Whether we like it or not, Christmas is all about giving and receiving gifts. We just can´t escape it. Some people start hunting for the best gifts as early as in July, keeping a secret stash of goodies hidden in the bottom of their closet. Other people (read: the most of us) are not…

You have probably heard people say that social media is free. Why do traditional marketing, when you can take advantage of social media and promote your brand? Literally without spending any money. Well, social media is free. To establish business accounts on, for example Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, is free. It is also free…

  Dear readers and colleagues,   To continue my previous discussion about design in business, today I will write about another aspect of design, which I find very interesting – design thinking. You may hear about it somewhere but might not be entirely sure of what it really means. In this short blog text, I…

In the late summer of 2009 I was leaving my home country of Romania for what I thought would only be a fast but intensive Master of Science (MSc). At that time, I had just finalized my bachelor’s degree with a specialization in marketing and I was working in strategic brand consultancy. For my Master…

Imagine that you, as a destination marketing manager, have a crystal ball where you can see where the visitors have been, where they are at the moment and where they are going. What a tool for planning and development – transportation optimization, overtourism mitigation, safety and security issues and tourist experiences facilitation – we are…

Boards of Directors at large companies ponder more and more often, whether to hire a CEO with marketing background. Companies’ owners and Nomination Committees, in turn, are considering whether to appoint more Board Members with marketing expertise. A recently published study on U.S. stock exchange listed companies (S&P 500) provides interesting answers and insights to…

  In the end of my second year of doctoral studies, I was accepted to present my working paper in an academic conference, for the first time. The conference to which I was accepted was the 2018 National Conference in Sales Management in San Diego, California. I was very excited to have been accepted to…

In our everyday lives we all have activities that we love or hate to do: Cleaning our homes, playing tennis or commuting to work. Thus, we might say that we have ongoing relationships with these activities. However, traditionally marketers have not thought in these terms. Rather, they have often understood consumer’s activities in terms of…

The definition of poverty was the outcome and discussion theme during 2009 conference on Chronic Poverty, at Manchester University in UK. While seemingly important theoretical questions were addressed, and highly interesting econometric results presented, the conference itself was, and 10 years of research a priori this closing conference, a place of yet more reports but…

  Imagine yourself a massive lover of chocolate, enjoying several chocolate bars every day. Your high-sugar diet starts causing you health problems and you visit your doctor, who tells you that your current diet of excessive chocolate consumption puts you at high risk for worsening health problems, with a high risk for a heart attack…