Why advertising can be important for law firms — and their clients
Posted On February 5, 2020
If you drive in Alabama or watch TV or listen to the radio, you have seen or heard an advertisement for a personal injury lawyer. They’re everywhere – on billboards, on the sides of buses, in newspapers and magazines, maybe even embedded beneath the lacquer on the tables in a favorite restaurant. Why are these types of ads effective? What’s the difference between such advertising, which is legal for attorneys to do, and solicitation, which isn’t? Our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” shared some answers to these questions. David Greene is the founder and… Read More
Categories: What's Working with Cam Marston
A gift from God? Or a Lucifer?
Posted On February 3, 2020
One of my joys is writing these weekly commentaries for Alabama Public Radio. They make me flex my creativity muscles. I’m very proud of the awards they’ve won and I’m deeply grateful the leadership at APR allows me to do them. I was disappointed when they told me this one was too controversial to broadcast considering the volatile relationship between public radio and the Oval Office today. Public radio wants to avoid their attention, and even my commentary might turn the wrong heads. So I post it here on my blog and on social media. Eager for your thoughts. And… Read More
Categories: Keeping It RealDissecting some Generation X cliches
Posted On February 3, 2020
What does it mean to be Generation X? Are we forever doomed to be the quintessential middle child, overlooked between the Baby Boomers and millennials? Are we the slackers described in the Douglas Coupland book that spawned the name? Are we the Forgotten Generation? Last year, the New York Times took a stab at defining Generation X by shooting down some long-held preconceptions about it. We’re not slackers, author Alex Williams says, and we were never cynical and disaffected. The oldest among us were in our mid-20s when the country pulled out of the mid-‘90s recession, and we actually had… Read More
Categories: Blog, Generation X
How to throw a party: Hanging out with the man behind the Hangout Festival
Posted On January 26, 2020
In a few months, some 40,000 people will converge on the beach in Gulf Shores for one of the biggest music festivals in the Southeast, the Hangout Festival. What does it take to put together an event of that size? It’s probably not surprising to hear that it’s more than meets the eye. Our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” can attest to that. As Vice President of Operations for AEG Presents Gulf Coast and Winter Circle Productions, Reeves Price is in charge of managing the Hangout Festival, from ticket sales to booking to hiring… Read More
Categories: Uncategorized
For selling whiskey, a bootlegger’s story helps, but the proof’s in the bottle
Posted On January 17, 2020
How important is a good story to branding? It certainly doesn’t hurt. In a crowded marketplace for whiskey, a great story helps set Clyde May’s Alabama Style Whiskey apart. May was a bootlegger who never sold a legal bottle in his life. But he was also an innovator who found a unique way to create a smooth finish even in batches that weren’t aged nearly as long as they are now. After May’s death, his family took the business legit and now we can all taste why people all over Bullock and Pike counties asked for May’s “Christmas whiskey.” May’s… Read More
Categories: What's Working with Cam Marston
How specialty milkshakes and a lot of work brought growth (and Mark Cuban) to The Yard
Posted On January 12, 2020
What does it take to win on Shark Tank? What does it take to create a successful business in the same space where others in the same industry have failed? Chelsea and Logan Green can answer both those questions. The owners of The Yard Milkshake Bar, our guests in the latest episode of “What’s Working With Cam Marston,” opened their first location just three years ago and now have franchises in four states with others in the works. Among their investors: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who bought a stake in their business after a successful appearance on the ABC… Read More
Categories: What's Working with Cam Marston
Is iGen the Impatient Generation?
Posted On January 9, 2020
“Take it slow and things will be just fine. All we need is just a little patience.” Axl Rose sang that back in 1989 on Guns N’ Roses’ second album. Some millennials weren’t even born back then, and iGen wasn’t thought of yet. Maybe if they had been, they’d be a little more open to his advice. The leading edge of iGen is entering the workforce, and they expect to move up quickly. The Wall Street Journal recently cited a survey by workplace-coaching firm InsideOut Development, which found that over 75 percent of iGen respondents believed they should be promoted… Read More
Categories: iGen, Workplace
The key to a happier new year: Gratitude
Posted On January 3, 2020
Gratitude is important. We have an entire holiday built around it (Thanksgiving isn’t just about turkey, you know). But how many of us actually give thanks on a daily basis? As we come to the close of another holiday season, Christmas 2019 and New Year’s 2020, we stepped away from the workplace to look at the concept of gratitude on a live holiday episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston.” Our guests in this episode are Columbia University psychology professor Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar, whose book Happier examines the importance of gratitude, and two Mobile residents who have gone through traumatic medical… Read More
Categories: What's Working with Cam Marston
The importance of zoos and doing one little thing to save the planet
Posted On December 30, 2019
Are zoos a good thing? Some people would tell you they aren’t, that they’re enclosing animals meant to live in the wild and putting them on display for our own entertainment. Joel Sartore would ask that you consider another angle. “The animals get abundant attention and care and they thrive and they breed,” said Sartore, a world-renowned wildlife photographer. “This is hugely important, because a lot of the species that we photograph don’t exist in the wild anymore. Zoos are the real arks. They contain these animals and they’re holding them and keeping them going until a time when we… Read More
Categories: What's Working with Cam Marston
What millennials want: Food trends for the largest generation
Posted On December 23, 2019
Want to feed millennials? Here’s what you need to know. Forbes recently published a list of food-related trends for millennials, and if you’re a restauranteur or grocer who wants to stay in business, it’s probably advice worth heeding. Millennials not only represent the largest sector of the workforce now, they represent the largest sector of adults. These are your customers. You’d better know what they want. So what do they want? For starters, less sugar. Many of us, actually – not just millennials — are looking for any and all ways to cut it out of our diets for reasons… Read More
Categories: Advertising, Generation Y / Millennials