Once simply associated with a logo, name, or trademark, the term ‘brand’ has evolved into so much more. Today a brand is the all-encompassing perception of your products or services when a prospect hears your brand name. With so many consumer touch points in the 21^st century, there are now more opportunities than ever to maximize what the public thinks of your brand from both an emotional and factual standpoint.

Many companies have successfully adapted to the idea that brand building is the most crucial marketing component, while some have been dragging their feet to jump on the wagon. Reality? Brand focus does not appear to be at risk of extinction anytime soon. In fact, major corporations like Proctor & Gamble have shifted their entire marketing functions to brand management.

The most important aspect of branding is to make sure that ALL components and touch points tie back the same message and evoke the same emotion.

So what skills, qualities and strategies make for a ‘successful’ brand manager? Read more

Every company faces adversity at some point. When the time comes, do you have at least a basic plan of action?

Here are some tips to maintain composure during a crisis.

Quick response. When a big headline hits the media and consumers hear crickets from the company, that’s bad news for the brand. Pull together a short first response and address the media outlets that are covering your mistake. Either accept and apologize or kindly redirect the conversation to the bigger picture. More often than not, the PR team will release the initial statement, then have the CEO comment later on the full situation.

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We’ve all been there: the never-ending department meeting. What started out as a potentially interesting presentation from a fellow colleague on the latest company initiatives has turned into “death by PowerPoint.”

Effective communication is inevitable and necessary in almost any work environment. So how can you be prepared for that moment when the tables are turned and it is YOUR responsibility to save your viewers and listeners from the pitfall of chronic boredom? Here are a few tips to ensure your audience is intrigued, invested, and enthusiastic—or at least not slumping down in their seats at the word “hello.”

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Delivery services have always been on consumer radars. The convenience of having your lunch or dry cleaning delivered with a short phone call or click of a button never gets old.

What’s new in the way we are ordering? The emergence of delivery apps.

There are now numerous apps at the palm of your hand ready to be downloaded. Services like Instacart, GrubHub, and Delivery.com are not necessarily new to the delivery game but with their rising popularity, deals with big name brands are trending up in 2016.

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Across the globe inboxes are flooded with emails carrying the latest promotions, upcoming events, must-have purchases, and “once-in-a-lifetime” deals. It is estimated that 88.2 billion consumer emails will be received in 2016. While total received emails are expected to rise at an impressive 7% to last year, consumer emails are projected to stall at a mere .3% growth.

Are these statistics validating the impression that email marketing is going out of style? Or are there tricks to the trade that simply need to be mastered?

Proof points to the latter.

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