Start-ups are teaching larger organizations some lessons, but are they listening? By the time some organizations finally schedule a meeting to decide who should study an upstart’s new product, the small company has already released its next version. Act now. Tweak later. These are the days of “minimum viable product” or MVP. MVP is a strategy used for fast and quantitative testing of a product. The idea is to get a “good enough” product in…
MAKE YOUR CUSTOMERS’ BUSINESS YOUR BUSINESS By Laura Sheridan When was the last time you talked to a customer about their business, not yours? Can’t recall? Here are three reasons why these calls are great for your business and four easy steps to get started. Why should you make the call? Reason No. 1: Turn a transaction into a relationship. A lot of us aren’t very good at listening. Just stop and observe. You’ll hear…
Groupon recently unveiled a service that features premium deals on high-end brands and restaurants. Groupon Reserve has dining deals and will add travel, entertainment, and luxury products. It also offers a free online reservation service at top-tier hotels, salons and restaurants and offers diners discounts of up to 40%. The move demonstrates smart brand thinking as Groupon adhered to these important branding principles: Solve a problem. Groupon needed to grow beyond deals on massages and…
Viva La Brand’s President, Laura Sheridan, will share brand-building tips at LMA of Ohio and Columbus Bar Association’s development institute October 23, 2013. CLEVELAND, OH – June 11, 2013 – Laura Sheridan, President of Viva La Brand, a Cleveland, Ohio-based brand strategy and ad agency search firm, was selected to speak at the Legal Marketing Association and Columbus Bar Association’s Legal Practice Development Institute on October 23, 2013 in Columbus, OH. An expert on leveraging…
Bend your knees, swing your arms back and jump. No baby steps allowed. Business success in today’s insanely competitive world often requires marketers to make a bold move to differentiate themselves rather than take small steps and incrementally move forward. In other words, jump! CASE IN POINT: Georgia Tech’s recent decision to offer the first online master’s degree in computer science. Bold? You bet. The Atlanta-based University is making waves in business and higher education…
In the market for some help Companies’ bottom lines are stronger, which gives boost to marketing firms By MICHELLE PARK, Crain’s Reporter Many Northeast Ohio communications firms have enjoyed double-digit revenue growth in early 2013 and are hiring to keep up as they say companies emerge from hibernation to do the marketing they’ve put on ice for years. Revenues for Falls Communications in Cleveland were up 33.5% in the first quarter over the year-ago period,…
As you likely know, we’re big fans of metrics, quantitative analysis, and ROI. However, strict devotion to these tools without understanding the emotion behind decision making leads to suboptimal results. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that there’s a human being on the receiving end of the ad, email or message. People make decisions based on many factors, both rational and emotional. Savvy marketers get that. Money isn’t everything. We’re in the middle of college graduation…
Kudos to Michigan and Syracuse who proudly wore their colors during last night’s March Madness final four basketball game. Typically, the visitor wears their team color and the home team wears white. Since the teams were far from their home court, they both smartly opted to wear their brand color. Michigan’s is maize and blue. The first recorded association of any color with the University of Michigan was in 1859 when a ribbon of deep…
In the pursuit of more profitable sales, companies often add marketing initiatives rather than scrutinizing the ones they’re currently doing. Thus, already stretched employees are taxed with doing more, which often doesn’t equate to achieving more. The solution? Do less. Viva’s clients who cut their lists and FOCUS actually see an improvement in results. So, stop adding to your list and start excelling at a few things. Here are 4 tips to get started: Tip…
I confess. I care more about the Super Bowl commercials than the game. So, for those of you who also like to look at the business side of sports, here are 4 lessons to learn from this year’s big game: Lesson #1: Be consistent. I’m sure the folks at Go Daddy are bored of another ad with Danica Patrick. For the rest of America, we associate the brand with her, and think of them when…
