BRANDING

As Milwaukee basks in the afterglow of the Bucks NBA championship, it is hard to believe that the Fiserv Forum almost didn’t get built. Back in 2015, the new ownership’s request for partial state funding was met with scorn by many, and the negotiations to build the stadium (and keep the team) teetered on collapse.…

Milwaukee residents are typical Midwesterners, known for their calm, easy-going demeanor – at least until you mess with their sports heroes. That’s precisely what happened last night when the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo – who’d just scored the game-winning basket against the Boston Celtics – got the cold shoulder from a local taco joint. Thanks…

The dishes are dirty and the recycling is full. The Super Bowl is over and it’s time to clean up. It’s also time to debate about who won and who lost – the advertising battle. The wacky beer ad, the sleek car ad, the fun-loving soft drink ad, and the detergent ad that outdid them…

Ah, the Dog Days of Winter. Christmas and New Years are long gone, spring is several months away and there’s another snow storm coming next week. Yippee! Fortunately, there is one interesting thing on the horizon: the Super Bowl. Unlike almost any other sports event—save the Olympics—the annual NFL championship draws interest from all segments…

The Chicago Bears’ 35-14 trouncing by the Packers wasn’t their only embarrassing, real-time loss on a national media outlet last Thursday. They were also manhandled on Twitter … by the Butterfinger candy brand. The action began in the first quarter, when Bears quarterback Mike Glennon lost a snap off his knee for a fumble that…

If you are even slightly involved in advertising or PR, you’ve probably heard the term “influencer marketing.” From fashion to fitness, these digital mavens have established themselves as worthwhile, non-traditional media outlets for brands to leverage. It may come as a surprise then to hear that they should not be classified as ad buys. With…

Influencers are essential to marketing in the digital space. These social figures develop and engage with a community of followers around a certain topic of interest (for example, healthy eating, outdoor adventure or even topics as narrow as claymation). As brands try to tap into these hyper-focused communities, ”influencer marketing” has emerged as a valuable…

“When you make something no one hates, no one will love it.” While I didn’t agree with everything that Fredrick Ost and Magnus Berg presented during their breakout session at the HOW Design Live annual conference last week, this quote from the founders of Swedish design firm SNASK really struck me. It dared all of…