Insights

How to Find Your People Let’s get this out of the way: You actually don’t have an audience. Think about the word “audience.” It assumes you, the speaker, are on a stage or some elevated position. And it assumes that a crowd has willingly gathered around you—often paying money to do so—because they want to […]

The A to Z Guide to Branding Terminology There’s no way around it: The field of branding is a highly subjective one. Every firm and practitioner has their own POV on how to approach the work and what comprises a good brand. But we all can agree on this: Branding is about 1) understanding your […]

The Elements of a Brand Pyramid Building a brand, one brick at a time. At the core of any good, recognizable, sticky brand is an idea. A simple idea that hooks their consumers and keeps a brand top of mind when it counts. We call this a Capstone because it’s the idea that tops your […]

Finding Your Target Audience Here’s the thing: “Everyone” cannot be your audience. No matter how broad an appeal your product has, it’s impossible to please everyone—and you shouldn’t try to appeal to everyone. The narrower your audience is, the more your brand will resonate with those you do attract. Consumers are quick to embrace brands […]

Stop, Hold, Close: How to Win the Aisle As Captain Obvious will tell you, getting noticed on a retail shelf isn’t easy. The competition is stiff. In the best-case scenario, the shopper arrives at the store thinking about your product specifically. But in a noisy media landscape where you and your competitors are all singing […]

How to Get Retail Ready Prepping for the big buyer meeting You’ve got high-quality products that people love, with good sales through local and independent retailers. You’ve reached a level of scale and operational excellence that enables you to meet those small retailers’ order volumes. And you’ve put in the hard work to create a […]

The Fine Art of Being Different You’ve heard of “lawyer-ing up,” right? The strategy of hiring ever-more expensive lawyers than your opponent in order to help you fight an upcoming legal battle. There’s a similar phenomenon in the world of product differentiation: feature-ing up. It goes like this: A brand begins to dominate a category […]

How We Leverage Design Thinking to Build Brands Design Thinking is a framework that guides our work process. That’s sure to prompt a reaction, so let’s get a few things out of the way: If you don’t know what Design Thinking is, start here. There are a thousand Design Thinking frameworks out there. Yes, we’re adding […]

Why Discovery We’re incredibly fortunate to partner with clients who want to do good work—they put a great amount of effort into developing high-quality products and services and their sales team actively works to secure the best distribution channels. As their creative partner, it makes our job easy. Our work simply adds rocket boosters to […]

Branding Over Marketing for Better ROI We believe in the power of branding over marketing. Investing 60% of your budget on branding and 40% on marketing is the best way to generate measurable, predictable results that grow your business. We’ve seen—and the data backs us up—that any deviation from this roughly 60/40 formula dramatically reduces […]

What’s in a (Good) Name? Whether you’re naming an organization, event, sub-brand, or product, the naming process is one of the most harrowing challenges for any internal team. So much of the final outcome hinges on difficult-to-control factors like varying stakeholder opinions, legal viability, and an ever-shrinking pool of available names. Still, naming remains a […]

We’ve been busy…  It’s been an exceptional first quarter for the Skidmore team. Our sleeves are rolled and heads are down on work we can’t wait to share. ::rubs hands together:: Here’s a sneak peek at what we’re working on: An indulgent, sweet snack brand that satisfies those little treat moments  Some of the best […]

Hot off of the Presses – packaging design client, Vital Essentials, won a Pet Business Industry Recognition Award in the Packaging Redesign category! Here are some before Source: Vital Essentials’ Facebook Page Source: Vital Essentials’ Facebook Page Source: Vital Essentials’ Facebook Page Just look at these afters! See how we pencil to paper to create […]

If you are anything like us, you usually have three drinks sitting in front of you: one for taste, one for function, and one for hydration. The beverage category is one of our favorites.  Perhaps it’s the responsiveness and category innovation that makes it so fascinating to follow. With consumers embracing new ingredients, nostalgic flavors, […]

With only 2 months left of 2023, it’s time to get planning for 2024! We consider this the most wonderful time of the year—industry insights converging with sales data and trends are like Christmas for us. This year, we’re seeing three opportunities for emerging businesses that will help long-term growth starting in 2024.  Consumer Testing […]

The pet industry is thriving. With 66% of households in the US reporting at least one pet, that’s a whopping 89 million pet-loving people and potential customers for your pet products— or your competitors. In an industry where the products, claims, and marketing are so similar, it’s crucial to establish a distinguished brand that speaks […]

I went to Natural Products Expo East again this year and, as always, learned from the people behind the brands about the changes they’re seeing in food and beverage CPG. The trends were trending and the conversations were encouraging, but we couldn’t help but notice the disconnect between products, brands, packaging, and consumers. Let’s take […]

2023 – a fascinating year at the intersection of brand, marketing, and cultural relevance. Company and brand core values are being tested and consumers are leading with their hearts now more than ever. In the last six months, we’ve seen legacy brands who once proudly supported causes that aligned with their values shy away due […]

Spoiler alert: it’s more than your logo.  In an ever-evolving aisle of choice, gaining consumer trust and loyalty is essential to growth. Building a standout brand identity early helps ensure that you capture consumers’ eyes, hands, and carts. That’s why brand development looks beyond your logo to incorporate your positioning, mission, messaging, and vision. These […]

Is your brand feeling a bit one-note?  Staying competitive in the aisle doesn’t always mean adding more flavor options to your portfolio. Often, one simple thing is holding you back — your packaging design. Deciding when to execute a redesign requires finesse and understanding of the market, your aisle-mate (aka your competitors), your consumers, and […]

Minimalism has had a monumental impact on design. From fashion and interior design to brand packaging, the refined elements of minimalism are everywhere. It seems more brands are removing key components of their packaging design to lean into the cleanliness of bold labels, flat backgrounds, and neutral color schemes – no fun and no flare. […]