Tag: Brands + Marketers

Why follow one track only when you can combine the best of all worlds to maximize returns. This is how you build a real B2B brand that you can actually take to the bank.

Hardhat is an agency that works to marry the best of creativity with an understanding of the ins and outs of human behaviour. Here, Co-Founder Dan Monheit gives us an insight into how he uses psychology to fuel creative output.

As we look ahead to a new wave of winners and losers – yet to be decided in the post-Covid flux – businesses that walk the line between digital and real worlds may well come off the best.

Every decade or so there is a public service ad campaign so iconic that it defines the time in which it was made. The new ‘It’s Up To You’ campaign, aims to educate Americans about the COVID-19 vaccines and will almost certainly be the defining campaign for the 2020s.

Working with a nonprofit can be a powerful way for a brand or corporation to express its values around civic or social issues. Let’s digest what it really means to work with a nonprofit and how to make the most of it.

The business world is moving towards sustainability. The benefits are clear: you can help the planet and help your business. In fact, one-third of consumers prefer sustainable brands according to a report by Unilever.

A key goal for any business is brand loyalty. While one-off sales are always positive, it’s a loyal customer base and repeat business that truly sets a brand up for success.

Reactive marketing is the effort by brands to quickly produce content that responds to a current event, talking point or faux pas in a clever or thought-provoking way. It has roots in the newsprint advertising industry, but social media has been instrumental in its meteoric rise.

The way brands excite consumers may have changed due to the physical, in-person limitations of the pandemic, but it doesn’t mean people aren’t looking for ways to recreate the experiences they had with their favourites pre-COVID-19.

Competition in healthcare grows daily, with the digital marketplace more congested than ever before. Delivering cut-through in this space requires a strong brand, a robust marketing strategy and a class-leading customer experience.

Ads.txt, created in the summer of 2017 by the IAB to help publishers exert more control over their advertising inventory, and Sellers.json, released in 2019 by the IAB for buyers, are both well-intentioned and technologically well-designed. 

A recent Fortune article examined some of the eye-popping statistics surrounding the growth in eCommerce in 2020. Even as retailers across the world dramatically increase their online sales, Amazon remains the 800-pound gorilla in the marketplace.

Nicola Sturgeon is probably rubbing her hands together in glee right now. She’s pumped up, ready to take on Westminster with what she will no doubt argue is a renewed mandate for a second referendum.

Another year brings another year of new products. Once upon a time, queuing for the newest game console or camping outside a retail store for a pair of celebrity designer trainers was an unusual event.

Global competition is fierce. And, for new businesses, it can be intimidating. Whether your business succeeds or fails comes down to profitability (the amount of money remaining after all business expenses are paid). That’s the only way to build a sustainable business.

Gen Z is an enormous business prize:  this group is the biggest generation ever, estimated at 30% of the global population. As we know, they are almost constantly Fortniting, TikToking and Netflixing their way through the world.

While the last thing the advertising industry needs is another buzzword, re-orienting thinking toward a ‘strategic content partner’ approach embraces the best of in-house and long-term partnerships.

There is nothing like a pandemic lockdown to induce some much-needed introspection. For some, it manifested as a deeper focus on quality family time, rediscovering the outdoors, or picking up a new hobby.

The German market has a reputation for being a little slower to develop than other parts of the world, with a longer adoption cycle for new products/features, hesitancy to work with international players not based in Germany, and sensitivity around data privacy.

The TV landscape is in a state of transformation, as is the advertising that powers it. Applying our industry’s standard “shiny new object” lens to what’s happening in TV right now does the reality of the opportunity a disservice. Here’s why.

Working as part of an agency roster is tough at times, but it can equally be exciting. At Dog, we’ve had over 20 years of practicing how to navigate and get the best out of cross-agency partnerships and learned a lot along the way.

Investing in stocks, I recently found out, is hard. The silver lining to my failed day trading career is that I realized there are some striking overlaps between investing and brand strategy. 

It’s not often a news story unites so many diverse figures and groups across society. But from Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn and Prince William to football pundits, ex-players, current managers and rival football fans across the land, the world spoke up together this week against the newly proposed European Super League. And the answer was categorically, no.

Athletes, musicians, influencers, even business people of different stripes have curated their images in such ways that their successes can be viewed through the lens of successful marketing.

In this piece, we’ll take a look at some of the latest statistics on video marketing for 2021. By the end, you’ll hopefully see all that video can do for your business.

In my 20+ year marketing career, I have never encountered a product or service category that offers a more intriguing challenge than cannabis, and I seriously doubt I will encounter another.

Social media plays a very important role for businesses in almost every industry. It offers them several benefits from expanding their reach, to building a community and dozens of others. It gives you instant access to your customers and helps keep them engaged with your company.

The supermarket sector has remained front and centre during the pandemic, and 2020 proved to be a critical time for supermarket brands to stay in front of consumers.

With all the pressure to make an impact quickly, founders spend an incredible amount of time on the design of their slides. Less consideration, however, is usually spent on the words on the slide. That’s a mistake, especially when you only have 170 seconds.

The impact COVID-19 had on business rendered agencies’ strategic plans obsolete and disrupted their clients’ pre-existing marketing and branding roadmaps. After spending the past year scrambling for new business and adjusting to remote work, agencies finally have a little breathing room.

TV advertising and offline media budgets have yet to change much. The advertising budgets certainly haven’t fully transitioned into the digital arena as quickly as they ought to be to match consumer behavior migration.

While Google and Facebook’s dominance has long seemed insurmountable, the past two years have seen the rise of a third major online advertising player.

Branding is the way a business owner communicates his or her business’ identity to customers. It’s beyond what you sell; it’s your mission, company values, aesthetic, and tone of voice. It’s essentially how customers emotionally experience your company.

The parochial view of Amazon is they’re a high-volume store that struggles with thin profit margins. Water cooler stock experts marvel at its high stock price and crow about its measly profits.  Here’s some free advice: don’t listen to the arm-chair experts.

Looking into what 2021 holds for marketers, brands have a timely opportunity to embrace the growth of digital events–with a focus on fans as a keystone component.

I’m no Paula Radcliffe, as anyone who has seen me run can testify, but we’ve all been on a marathon over the past twelve months and I, for one, think the finishing line is in sight.

Going into 2021, it’s time for brands to reset and reclaim control of their destinies. 2020’s stop-gap solutions and quick pivots might have kept the lights on. But did they position your business for the long-term road ahead?

Agencies of all shapes and sizes were disrupted as the pandemic plunged our industry into the unpredicted territory. And while the experience has been humbling for us all, I’d argue it has gone a long way to showcase the strengths of the independent agency model and how they work with their partners.

Good branding is the foundation for all your marketing success, which is why so much effort goes into it. It’s important that your branding is memorable and constant across all channels and platforms, with one report finding that consistent branding increases revenue by 33%.

We spoke with Melissa Tischler of global creative consultancy Lippincott about her Principles for Driving Innovation-Led Growth, why brand is an essential input to innovation and how prioritizing innovation today can unlock growth for tomorrow.

The CNN town hall in Milwaukee gave President Biden a chance to “speak to the American people,” said a Marquette University professor. When Biden arrived in Milwaukee (February 16) billboards spoke directly to the President.

While the nation battles COVID-19, and vaccination rollouts seemingly remain disjointed and chaotic, it is likely that more eyes than ever will be watching the Super Bowl from their homes this year.

Scholars say the unblinking eyes of the Gatsby billboard observed the morality of the Roaring Twenties, perhaps a vigil of the Almighty. The omnipresent billboard also symbolized something more earthly: our deep cultural connection with out of home advertising.

Ever been able to recite a YouTube pre-roll ad or found yourself annoyed at a poorly timed pop-up? Then you know how powerful a presence advertising is across our digital experience.

Last year’s Super Bowl was the least-watched in a decade. In fact, Super Bowl audiences have been shrinking every season since 2015. And this year, the shadow of COVID-19 looms large. Social distancing necessitates a low-key stadium audience and means there will be far fewer viewing parties watching the game.

Getting customers for your brand’s products or services can be tough and staying in your target audience’s mind can be an even bigger challenge. However, the rewards are greater as well. Brands want to be the first business they think of when they’re looking for a product or service.

The word “unprecedented” has been used a lot to describe 2020. Only a few weeks into 2021 and it’s seeping into the new year as well. Yet, we’ve learned over the last several months that as people we are resilient and determined to find hope and optimism through it all.

Brand awareness has been at the forefront of priorities for digital marketing managers the last couple of years and has become even more important amidst obvious market changes. So what exactly does it take to achieve this?

Shifts in the environment have naturally created shifts in our psychology and behaviour, and it’s made the common phrase “‘you want what you can’t have” seem ever more poignant.

E-commerce took on even greater importance in 2020, so why are advertisers still focused on Facebook and Google?

Brand advertisers are understandably anxious about brand safety but there’s actually some good news on that front.

Misinformation and disinformation ran rampant in a year marked by a global pandemic, a U.S. election, racial unrest, climate disasters and an economic downturn.

I’d like to take you back to about ten years ago—when advertising was still “easy,” and you asked your agency to create a TVC. Both production and media budgets were solid.

These are challenging times for producers in the FMCG arena. Although Covid has had a detrimental effect on some industries, it has also been very positive for others.

The words design and creativity are widely misunderstood. If you were to ask people what they first think of when hearing them, they might say painting or drawing.

First and foremost, good memes often take a novel approach to media and typically break corporate creative norms. What’s produced by the average corporate design team is likely too polished and too reliant on thoroughly researched formulas to capture the right mood.

The most powerful takeaway was that the coronavirus is causing consumers to face a duality of competing thoughts.

For the third and final installment in our research series on consumer anxiety, we asked Americans about their holiday plans: How will they celebrate their traditions? Will they gather?

We are now at a point where technology is outpacing humanity.

Votes are expensive things to earn. It was neither Trump nor Biden who shone the clearest light on how to effectively market an election – it was New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a.k.a. AOC.

As part of your social media marketing efforts, you should be aware of the possibilities of mistakes that can damage your brand’s image. Taking steps towards prevention is always the best solution to protecting your brand in social media.

Today’s advertising triopoly is known — Facebook, Google, and most recently, Amazon. But a fourth player has remained inextricably linked to Facebook’s successes and position — Apple.