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Measuring marketing success – three articles to get you started
In marketing, defining success is a critical component to any campaign. And while it’s easy to ask the question, coming up with an answer can often feel like convincing a posse of teenagers to give up their cell phones for a day. (Translation – it’s hard. Real hard!)

Heed the dangers of tone-deaf marketing
The world of social media has led to some pretty amazing interactive campaigns. (See here, here and here for some examples.) But as marketers we know that “the internet” can also tear poorly-judged campaigns to shreds … and they can do so very quickly and VERY publicly. Ironically, the worst campaign can get just as […]

Is it time to get snappin’? How to figure out if your brand should be on Snapchat
Snapchat is different from other social media platforms because the app most accurately allows users to share real life experiences.

Confirmation bias in branding – did this prove what you already knew?
"Confirmation bias” results in some very real challenges for marketers – but it also presents an interesting opportunity in how you position your brand with your target audience.

Be more human
When it comes down to it, all marketing programs are ultimately geared towards people, or consumers, or target audiences…or whatever you want to call them. And in today’s marketing landscape, it pays off to keep that in mind.

What do Facebook “reactions” mean for marketers?
This feature also unlocks a big opportunity to not only understand what consumers are feeling, but why they are feeling it.

Track advertising ROI with UTM links and conversion tracking
There’s a famous quote in the advertising world by John Wanamaker, the first retailer to place a full-page ad: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

Remember – your audience thinks in a blink
If you’ve been around any of us long enough – especially the lovely Amy Behning – you’ve probably heard us say, ”Audiences think in a blink.”

Branding comes before marketing
Sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference between branding and marketing. The terms are increasingly used interchangeably, which only adds to the confusion. Both are important, but for different reasons. So what is the difference between branding and marketing?

Hit the emotional hot button for your brand
Practicality can play an important role in the decision-making process, but most of the time it is emotion that powers our decisions to act.

The lyrics (and statistics) of loyalty marketing
Many people think of loyalty and marketing as two different strategies. Marketing is often focused on bringing in new customers, and loyalty is all about keeping those customers coming back again and again. There’s a lot of evidence that building brand loyalty by marketing to your current customers is a strategy more likely to yield long-term success.

4 marketing and branding stories we think you should read…
From Cannes Lions to email marketing, it has been an intriguing month in the world of branding and marketing. Here are four stories that caught our attention: 1. Get inspired in Cannes This year marked the 62nd Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The festival’s awards are billed as the “global benchmark for what good creative […]