Where do you go when you’ve already redefined an industry? That was the question for Emotiva. When they came to Centric, they were already a juggernaut, completely changing the way people buy audiophile-quality home theater and stereo audio components. With amazing prices and an efficient direct-sale model, Emotiva was exploding. So what’s the problem? Brand [...]
In 2012, calling Centric an “advertising agency” is kinda like Ford calling itself a “horseless carriage manufacturer.” That is, it may be technically accurate, but it has a ton of old baggage associated with it. And that’s the problem. How do you describe a company that’s doing website development, online advertising, video scripting and production, [...]
Let’s look at just one new ecosystem: The New Retail. This is arguably the most broad-ranging and significant new ecosystem. And yeah, we know you know about Amazon, and selling online, and all of that. But we’re astounded by the number of clients who come to us and say, “We’re launching a new product, and we [...]
We’re in a funny place right now. Traditional advertising—television, print, and outdoor—seem to be holding on for most leading brands, and for specific industry verticals. Sure, newspapers are gutted, and radio is sliding, and many magazines are bleeding subscribers, but it’s not like companies aren’t doing Super Bowl ads anymore. Websites, banners, and search marketing [...]
“Media? What media? In this wonderful Web 2.0 era, I can get all the exposure I want in the social networks, for free!” Yeah, and if that’s what you think, good luck. Here’s the door. Don’t let it hit ya where the dog shoulda bit ya, and all that. Come back when reality sets in. [...]
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 [...]
We had an interesting conversation with a client recently that went something like this: “You know, we went to a trade show recently, with all our cool new catalogs printed up. But the funny thing was, nobody wanted them!” “Huh,” we said. “They didn’t want them at the show, or they didn’t want them to [...]
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, [...]
