Are you using Google Analytics to assist you with your online initiatives? If not, you're allowing valuable information to go unused. Analytics can help to answer questions like: Which marketing initiatives are most effective? What are accurate traffic patterns/trends on my websites? Where are my visitors coming from and what do they do on my

I read Seth Godin from time-to-time and I think the following blog post by him is one of his best observations. It's something that we all tend to forget at times. --- Kraft singles - Seth GodinHere's a ubiquitous food that succeeds because it's precisely in the center, perfectly normal, exactly the regular kind. No kid whines about how weird

In our over-advertised, over-branded and over-marketed society we have been foolishly led to believe that we can have it all. All the style, all the status, all the luxury, all the quality, all the savings, all we can eat, all we can watch, all the time. Everything is for us the customer. However this is not the case. The point of this post is

Last week, I read the following quote in an Ipsos report on trends to watch in 2011: With the evolution of touchpoints, it is important to recognize the increasing importance of great creative ideas which can work across the integrated campaign. We observe in our ASI databases that ‘creative’ explains 75+% of the variance in campaign

"You can't talk your way out of something you behaved your way into. You have to behave your way out of it."- Doug Conant CEO Campbell's Soup I love that statement. Once could trade out the word "talk" in his quote, for the word "advertise" or even the term "public relations", because when companies talk, that's what they are doing. Often people

This morning I was asked a really simple but fundamental question. Why are you doing this? It's pretty generic, but take a second and think about the things you did today...the things you're doing right now. Why are you doing them? Is it for recognition? Is it for a sale? Is it for pride? None of those are good reasons to be doing what you're

There is a lot of confusion out there surrounding the word "brand". People use the word differently, but frequently, it's one of the following definitions: Brand (Image) - Many people use the word brand to refer to a logo. That graphic or word mark that represents an organization. We all know these. They are the iconic logos like the: Swoosh,

Lets take a look at old school marketing. Online advertising is important, I'll give you that. But don't forget the other vehicles; print, billboard, radio, television, give aways, trade shows, transit shelters, word of mouth...you know what I am talking about. No matter how powerful your website is, you can add to it with traditional marketing.

There have been a couple times throughout my career that I have been asked if the creative aspect of graphic design really matters. In other words, does the creativity and the quality of the design of a marketing piece have to be high or is it simply enough to just have the piece with the information on it? That question has always rubbed me the