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Local businesses struggle to compete with the big conglomerates and internet businesses luring their customer base away with convenient shopping at low prices. But the local scene has made a resurgence, thanks in part to millennials who want to “shop small” and support entrepreneurs in their own backyards. In fact, nearly half of consumers in this generation are willing to pay more to support a small business.

Even if you’re a growing global company, you can still work to establish strong local relationships that will draw in customers and benefit not just your own business, but other local vendors in your area. Howard Breindel and other Forbes Agency Council members share some strategies to help you do it.

See the strategies.

CMOs and CIOs: Partners in the New Digital Customer Experience

In 2012, a Gartner analyst famously predicted that by 2017 marketing technology budgets would be bigger than IT technology budgets.  In most organizations, budget means power, so Gartner’s prediction spurred speculation that the CMO-CIO relationship might become a testy one.  Within a year, we saw headlines like this one in the Harvard Business…

Four Principles to Ensure Your B2B Brand and Culture Align

The legendary management consultant, educator, and author Peter Drucker liked to say that “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” The best-laid strategic plans invariably hit a wall if they are not aligned with the organization’s culture — the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company’s employees and management interact and handle business transactions…

What Are Seven Principles for M&A Branding Success?

From a business perspective, few things are as critical to get right as a major merger or acquisition — and few things are as challenging.

On the long list of considerations during M&A activity, merger branding is one of the most crucial. Not getting the brand right is a key reason that, according to…