As we begin a new year, the 78Madison team, among other things, has begun to think about what our blog strategy will be for 2024. Believe it or not, “what to blog” is one of the most common questions asked, particularly at the beginning of a new year. Sometimes it’s a fleeting moment of writer’s...
Every December my wife and I watch the 1954 movie classic “White Christmas” with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye (music by Irving Berlin). In a nutshell, the guys put on a Christmas show bringing their old Army unit to Vermont to surprise their former commanding officer (now a struggling innkeeper – played by Dean Jagger)....
Growing up, Thanksgiving was always my favorite holiday. There’s great food and you get to spend quality time with friends and family. But some aren’t so into it, and they always ask me “but why? What is so special about Thanksgiving?” So I put my list together. THE PREPARATION Now this will come across as...
Here is a marketing truth: existing customers innately have more value than one that requires being won over. The fact is, you either have customers or prospects. One is committed to your brand, and one is not. Yet it feels like businesses continue to dedicate more time and attention to the notion of winning new...
Your shoes are the first thing people subconsciously notice about you. I guess that means we should wear nice shoes. I’ve got to be honest; I never look at a person’s shoes. If you sit for more than 11 hours a day, there’s a 50% chance you’ll die within the next 3 years. A little...
In the business and marketing world, we’ve all heard the phrase “sense of arrival”. It’s the portion of the overall customer journey that most companies are laser focused on. But is that really the best method by which to create a customer for life? When you think about it, there is not much that is...
As I enter the 45-year mark of this amazing business called advertising, it seems like we have lost so many of the fundamentals that made this industry so powerful, starting with the art of listening. An incredibly important skill for success in the advertising agency business, and yet we seem to have become such poor...
I was reminiscing about the good ole days in the advertising agency business with a friend who like me got their start on Madison Avenue in New York City. Both of us continue to run advertising agencies some 45+ years later, but the paradigm shift in our industry is mind-blowing when you think about it....
I was fascinated by a recent national study that indicated most CEOs feel their brand(s) needed to take a stand on social issues, even though less than a third of consumers want to see politics in marketing – and pretty much the opposite of what every agency seems to be telling its clients. Curious don’t...
Over the years, 78Madison has built quite a few websites – big and small – and has routinely been asked how we go about building the perfect website. In other words what process do we go through if there were no barriers in the way. First and foremost, designing and building a great website involves...