Charles Wagner

Charles Wagner
Charles Wagner

Senior Marketing Director and Copy Chief

With over twenty-five years in marketing and advertising, there are still ads that take my breath away, or make me think. I love this business, and I’ll never get tired of putting creativity to work for a client to bring a campaign or a website to life.

January 25 2012
2011 trends and Government and Marketing

What Politicians Can Learn From Marketers

by Charles Wagner on the topics of and and

Another Presidential election is less than a year away. The Democrats are backing President Obama, since the incumbent is usually a safe bet. Unfortunately, this means an unusually large number of Republicans spent most of 2011 wrestling endlessly amongst themselves for the chance to take him on in 2012. I’m not sure if this is the longest pre-convention tussle ever, but it sure feels like it, and I for one am happy it’s beginning to wind down. Still, the wrestling continues.

August 9 2011
Branding and Marketing

On the Power of Being Unique

by Charles Wagner on the topics of and

Everybody wants to be different. And everyone wants to do business with a company that stands out from the crowd. That’s why the Unique Selling Proposition, or USP, is at the core of every organization’s messaging. It's a simple statement, one or two sentences long, that explains to customers what it is you provide that sets your company apart from your competitors.

May 25 2011
Branding and Marketing

Why You Need Marketing When Times are Tough

by Charles Wagner on the topics of and

Whenever there is an economic downturn, many small companies think marketing is the first budget item that should be cut when times are tough and sales are down.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Many people make that mistake because marketing is usually the last thing a business adds to its toolkit as it grows. As a result, smaller businesses see marketing as some kind of luxury – as a drain on a company’s resources. After all, the company got along for the longest time without it, so why not just do without it again when budgets get tight?

April 22 2011
Branding and Marketing

Blessed are the Selfish and Cruel

by Charles Wagner on the topics of and

Even as a child, I was interested in advertising. There was a TV campaign (apparently a quite successful one, judging from how long it ran) for a cereal called Trix, featuring a large white rabbit who was addicted to this fruit-flavored cereal. The rabbit seemed like a pretty nice guy, really. He just loved the cereal and wanted some. But the children wouldn’t let him have any.

March 18 2011
Branding and Marketing

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility...

by Charles Wagner on the topics of and

Yes, I’m quoting Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben, from the comic book/TV series/movie series that follows the adventures of Spider-man™ as he protects New York City from supervillains. (Deal with it, readers, pop culture references are cool). Oddly enough, I’m surprised these bad guys haven’t figured out by now that a lot of America remains a superhero-free zone. Maybe instead of always trying to take a bite out of the Big Apple, these supervillains should find a nice city to terrorize out in the country, like Poughkeepsie, or Conshohocken, Pennsylvania?  

[ back to top ]