Blog

Smooj

Written By Date Case Study Legit Fruit Magic Smooj was the brainchild of Tommy Kennedy...

Eastern Market

Loud, Local, and Full of Heart I’m not gonna lie, when this project landed on...

Little Ghost

An inside look at our process designing the spirited Little Ghost restaurant...

How to Find Your People

How to Find Your People Let’s get this out of the way: You actually don’t...

The Skidmore Branding Glossary

The A to Z Guide to Branding Terminology There’s no way around it: The field...

Finding Your Target Audience

Finding Your Target Audience Here’s the thing: “Everyone” cannot be your audience. No matter how...

Stop, Hold, Close: How to Win the Aisle

Stop, Hold, Close: How to Win the Aisle As Captain Obvious will tell you, getting...

How to Get Retail Ready

How to Get Retail Ready Prepping for the big buyer meeting You’ve got high-quality products...

The Fine Art of Being Different

The Fine Art of Being Different You’ve heard of “lawyer-ing up,” right? The strategy of...

How We Leverage Design Thinking to Build Brands

How We Leverage Design Thinking to Build Brands Design Thinking is a framework that guides...

Why Discovery

Why Discovery We’re incredibly fortunate to partner with clients who want to do good work—they...

Branding Over Marketing for Better ROI

Branding Over Marketing for Better ROI We believe in the power of branding over marketing....

What’s in a (Good) Name?

What’s in a (Good) Name? Whether you’re naming an organization, event, sub-brand, or product, the...

How to Attract (and Retain) Top Talent

The Value of Brand for Internal Culture A lot of effort goes into creating and...

A Studio Update and Insights from Expo West

We’ve been busy… It’s been an exceptional first quarter for the Skidmore team. Our sleeves...

Award Winning Packaging Design

Hot off of the Presses – packaging design client, Vital Essentials, won a Pet Business...

Embracing the Power of AI: Unveiling Our Main Uses

In the ever-evolving landscape of branding, packaging, and websites, staying at the forefront of innovation...

2023 Beverage Trend Review

If you are anything like us, you usually have three drinks sitting in front of...

Three Things You Need to Consider if You’re Rebranding in 2024.

With only 2 months left of 2023, it’s time to get planning for 2024! We...

Unleash Success in 2024: Rebranding Pet Food for the Modern Consumer

The pet industry is thriving. With 66% of households in the US reporting at least...

The Three F’s of 2023 Expo East

I went to Natural Products Expo East again this year and, as always, learned from...

Living Your Brand Core Values

2023 – a fascinating year at the intersection of brand, marketing, and cultural relevance. Company...

What’s in a brand’s visual identity?

Spoiler alert: it’s more than your logo. In an ever-evolving aisle of choice, gaining consumer...

Principles of a Packaging Redesign

Is your brand feeling a bit one-note? Staying competitive in the aisle doesn’t always mean...

Is Minimalist Packaging Design Effective for CPG Sales at Retail?

Minimalism has had a monumental impact on design. From fashion and interior design to brand...

Is it Really the Cheesiest? Our Thoughts on the Kraft Mac & Cheese Redesign

Brands engage in a packaging redesign for a number of reasons. Factors like shifting trends,...

Brewing a Brand Redesign with Griffin Claw Brewing Company

Celebrating 10 years of great craft beers, Griffin Claw was ready for a new look...

Is a DTC Strategy Right for Your CPG Brand?

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategies boast higher margins while enabling brands to own their story and customer...

Finding CPG success in Direct-to-Consumer

Direct-to-consumer provides ample opportunities for emerging brands. With more channels and ownability over the process,...

How To Use Three Legacy Brand Marketing Pillars To Set Your CPG Brand Apart

Three Legacy Brand Marketing Pillars And How to Use them for Your CPG Brand As...

5 tips for creating a customer profile

If you’ve found yourself tasked with creating customer profiles for your brand or organization and...

What Makes for a Successful Rebrand or Packaging Redesign?

Embarking on a rebrand or packaging redesign can be a daunting task. After all, it’s...

Millennial Moms Are Not An Audience

Back when the main marketing channel was television, advertisers had the luxury of their messages...

So, I’ll see you at Expo West?

Short answer: Nope, that’s not for us.Thousands of emerging CPG brands all gathered in one...

Staying relevant with strategic product innovation

More and more, food brands are growing or pivoting their product offerings to meet new...

What consumers are craving in 2022

The right meal can make you feel peace at the end of a stressful day....

How grocery retailers are thriving in a cookieless world

Marketers everywhere are scrambling to adjust their consumer targeting strategies ahead of the death of...

Emerging brands gain ground on old faithfuls

2021 saw almost a third of consumers more likely to try new products over the...

The omnichannel shopper is everyone

If you’ve felt like your marketing communications in the last two years just aren’t landing...

Impulse buying: When they can’t resist

Over 50% of all purchases are made spur of the moment, with no prior planning....

The opportunity in product innovation

While product innovation has always been a way to stir up interest, the last 18...

Shopping list marketing belongs in your 2022 marketing strategy

With all the recent changes in tracking consumer data, the conversation around marketing and advertising...

Win Your Own Backyard

Here’s the thing very few brokers or growth consultants will tell you: Scaling your distribution...

How to ensure a successful rebrand launch

Rebrands are a second chance at a first impression. Rebranding allows companies to evaluate, refine,...

Learnings from the first week of social distancing

Reflecting back on how our Skidmore team navigated the first week of social distancing, we...

Skidmore 2019 Year in Review

Happy New Year, folks! Last year marked our 60th anniversary, so 2020 means we’re entering...

The battle for shelf space: Lessons from 3 successful brands

As an emerging food or consumer packaged goods (CPG) brand, you might feel like getting...

THINK Business interviews Skidmore Studio Owner & President, Drew Patrick

This interview was originally posted on Jon Dwoskin's "THINK Business" podcast. Drew isn’t your typical...

Know your customer and technology will fall into place

Originally posted on JGA.com as a guest post by Skidmore Studio President, Drew Patrick. Back...

New look, same creative studio

We, a branding studio, have a fresh new brand identity ourselves. This includes an all-new...

Peter Fezzey joins Skidmore Studio’s leadership team

Skidmore Studio welcomes Peter Fezzey to the team to direct all account and new business...

Skidmore Studio honored as one of the 2019 Michigan 50 Companies to Watch

Skidmore Studio was recently recognized by Michigan Celebrates Small Business as one of the Michigan...

Client Spotlight: How a small social biz grew into a statewide staple

In 2016, the folks behind Michigan Farm to Freezer trusted us to redesign the core...

Every brand’s guide to slang, memes, and Internet Speak

Does speaking internet count as being bilingual? If so, we at Skidmore Studio are skilled...

3 food-focused clients we’re extra grateful for

There’s a lot to be thankful for this year. We have a new owner. We’ve...

When you love an organization enough to buy it

A little over nine years ago, Tim Smith asked me to play a round of...

In good hands: Skidmore Studio transitions ownership

We have some big news to share here at the studio: Our current president, Drew...

Food tribes: Fighting the good (food) fight

Think about the last time you went out to eat with friends, or the last...

Brand over marketing: The 60/40 split

Here’s an idea that may be controversial: You should be investing more time and effort...

Xenith rebrand and packaging design work featured on Brand New

This week our Xenith rebrand was reviewed the much loved and feared Brand New site...

Mastering the “Stop, Hold, Close”

As one of the most important brand–customer touchpoints, a brand’s packaging needs to stand out...

Fun meets function in EMBC beer can design

Nothing better than kicking back with a beer bursting with flavor AND personality. Luckily these...

Lessons from insurgent food brands

Thanks for your interest! Click to view and download the WHITE PAPER "The Grocery Aisle Insurgents"...

Striving for extraordinary partnerships

Recently I was asked, “What makes a really good client?” My initial reply was to...

The do’s & don’ts of candy packaging

The Skidmore candy drawer is basically our water cooler – and this close to Halloween,...

Menu writing tips from a hungry copywriter

Menus are everywhere – the cozy chalkboard at your neighborhood café, the oversized menu at...

Talking to your audience

Most brands these days are learning how to walk the walk and truly uphold their...

3 things all insurgent brands must do

We all love to root for the underdog. It’s why the Rocky films have grossed...

Indicators you need a new logo

You can update the menu, redesign the interior, and launch a new advertising campaign, but...

Loyalty programs worth the love

Loyalty programs have been around forever, as has the question of whether we, as marketers,...

Detroit dining and bonbon branding

Detroit has been featured in some of the country’s most respected publications and topped lists...

Food promotions that really deliver

We explore the world of food promotions in this week’s episode of Branding Bites! Stay...

Restaurant apps, biscuit theaters, and Airbnb

In this week’s episode of Branding Bites, Shawn and Kacha dive into the world of...

Branded videos and virtual reality

There is a lot of focus on branded video content in the food marketing space...

Photogenic food and resurrecting Chipotle’s brand

In this week's episode of Branding Bites, Kacha and Shawn got together to share their...

Building a cult brand and redesigning Taco Bell

In this episode of Branding Bites, our strategy director, Kacha Azema, and our design director,...

On McDonald’s, Gilmore Girls & more

In this episode of Branding Bites, our strategy director, Kacha Azema, and our design director,...

Celebrating a centennial by keeping in step with the times

Last year the National Parks System attracted 305,000,000 people. That’s more visitors than Disney theme...

How to win the Labatt Games & other brand activations

Just a few days ago, I was crowned a winner of the Labatt Undomesticated Games....

TL;DR and other reminders to keep your copy in check

As a writer and a millennial – and one who specializes in millennial-focused copywriting, no...

To podcast, or not to podcast

If you want to reach millennials, there’s a pretty compelling argument that podcasts are a...

The celebrity spokesperson is dead…or is it?

If you believe what you hear, the celebrity spokesperson is dead. Talk is rampant in...

Creating magical moments at every consumer touchpoint

Let’s say you’ve got a billion-dollar brand that produces magic at every turn. Your innovative...

Nothing compares 2 Prince – in music or marketing

Last Thursday, while at lunch, my phone blew up. Texts and emails and media alerts...

Yik Yak holds potential for the right marketers

When Lewis & Clark ventured into the American west, the leaders of their day believed...

The making of a cult brand

Nestled deep in the idyllic Belgian countryside of West Flanders lies one of the most...

Rethinking ROI and content marketing

As consumer behaviors change and evolve so do those of brands and marketers. No longer...

Holiday hangover? 5 lessons to legitimize your binge-watching

Welcome back from another holiday break. What better way to kick off the new year...

How to craft your mobile strategy

There’s one source of unquestioned authority on anything related to internet search: Google. So it’s...

Why you should alienate your other audiences

One of the most common questions we hear about connecting with millennials is how to...

Your best shot for getting shared

We’ve all been there. A client or team member mentions making a viral video and...

Be like Nike: How Nike is winning millennials

As millennials have become America's largest consumer group, everything about marketing has changed. The only...

Designing for clarity vs. designing for curiosity

There are a million different ways to solve a design challenge. In every case, the...

What marketers can learn from Taylor Swift

There is no question: Taylor Swift knows what she’s doing. As an entertainer, a performer,...

Hail to the chief!

Six months ago I shared with you a manifesto of sorts, my personal credo to...

Improving the in-store experience

In-store marketing can be the baptismal waters for immersion into your brand. Done wrong, it’ll...

Design feedback, from a designer

“Add a little more design” “Make this a bit more fun” “Make it sizzle” “Make...

How to drive sales by improving experience

As the CMO of a top entertainment brand you’ve got a sharp eye on your...

Crash course in 2015 digital marketing buzzwords

The digital world moves quickly. Every day there’s a new trend or term popping up...

Social media is a two-way street: How to improve your social strategy

Anyone who's responsible for the communications and marketing efforts of their brand certainly understands the...

Predicting the next design trends

Every company targeting millennials is asking the same question: How do you connect with a...

User-Generated Content: A marketing gold mine

Imagine if you could double, triple, or even quadruple your branded content and simultaneously improve...

How to get the best work from your creative partner

The best work coming from most studios and agencies will never leave their doors. It’ll...

Super Bowl Ad Survey: Would YOU buy a beer from a puppy?

The Super Bowl has always been a main event for advertisers and consumers. Sometimes there’s a love...

Design Thinking – Good for business & Detroit

More quantifiable proof: Good Design is Good for Business. A recent study reported in Fast...

Hey, Cadillac – You’ve got it wrong

Two events happened in Detroit this week that exemplified the mindsets which exist within two...

Merry band of creatives

This month Skidmore unveiled the MerryMen Project, a new program that promotes a philosophy of...