Before Fred Ehle was Vice President, Customer Strategy at McDonald’s US, he was at PulteGroup, the country’s largest new home builder, as VP Brand Management. Fred has also spent time on the agency side with strategic consultant stints at Prophet, Zyman Group, and VSA Partners, and 18 years as an Account Lead at DDB, FCB and Leo Burnett. You can reach him here:
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American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford
by Bryce G. Hoffman
This is a great story, regardless of your interest in business, it’s a page turner. Primer on culture change, leadership, overcoming adversity and the ability to look yourself in the mirror admit the truth and change. It’s also a demonstration of enlightened management: Mulally‘s great philosophy that when a mistake happens, let’s find out how to help that person or situation vs. cast blame. Everyone wants to be successful, they usually have obstacles in the way to keep them from achieving.
I follow Jim Stengel, the former CMO of P&G on twitter and have read his books. The idea that all successful companies have a purpose in addition to a mission is very powerful and relevant to today’s market.
Finally, in addition to AdAge etc. I read George Parker’s blog Adscam. I find him smart, funny and bringing a perspective to everything that reminds us that regardless of the idea du jour, the fundamentals still apply: we are in the business to sell things. Everything else is cocktail conversation.
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Feature header by the brilliant Jay Roeder. You can see more of his great work here. Portrait of Mr. Ehle by the scintillating Mike Caplanis. You can see more of his work here.
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