My business travels have taken me to one of my favorite places, Vancouver B.C., Canada. Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you, it’s one of my favorite places to be. Before leaving Denver, a member of our team suggested I visit a place called Caffe Artigiano. They have several locations in Vancouver but as luck would have it, there was one just a block from my hotel. These folks totally get the value of brand. They offer a true coffeehouse experience, differentiating themselves from the rest of the pack. What brings their brand to life?
May 4, 2009 | Jeff Cohn
Today, My Suit Spoke to Me
Walking into the annual Colorado Business Marketing Association Gold Key Awards last week, I felt something in the breast pocket of my brand new Hart Schaffner and Marx (HSM) suit purchased just for the occasion. I reached in the pocket and there was a little slip of paper, not much larger than an open matchbook. Printed on the paper were these words:
“It took 121 people a total of 233 hours to complete this garment. We almost hate to let it go—wait…wait…we said almost!” —Isabella.
May 1, 2009 | Steve Chitwood
Synergize Your Search Marketing
With limited budgets, high expectations, and short timelines, marketers are increasingly looking toward online channels to build their brands, acquire and retain customers, reduce costs, and capture any remaining trickle of available revenue the recession hasn’t evaporated. The quest for the best online investment of the precious marketing dollar often leads to search marketing and is met with confusion. What is more effective: optimization (SEO) or paid search (PPC)? The answer is simple: Yes.
There is no doubt that a well-optimized website and a dedicated effort to continually manage and expand the effort yields results. High natural or organic rankings can produce almost magical results; but a #1 organic ranking in Google, the holy grail of search marketing, is nearly as difficult to achieve as the one sought by Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, to say nothing of the effort to keep it.
April 28, 2009 | Robin Lybarger
A Brand’s Reputation Can Be Severely Damaged In Seconds
As evident from 10,000 tweets an hour about the Swine flu outbreak to Domino’s video fiasco, brands can no longer turn a blind eye to managing their online reputation. What does this really mean? Well, in simple terms listen, learn and engage in the conversation. Sounds straightforward, right? It can be if brands are properly using social media channels. To be honest, we remain astounded at how many companies are still “watching” the online space versus beginning to maximize it for building their brand, interacting with consumers and managing a crisis situation in real time, before a situation gets out of control.
April 25, 2009 | Steve Chitwood
Using Analytics to Increase Online Marketing Effectiveness
Tom Davenport, the noted Babson College and Harvard Business School scholar, has written extensively on how companies that effectively employ analytics to leverage business intelligence data into fact-based decisions can build a competitive advantage. His team has researched large organizations such as Proctor & Gamble, Bank of America, Wachovia, and Harrah’s, and makes some points that translate well to businesses of all size and the importance of capturing and, more importantly, using analytics data.
