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Featured image for “Importance of Brand Touchpoints”
09/18/13

Importance of Brand Touchpoints

I was reading Marketing Daily this morning and the first paragraph struck me, “The recommendations people make to their friends and family carry more weight than the messages companies put out on their own behalf.” The article is about the importance of “word of mouth” which always brings me back to the importance of creating Brand Evangelists and paying attention
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Featured image for “A restaurant with no sign…”
09/03/13

A restaurant with no sign…

I was fortunate enough to spend my long Labor Day weekend in Camden Maine with one of my best friends from college. We did some sailing, shopping and of course we checked out the local restaurants! My friend and I are both foodies so we asked some locals for a recommendation of a great seafood or Italian restaurant. We were
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Featured image for “Print Is Here to Stay”
07/24/13

Print Is Here to Stay

Over the past few years, I have been hearing more and more that print is a dying medium and that it is slowly being replaced by advances in digital technology. Companies such as Google and Toshiba have launched national campaigns to go paperless by switching to digital means of marketing communication and recent studies in print advertising have shown that
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Featured image for “Second Visit Treats!”
01/06/12

Second Visit Treats!

One Sunday last month, I started my day off with a vente iced vanilla latte with soy and double shot at 7:45am.  Yes it’s true; I am the only farm boy I know that loves Starbucks and all things gold card. To my surprise, the cashier asked if I had heard about “our Treat Receipt?”.  The bottom of my receipt
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Featured image for “Blogging Anxiety”
01/06/12

Blogging Anxiety

You’ve been there, you set yourself goals for how often you will blog, maybe it’s even a New Year’s resolution.  Yet it never fails that the time in between each post sneaks up on you  – “Oh No, has it been a week already?”.  I’ve been there, and this is from someone who would much rather strike up a conversation
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Featured image for “What’s Your Voice?”
08/23/11

What’s Your Voice?

We have all done it, you see a cute puppy or kitten or any kind of baby animal.  Your voice changes to that of a 4 year old as you try to talk and make this adorable creature smile – “hello little puppy”, “Your soooo cute”, you get the idea.  You’re probably saying it out loud right now as you
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Featured image for “Customer Advocacy and Company Blasphemy”
06/29/11

Customer Advocacy and Company Blasphemy

Last week when I realized we were out of bottled water in our offices at Force 5 a few hours before a potential client was stopping by, I decided to make a quick run to the grocery store.  After loading my cart with some H2O, I quickly made my way to the checkout register.  Along the way I noticed my favorite cookies
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Featured image for “Here a brand touchpoint, there a brand touchpoint”
06/27/11

Here a brand touchpoint, there a brand touchpoint

This weekend was not unlike many others. Running errands, working in the yard and the garden. Also common, was a trip to the store for supplies. On one such trip to Lowe’s, I was impressed by the customer service. While wandering the many aisles, looking lost, I was asked if I needed help, I certainly did. After being taken to
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Featured image for “South Bend needs Rebranding”
06/20/11

South Bend needs Rebranding

So much has been said about South Bend since it showed up on the “List of Dying Cities.” A city much like ours in many ways, Grand Rapids, (also on the list…) put together an incredible video in response. I have lived in South Bend most of my life and I spent 4 years in Grand Rapids attending art school,
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Featured image for “Be careful delivering that brand!”
06/17/11

Be careful delivering that brand!

I have to say I have a love-hate relationship with Jimmy John’s. I love the sandwiches, they are good and freaky fast. The thing I am not so enamored with is walking into the restaurant and having the majority of the folks working behind the counter yell “HELLO” at me. Most don’t even look up, it feels more like a
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Featured image for “Web of One”
05/17/11

Web of One

The Filter bubble by Eli Pariser I was listening to a TED talk yesterday from Eli Pariser, who just wrote the book “The Filter Bubble”.In his talk, he tells of the personalization taking place on the web. Everything is filtered before it gets to us. I have an interest in sailing, and listed that on my facebook. And lo and
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Featured image for “Touchy Feely”
05/16/11

Touchy Feely

It’s been almost  a year since the release of Apple’s iPhone 4.   I traded in my old iPhone 3G just a few months ago.  I love the 4’s speed, video features, functionality. Ultimately, I’m glad I made the switch.  But I have to be honest with you; there’s something that’s just not been quite right with my new iPhone 4.
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