We believe every great brand is a spiritual experience. A movement. A brand is the only place in business where your inner world is experienced by the outer world. For too long, we have accepted the belief that these worlds are supposed to be separate. We say no. When these worlds are kept separate, dissonance occurs. Identity crises emerge. Leaders drift from the mission. Employees feel ...
Planning for 2021 is foolish: Question instead
A plan is a method for achieving an end, so says Merriam-Webster. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that relying too heavily on the solidity of your plans is foolishness. Defining yourself by your adherence to a plan subject to the current volatility of our world can leave you feeling disappointed, jaded and cynical -- and cause you to operate from a defensive or a defeatist ...
Want to be a great marketing leader? Build a great team! An Interview with John Hardesty
On October 1 at 2p CT, we will be visiting with John Hardesty on our "Being Marketers" webcast. Here is a sneak preview of our discussion. Q: Who are you and what do you do? John Hardesty, Chief Brand Officer at VShred Q: What do you love about marketing? The ah-ha moment when a user connects to the value of your product in their life -- the creative reveal of that ...
The Evolution of a Growing Mission-Based Brand
By Jennifer Lawhead Jennifer Stevens built her company, JHL, around her own credibility and reputation. Jennifer was the brand. Her public relations client list grew as she landed high-value media placements on behalf of her clientele over and over again. As she began planning more events, Jennifer quickly became Austin’s go-to event planner, overseeing some of the community’s biggest ...
How do I do biz dev now?
Even as we’ve settled into routines around working remotely, meeting virtually and supervising online learning, many of us still seem stuck when it comes to how to carry on doing business development. More than once recently we’ve heard the exasperated frustration, “I used to go to lunches and happy hours and events! Now I can’t do any of that, so how do I still do biz ...
3 Unexpected Ways to Share Your Story
By Jennifer Lawhead The biggest mistake I see businesses make with storytelling is they put it in a box. That box is assigned to the marketing team where they are responsible for caring for the stories and sharing them as they see fit. Why this is a mistake, you ask? After all, isn’t storytelling the job of the marketers in the building? No. No, it’s not. It’s a responsibility that ...
Why is marketing so hard right now?
Branding and marketing have never been easy. But throw in a pandemic, social and political unrest and a recession and that will complicate things a bit more. So no shame from us if you went into hunker-down mode. We get it! But we would also challenge you to consider this: the world needs you and your brand right now. So maybe it’s time to re-emerge. Maybe the reason it was ...
Bored of Marketing? Have More Fun! An Interview with Misty Megia
Q: Who are you and what do you do? I am Misty Megia, I am a CEO/Creative Producer and Business Strategist. Q: Do you have any nicknames you care to share? The only nickname I've heard people call me is Sunshine, which I will gladly take ;) Q: What do you love about marketing? I love the creative world of marketing and figuring out the solutions to consumer problems. I love the art, ...
When You Brand from Your Beliefs, Marketing Execution Reveals Itself
Sara Hertrampf, Sales & Marketing Manager, looked around in amazement at a packed house in October 2019. Filling the Alpine Communications event were business owners, community leaders and economic development champions throughout Iowa. As she marveled at the connectivity happening among local influencers before her eyes, she couldn’t help but remember a time when Alpine Communications was ...
Branding is Still a Performance
Authenticity. Vulnerability. Transparency. Being more human. These are the standards of a modern brand. Branding is still a performance, and a powerful one. But it’s not a performance built on pretense, on flimsy supposition or shallow projection. It’s a performance that rises from truth, integrity, and genuine emotion. It’s a performance because you, as a brand, always have an audience. ...
The Marketing Metric That Matters the Most
By Jennifer Lawhead When I was 16-years-old, I gave a friend a piece of advice that I don’t remember. How do I know it actually happened, you may ask, since I can’t recall it? I know because, 20 years later, sitting at brunch, the same friend told me something I said in a fleeting moment, for me, was something she’s carried with her, for years. At the time, my outgoing and ...