There are no shortcuts to winning creative.
It's hard work. Big thinking, arm wrestling and deep listening. It's throwing out the mediocre and sometimes laying down on the railroad tracks to defend the best ideas.
Eureka!
Martha Bartlett Piland has joined the Career Pathways Collaborative, a committee working on national curriculum and testing standards for marketing students. We think this is workforce development at its best!
MB Piland celebrated 15 years in business on April 1, 2013. We filled a basket with Billy Vanilly cupcakes and lots of fun, pink party games, then took the festivities on the road to our friends and clients.
Alex Reilly won a Bronze Quill from the Topeka Chapter of International Association of Business Communicators at their awards ceremony this week. Her work on the "Future Topeka" brochure was honored by judges for effective creative writing.
We just updated our conference room with a massive mural to make it even more inviting for big, smart thinking. After all, a groovy office space is an important ingredient in our internal brand recipe.
Inc. Magazine just published a list of 24 Rejuvenating Ways to Spend your Lunch Break. Writer Christina DesMarais shares some energizing tips. We made #22! (Feast on art or books: go to an art gallery or library and drink in the stillness.)
Rapidly growing companies are moving fast. Maybe feeling like they're in the Shark Tank. Some are using Lean Startup methods to evolve their develop brand or launch product extensions. They're pivoting, challenging themselves and using smart learning to propel them ahead.
What happens when an employee leaves? Beyond the exit interview, it's safe to assume that several people will post online reviews that are either wildly flattering—or excruciatingly unflattering. Are you paying attention? Ignorance is not bliss.
HOGG Heating & Air Conditioning Company has a smart internal brand that infects its customers faster than a summer cold. They know they're more than just an HVAC company. They see themselves as the ones who come to the rescue.
A problem for many high growth companies is that their operations are changing at such a rapid rate that their culture and intentional strategies fall by the wayside. At the same time, they probably have a strong external marketing campaign adding fuel to the growth.
Someone just asked me when I knew MB Piland was "there," or that our company had made it. It surprised me. I believe a high-growth company is never "there." But without an intentional plan, it's easy to get trapped in a roundabout. Here are three things to help you keep driving your brand forward.
Obligatory rules and regs and a so-called motivational poster in a company break area make me think of something Despair.Inc. lampoons. The other stuff that's posted (or not) can signal an alarm about the health of the internal brand.
Another thought-provoking read from Seth Godin's daily blog: Choose your customers first. In this post, Seth talks about how we often rush to the end: creating a product, and then trying to shoehorn in our brand and customers. This is especially dangerous for rapidly growing companies.
Separating the "real" from the "Hollywood" is always tough for a movie based on a true story. Wonder about details and characters in the film Argo? A recent interview on Huffington Post says one thing's certain: the famous, "Argo f*** yourself" was real.
MB Piland Advertising + Marketing
3127 Southwest Huntoon
Topeka, Kansas 66604 USA
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