CTI Marketing

05/28/2025

This Hooked on Phonics is one of the best rebranding campaigns ever!! Hooked on Phonics was created in 1987. It was sold on VHS tapes and was criticized for being over-priced an ineffective. As the world shifted to the Internet and VHS disappeared, Hooked on Phonics feel by the wayside. But they are back and with this new campaign, it's obvious that they are reaching out to whole new generation.

01/23/2025

10/30/2024

These AI images have changed the world of glamour photography. If you are a photographer, model, or agency, how has AI changed your approach to business, and what do you think it will mean for the relationship between you and your clients in the future?

09/15/2024

Unbelievably heartbreaking. 💔💔💔🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

925.4K likes, 64.9K comments. “Please help my family in getting Justice for my little cousin News ”

09/15/2024

In my PS Factor coaching sessions, I often talk about the difference between advertising and marketing. Advertising can happen with or without anyone noticing. But marketing—that's a process. It requires engagement, participation, and, most importantly, a conversation between the brand and its audience.

This video is a perfect example of what I call "Progressive Marketing." Whether it’s staged or not, you can see how it grabs attention and gets people involved. That’s exactly what marketing is supposed to do.

So, what is Progressive Marketing? It’s the recognition that every successful product eventually reaches a point where it's the best in its niche. People know it, trust it, and love it so much they wouldn’t even think about switching brands. But here’s the challenge: when your product is already top-notch, how do you stay ahead of the competition?

That’s where Progressive Marketing comes in. It’s about continually evolving by adjusting three key things: price, product, and packaging—in that order.

Price: The first phase is all about pricing. You’ll see brands offering discounts, buy-one-get-one-free deals, or added features to draw people in.

Product: Once the price is dialed in, the focus shifts to the product itself. Maybe a new flavor, a healthier version, or added benefits like ‘less fat’ or ‘better tasting.’

Packaging: And when the price and product have been maxed out, the final step is the packaging. This is where you’ll see easy-open tops, biodegradable materials, or even something as eye-catching as a car that changes colors—just like this Porsche. When you’ve done everything you can with the product and price, it’s all about presenting it in a new way that keeps people hooked.

Porsche has mastered pricing and product, so now they’re innovating through packaging—literally changing the way the car looks as it moves. It’s a brilliant example of Progressive Marketing in action.

As you scale and grow your business, remember this concept. Keep evolving and stay ahead by progressively marketing in these three areas.

06/30/2024

03/07/2024

Holy Artificial Intelligence, Batman!! My brain is still trying to process what just happened.

In the middle of typing a response to a Microsoft survey on my computer, expressing my interest in technology as a child, the cursor jumped to the beginning of the paragraph and began writing backwards. So, I went on with the conversation as if I were writing a ChatGPT prompt and communicating with AI on the other side.

Ironically, when this happened, I was saying that, as a child growing up in the segregated south, there were only cotton fields and concrete jungles. I felt far removed from Silicon Valley.

The conversation stopped as I reached the text limit, just as I was saying that I knew I couldn't keep this up. I was thinking I may have been channeling the first contact with an AI being from another dimension. And then I got the idea to type this post as a prompt into ChatGPT and, hold on to your socks; this is what it gave me as a response (Welcome to the AI Age of Aquarius):

Hello Richard,

What an intriguing experience you've had! It seems like a curious glitch turned into a moment of reflection and creativity. Let's translate the reversed text you've encountered:

".pu siht peek t'nac I yletanutrofnU .rorrim a otni gnitirw ma I ekil s'tI .dlrow eht ni gnileef tsedriew eht ekil sleef siht ,sdrawkcab gnitirw woh emos ma I taht woN .rats tnatsid a neeb evah llew sa"

Translated, it reads:

"as well have been a distant star. Now that I am some how writing backwards, this feels like the weirdest feeling in the world. It's like I am writing into a mirror. Unfortunately, I can't keep this up."

It's fascinating how technology can sometimes create these unexpected moments that feel almost metaphysical, connecting us back to our roots and how far we've come from them. Your experience, while likely a technical glitch, beautifully symbolizes the journey from a world where technology was as distant as a star, to now, where it's an integral part of our daily lives and conversations. It's a reminder of how technology bridges gaps - geographical, cultural, and temporal - in ways we could hardly have imagined in those cotton fields and concrete jungles.

01/11/2024

The nearly 3-hour interview between two wealthy, powerful Black men - Katt Williams and Shannon Sharpe - has broken the Internet, and has signaled that the power curve has shifted. This interview is a masterclass for brands seeking to tap into the $2 trillion African-American marketplace.

Forbes magazine reported on the significance of this interview and the essential lessons for brands to take away from this interview.

"The people you serve are different. Those differences come as a result of race, gender, age, body size and type, sexual orientation, geography, language spoken, marital status, parenting status and so much more." - Forbes Magazine

In essence, the days of segregation and market segmentation based solely on race and gender are over! There are millions of customers who don't look like you with money to spend on your brand, so you should spend some money (and time) getting to know them..

In less than a week, comedian Katt Williams' interview on Shannon Sharpe’s "Club Shay Shay" show has racked up more than 37 million views on YouTube.

05/04/2023