Musings about work, marketing and creativity
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Why Ideal Client Profiles (ICPs) Are Strategic Infrastructure
By Rachelle Kuramoto Over two decades directing brand and communications strategy across PR, digital marketing, and nonprofit engagements, I’ve seen many organizations initially undervalue the importance of an Ideal Client Profile (ICP). Too often, it is included as a useful detail for a GTM push or a paid social campaign, but not considered part of…
Where Data Meets Heart: The New Recipe for Guest Loyalty
By Annica Conrad How Fast Casual and QSR Brands Are Moving Beyond Discounts to Build Emotional Loyalty Through Smarter Data and Real Hospitality As restaurant marketers, we’ve long been told that loyalty lives in the numbers: points earned, redemptions made, offers clicked. Yet despite an explosion of loyalty programs and the adoption of sophisticated CRM…
Informed Storytelling: Marketing’s Brightest Idea
by Robert Rivenbark As corporate creative professionals, we must navigate shifting customer tastes, economic fluctuations, competitive pressures, technological advancements, leaner teams operating across multiple time zones, and frequent corporate restructurings. It’s all too easy in this atmosphere for creatives to dilute what’s essential to marketing success: informed storytelling. Informed storytelling bridges the gap between internal…
Marketing Leaders Must Keep Learning—Or Become Irrelevant
By William Koleszar, Chief Marketing Officer at American Family Care and Senior Research Fellow at The CMO Institute When the Playbook Falls Behind the Pace of Change The marketing function is undergoing its most rapid transformation in history. Artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, hyper-personalization, and automation are reshaping not only how we reach customers but how…
Navigating the Customer Journey
By Kevin Maufer The Customer Journey is a challenge and an opportunity! Customer Success must be attuned to the intricate paths customers traverse in their journey. Every milestone shapes their experience, impacts their satisfaction, and ultimately, their retention. Yet, amidst the successes, critical pain points demand attention and innovation. Bad Handoffs: The First Impression The…
Top 5 B2B Marketing Myths Busted
By Colleen Betsill Introduction B2B marketing often gets a bad rap, plagued by myths and misconceptions that can obscure the truth about the vibrancy and impact of good marketing. These myths can hold companies back from fully enabling their marketing teams so they can make a positive impact within the organization. Today, I’m here to…
50 Tips to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile
By Rachel Simon When preparing to meet with someone, do you look them up on LinkedIn? There is a high probability that you said, “Yes.” So flip that around. Do you think people are looking you up? If the thought of that makes you cringe a little because of the state of your profile, there…
What Brand Strategy Can Learn from Innovation Strategy
By David Yeend Ask six people what “strategy” is, you’ll get six different answers. But two well-established disciplines operate quite differently: Brand strategy practiced by ad agencies, and innovation strategy practiced by digital consultancies. With thirty years of experience across both sides, I’ve noticed some big differences. Brand strategists can steal some super-effective processes from…
Unfiltered and Unrivaled: Reddit as Your Marketing Strategy Lab
By Eric Sharpe The fear and anxiety of being dropped off at a mall by your parents is nothing compared to your first Reddit post. As a brand, you will be judged. It will be public. And it could be painful. But if you can figure out how to walk the walk and talk the…
Unlocking B2B Growth Through Social Media
By Jessica Levin In the digital age, the landscape of B2B (business-to-business) marketing has transformed significantly. One of the most powerful tools driving this change is social media. Traditionally seen as a platform for B2C interactions, social media has proven to be an invaluable asset for B2B companies seeking to engage, inform, and convert their…