Human beings have an attention span of 8 seconds. We don’t read anymore. We scan. Brands usually say too much. Cut your copy. Make your point. Quickly. Make things more visual. Get rid of anything unnecessary. Edit again. My 8 seconds are up. You get my point. The end. Having trouble trimming your message? […]
By Chris Hayes, EVP Brand Strategy We recently completed a brand “refresh” for a catalog client that involved redefining the brand’s position and updating its visual identity. At the end of the process, the client asked us an important question: should they keep their tagline as part of their new identity? Ask five branding experts […]
Then you must embrace change. As many of you know, I’m a HUGE Beatles fan. It’s an obsession, really. A sickness. I admit it. When I first heard “Paperback Writer” at the age of 8, I was hooked. The fact that their music is still as relevant today (to multiple generations) as it was six […]
Many catalogers today still approach their business as retailers first and marketers second. Retailers sell merchandise by focusing primarily on pricing and products. Marketers position their brands for success by introducing emotion into the mix. It’s easy to see why catalogers fall into the “price and item” trap. Consumers, when asked the reason for their […]
It’s frustrating to hear politicians talk about what they plan on doing, what their strategy is, how they’re more qualified to get things done…all without actually getting anything DONE! It’s just talk. They rarely execute any of these ideas. Unfortunately, this is also true of many brands today. Lots of great ideas, weak on execution. […]
In early May, British musicians Radiohead did the unthinkable: they lived up to their song title “How to Disappear Completely,” and erased themselves from the internet. Their website gradually decreased in opacity over the course of several hours, until it disappeared completely. Then, the band and its lead singer, Thom Yorke, removed all past posts, […]
J.Schmid President and Chief Creative Officer, Brent Niemuth, shows us that even while on vacation there’s always a branding lesson to be learned – How do brands that sell a commodity product or service separate themselves from their competitors (assuming the price is the same)? Need help making your brand stand out in a commodity […]
I recently came across an interesting study that looks at the power of brand from a little different angle. Anyone reading this is probably familiar with the concept of the placebo effect. The subject of countless articles, it was first defined over 60 years ago. It identified the important role that perception plays in physical […]
You only need to do two things to have a great website. 1). Make shopping your website as intuitive and simple as possible. 2) Tell the story of your brand and your unique selling proposition, without interfering with the above. Simple, right? Riiiiiiiiiiiight… In search of that elusive combination, I found three eCommerce websites that tell their story […]
