As 2018 came to a close and I archived my work for the year, it quickly registered that more B2B catalog pages moved across my desk last year than B2C catalog pages. A lot more. Catalogs play a critical role in B2B marketing in all the same ways they work in any consumer marketing mix. […]
We took a holiday hiatus here at J.Schmid. It was a chance for everyone to take stock of what’s happening outside the office and connect with family and friends. The extra time also provided the opportunity to dive deeper into news, podcasts and movies, and to generally get out more. Now, I’ve understood for a […]
Well, it’s a new year and, according to the experts, retail in 2019 will be driven by new technologies and evolving consumer attitudes and preferences as buyer demographics continue to skew younger. It’s both new AND old news, in that we hear some version of this every year. However, that’s because it’s true. Marketers who […]
What’s worth more than topline sales? Ask J.Crew, who just killed two of its fashion brands and accepted the resignation of a CEO who was successfully turning around a sales slump. What the heck? Why let someone who was successfully driving the biggest sales increase in 5 years go? To understand, first you need to […]
T’was two weeks before Christmas, and all through the night The CMO was thinking “What can we do better? What are we doing right?” A Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is the person who sits up at night worrying about the customer journey and brand messaging – especially in the weeks leading up to Christmas. The […]
People don’t like to be sold to. Too many brands only sell; they only try to convince people to buy, buy, buy. But that’s not what customers want to hear. If you want to connect to people on a more emotional level, tell them your story. Tell them what you stand for, where you came […]
It occurred to me the other day while I was noodling email subject lines (trying to eke out another 1 or 2% increase in open rate) that even if I was successful, it would only lead to a fraction of a percent of click-through improvement. We tend to call email marketing “consumer direct,” but really, […]
Lee Clow is a titan of the advertising industry, an undisputed creative heavyweight. As the global director of media arts at TBWA/Chiat/Day, he channels one of the most inventive minds the industry has ever seen. Steve Jobs brought him in to revolutionize the creative for Apple … twice. Oh, and Clow just happens to be […]
There’s an old saying in marketing: never mix branding and politics. It’s good advice, as mixing the two is usually a zero sum game. No matter what position you take, it’s likely that just as many people will agree as disagree. And yet, every day, more companies are wading into the political and social waters. […]
