 20th century—women’s…

Great “IRL” (in real life) customer experiences are still the exception and not the rule, despite the fact that businesses have never had more ways to communicate with customers. Just as we continually upgrade our software to stay current, we must upgrade our customer experiences to stay relevant Elevating the…