Before you sign off on your 2024 marketing plan, pressure test it by checking to make sure it has your customer at the center. Your customer should be at the heart of what you do. Whether it’s signing a new business partnership, choosing keywords for an email newsletter, or building your product roadmap, your first step should be making sure the decision is good for your customer. That means you need to understand your customer. How…
Words matter. People connect with a brand when it demonstrates empathy and offers a solution that meets their lifestyle. Brands use words and visuals to communicate. My crude stick figures preclude me from preaching about visuals! My love for and experience writing does enable me to provide tips for effective written communication :). Before I share fun examples of savvy marketing messages, here are tips to create effective messaging: 1. Write for a specific target audience. 2….
I’m often asked by clients how to communicate news, good and bad, to employees, customers, and partners. The answer can be summarized in one sentence: be honest, and true to who you are. Two recent events are great examples of the power of being candid with your stakeholders. Real Life Example #1: The NFL When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field a couple of weeks ago during Monday Night Football, National Football League executives…
Really understanding your customers is fundamental to realizing the greatest return on investment from your marketing and advertising. Here are five hacks to uncover insights that enable you to connect with them. Hack No. 1: Conduct primary customer research. You need to hear from your most loyal customers, your least loyal customers, your newest customers and your most profitable customers. Call them. Better yet, engage a third-party research firm to interview them. A third-party firm will…
I started my career working at some of the best ad agencies in the world. Then I switched to the “client side” where I engaged numerous advertising, digital, and public relations agencies. I’ve learned a few things that enable me to help our clients hire the right agency, produce the best outcomes, and create long-lasting relationships. Unfortunately, many clients have come to Viva La Brand with stories of failed agency relationships. These failed relationships are stressful,…
We’re back at it. Providing you with a preview of this year’s Super Bowl ads that are likely to generate the most buzz, and arming you with fun insider knowledge on how the sausage was made. THE PREVIEW: It was a challenging year for advertisers to decide how to play due to COVID-19. Unlike sales of commercials for past Super Bowls, this year’s ad inventory didn’t sell out until January 27th. Celebs including Mindy Kaling, Jimmy…
[4 minute read] Ready for advertisers’ biggest night of the year? The Super Bowl ads that air on Sunday will go viral, make us laugh, and may even win Emmys. Last year, 111 million viewers watched “the show”. The next biggest event was the Oscars at 33 million. Be in the know on Sunday with these 8 fun facts: Fact #1: A steal at $5 million. A 30-second spot in this year’s edition of the…
Cleveland-based brand strategy firm is retained by decantU, the Wine & Wellness Experience firm. Viva La Brand, the Cleveland, Ohio-based brand strategy and ad agency search firm, has been selected to help lead the brand development and marketing strategy for decantU, the host of interactive wine & wellness experiences. decantU Founder, Meredith Griffin, started her career as a sports performance coach and college wellness instructor for Maricopa Community Colleges. With a passion for wine and…
You manage your finances. You manage your business. What about your personal brand? What do Oprah, Richard Branson, Sheryl Sandburg and Ellen DeGeneres have in common? It’s not just wealth, millions of Twitter and Instagram followers, and countless endorsement deals, it’s also a mastery of personal branding. Personal branding isn’t just for the rich and famous. Everyone has a personal brand. As Tom Peters, management consulting guru and the inventor of the phrase “Personal Brand”…
The NCAA dominates the month of March with the college basketball tournament. The highly promoted event isn’t just huge for sports fans. Marketers from all industries use this cult-like attraction as an avenue to catapult their brand visibility. March Madness offers brands a center-stage platform for integrating themselves into the tournament through paid ads in online and offline media outlets, social media conversations, branded placements, and experiential events. March Madness is a business – a…
