Virtual reality. Artificial intelligence. Drones everywhere. One minute a new technology seems like the stuff of sci-fi. The next minute it’s this year’s hottest Christmas gift. We are inundated with the magic and wonder of innovative technology, even if we aren’t exactly sure how it will ultimately affect our everyday lives…
We bring you the latest trending and newsworthy articles in B2B branding and marketing.
This week, we explore the invisible CEO, this year’s winning entries from the D&AD Awards, and what content creators really think about branded video.
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When we conducted external interviews as part of our work developing the Zelis Healthcare brand, one thing became clear: the healthcare payer and healthcare provider clients who worked with Zelis were obsessed. Not with the healthcare payments technology that got doctors and other providers paid more quickly. Not with the healthcare-claims integrity services that…
One of the most common objections we hear during rebranding initiatives with professional services firms is, “This is a people business. Why do we need a brand?” Senior partners and “star” consultants or lawyers assume that their clients are buying them – their knowledge, their expertise, their charisma. But in today’s hyper-competitive global marketplace…
Minimalism is a trend whose time has come — again and again. In the early 20th century, artists and designers rebelled against representational imagery, in part as a visual response to political revolutions. Later, in the 1950s and early 1960s, bold, clean typography and flat, colorful imagery underscored the optimism of the jet age.
“Flat” design…
Our co-CEO, Howard Breindel, recently examined a critical factor that’s often overlooked when it comes to executing a successful rebrand: the relationship between the branding agency and the CMO. Beyond solid research, stellar creativity, a strategic launch plan, it is the quality of this relationship that can determine a brand’s success or…
To delight your clients, you must design your service to create memorable, empathetic experiences that meet their expectations and advance your strategy. The acclaimed new book Woo, Wow, and Win by Thomas A. Stewart and Patricia O’Connell shows you how businesses of all kinds are using service design to create memorable experiences for their…
Rising client expectations have made delivering an exceptional B2B brand experience more critical than ever. To respond effectively, many organizations are turning to service design to reimagine and revamp the client experience at every stage of their journey. But to design a successful journey, you must know your starting point.
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In today’s B2B marketing landscape, all B2B brands are content publishers and all B2B marketers are content marketers. We fulfill these roles at varying levels, but none of us can escape the importance of content – useful, relevant and accessible information – in the B2B buyers journey. Here are some of our recommendations for what to…
At a recent Financial Communications Society lunch, Jaime Kalfus, Global Head of Brand Experience at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, presented a behind-the-scenes look at the creative strategy driving the firm’s new brand campaign. We were intrigued to see how her experience of the challenges in developing a specialty financial services brand…
There is a lot of content out there on customer experience. It can be a bit overwhelming to try and wade through all of it. In an effort to save marketing executives some time (and frustration), here is a short list (and concise summaries) of some of the articles we believe you will find most…
There is a common misconception about creativity that many of us fall victim to: you’re either born with it or you’re not.
It’s a good excuse when you are having trouble generating new ideas. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your vantage point), it’s just not true.
A slew of scientific research…
Exclamation points. Trending lingo. Emoji. When it comes to B2B brand voice, these may not be the first things that come to mind, but with the explosion of digital content and the increasing importance of social media in the B2B buying cycle, that’s rapidly changing. Many B2B companies are beginning to sound more and…
In the past few years, we’ve seen “authenticity” emerge as a theme in branding and design; this year, it has exponentially increased in importance and value. That’s understandable: in a world where “fake” news can dominate the political conversation and Instagram stars turn out to be imposters, consumers have become increasingly cynical.
A…
Here are some of the things we are most looking forward to in 2017.
Lynne Field
Managing Director, Strategy
“One of the things I’m interested in is seeing how the lessons learned from the election with regard to polling and projections impact market research as an industry.
I attended an interesting election post-mortem…
It’s been a few months since the initial shockwaves from the Wells Fargo scandal stole headlines and took over public discourse. In a true sign of the times (or perhaps the results of a presidential election that felt more like a reality TV show), the public (or at least the media) seems to have…
According to the Harvard Business Review, “study after study puts the failure rate of mergers at somewhere between 70-90%.” More often than not, brand is not promoted or leveraged to provide unity, clarity and solidarity during this critical inflection point, yet brand can make all the difference between success and failure for the companies…