Michael Schwandt

Think your promotional mix is just about blasting discounts and hoping for the best? Think again. Many marketers fall into the trap of treating the promotional mix as a one-size-fits-all solution, but this scattershot approach rarely hits the mark. Here’s the truth: a successful promotional mix isn’t about random tactics or quick fixes. It’s a […]

Building a community around your brand is a necessary element to your growth. As we like to say, “A brand is a living entity, and its greatest asset is its community.” Yet, many enterprise companies focus so much attention (not to mention grind their gears) on run-of-the-mill branding strategies to grow their following.  Simply posting […]

Did you know it costs five times more to attract a new customer than to retain an existing one? And the probability of selling to an existing customer is a whopping 60-70% compared to a 5-20% chance of selling to a new customer. So why is it that brand experiences as marketing tools are often […]

If you’ve been around the promo industry long (or if you’re just a millennial), then you’re well versed in the term “swag.” There’s a misconception floating around that “swag” is synonymous with “merch,” when in fact the two have largely different implications. Branded merchandise — more casually known as merch — refers to products sold […]

We all know by now that first impressions matter. So does the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh impression! (That’s not a random stopping point, by the way. On average, a person needs to interact with a brand seven times before they’re ready to make a purchase.) These impressions, or connections between you and […]

How to Build Your Brand Image You have to be tired of being just another face in the crowd.  Today, getting people to love and trust your brand is just as important as getting them to know you. In fact, it isn’t a luxury. It’s essential for survival! A brand image is more than an […]

So, why are the brands in the Fortune 500 that big while others barely make it by? Of course, we could list 1,001 reasons why, but they still won’t matter if we ignore one cogent truth: They have become experts at generating buzz about their brand and maintaining consumer recall. See, being visible isn’t enough. […]

Remember when business cards were the most efficient tool to spread the word about your brand? To introduce your brand identity, you simply reached in your wallet and presented people with a bit of stationary. Today, branding lives all around us — and even on us! Of course physical and digital business cards are still […]

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who love birthdays and those who dread them. Drawing attention to getting older or any attention at all makes some people feel uncomfortable. But we’re not talking about the kind of celebration that entails singing and clapping while the birthday honoree awkwardly sits in the […]

Don’t go! Company culture & company culture events — two of the biggest reasons for feeling loyal or surfing LinkedIn. Nearly two-thirds of employees say it’s the deciding factors in staying with a company. As HR, marketing or event planning professionals, it’s your job to be the creative connectors — the bread that squishes the […]