Brands obsess about attention, and for good reason. A fractured media landscape makes it harder to get noticed, especially with attention spans getting shorter. Yet too many ads are trying too hard, and nothing pushes someone away more than desperation. Why are we still subjected to digital ad units that pop up and make it...
As many of you are aware, I bought the advertising agency I had been President of for ten years in 2014 and changed the name to 78Madison. Early on, while there were changes to how we conducted business philosophically, there was not a major shift in approach for our staff or clients. But now, eight...
Strange question when it comes to the subject of marketing and creativity. But in short, the answer is yes! Unfortunately, most advertising agencies are not willing to endure the pain that it takes to end up in the right place on behalf of their clients. So, what is good pain? Good pain is not accepting...
An old advertising cohort and I used to go to lunch at Steak and Shake every Friday—back in the late 1980’s (ok, so I’m old) when in my humble opinion the franchise was under-managed, and the buildings were stuck in the 1950s. I remember thinking dozens of times; this is such a great product. What...
Recently we’ve been asked what Brand immersion is. In a sentence, Brand Immersion is the act of integrating your brand into your customer’s lifestyle – sort of what we are doing here with blogs. Over the past few years, it has become evident that consumers show preference for brands that engage them on an emotional...
The pandemic has been a wake-up call, wouldn’t you agree? While businesses have always been aware of the “unexpected” and the “unlikely”, today those terms should be part of your plan and forecast. For many businesses, it has been a season of pain, increased costs, and too many issues unresolved. For a few lucky others,...
When clients ask us to describe the most effective content that can be shared, I always give the answer “if you have the choice, tell emotional stories.” That answer is then followed up with the statement “Trust me, an emotional story will always leave a lasting impression.” From Dove’s “Real Beauty” and Procter & Gamble’s...
Think about any and every business that exists around the world. It’s daunting. There are so many brands, so many choices, so many claims, and so much clutter for consumers to navigate that the central challenge for any organization is to break through the clutter…to rise above the fray…to separate from the rest. Wouldn’t you...
I’ve been at this for 40 years and have met many people who I thought, wow, they are really, really smart, articulate and ask great questions. To that end I recently interviewed a candidate for an internship at our shop and was floored by the questions. Here they are, and my answers. WHAT INSPIRES YOU...
A content management system (CMS) is an application that is used to manage web content, allowing multiple contributors to create, edit and publish. Certainly an important component of your Marketing Technology Stack. Content in a CMS is typically stored in a database and displayed in a presentation layer based on a set of templates. The...