July 27, 2026
Good morning! Tomatoes are ripe! Earlier than ever. Keep your eye on that whole moon rising! I’ve been near forest fires, but I’ve never been trapped in the middle of one. (But, somewhat to my credit, I have been attacked by at least one bear and a dozen ravenous raccoons.)Our concern, sympathy, and support go out to our readers, clients, and friends in the Ely, MN area where there are more than 800+ fire fighters working around the clock to do the impossible. Unprecedented hot weather, drought, wind, and thousands of acres of dead and mature conifer trees combine for explosive conditions, not unlike gasoline.
- Twenty years ago, a friend — and current generous reader of these pages — taught me the difference between broadcasting and communicating.
- If asked, most broadcasters would claim to be communicating — and to be good at it, no less.
- But, as my friend taught me, communication is always evaluated by the receiver — and without a response or reaction, it’s probably broadcasting.
- I’ve heard rumors of it being ready, but so far no hard evidence.
- The corn, that is… the corn, the corn!
- The weeks of hot, hot weather have probably accelerated the growing and ripening time significantly.
- And now, we have 100-degrees (F!) in the forecast!
- We and our progeny combined have lived in at least 83 different geographical locations/ postal addresses.
- Significant? I don’t know where to find the comparative data.
- So, here’s the question: Will the recent futbol* soccer-mania dampen enthusiasm for U.S. – style football?
- We should all — including YT — rally behind, and support, the Minnesota Lynx. (Not the beast, but the team.)
- Opinion: A tsunami stemming from a major earthquake in the middle of a hurricane.
- That’s the reality of the student loan crisis in the United States as it continues to mushroom with no solutions on the horizon.
- In the last year, another 4,200,000 former (college) students defaulted, which happens when nine months of payments are missed.
- Full circle?
- Most readers won’t remember this — and the rest won’t believe it — but telephones used to be FREE, or at least they were packaged/ marketed in that way.
- Now, believe it or not, we MIGHT be returning to the practice of renting your telephone as opposed to buying it.
- Why? Well, there is money in it for someone — and slapping down $1,000+ for a telephone is now out of reach for most people.
- Re-enter the rent/ mortgage/ late fee era — and/or Ted Danson. (Morning Brew)
- “The only thing you absolutely have to know is the location of the library.” (A. Einstein)
- Emotional/ Psychological/ Social Health:“You’re not alone; it sucks for everybody.” (Chast)
- Head scratcher: Barely one-half of one percent of all new vehicles are equipped with standard transmission, or so-called stick shifts.
- Consider this: If all purchases were made via artificial intelligence, there would be no need for marketing beyond logic.
- Just the facts, ma’am, just the facts…
- Is there, factually, a BEST car?
- The experts tell us most purchases historically were influenced more by emotion than by logic — or at least emotion enveloped the decision like a fog or a mist.
- But, if artificial intelligence makes the decision — and IF all product qualities and characteristics are 100% the truth — all brands but the best might go off the shelf.
- “Nearly one-half of consumers already use an artificial intelligence-based search to guide purchase decisions.
- Artificial intelligence is changing customer behaviour so fundamentally that the campaign-era marketing model no longer works.
- Artificial intelligence-driven personalization can enhance customer satisfaction by ~18% and increase revenue by ~7%.
- Artificial automation MIGHT save a marketer 20% of her/ his time of task, but if that new time isn’t put to use, it doesn’t generate value.” (Stein, Etc., et al.)
- According to the Googles, Starburst is the #1 candy in at least 13 of the U.S. — in distant second place is Sour Patch, with Reese’s and Skittles tied for third. (Google Trends data)
- This is counterintuitive for me… none of those cracks my Top Ten.
- Quiz o’ the Day:
- What do these people have in common (besides the obvious)? John Denver — Carol Lombard — Glenn Miller — Will Rogers
I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love … (Yeats) [Do you know the context?]
