Sunday, I was zoning in and out of watching the Super Bowl while mainly wondering how many potato chip crusted pickles were socially acceptable to eat in one sitting. (Thanks Chrissy Teigen.)

But one of the ads made me do a double take, pause, rewind and repeat. This was mostly because I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on in the glorious chaos that is the Proctor & Gamble “When We Come Together” spot.

OK…What Just Happened?

We created this short, cheeky little number to show our appreciation to you—our clients, vendors, friends and partners for helping to make 2019 another spectacular year. Enjoy!

It's a dance every year—create a budget out of hazy projections and then try to justify it. Ugh. 

Sometimes you just need somewhere to start from. Every industry has different averages that they can or should spend on marketing endeavors, but ultimately it boils down to balancing your available resources with the growth you are seeking to achieve.

We've created a simple Marketing Budget Template to help you determine a range, from conservative to aggressive, and then a simple breakdown of percentages on how you should spend your budget.

Call me a huge nerd, but I’ve always loved to learn. Whether it stems from wanting to better myself or rise to a new challenge, the desire to expand my knowledge continues to be at the core of who I am and has extended into my career as a graphic designer and art director.

So you want to promote your newly launched brand, boost your lead pipeline and improve your customer experience. Great! But is your digital strategy in line with these goals?

Last week at de Novo, we received a Halloween card from a company that shall remain nameless. At first I thought, "Great idea! We aren't into the holiday season yet, way to get out there with this now!"

As I wrap up my last week at de Novo before retiring and starting a new chapter, I am feeling nostalgic.

Thirteen years ago, I had an idea for a marketing firm that took a slightly alternative approach to marketing on behalf of our (then nonexistent) clients. I wanted to bring big ideas, experiential marketing and an approach that focused on the clients' needs, not our own.

Thinking back on those first few years—working in a closet-sized office with one desk, painting the wall in our office six times until we got the exact right shade of red, growing our team from just one person to eighteen, and meeting with hundreds of potential clients, listening to their challenges and bringing them creative, strategic solutions—reminds me why all this seemed like a good idea in the first place.

While I'm excited for my next adventure, it's impossible not to reflect on all I'm going to miss.

In our summer series on nostalgia in marketing, we’ve written a lot about what people are interested in. As our official amateur/armchair behavioral economist, I want to dig into the “why” of this trend.

If you would have offered me a beer five or so years ago, I wouldn’t have touched it with a 10-foot pole. But thanks to recommendations from friends, I slowly began to broaden my horizons and discover all the diversity and creativity that exists in this industry. Fast forward 885 beers, numerous craft brewery visits and countless beer festivals later—you could say that craft beer has grown on me. (Sorry domestics, still not a fan.)