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It’s budgeting season – a time that makes us marketers buzz with excitement at the prospect of bigger and better marketing initiatives while simultaneously cringing in fear of endless meetings and “but-it’s-worth-it” conversations. Amiright?

Rebranding. Does that word make you a little anxious? If you’re thinking about evolving your company or organization’s brand you’re probably facing a variety of emotions, both positive and negative.

"Confirmation bias” results in some very real challenges for marketers – but it also presents an interesting opportunity in how you position your brand with your target audience.

When it comes down to it, all marketing programs are ultimately geared towards people, or consumers, or target audiences…or whatever you want to call them. And in today’s marketing landscape, it pays off to keep that in mind.

Sadly, whether it’s my piano skills or your branding, you can’t just tell people what to think. People are smart. And cynical.

Sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference between branding and marketing. The terms are increasingly used interchangeably, which only adds to the confusion. Both are important, but for different reasons. So what is the difference between branding and marketing?

Practicality can play an important role in the decision-making process, but most of the time it is emotion that powers our decisions to act.

It’s a complex world out there. We are inundated with thousands of branding messages every day. It can be overwhelming. As marketers, we’re trying to figure out how to cut through the chaos to get consumers to pay attention to what we want to say about our brand.

Many people think of loyalty and marketing as two different strategies. Marketing is often focused on bringing in new customers, and loyalty is all about keeping those customers coming back again and again. There’s a lot of evidence that building brand loyalty by marketing to your current customers is a strategy more likely to yield long-term success.

For the third time in as many years, Inc. magazine has named MindFire Communications one of the fastest-growing privately-held companies in America. The annual listing placed MindFire, with offices in LeClaire and Cedar Rapids, in the 3,960th spot in the country, and 18th spot in the state of Iowa. The third straight appearance on the list […]

From Cannes Lions to email marketing, it has been an intriguing month in the world of branding and marketing. Here are four stories that caught our attention: 1. Get inspired in Cannes This year marked the 62nd Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The festival’s awards are billed as the “global benchmark for what good creative […]

The economy is finally showing signs of warming up. How’s your brand doing? Does it have the sizzle needed to connect with consumers in a cluttered marketplace? Are you fueling the right brand experience, firing up employee engagement and sparking consumer loyalty? Here are the top characteristics of hot brands to help you fan the […]