We Do Have Time for Faster Survey Results There’s a lot of waiting around in consumer research. Days go by waiting on folks to take your survey. It could take a week for focus group transcripts to arrive. You most likely have no time for that. The CEO definitely has no time for that. In… Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span>
Every consumer trend has a life cycle, and food trends are no exception. Many observers have recently proclaimed that cupcakes’ time is up. Is that true? And what does the answer mean for manufacturers and retailers of similar products? A combination of influential bakeries and a high-profile cameo in 2000 on Sex and the City… Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span>
It’s no secret that launching a brand requires significant investment, from product development and manufacturing to brand development and promotion. And while both consumer and B2B brands can benefit from a healthy media mix, digital marketing endures as one of the most cost-efficient ways to reach the audiences who are best served by your product… Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span>
We live and work in St. Louis, which means that we’re particularly fond of beer and baseball. We love October, and we can regularly be found after-hours gathered in a sports bar enjoying beverages and pub grub and rooting for the Cardinals. Game One of the 2013 World Series is Wednesday, and we’re already dreaming… Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span>
Who are the best food marketing agencies? Chances are, you’re reading this because you searched for “best food marketing agencies” or something similar. That would make perfect sense; though your need for a partner is specific, even unique, it’s much easier to start a search on a broad scale and narrow down as you go.… Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span>
We’ve all heard the news—PRINT ADVERTISING IS DEAD—and has been for a long time. Egon Spengler, media-astute Ghostbuster, even made the declaration on the big screen more than 30 years ago. We hate to pit the Ghostbusters against our B2B food and ingredient media partners—who are telling us that print advertising isn’t dead, that it… Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span>
Many market research projects begin with a simple request: “Can we get a number on that?” Though few of us have advanced degrees in math, marketers are used to dealing with a lot of numbers. We set numeric goals, evaluate sales figures, review market research data, and report on metrics. We’re not accountants, but we… Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span>
Last year, my (former) physician sent me from his office with a prescription for “eat more bran.” Bran didn’t help. Bran, it turns out, was one of the reasons I had to see the doctor in the first place. As I would learn through self-diagnosis a few weeks later, I have (and have had for… Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span>
Activity trackers have recently been making news with their data collection and aggregation capabilities—most notably, the heatmaps that fitness-tracking app Strava generated and published based on user data from around the world. While the conversation has largely been focused on tracking of military personnel and national security implications, the story has three key components that… Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span>
If I remember correctly, the first book I was assigned to read in high school is The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Arguably a relatively inaccessible piece of literature to expect a 14-year-old to rightly apply to life, it is one that I can now, years later, recognize as applicable to the workplace, particularly… Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span>
Who are the best pet marketing agencies? Chances are good that you’re reading this because you searched for “best pet marketing agencies” or something close to it (“pet advertising,” e.g.). That would make perfect sense. Though your situation is personal and specific, it’s much easier to start big and narrow from there. This is the… Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span>
Mark Zuckerberg recently announced a Facebook update in which posts from business Pages will no longer appear in users’ primary News Feed. While paid posts will continue to appear in the News Feed, an impending drop in organic engagement with Page posts means brands need to revisit their social media strategies in anticipation of this… Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span>
As a student of journalism, “don’t bury the lede” was one of the first lessons—communicate the most compelling and important part of a story clearly, early. In branding and marketing, the mantra also applies; don’t bury the lead! When further extrapolating this thought to leads, it is important to consider that timely delivery of a… Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span>
Holiday marketing may be more ubiquitous than ever, given the ease of publishing content on social media, and yet doing it well has not gotten easier. Social media and digital marketing have increased expectations that brands will do something for any given holiday: after all, everyone else is. Yet the prevalence of these holiday promotions,… Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span>
The Guardian reports that the large UK bookstore chain Waterstones has opened three small branches without the chain’s branding. The three stores are individually named—Southwold Books, Harpenden Books, and The Rye Bookshop—located in small towns that previously lacked a bookstore, and have a smaller footprint than the typical branded store. Waterstones managing director told The… Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span>