Viva’s Blog: The real winner of the Super Bowl

Q: What costs $166,000 per second and can either catapult results or ruin you? A: A thirty-second commercial during this year’s Super Bowl. You’d think business executives who spend that much on airtime would nail making a winner ad. It’s not that easy. What does it take to make an effective ad? Below are some tips. Rate this year’s ads and pick the real game winner. #1: Don’t say it. Show it. Wix.com, the web-site company, launched its first Super…

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Feb 2016

By Laura SheridanBlog

Viva’s Blog: Gamification: Time to play?

Gamification, the use of game mechanics and design techniques to motivate people to achieve a particular goal or task, has emerged as a powerful marketing tool. Savvy business leaders use it as a customer acquisition and retention tool as well as a workplace solution to train employees, encourage collaboration and drive innovation. The power of gamification is huge as it addresses major trends: the coming of age of Generation Y (the generation born in the…

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May 2014

By Laura SheridanBlog

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…

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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…

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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…

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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

Viva La Brand Selected to Bring On-Demand Childcare Concept to Life

Viva La Brand (www.vivalabrand.com), the brand strategy firm, has been selected by Sweet Kiddles TM Flexible Childcare Center to help launch the new, on-demand childcare alternative. Sweet Kiddles is opening in Strongsville, OH this spring. Offering flexible, drop-in childcare for parents on the go, Sweet Kiddles retained Viva La Brand to build the go-to-market strategy for the new brand. Sweet Kiddles is the brainchild of Andrea Kimmel, a Harvard Business School Graduate and mother of…

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Mar 2012

By Laura SheridanPress

Viva’s Blog: Death by PowerPoint

I can’t do it. I can’t sit through another PowerPoint presentation where the speaker attempts to share 4 hours of information on 30 slides in 20 minutes. And that’s after he starts by apologizing for the hard to read slides. Can you relate? Stop the insanity. Follow these tips and leave your audience wanting to continue the dialog rather than having them leave shaking their head wondering what you were rambling about. Tip #1: Tell…

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Mar 2012

By Laura SheridanBlog

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