darbyDarnit! - Petri Darby - writer, brand marketer, storyteller, speaker

Hate groups co-opted Finland’s brand identity – here’s how the country can reclaim it

Somehow I missed this 2014 Fast Company article about how Finland’s most well known icon, a crowned lion brandishing a sword, was co-opted by an extreme right-wing white nationalist group, despite me being both a Fast Company subscriber, and a…

adminJune 9, 2016June 21, 2016 branding, issues/crisis management No Comments

Which guy do you want to be?

My dad and I used to run races together when I was in high school. At the finish line of one 10k, a radio station van was blaring tunes while racers grabbed some post-race food and ate at picnic tables. At…

adminApril 8, 2016 branding No Comments

Inbound Marketing vs. Outbound Marketing – how balanced is your marketing mix?

“We need to stop interrupting what people are interested in & be what people are interested in.” – Craig Davis, chief creative officer, J. Walter Thompson Worldwide Marketing history is paved with one-way interruptive experiences – also known as outbound marketing:…

adminNovember 9, 2015March 29, 2016 advertising, marketing No Comments

The Power of Great Headlines

I saw this on a sign outside an auto shop: We Fix $99 Brake Jobs. It doesn’t always take a lot of words to justify your higher prices or to solidify your position in the marketplace versus your competitor’s.

adminJune 17, 2015October 1, 2015 advertising No Comments

How the rumor mill works, and how to manage it

Several years ago, a student carrying a rifle and wearing a Fred Flinstone mask at St. John’s University in Queens was subdued by another student and a security officer. The school immediately went on lockdown and text messages were sent to…

adminJune 17, 2015February 5, 2016 issues/crisis management No Comments

The Key to Crisis Management Often is to Get People to Do Nothing

A couple years out of college, while working as an account executive at an Arizona public relations/public affairs firm, I helped spearhead a public relations campaign related to the first proposed and privately built toll road in Arizona (the project…

adminJune 17, 2015February 5, 2016 issues/crisis management, media relations, public relations No Comments

What’s Driving Your Website Traffic? 6 Steps to Create a Website Dashboard

Do you know what’s driving spikes in your website traffic? Or increases in website sales or donations? You probably get the same questions other marketers do from colleagues or executives: “Did that PR launch drive website visits?” “Did we see…

adminJune 17, 2015February 5, 2016 analytics, website No Comments

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Tracking Website Engagement

In Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” a computer known as Deep Thought spent seven and a half million years contemplating the great Question of Life, the Universe and Everything. Seventy-five thousand generations passed before Deep Thought revealed…

adminJune 17, 2015February 5, 2016 website No Comments

Keep the Content Beast Fed by Scaling Your Brand Storytelling

Your website, social media presences, and other marketing and communications channels are like teenagers – they’re always hungry. “What’s for breakfast?” “What’s for lunch?” “What’s for dinner?” “I need a snack.” “Where’s the dessert?” You feed them, then they burn…

adminJune 17, 2015June 2, 2016 brand storytelling No Comments

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