Denise Hollingsworth's blog

It may have seemed earth shattering when Polaroid introduced the instant camera in 1949...and OK, it probably was at the time. But that was ONE technology and Polaroid rode the wave of that technology for years. Call it stagnant innovation.

A brand is about PROMISING, DELIVERING AND EXPERIENCING.  Without all 3 components, the brand is weakened.  Promising is the easy part. The role you play in developing and maintaining your company's brand is THE most critical role.

A few of us from both our Charlotte and Portland offices spent a couple of days with one of our VIP clients at the company’s semi-annual marketing summit. What a fantastic gathering. Brand marketing and sales representatives and their respective agencies all listening, learning and generating ideas in a single venue. Collaboration at its finest.

Marketing research - especially as it relates to listening and learning from the people targeted for marketing communications - has always been fascinating to me, but it’s getting even more so. Social media and technology are two key drivers in a change that is taking place - actually has already taken place - in the field. Direct access to consumers has never been easier.

I spent a few days in Las Vegas last week. It was truly a study in subliminal marketing. Yep, I said 'subliminal.' Hard to think of Vegas as anything but overt and overdone, but, really, think about it. The noises in the casinos are a good place to focus.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how this businesss...the agency business...has changed since I began working in it 20 some odd years ago.  

At my first ageny job, I'd stay up until 5 in the morning cutting and pasting as I prepared reports.  And I mean that literally.  Cutting the paper and taping or pasting it onto the page I would in turn make a copy of.  As painstaking as that work was, it came in handy down the road:  I'm a natural at hanging pictures straight.

Last week I was involved in putting together a presentation about some of the trends we’ve been keeping an eye on that are playing a key role in shaping consumer attitudes. Attitudes that will have a big ol’ impact on the way we shop, the way we buy, and the way we feel overall. Trends that, if companies pay attention to them, can make a big difference in their brands’ success.