What Makes a Compelling Image
They say that good design is invisible, and that design really only becomes apparent when it’s done poorly. And while I wholeheartedly agree with this, I’m pretty sure that any designer would agree that there is something to be said for truly compelling design—design that simply captures you and leaves you trying to determine what […]
Ads as Stories: Share a Coke
“Ads as Stories” is a series devoted to analyzing different advertising campaigns as acts of storytelling, and breaking down the narrative being told. This week, we’re going to take a look at the most recent major campaign of the greatest advertised brand in the world: Coca Cola. Coke, as a company, has always been a […]
“Taking a Stance” in Business Marketing
When it comes to their marketing and advertising, many companies have a tendency to want to play it safe with the content. Touching topics that could be seen as controversial or debate-worthy is something that many businesses fear could lead to losing customers, or causing strife around their company. On the other hand, they believe […]
Ads as Stories: Just Do It
“Ads as Stories” is a series devoted to analyzing different advertising campaigns as acts of storytelling, and breaking down the narrative being told. Nike was originally founded in 1964 by competitive runner, Phil Knight, and his college coach, Bill Bowerman, as Blue Ribbon Sports. However, in 1971, the company became Nike, Inc. While the company’s […]
Ads as Stories: A Diamond Is Forever
“Ads as Stories” is a series devoted to analyzing different advertising campaigns as acts of storytelling, and breaking down the narrative being told. If you are in a room with other people right now, it is very likely that many of them could be wearing diamond rings. Chances are, you might even be one of […]
FOR-EV-ER: The Continuous Cycle of Online Marketing
One of my favorite quotes is by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. He said, “The work never is done while the power to work remains.” In the world of online marketing, if we are doing our jobs correctly, there will always be a job to do. Sometimes people view online marketing as a check list, assuming that […]
Unwanted Referrer Traffic
Have you ever been looking over your Google Analytics and saw a spike out of nowhere in your all traffic? Typically when something like this happens its due to ghost spam. If you are unsure you can find out what type of traffic is is by looking at your analytics on the day it happened […]
How to Expand to Multiple Websites
This has come up twice in as many days: What do you do if you have two separate but connected businesses with similar websites? The first situation was like this: a very large e commerce site had just acquired another large company. Many of their products overlapped, but not all. Due to some of the […]
Is Is it the Coach or the Talent?
What makes a football team great? Why are the Seahawks on their way to the Superbowl for the second year? Russel Wilson? Richard Sherman? Pete Carroll? Or how about this one: how did Ohio State beat Oregon to be the national champions? Given the same team, but replacing Urban Meyer, would it have happened? This […]
It’s the Hold
A few words to current and future small business owners: Anybody can get new clients. The magic is in the hold- it’s in keeping them. Build a company around sales and you’ll get new clients. You may elevate yourself from ‘doing the work’, you may be able to flip your company to a salivating buyer. […]