John Lane

Watching TV as a kid, I used to run to the bathroom during the shows so I could make it back for the commercials. Those days launched me down a path that included layout and writing for the college paper; communications strategy for political campaigns; marketing strategy and graphic design for Gensler (a global design and architecture firm); and the implementation of new programming, animation and design techniques for Centerline.

Today I specialize in content marketing strategy and building digital deliverables to execute those strategies. But it’s about more than just creating killer digital content. At Centerline, we help clients succeed in the digital marketplace using a three-pronged approach: strategic (message creation, brand strategy), tactical (design, development), and analytical (measurement and adaptation). This experience-tested approach allows me to build campaigns that are both well-designed and effective for clients like IBM, GE and Quintiles.

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Marketers: Steer Right Along Consumer Desire Paths

Performance Marketing

Desire paths are a concept born in the physical world. You see them in places where there is a nicely planned path of travel — like a paved walkway through [...]

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‘Killing Marketing’ to Save It

Performance Marketing

The book "Killing Marketing," the latest from Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose, says this: “We must kill marketing that makes a living from accessing audiences for short bursts of time [...]

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Zooming In, Zooming Out: 2 Ways to Better Understand Audience Data

Media

I truly admire artists like Keith Haring. He created an iconic style that’s known across the world — even by people who don’t know the artist’s name. And when I [...]

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Zooming In, Zooming Out: 2 Focal Lengths for Better Audience Understanding

Performance Marketing

Instead of a scientist measuring a particle, imagine you’re a marketer and the red dot is your audience. You really want to know who they are, so you try to [...]

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Straightforward Steps to Achieving Empathy

Performance Marketing

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. In marketing, empathy is the code word for understanding your audience’s needs, desires and communication preferences so well [...]

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Improve Marketing Personas by Getting Lean and Iterative

General

Many marketers have adopted the idea of personas — or cohorts, or profiles — as a way to better understand their audiences. And that's a good thing. But far too [...]