Our president Sean Looney has always been interested in how the brain works. To keep up with some of the more promising Neuromarketing research in our industry check out his piece published in AdAge.
Brainstorming is a Complete Waste of Time
It’s taken 75 years to prove that Brainstorming doesn’t really work. Anyone that’s really capable of generating ideas discovered this about 5 minutes after their first session, but if you ever said it out loud, especially in a big corporation, you risk sounding like a complete, self-righteous, egotistical ass.
The Top Social Media Trends of 2016
Social media has continued to evolve with new features, applications and experiences on each major platform. As these major platforms overlap we will begin to watch some of the larger players erode faster than you can say MySpace.
Explosion of Virtual Reality and Wearable Technology
Virtual reality. Augmented reality. 360-degree video. Telepresence robots. Smart glasses. With the explosion of new media and product offerings, how do we tell them apart? The main thing that distinguishes each of these media options is whether you are a spectator or a participant in the experience. Here’s the run down:
Closing the Loop: Facebook Launches Tool to Measure Success of Local Advertising in Real Time
In 2015 Facebook initiated Local Awareness Ads, an advertising tool that allows businesses to specifically target Facebook users in close proximity to their location. This function ensures that small companies and local businesses are reaching the audience they need to access most – the consumers right in their neighborhood.
Snapchat’s new Memories feature changes the game for marketers.
Snapchat built a company on posts that would be gone in the blink of an eye. The new Memories feature now allows users to save their favorite snaps. While this has shocked some in the industry, it’s a natural progression to engage an audience.We all want memories to last, right?
Spector: the Design Tool that is Changing Typography As We Know It
We often get original fonts from clients without any file. We do our best to match the font, but without the original art it’s time consuming. Now we can replicate fonts quickly with Spector, a handheld tool that takes a photo and uploads the font directly into InDesign. This gadget can even download any color and convert it to CMYK or RGB within InDesign as well.
Artificial Intelligence in Advertising
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the web thanks to various companies, including Google. AI in the tech world is a supercomputer of connected hardware and software that mimicks the networks of neurons inside a human mind creating a system that analyzes information and learns.
The Dirty Little Secret About Ad Blocking
Ad blockers are causing a stir in the advertising industry and don’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. Consumers are using them, publishers are trying to stop them, and advertisers are panicking, all while ad blockers seem to be reaping the rewards.
Smart Creative Makes An Impact
My son seems to be on every college mailing list in the country right now. Most of them say the same thing in the same format—a template letter with some type of glossy flyer or brochure. A few have invested more in higher end collateral, but most have pretty much a similar format.
Overcome Your Marketing Fears
Automation can be a terrifying concept to marketers that relish in having control over everything, especially with the overwhelming technology solutions that are available on the market.
Views are Worth More than Impressions
Ad Blocking Continues to Grow
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Is ad blocking a threat or a beacon of regulation? Tensions are escalating in the advertising industry on this hot topic considering it cost publishers nearly $22 billion globally in 2015, rising to an estimated $41.4 billion in 2016. That’s a huge loss that cannot be ignored. Despite the controversy over whether online ads are intrusive, the rise in the ad blocking business continues to grow.
Why Wait Until the Super Bowl to Produce Great Work?
Why do so many brands wait until the Super Bowl to produce really fun or thought-provoking work? True, only some brands actually nail it, but at least they are all trying. The stakes are raised because everyone is trying to get the highest rated, most-talked about spot with such a huge audience, right?
Programmatic: A Tool not a Strategy
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The Boutiquefication of our Business.
Boutiquefication. I like it. And I called it. What am I laying claim to exactly? The tipping point for an interesting consumer trend happening right now simultaneously in key categories including food, footwear, apparel, dining, skin care, healthcare remedies, software, to name a few.
What is your brand strategy IQ?
There’s a fair amount of bad marketing out there. Where did things go wrong? It’s usually well before the creative was developed or the media was planned. It’s right at the beginning during the brand strategy process…or perhaps lack thereof.
What the Hell is a Creative Strategist?
The best marketing starts with a really smart brand strategy. You don't need layers. You need access to experts who can define and differentiate your brand up front. Every creative and media decision after that is a lot more efficient.
Cross-Pollination
It’s brilliant. Useful. Innovative. Durable. It’s cheap. It’s made out of cardboard. And it’s a bicycle. I first saw it on IPPINKA.com, and then I read about it in Fast Company.