Branding Insights that Matter to Companies that Make a Difference

Big Philanthropy is a Bumpy, Thrilling Ride. Insights that Help Big Gifts Have Lasting Impact.

If you’re in the luckiest 1% of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99%. - Warren Buffet Barnaby Marsh is a renowned philanthropic advisor helping the world’s biggest philanthropists and philanthropic institutions create transformational impact. Over his 30+ year career, Barnaby has put billions of philanthropic dollars to work in making the world a better place and remains at the forefront of philanthropic innovation. Barnaby works closely with billionaires to help crystalize their philanthropic intentions, devise a philanthropic path for success and avoid common practices that lead to massive [...]

Humanity Needs Emotional Strength. Caretaker Brands Deliver.

“If you want to be a leader, you have to be a real human being.” - Master Nan Huai Chin, author, scholar, one of the most renowned lay Buddhist masters in Asia. A Pause Releases Opportunity The pandemic has caused everyone to pause, particularly companies aggressively selling or marketing their products and services. In pausing, many are reconsidering how to engage people and questioning historical practices in light of our new world. Some have even started to recognize that people need help, real emotional help to navigate, embrace and even thrive during this extended, challenging, upside down [...]

How Brands Fight Commoditization and Stay Relevant In A Changing World

Ready are you? What know you of ready? -Yoda New Rules Require New Brand Characteristics We live in an interconnected world of change where new ecosystem rules are starting to govern. This is a world where someone else’s “cause” is likely to create an “effect” on your business. Control is out of your hands and you are challenged to continually respond. How do you compete more effectively in a world overtaken by rapid change; where each day companies must confront the possibility of the obsolescence of their products, brands and the very industries in which [...]

Manage Your Fear to Excel and See New Possibilities

“Vibrate like a samurai, don’t tremble like a common man.” - Natori Masazumu Lucian James is a strategist, and one of my favorite modern thinkers. I’ve have had the pleasure of collaborating with him over the years and highly value his perspective and ideas. Bold, bright, empathetic and deeply insightful, Lucian has a powerful combination of clarity and imagination that is rare. He works with leaders of creative industries to simplify and streamline their work using a combination of strategic planning, mindset training and performance coaching. In particular, he helps clients to step up their game [...]

For Businesses and Brands, A Rare Opportunity For New Growth

"We have an opportunity to take something that kills .1% of us and make 99.9% of us stronger. Don’t waste it. A virus that kills millions, but serves as a wakeup call for billions? Is COVID-19 a vaccine?” -Mark Andreesen Breathe Deep COVID-19 is doing more than shaping a generation and leaving a mark. It is going well beyond a new normal or new abnormal. It is pushing people and humanity to a completely new state of mind and place, a world where ambiguity and uncertainty are the understood norms. A world where new possibilities are [...]

Real-Time Brand Building That Puts Your Brand in the Culture

"It is not necessary to do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results." -Warren Buffet Make Your Brand Fully Present: Seen, Felt, Discussed I have always been a fan of using out-of-home media to build brands, because it provides the opportunity for immediate visibility and a way to generate excitement and conversation. Digital out-of-home (DOOH) is out of home powered by Adtech– geofencing, tracking, retargeting, personalizing, attribution and measurement. With growing ad-free media consumption, it is an essential brand building tool to reach cord cutters and streamers. DOOH has the second largest reach after TV, is one [...]