For 18 years, Park Howell has been the owner and chief storyteller of Park&Co, an advertising agency in Phoenix, AZ that exists to build movements that matter.
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Purpose-driven marketing made easier through new book: Good Works!
When people find out that I own an ad agency, they always ask, "What's your specialty?" "Are you an automotive agency? A health care marketing firm? Consumer products? B2B?" My answer often puzzles them. "We ignite the growth of people, products, companies and causes that dare to make the world a better place." We help companies dramatically grow their brands and bottom line by focusing on their higher purpose. A good example is our work with Lowe's and the Water - Use It ...
What marketers can learn from the freaks, cheats and familiars at Burning Man
Have you ever been to Burning Man: this 55,000+ burner event in Black Rock City, Nevada? If not, have you ever wanted to go? Or do you think like some folks do that it's just a self-indulgent orgy of hipsters parading around the Playa? Having never been myself, I've been fascinated by the draw of this gathering, especially as I've followed the growth of Oh, The Places You'll Go at Burning Man, a short film that, using the words of Dr. Seuss, ...
What stories are your customers making up about your brand?
Our brains are suckers for story. They'll take the most benign stimuli (like most powerpoints, car dealership commercials, and mission statements) and attempt to knit narratives from them in an exhaustive effort to make sense of the world. Here's a brilliant example: watch this one-minute film, created in 1944, and scribble down what you see. Show it to others and see what stories they create. Of the 114 test subjects in the Heider/Simmel study who saw this rudimentary film of crude geometric ...
How social media is humanizing corporations
Command and control. It is one of the lasting corporate legacies of the industrial age. But its grip is weakening. For 100 years, most American companies have approached corporate culture with a cold, mechanized hand. Just look at the Dilbert cartoons tacked to faceless cubicles, and you'll see the Post-it cries for help from the people caught in this dystopian world. However, like the famous quote from Jeff Goldblum's character in Jurassic Park, "Life finds a way." Online social media has been ...
Why we believe in the powerful healing properties of creativity
I was so inspired by Jim Stengel's new book, Grow – about the power of brand ideals – that it moved me to articulate our higher purpose at Park&Co. We have always believed that the finest brands strive for something bigger than themselves to help people lead greater lives. These are the kinds of brands we aspire to create, starting with our own. As we give a voice to survivors of domestic violence, help save our water supply, keep teddy bears out of landfills, create a ...