Crain’s Cleveland Business feature article by Laura Sheridan: Why niche marketers win

You have great products or services but your results are disappointing. Is marketing the problem? Are you trying to be all things to all people? Is your messaging resonating with customers? Is your target audience seeing your advertising? Are you targeting a mass audience when niche marketing is the answer? Even successful companies that sell products with mass appeal often started by selling to a discrete audience. Case in point: the rolling suitcase. Northwest Airlines…

14

Sep 2015

By Laura SheridanPress

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…

13

May 2014

By Laura SheridanBlog

Nationally Recognized Brand Strategist, Laura Sheridan, is Speaking at Legal Marketing Association’s Legal Practice Development Institute

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…

11

Jun 2013

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

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….

12

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…

09

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…

12

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…

05

Mar 2012

By Laura SheridanBlog

Viva’s Blog: The Real Super Bowl Winner

Forget Madonna, Eli and Tom. Forget the ads. The big winner of the night was the avocado. That’s right, the avocado. Did you know that Americans were on pace to eat 71.4 million pounds of avocados on Super Bowl Sunday? How did I know that? It was cited this week in the Wall Street Journal, on ABC’s Good Morning America, on FOX News, on local CBS stations, and on plenty more media outlets. Avocados received…

06

Feb 2012

By Laura SheridanBlog

marketing strategy