Image caption
August 3, 2018

Virtually the most helpful advertising advice

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
Advertising copywriters—and especially the lawyers who edit their work—are often masters of appearing to make big p […]

Say What?-2
September 6, 2018

Say what? Pay for what?

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
Words actually heard in a television commercial: “I feel better with less pain.”
No kidding? Who’d have thought?
[…]

Image caption
July 11, 2018

When fresh can be rotten

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
Many of us are with an ad campaign before it’s even an idea. We watch it grow from a communication strategy into a cr […]

Image caption
June 19, 2018

Putting lipstick on a pig.

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
Good ideas are hard to find. It’s hard work to develop objectives, strategies, and concepts that grow from an underst […]

Image caption
June 6, 2018

How much does the quality of advertising matter?

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
Advertising is expensive. But no matter where you put your marketing communications money, spending some of it—perha […]

Image caption
May 17, 2018

How to waste money on advertising.

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
If you don’t spend enough money to be noticed, the money you do spend buys little to nothing.
Think about it. Your p […]

Image caption
April 24, 2018

How much does advertising cost?

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
It depends on where you want to build it. What you want to build it with. Who you want to build it. How big it will be. […]

Image caption
April 11, 2018

Fishing for customers?

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
When developing marketing communications plans, most of the thinking—whether strategic, creative, or media—involves […]

Image caption
April 3, 2018

This is the only perspective that matters

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
Self-interest is at or near the top of every decision every one of us makes, every time. Including choosing what we wil […]

Image caption
March 12, 2018

Focus on the right group

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
Focus groups, if professionally organized and moderated, can be helpful. But, even then, there are pitfalls. The fact i […]

Image caption
January 28, 2018

Share of mind buys share of market

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
Buying awareness and understanding with advertising buys share of mind. And share of mind becomes share of market. And wi […]

Image caption
February 15, 2018

BTW: Why determining ROI is often DOA

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
Wanting to know your ROI is understandable. But is isn’t always realistic. Advertising is as much art as science and a […]

Image caption
January 9, 2018

How to persuade prospects

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
Convincing someone can be a matter of sharing the bare-bone facts. But it usually won’t persuade someone to behave […]

Image caption
November 2, 2017

How to engage your prospects

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
You absolutely must frame your message in terms that matter to your audience—not to you. Don’t just talk features, ta […]

Image caption
October 16, 2017

How not to get noticed

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
Attention-getting devices must be relevant. To the product or service, and to the audience. So, while things like babie […]

Image caption
September 27, 2017

Are you listening?

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
Marketing research, if properly conducted and analyzed, can reveal what to say to your prospects. But don’t be lulled […]

Image caption
September 6, 2017

Who cares if you care?

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
Once you’ve defined your target audience—the “who” you are talking to—“what” you say, must speak to t […]

Image caption
August 28, 2017

A waste of ad dollars

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
Lots of marketing communications messages are wasted. Along with all the time and money that went into putting them out […]

Image caption
August 24, 2017

B2B Marketing: Speaking their language.

It rarely works to tout and shout your bells and whistles. What does work is to speak to what your customer needs and wants in a way that appeals to them. Somet […]

Image caption
August 16, 2017

Awareness matters but it isn’t everything.

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
Awareness is the first and most important step in establishing an ongoing relationship and lasting loyalty. But it’s […]

Image caption
August 10, 2017

Making interest rates interesting

It’s a perennial problem for banks—advertise the rate of return on their money market accounts in an interesting way. Here’s how we solved the pr […]

Image caption
August 9, 2017

Kit cover design: Keeping it simple

The new, more simple logo we designed for Bozeman Health, begged for an equally simple and modern approach to their system wide kit cover. The corporate bronze […]

Image caption
August 15, 2017

First things first—approaching banking fresh

A critical first assignment with our client, First Utah Bank, was to create a cohesive stand-out brand. We began by refreshing and updating the logo and creatin […]

Image caption
August 9, 2017

Women talking about Women Specialists

No one knows women better than women. So when it came time to promote a group of Women’s Specialists for Bozeman Healthcare, it was an easy decision to ha […]

Image caption
August 8, 2017

Be aware of awareness

Marketing basics boiled down to memes.
If no one knows who you are, no one will care about what you offer. If they don’t know your name, they won’t know w […]

Image caption
July 12, 2017

Loving something to death.

Back to the basics: Health Care Marketing Revisited
Loving something to death.
You’ve just been handed the layout for your next magazine ad. The design for yo […]

Image caption
June 19, 2017

Jumping on the bandwagon is a ride to nowhere.

Back to the basics: Health Care Marketing Revisited
Jumping on the bandwagon is a ride to nowhere.
People like to be part of the next big thing. Since no one ev […]

Image caption
June 6, 2017

Of course you care.

Back to the basics: Health Care Marketing Revisited
Of course you care.
Repeated exposure to most health-care advertising could result in a case of diabetes. Th […]

Image caption
May 10, 2017

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Back to the basics: Health Care Marketing Revisited
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Most people who work in marketing and advertising have taken at lea […]

Image caption
April 13, 2017

Alphabet soup.

Back to the basics: Health Care Marketing Revisited
Alphabet soup.
With the advent of text messaging (TXT), initials and acronyms have run amok. There’s LOL ( […]

Image caption
March 21, 2017

Say what?

Back to the basics: Health Care Marketing Revisited
Say what?
Words actually heard in a television commercial: “I feel better with less pain.”
No kidding? W […]

Image caption
March 9, 2017

How to sound good while saying nothing.

Back to the basics: Health Care Marketing Revisited
How to sound good while saying nothing.
Advertising copywriters—and the lawyers who edit their work—are […]

Image caption
December 6, 2016

The more things change.

Back to the basics: Health Care Marketing Revisited
The more things change.
Marketing communications is in a constant state of flux. From traditional media to […]

Image caption
November 29, 2016

Why seven is an unlucky number.

Back to the basics: Health Care Marketing Revisited
Why seven is an unlucky number.
Those of us involved in advertising see a lot of it.

We’re there from the […]

Image caption
August 3, 2016

How to put lipstick on a pig

Back to the basics: Health Care Marketing Revisited
How to put lipstick on a pig.
Good ideas are hard to find. It’s hard work to develop objectives, strategie […]

Image caption
July 27, 2016

How to spend money to make money

Back to the basics: Health Care Marketing Revisited
How to spend money to make money.
Advertising is expensive. Even the kind—such as social media—that’s […]

Image caption
July 12, 2016

How to waste money on advertising

Back to the basics: Health Care Marketing Revisited
How to waste money on advertising.
There’s a famous old saying in marketing communications attributed to d […]

Image caption
July 5, 2016

How much does an advertising campaign cost?

Back to the basics: Health Care Marketing Revisited
How much does an advertising campaign cost?
Spend any time at all in marketing communications and you’ll h […]

Image caption
June 22, 2016

Emergency Services is Nonstop Healthcare

You know you have a good idea when it has legs—it can translate into various media and it is easily expandable. Such ideas tend towards simplicity and punch. […]

Image caption
June 21, 2016

How to prosper with bad advertising.

Back to the basics: Health Care Marketing Revisited
How to prosper with bad advertising
Folks in the ad business often carry on about creativity and quality. To […]