Continuing our series about marketing mistakes, here’s another we run into all the time: missing the message. Arguably, this is even more common than #1: Forgetting the Goal, but it’s a lot more sneaky—it comes in later in the process, usually when legal gets involved. Kidding. Or not. “Wait a minute,” you’re probably saying. “We [...]
It’s funny. For all the marketing we do—online, offline, B2B, B2C, traditional, cutting-edge, whatever—the biggest mistake we see is simply this: forgetting about your goal. In fact, I think we irritate a lot of clients when they first come to us and say, “Wow, we have this great new product or service and we need [...]
In a world where Google+ and Facebook are playing smackdown, sometimes it’s easy to forget some of the simplest and most effective marketing tactics. Like video. “Video?” You say. “But that’s expensive, and time-consuming, and it isn’t for me, and the last time we put up a video on YouTube, we ended up with 23 [...]
It may just be us, but we get a bunch of clients who come to us with requests like this: “I need a new print ad.” “I want a Facebook presence and a really compelling social media campaign.” “Our website blows, can you redesign it?” Now, there’s nothing wrong with any of those requests. Not [...]
It seems that every time we talk to someone these days, they’re looking for the home run. The big score. The thermonuclear event. The Big Deal That Changes Everything. This isn’t just in the course of business, either—I can’t tell you how many twentysomethings I’ve heard repeat the phrase, “I want to do something huge, [...]
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? [...]
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 [...]
