Hello and welcome to my blog!

My name is Patrick Di Chiro, and I am the founder and CEO of THUNDER FACTORY, an integrated marketing firm headquartered in San Francisco. In this blog, I examine the convergence of marketing with technology, culture, politics and the global economy. If you like what you see, please spread [...]

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First, congratulations to President-elect Barack Obama. Regardless of who you voted for, you had to be proud to see the new President-elect up there on the stage in Chicago last week with his incredible wife Michelle and the cutest two first kids ever, Sasha and Malia. What a great day for America, and for the world, too.
In the long list of [...]

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As proud as I am about my chosen profession of marketing, I would not immediately say that it typically has a “higher purpose.” A former client and now good friend once defined marketing like this: “It is the management practice that aims to sell more things to more people at a higher profit.” Sounds about right to [...]

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Ad Age editor Jonah Bloom delivered some excellent remarks to the recent meeting of the Council of PR Firms (made up mainly of larger PR agencies). The theme of the Council’s meeting was “The Most Dangerous Ideas About the Future of Public Relations.” Mr. Bloom talked eloquently about how PR people should be a lot [...]

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I would be willing to bet that the most common element found in corporate vision/mission statements and values lists is “customer focused.” While that is a very good thing, I would argue that the priority focus of companies and brands should be employees – internal audiences.
First, let me admit that the very first item on my [...]

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