Viva’s Blog: Why Brand Ambassadors matter

There are many catchphrases popular in marketing today. “Engagement”, “influencers”, and “relevance”, just to name a few. Brand Ambassador isn’t one of them, and it should be. Sure, it’s important to engage your customers, we all appreciate the power of influencers, and relevant content is key. But finding and creating Brand Ambassadors is one of the most important activities you can do to catapult your brand. What is a Brand Ambassador? There are many ways…

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Oct 2012

By Laura SheridanBlog

Viva’s Blog: Take the Customer Retention Quiz

We all know that the most important part of any business is its customers. Without them, there wouldn’t be a business. So why do so many companies spend most of their marketing budget chasing new customers instead of nurturing the ones they already have? Customer retention, not acquisition, is the key to growing your business. You’ve seen the data. 5 to 1. That’s the cost of acquiring a new customer versus keeping an existing one….

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Oct 2012

By Laura SheridanBlog

Crain’s Small Business Adviser: Laura Sheridan urges readers to take the Customer Retention Quiz

As featured in the September 10, 2012 issue of Crain’s Cleveland Business: Take the Customer Retention Quiz We all know that the most important part of any business is its customers. Without them, there wouldn’t be a business. So why do so many companies spend most of their marketing budget chasing new customers instead of nurturing the ones they already have? Customer retention, not acquisition, is the key to growing your business. You’ve seen the…

10

Sep 2012

By Laura SheridanPress

Viva La Brand Celebrates 5 Years of Building Brands

Viva La Brand, the Cleveland, Ohio-based marketing strategy and ad agency search firm that is as passionate about its clients’ businesses as they are, announced the celebration of 5 record-breaking years in business. Large and small, national and local companies across a wide range of industries are realizing the benefit of leveraging outside marketing expertise. Now more than ever, companies are turning to Viva La Brand to provide expert brand and marketing resources for important…

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Sep 2012

By Laura SheridanPress

Viva’s Blog: Learn from the Olympics

The Olympics were a big winner for NBC and their viewers. There’s a lot to learn from their success. A sample of 50 random people provided these reasons for loving the ultimate contest between athletes. Reason #1: They were fresh. Nielsen reports a decline in overall TV viewing. Viewers are bored with reality TV, spin-offs of dramas, and 24-hour news shows, and are shifting their attention to the Internet. Enter the Olympics. Viewership records were…

13

Aug 2012

By Laura SheridanBlog

Viva’s Blog: Think like a customer

It’s not hard and the benefits are enormous. Just think how we “smart” business people make lives miserable for our customers… Ever need to find a serial number for a broken printer and have to just about stand on your head to read the minuscule 10-digit code that’s under the printer? How about trying to read the recommended inflation level that’s oh so subtly etched on your tires? Or, my new favorite is about the…

31

Jul 2012

By Laura SheridanBlog

Viva’s Blog: Why you?

That’s right. Why you? Why should anyone fork over their hard earned cash for what you have to offer when it’s pretty likely they can find a similar thing elsewhere for less. That’s the million dollar question savvy marketers answer early on in their business. A category of one. It’s all about creating a category of one. When you differentiate your brand in a manner that’s meaningful and relevant to your target audience, then you’re…

18

Jun 2012

By Laura SheridanBlog

Viva’s Blog: Measure twice, cut once

Most of us are familiar with the English proverb, “Measure twice, cut once,” which applied to double checking measurements before cutting something to prevent wasting material. Once you’ve cut a piece of wood and you find that it’s too short, it’s pretty hard to fix. The same principle applies to hiring marketing resources. In the past year, we’ve worked with three companies that have hired marketing resources that they later discovered were “professionals” incapable of…

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May 2012

By Laura SheridanBlog

Nottingham Spirk Selects Viva La Brand to Lead Branding Efforts

CLEVELAND, OH – May 14, 2012 – Viva La Brand (www.vivalabrand.com), a Cleveland, Ohio-based brand strategy and ad agency search firm, was selected to lead a brand strategy effort for the business innovation firm, Nottingham Spirk (www.nottinghamspirk.com). Nottingham Spirk has developed hundreds of patented products that have generated tens of billions in sales for industry leading businesses and fast-growth entrepreneurial firms. However, many Fortune 500 companies have never heard of this leader in business innovation….

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May 2012

By Laura SheridanPress

Viva’s Blog: Learn from chocolate?

Happen to see the pink and green CHOC on car bumpers, airplane banners, tweets, and everywhere these past few weeks leading up to Easter? Malley’s, the Cleveland chocolate company, understands the importance of presenting their brand frequently and consistently, particularly when their target audience is in the market for their products. Successfully building a brand requires both creativity and consistency of message. It’s all about differentiating your product or service from all others in a…

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Apr 2012

By Laura SheridanBlog