It’s award season in Oklahoma City, and VI Marketing and Branding stole the show at the 52nd annual Oklahoma City ADDY Awards. The agency took home 61 awards, including top honors for their work with the Oklahoma Department of Tourism & Recreation.

You might agree that a strong brand leads to more sales and customer loyalty. But, how do you know if your brand is weak or strong? I recently wrote about the top 5 factors of a strong brand. Here’s the list that you don’t want to relate to.

When I was 14 years old, my mom went on the Atkins diet. She was not alone. In fact, at the height of its popularity, one in eleven North American adults claimed to be on a low-carb diet such as Atkins. Good for all of those adults willingly trying to live a better life, but no one mentions the casualties. I’m talking about the thousands of children, like myself, who were forced to go without pasta and bread for months on end. Because when mom goes on a diet, the entire house goes on a diet. My mom, like many, held the keys to the food kingdom. This was one of the first times in my life that I realized my mother was in complete and carb-free control.

The phrase “artificial intelligence” can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. For some, it rouses fear of sentient machines vying to control the world. For others, it is an example of incredible scientific achievement. Whether you fear A.I. or revere it, you can be certain of one thing: artificial intelligence isn’t the future. It’s the now.

If you ever feel like pulling back the curtain on the process of some of the world’s leading creators across multiple industries, do yourself a favor and tune into the Netflix series Abstract: The Art of Design. More specifically, if you want to take a dive into the mind of a Graphic Designer, check out Episode 6. It features the life and work of Paula Scher. Unless you’re a designer or a typophile, you may not know who Paula Scher is, but you most certainly have seen her work. The Public Theater, Citibank and The Highline just to name a few. If you own or owned a vinyl record from the 70s, there’s a good chance she designed the type for it. The thing she’s known for is typography.

If you’re reading this blog on a web browser in the US, there is a 30%* chance that you’re using an adblocker right now (roughly twice as likely as in 2014*). It’s pretty clear that internet users aren’t fond of spammy advertising on the internet.

While TV and print budgets continue to decrease year after year, out-of-home budgets continue to grow with an estimated $29 billion for global out-of-home ad revenue in 2017. It’s projected to reach $33 billion by 2021, reported by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America and MAGNA Intelligence Study. So how is it that the oldest form of advertising is still growing year after year? The answer is technology and data.

In a world where consumers have virtually all of the control over retail purchases, they still make their choices based on brands. They know what they’re getting — whether it’s quality, price or street cred. There’s something that they value, so they choose the brand that delivers it. Those companies who have the most well-positioned brands are the easiest for consumers to choose from. But, what makes up a strong brand? These are the top five factors:

On its surface, LinkedIn is often thought of as a tool for professionals to connect to further their personal careers. However, I imagine if you’re reading this blog, you know it can be a powerful tool to execute a successful B2B marketing strategy. 

Have you ever purchased a pair of Toms shoes? Or Warby Parker glasses? Remember when the Honey Nut Cheerios bee disappeared from cereal boxes? Or that one time you were waiting in line at Walgreens and you noticed a large poster of Ben Stiller wearing a red clown nose behind the register?

Social media can be a game of cat and mouse. Just when we think we have a particular platform and demographic pegged, something new comes along and changes the game. Using social in your overall marketing strategy can come down to a couple of questions.

To hear Jeff Bowman tell it, he’s got wayyyy too many hobbies. Turns out he just has wayyyy too many talents for a man his age, a modern-day Jeff-of-all-trades.