There should be a saying that goes something like, “Beware the ice cream man in January: what he sells may seem tasty, but it ain’t what you need on a cold Toronto night.” What does this have to do with marketing? Okay. Let’s say it’s another perfect day at your office. As head of marketing, [...]
“There’s an app for that.” On hundreds of millions of iOS and Android devices, that’s the rallying cry. Want to identify the tune you just heard on the radio? Get free directions on a 3D rendered cityscape? Scan barcodes for comparison shopping? Play Angry Birds? Measure EMF? Perform audio analysis? Make music? Amuse your cat? [...]
Okay, if you’re a consumer marketer, skip this post. We ain’t talking to you. This is for the B2B marketers in the room. For you guys, we have one very simple message:Â Resist the siren call of social media! By now, you’ve probably heard about Facebook’s traffic surpassing Google. You’ve been barraged by dozens of social [...]
So, it’s that time of year again. Clients and partners start asking us, “So, what’s the next big thing?” Sometimes I think they’re hoping we’ll say something like, “Well, it’s this new platform, OMGWFTBBQ.com, that combines auto-generated creative with positive-only social commentary to spread the word about your new product completely free! Even better, it [...]
Here at Centric, our creative team isn’t headed by a creative director. Yes, you read that right. We don’t have a creative director. Instead, our creative lead’s title is “Managing Partner, Strategy.” This sometimes gets us some funny looks. But it makes complete sense. Creativity in the service of business is strategic. How do you get [...]
Well, now that we’ve launched McHale Design’s new website, it’s time for a new kind of showcase: our partner showcase! The Importance of Partners Why are partners important? It’s simple. When you’re working with a boutique agency like Centric or McHale, you need to know the agency has a roster of trusted, proven partner relationships [...]
How do you take an ingredient as simple as garlic to “the next level?” You do so by focusing on its origins, its story, and portraying in an elevated, high-end manner. Many people don’t know that garlic from different parts of the world tastes different, in much the same way that wine grapes grown in [...]
When we meet a new client, many times we’re the last agency in. And, in the meeting, you can see it in their eyes. That glazed look that says, “Please, please spare me from another Powerpoint deck. Don’t show me another demo reel. Stop telling me that social media is the future. Or that traditional [...]
In the old days, when you wanted to do an effective product comparison, you’d post a big chart in your magazine ad, and highlight the categories where you excelled over the competition. Today, people don’t have time to pore over charts. They may not even have the time to understand all the things you’re comparing! [...]
“Advertising is dead!” shout the social media experts. But, in fact, online and social media have given us more ways to advertise than ever before. You probably know about advertising on Facebook and YouTube, but . . . Did you know that Google does TV ads? Or that you can advertise within Zynga’s Farmville game? [...]
