Every season has its attractions and unique vibe, but the summer is particularly appealing. Nature is alive and green and the sun is warm, providing the perfect landscape and climate for endless fun, family gatherings and opportunities to relax and drain some stress and anxiety from our complex, busy lives. Some might think watching TV is the antithesis of summer compared to being physically active, enjoying the abundance...

Kick off the week with these high-impact co-op deals your customers will love!
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One thing many get wrong is that they don’t do the work to master B2B sales. Instead of prioritizing the improvement of our craft, most go about their business without improving over time. At the time of this writing, win rates are abysmal, and it is the same for quota attainment. There are a number of reasons why sales organizations fail to improve their sales results.

In many ways, decision-making is the quintessential job of a leader. It is also the biggest driver of performance in business and in life. Researchers estimate we make nearly 35,000 decisions each day. Therefore, it’s critical that leaders embrace a decision-making process that reliably results in wise decisions.

Weekly Newsletter January 12, 2026

The Most Profound Change, Positive, meaningful change can seem to take forever, and then, during a single moment, we collectively take a giant leap across the divide., A spacecraft’s encounter with Pluto. The US Supreme Court rules that same-sex marriage is constitutional

There are two ways to describe what a sales manager does. One is to look at the outcomes they are responsible for creating. Another is to look at the individual tasks that deliver those outcomes. There are several things that make it difficult for sales managers to reach their goals, and much of their work aims to overcome these challenges.

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Understanding today’s consumers is crucial for brands, retailers – and media sales AEs. New niches of consumers are being added to the American “melting pot,” bringing their cultural influences, spending behaviors and media choices into the marketplace. New technologies are helping, such as NextGen TV, which will make it easier for local retailers, but especially minority businesses, to engage with neighborhood audiences who are more likely to buy their products and services.

New research reveals a striking paradox in retail AI adoption: while 97% of retailers plan to maintain or increase AI investments, only 11% feel fully prepared to deploy these tools at scale, creating enormous opportunities for local media sales professionals to serve as strategic AI implementation partners. The core barriers—fragmented customer data (58% of retailers), high perceived costs (46%), and limited technical expertise (35%)—are exactly the challenges that experienced local media professionals are uniquely positioned to solve for small and medium businesses. Retailers using unified customer data systems dramatically outperform others, using AI daily at twice the rate (60% vs. 29%) and in production environments nearly four times more often (35% vs. 9%). This represents a fundamental shift from selling advertising space to becoming AI strategy consultants who help clients consolidate data, automate marketing processes, and implement personalization at affordable scales. The businesses that will succeed aren't those with the most sophisticated technology, but those with the clearest implementation strategies and most practical approaches to measuring AI's impact on business outcomes.

Mary Wells Lawrence, the first woman to found and lead a major advertising agency, revolutionized Madison Avenue by blending theatrical flair with emotional storytelling. Her agency, Wells Rich Greene, created iconic campaigns like “I ♥ NY ” and “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz,” turning brands into cultural touchstones. She believed advertising should feel like cinema—bold, visual, and deeply human—and used style as both strategy and statement. Despite facing industry sexism, health challenges, and the eventual closure of her agency, she remained a mentor, a visionary, and a relentless advocate for reinvention. Her legacy lives on in every ad that dares to be bold and every woman who dares to lead with both brilliance and elegance.

The news media, including newspapers and news magazines, are often criticized for printing only the bad news. If they printed editions with coverage of their own industry, then they wouldn’t have much choice but to print the bad news because the good news for print media is difficult to find. There are a few sparks of life, however, and more so in magazines than newspapers, as the conversion from the physical to the digital version of print media continues albeit slowly.

Most sales leaders talk too much about new business development. The truth is: they would be better off yapping less about selling new customers and yapping more about growing existing customers. New call-to-action5 Selling Techniques That Grow Revenue Without Selling New Customers

Part 1 of this two-part Special Report focused on the current data and insights on consumers’ behaviors, perceptions and attitudes. Brands and retailers can’t develop, implement and manage strategies and tactics to “reach, attract, capture and retain” consumers until they understand how consumers think about the buying process and the path they choose for each unique purchase journey.

US manufacturers allocate approximately $36 billion to $70 billion, annually, as co-op funds for which many (if not most) local SMBs, dealers, retailers and advertisers qualify to add to their advertising budgets. Some brains are obviously not so clear about the value and availability of co-op dollars, and how to use them, because approximately $14 billion to $35 billion are never used.