Artisan Blog: October 2008 
Has the
economy got you down? If the folks I’ve been talking to are any indication,
there’s no across-the-board answer to this question. No doubt about it, some
businesses are feeling the pinch. But others are surprisingly robust. And
everyone, it seems is looking straight ahead, positioning themselves for the eventual
uptick.
Even if
they’re cutting back, smart businesses and organizations are still out there having the marketing
conversation. They’re telling their story. They might even be...
This is not a political post. But I've been closely watching this election season. And it's clear that, although we Americans like to insist that we're not influenced by the "marketing" of our candidates, there's little evidence to support our claims.
The brand matters.
Plenty has been made about the consistent branding of the Obama campaign, through its bright and hopeful "morning in America again" logo and its strict adherence to brand elements in campaign communication...
If the economic news has you holding your head in your hands, you’re not alone. For some businesses, the gloom and doom headlines of the past two weeks are translating into cancelled projects, uncertain contracts, slower consumer spending, clients getting gun-shy about their expansion plans, you name it. It may even mean real cutbacks in your business as a result of what’s happening in your key markets.
What happens all too often, though, is that marketing efforts are the first area sent to...
Brands, messages, core values. We marketing types often get accused of throwing around buzzwords like these. We like them. We coin new ones all the time. And often, we expect our clients or those non-marketing folks in our offices to know what the heck we're talking about. But the reality is, you can throw away the fancy terms and focus on one thing that is simple to understand. And that one thing will help your business.
Guaranteed.
That thing is called a key message. And it's what...
