The World’s Finest Blog
Do you remember Buddy saying in the movie “Elf”: “You did it! The world’s best coffee.” I love that movie, and as a marketer it is one of my favorite parts of the movie.
Aspirational marketing messages feature unrealistic references of beauty, success, love or fulfillment. Advertisers use hyperbole, exaggeration, embellishment and overstatement as easy code to communicate how brands stand out from competitive brands.
Otherwise, how could every retailer or auto dealer have the best price, best service and best selection? Someone has to have less stuff at higher prices. Right?
Advertising reaches in and finds that hopeful spot full of ambition to be better or have a better life. Many messages don’t break through the clutter. They don’t beat the sniff test. But what if you do want the world’s best coffee, where do you go?
When I wanted the world’s finest chocolate, it was being sold by a little kid for a school fundraiser. I bought a few bars. You know what, to me it was some of the world’s finest — especially the chocolate with caramel inside. 
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
