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Most brands these days are learning how to walk the walk and truly uphold their brand values, but can they talk the talk? In this week’s episode of Branding Bites, Shawn and Kacha share their knowledge on how to better identify, talk to, and connect with your audience. Rather read than watch? Check out the transcript below! // TRANSCRIPT
We all love to root for the underdog. It’s why the Rocky films have grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide. Rocky Balboa, one of the most beloved underdog movie characters of all time, beat Apollo Creed, Mr. T and that huge Russian dude, with a simple philosophy: Don’t play by their
You can update the menu, redesign the interior, and launch a new advertising campaign, but unless your restaurant keeps its logo fresh, you're going to miss out on new and returning customers. As a communications tool, everything about your logo - from the decision to use a serif or sans-serif
Loyalty programs have been around forever, as has the question of whether we, as marketers, are making the most of this opportunity to retain our customers. The answer: Usually not. This week we take a look at restaurant loyalty programs with an eye on improving the customer experience and program
Detroit has been featured in some of the country’s most respected publications and topped lists of America’s hottest food cities. And as Detroiters ourselves, we can confirm: the food is incredible. But there is also much to learn from the brand building efforts of some of Detroit’s most successful restaurants
We explore the world of food promotions in this week’s episode of Branding Bites! Stay tuned as Shawn and Kacha share strategies for creating successful stunts, ads, and unexpected extras. Click play for their answers to questions including: What types of promotions drive the most sales for QSR, fast casual,
In this week’s episode of Branding Bites, Shawn and Kacha dive into the world of restaurant apps to discuss which restaurants are delivering a great app experience. And as always, they share their thoughts on everything of note in food, beverage, and branding this week! Click play for their answers
There is a lot of focus on branded video content in the food marketing space right now. Take Chipotle’s School of Guac, Cap’n Crunch’s Earliest Show, and Jack in the Box’s Cravings Hotline for example. In this week’s episode of Branding Bites, Shawn and Kacha discuss branded video content and
In this week's episode of Branding Bites, Kacha and Shawn got together to share their thoughts on the exciting world of food, beverage, and branding. Check out the video for their answers to questions including: How can restaurants, bars, and breweries make their products more photogenic on Instagram? (at 0:15)
In this episode of Branding Bites, our strategy director, Kacha Azema, and our design director, Shawn McConnell, got together to talk about what's happening in restaurant marketing this week. Tune in for their responses to questions including: How successful were Frontier Lager's recent #findflavour Instagram ads? (at 0:13) How can
In this episode of Branding Bites, our strategy director, Kacha Azema, and our design director, Shawn McConnell, sat down to share their insights on what's happening in restaurant marketing this week. Tune in to see Kacha and Shawn answer topical questions including: Is McDonald’s goal of 5,000 pieces of content
Last year the National Parks System attracted 305,000,000 people. That’s more visitors than Disney theme parks, the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NASCAR combined. And this year is looking even better. You have to admit - for a government agency to pull these kind of numbers, it’s pretty impressive. How does
Just a few days ago, I was crowned a winner of the Labatt Undomesticated Games. If you know anything about the event, you probably want to hear my team’s strategies for dominating the oversized slingshot. But that’s a secret I’ll never tell. Instead I want to share my thoughts on
As a writer and a millennial – and one who specializes in millennial-focused copywriting, no less – I am painfully aware of the challenges faced by brands writing for this audience. We hate advertising1, use fast-moving language steeped in internet and pop-culture allusions, and –­ due to infamous amounts of
If you want to reach millennials, there’s a pretty compelling argument that podcasts are a place you want your brand to be. Thirty-five percent of millennials listen to at least one podcast a week,1 and 63 percent have bought something they heard advertised on a podcast.2 With these kind of stats,
If you believe what you hear, the celebrity spokesperson is dead. Talk is rampant in blogs and at conferences that the savvy millennial consumer doesn’t respond to paid endorsement. They say that customers want to hear from other customers, that UGC is the silver bullet. And while peer-to-peer marketing is
Let’s say you’ve got a billion-dollar brand that produces magic at every turn. Your innovative approach is second to none, and people of all ages tremble with excitement at the mere mention of your name. But somehow you’re not seeing the kind of results you want to see. Maybe there
Last Thursday, while at lunch, my phone blew up. Texts and emails and media alerts all pinged at the same time as a friend and colleague rested his hand on my shoulder. That was the moment I found out that my idol was gone and the world had lost an
When Lewis & Clark ventured into the American west, the leaders of their day believed they would find opportunity in a wild and untamed continent. Today, marketers are exploring a different kind of uncharted territory, looking to apps like Yik Yak for the opportunity to connect with the millennial audience.
Nestled deep in the idyllic Belgian countryside of West Flanders lies one of the most sought-after brands in the world. A brand whose product demand far outstrips the supply, and one whose marketing budget has hovered steadily around $0 for the last 175 years. Despite the remote location and total
As consumer behaviors change and evolve so do those of brands and marketers. No longer do we live in a world of one-way promotional messaging, but one where consumers have the power to interact, change, and mold a brand. In our 60-second guide to millennials, we note that 62% of
Welcome back from another holiday break. What better way to kick off the new year than by legitimizing your holiday binge-watching? Let’s take a closer look at a few classic films and see how you can use some of the most memorable scenes to your advantage. Home Alone “This is
There’s one source of unquestioned authority on anything related to internet search: Google. So it’s worth paying attention when Google CEO Sundar Pichai drops some new insight, as he did in their last quarterly earnings call just over a month ago. Pichai announced that for the first time ever, there
One of the most common questions we hear about connecting with millennials is how to do it without alienating other audiences. We say: alienate them. You can’t target any audience when you aren’t focused. Trying to connect with millennials while catering to other audiences is like playing darts while wearing
We’ve all been there. A client or team member mentions making a viral video and we all slouch down and cringe. Not because the idea of making great video content is scary, but because the goal of creating something that will go viral is a risky one that is out
As millennials have become America's largest consumer group, everything about marketing has changed. The only thing that has remained constant is the success of Nike. Year after year, Nike ranks as a favorite brand among millennials.1 Like its customers, Nike’s marketing strategy has evolved. If you're a marketer clinging to
There are a million different ways to solve a design challenge. In every case, the approach you take should depend heavily on the goal. And I’m not talking about the “Increase awareness 35%” kind of goal. I’m talking about the mental goal. What do you want people to feel? Do
There is no question: Taylor Swift knows what she’s doing. As an entertainer, a performer, and – most importantly – as a marketer, Swift is killing it. In only a few years, she has become one of the most beloved and buzzed about musicians in the country. With 50.5 million
Six months ago I shared with you a manifesto of sorts, my personal credo to "Dare Mighty Things." This statement is based on a quote from Teddy Roosevelt and it is a daily reminder for me to be willing to risk much, even if it means failing more often. A
In-store marketing can be the baptismal waters for immersion into your brand. Done wrong, it’ll be completely invisible – or even worse, an absolute annoyance. Done right, it’ll lead your customer to do exactly what you want. So how can you do in-store marketing the right way? Here are a
“Add a little more design” “Make this a bit more fun” “Make it sizzle” “Make it pop” When it comes to design feedback, I’ve heard these words and phrases more times in my career than I can count. Clients say them, account people say them, and whether they admit it
As the CMO of a top entertainment brand you’ve got a sharp eye on your metrics. Above all, I bet you’re tracking sales numbers carefully. Sales are important, sure, but they look backward instead of forward. By focusing only on sales, you’re missing an opportunity to drive numbers instead of
The digital world moves quickly. Every day there’s a new trend or term popping up that requires us to determine its relevancy and figure out if and how it applies to our work. These terms change frequently, so we don’t expect our clients to know every current buzzword and be
Anyone who's responsible for the communications and marketing efforts of their brand certainly understands the importance of having a meaningful presence on social media. But if your brand hopes to engage millennials, having a presence is not nearly enough. In a day and age where 81 percent of Twitter users
Every company targeting millennials is asking the same question: How do you connect with a generation that is known to mistrust brands, a generation that refuses to be told what is cool? The smartest companies also want to know how to create visual relevance for a brand when trends seem
Imagine if you could double, triple, or even quadruple your branded content and simultaneously improve your brand’s reputation without spending a single dollar. That would be amazing, right? No, this isn’t a sleazy sales pitch for snake oil, and it’s not a fairy tale. There’s a ready gold mine of
The best work coming from most studios and agencies will never leave their doors. It’ll live in a flat file in a long forgotten hallway or on a nameless server somewhere. When clients and creatives work together, however, this fate can be avoided. We celebrate this work because it represents
The Super Bowl has always been a main event for advertisers and consumers. Sometimes there’s a love match, sometimes there’s not. This year we surveyed a group of consumers to understand what people really thought of the ads. While some recognize that other things happen during this time (apparently a sport is
This is the third, in a three-part series on the “how” of Design Thinking. In the second of this three-part series, Strategy informed us we need bridge. A bridge so beautiful it will make you weep. So let's get started. Picture a large bridge spanning a body of water. Go ahead. Close
This is the second, in a three-part series on the “how” of Design Thinking. In the first of this three-part series about Design Thinking, Tim Smith talked about Discovery and how Skidmore digs under every rock, heads outside to talk to customers and walks a mile in our client’s shoes
This is the first, in a three-part series on the "how" of Design Thinking. This blog began as a question posed during a recent studio planning meeting: "Should we give away our secret sauce?" The idea on the table was to go deeper into Skidmore's Design Thinking process and share
More quantifiable proof: Good Design is Good for Business. A recent study reported in Fast Company proves that companies that embrace Design Thinking outperform those that don’t by a whopping 228 percent.1 You read that right – 228 percent. The analysis, completed by the Design Management Institute, looked at companies
Two events happened in Detroit this week that exemplified the mindsets which exist within two of Detroit’s very different worlds – the sports world and the business world. The first was an announcement by GM that the Cadillac brand is moving to New York. The second was when one of
This month Skidmore unveiled the MerryMen Project, a new program that promotes a philosophy of designing for good. The goal of this effort is to support Detroit-based non-profits and small businesses by providing pro bono strategy and design services. While Skidmore has provided pro bono services to the non-profit community