Get This

Why Do Something Now

I spoke to a business owner late last week. The story was familiar. Sales stagnated, projects suspended. They were beyond trimming fat; it was time to cut into the muscle of their workforce.

With all that going on, it’s understandable that marketing isn’t seen as a priority. But here’s why it should be.

1. You have the time. Right now, you have the time to study your competition; time to share new ideas with customers; time to take steps to reposition and energize your brand.

2. You have your key people. Right now, your senior team has time to affect positive changes. Some big, some small. There’s no better time to innovate.

3. Your competition is doing nothing. Right now, everybody is playing the waiting game. There’s no better time to gain ground than when the other guys are asleep at the wheel.

4. You’ve got more purchasing power than ever before. Right now, you can buy the services of Harrison Kohn for less than you would have paid a year ago. Why? We’re hungry. And we know our good deeds will be rewarded when things get going again.

It’s hard to spend a little to strengthen your brand when you’ve laid off 15% of your workforce. But the other 85% are counting on you to lead. Right now.

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Sunday at Artisphere

The "Chuck's" of performance artist Brian Olsen. Making his fifth visit to Artisphere, Brian is an explosion of paint and passion. Photo by Sam Harrison.

How refreshing to step away from distant soccer and baseball fields (watching my kids compete), and walk around downtown Greenville today during Artisphere 2009. Perfect weather, thousands of appreciative arts enthusiasts and a wonderful array of talented visual and performing artists.

Our office, across from Falls Park, sits in the middle of all the activity. For all the little things that bug us about our workplace (the occasional leak in the roof, stains in the carpet, a boarded-up skylight), at Artisphere we’re reminded how fortunate we are to overlook Greenville’s coolest block.

Saturday night the Harrisons enjoyed a great dinner at Soby’s, following our daughter’s recital at the Peace Center. Waiting at the bar for a bottle of Thomas Creek Amber, I struck up a conversation with a young couple visiting from Charlotte. They’d heard nice things about Greenville and wanted to see what all the hub-bub was about. They loved everything about our town: the friendly vibe, the mix of people downtown, the architecture, the restaurants. Having left Greenville to take jobs in Charlotte for a year during the 90s, my wife and I much preferred (and continue to prefer) the authenticity of Greenville. It’s not perfect, but even in hard times there’s a constant undercurrent of positive energy here. People genuinely love this city.

It seems they all showed up for Artisphere today.

From The Field: Abbeville’s New Logo

A year after branding the city of Abbeville, SC, we went back to see how it’s taking hold.