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!"

Long gone are the days when you just slapped your message on a billboard and hoped the right people drove by. Companies and organizations now expect to be able to target a very defined and very specific audience with messaging tailored specifically for each audience segment.

Summary of this blog: you're writing too much. Keep it as brief as possible and then give them a link to more.

In the world of marketing, there's a cycle that happens with almost all brands that reach a certain size: as they expand, the CMO or C-level position decides that things are doing well and that they can put things on simmer.

It's not a bad strategy necessarily—especially in terms of (at least perceived) cost savings and the ability to pivot or refocus. But as brands, their offerings and their customer bases grow, they often need more marketing support to keep up with the constant churn of collateral, digital content, website updates, proposal writing, etc. 

It’s All About Consistency

Your visual identity—your logo, fonts, colors and overall style—is the face of your brand. It’s the first thing people notice about your company. And it’s the first thing they recall when thinking about your products. So it goes without saying that you want your identity—and the public’s perception of your brand—to be consistent. After all, you want customers and clients to have the same great experience with your company at every opportunity. 

We're living in a time when many of us have CNN or NPR playing constantly in the background in an effort to keep up with the daily news, the latest drama or an ongoing crises. But what does that have to do with marketing? And, is embracing politics a good idea for a brand?

Data analytics is a powerful tool for marketing, operational efficiency and understanding your business' future growth path.  Just like any other tool (a light saber, for example), it can be used for both good and evil. But while we can all agree that the flashy red light sabers are pretty cool, who wants to join the dark side?

It's a familiar scene: you're browsing vids on YouTube when all of a sudden, you chance upon a video that looks something like this:

The European Union’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is all about how companies use the personal data of those they interact with. Everywhere we go on the internet, we leave a digital footprint. That footprint consists of our demographics, our behavior, our purchases and interactions, and it has become something of great value. (As the Economist says, “personal data is the world’s greatest resource.”) As is the case with anything of great value, it creates the need to protect that data from abuse—from benign misuse to serious breaches and malicious intent.

You invested in a new website—how long should that website's design last?

The answer varies. It depends on the structure of your website. It depends on your ability to freshen up imagery and update the technology. And it depends on whether it's built on a platform that allows flexibility in the layout and functionality.