The other day a mouth-watering email from a local specialty butcher caught my eye. Enchanted, I scrolled through delicious how-to videos of brined pork chops, learning to reverse sear, carve and stunningly plate a gigantic two-bone chop. This was an email that did its job. I dreamt about that chop – but not just the…

Brand design trends that once worked to tantalize clients aren’t connecting the way they did before the world was ravaged by COVID-19. As people around the world look to shake off lockdown fatigue, my job as a strategist is to figure out how to shift the look and feel of outdated designs so we can…

I got vaccinated the other day. My first poke. 80 per cent protected and a glimmer of light on the horizon. And then boom. Our province makes headlines around the world for being the most COVID-riddled place to live and breathe in North America.  Lockdown. The idea brought some relief on a rainy May evening…

It’s been a minute. It’s been a lifetime. In fact, it’s been a year. And what a year it’s been.  In January 2020, before most of us in Canada had even acknowledged the idea of a worldwide pandemic, I met with my longtime friend and colleague, Jo Williams, and we reflected on the pressures of…

Through the last three months we’ve been consulting experts to help our clients and readers understand the immediate and long-term impacts of COVID on brands and business operations. This week, I called on Ken Boessenkool, independent public policy economist, to talk about how public confidence is impacting the economy. Public confidence and the COVID economy…

“A few short weeks ago … most of us went about our days making a series of low-impact decisions and not thinking twice about them. Bacon-egg-and-cheese sandwich from the cart outside the office for breakfast? Don’t mind if I do. A quick road trip to see your grandma upstate? She’ll be so happy to see us! Getting together with…