On the heels of the Desirability Series we have two related articles:

1.  This first piece is by Lester Wunderman, one of the “fathers” of Direct Marketing (so many fathers, so little time).  To me, it’s significant Mr. Wunderman would feel the need to come out and provide us with his definition of Engagement, at least as it relates to Advertising.  If he didn’t see Engagement as an important idea thrashing around looking for clarity, why bother?

His statements are necessarily broad I think, because he’s coming at it from the top level, the Strategic Layer, and in doing so has to cover a very wide range of industries and media.  Nonetheless, if you take the time to really read what he’s saying and think about it, he’s setting up a new kind of approach to Advertising similar to what I defined here.

Here’s the article link:
Engagement – A New Information-Based Form of Advertising

2.  In contrast, I’m not sure whether Roy Young is the “father” of anything but he is the President of MarketingProfs.com and coauthor of Marketing Champions: Practical Strategies for Improving Marketing’s Power, Influence and Business Impact – something I talk about a lot.

His topic:  Silo Busting, which is so critical to really driving a customer-centric Strategy.  Roy provides 5 solid tips on how to get started if you want to Take Action on Desirability.

Here’s the article link:
Five Tactics for Busting Silos in Your Company