"Most of the Affluent Aren't Brand Conscious"

October 31, 2013 Steve Wellmeier

That was the headline of an October 29th online article in Travelmarket Report: Voice of the Travel Professional and it caught my eye.

The article was an interview with Ron Kurtz, president of the American Affluence Research Center. It is a quick read, but I’d like to pull out a few of the main points that Ron makes in the article:

Most of the top 10% of the wealthy are self-made millionaires with little in common with the rich and famous seen on TV.
Significant percentages of the affluent consumers are either ignorant of or scornful of luxury brands, including hotel brands.

Professional Therapy: Build a Wall

October 25, 2013 Steve Wellmeier

Winston Churchill at Chartwell in the late 1920s.

Walls get a bad rap.

President Reagan famously challenged Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987 to “tear down this wall” while standing in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. And, while not quite rising to the infamy of the Iron Curtain, the barriers that create dreaded “silos” in our corporate and not-for-profit cultures have also fallen into disfavor in recent years.

But walls and, more precisely, building real walls can be a good thing. Read on, and I’ll tell you why.

Capturing the Moment in Travel Marketing

October 17, 2013 Steve Wellmeier

USS Arneb, USS Glacier, USS Greenville Victory and D8 Hauling Sleds during Operation Deepfreeze Watercolor & pencil, December 31, 1955, Robert C Haun

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… — USS Arneb, USS Glacier, USS Greenville Victory and D8 Hauling Sleds during Operation Deepfreeze
Watercolor & pencil, December 31, 1955, Robert C Haun

You may wonder how getting an estimate on a new roof triggered this blog posting about the use of photos and other imagery in travel marketing.

Writers make weird mental connections all the time (at least this one does). The trick is to figure out if there’s a lesson to be learned or a worthwhile story to tell. But I guess we should start with the roof.