Several months ago I was driving East on Carnegie Avenue, taking in the view — that is, the spectacle of billboards so densely packed within a mile stretch you barely notice the road itself. As a designer, I'm a unique audience for these kinds of advertisements because most of my attention is spent observing the visual and verbal technicalities of the design rather than buying into whatever's being sold.
I have worked on the agency side my entire career. I’ve had the opportunity to work with many companies, in many industries and work alongside many different personalities. I’ve worked on short-term projects and managed clients who prefer to have an agency of record relationship.
With back-to-school season in full-swing, families are navigating even more uncertainties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether kids are returning to school in-person, at their computers or a hybrid of both, back-to-school season looks very different from years past.
Right before I waved goodbye to 2019, I checked the 2020 calendar and was excited to see that in 2020 a lot of holidays would fall on weekends. For example, Halloween is on a Saturday and Christmas is on a Friday…but then COVID-19 hit. Very quickly into the year, how we celebrate holidays changed.
Originally, I wanted to write a blog about brands that build hype and do it well. But then I thought to myself how it’s much more interesting to ponder the brands that have so much power and brand equity that they don’t even have to build hype.
Here’s a “symptom” of COVID-19 that you might not have thought of, but I bet you can relate to: Zoom fatigue. For some, the exhaustion sets in after hours of being “on” during video calls. Others feel drained just seeing yet another Zoom, Teams, Skype or Webex invite land on their calendar.
The dominant global conversation for the better part of six months had been focused either directly or indirectly on one topic: The global pandemic that is coronavirus. Whether talking about the economy, the presidential election, the stock market, international affairs, the weather, education, social injustice, fashion… everything, without exception is frame-worked in COVID-19.
Beginning as early as the 1800s, the poster has played a fundamental role in societal communication.
For obvious reasons, the majority of the workforce is currently working remote. Even prior to COVID-19, 4.3 million workers in the USA worked remote, which makes up 3.2% of the entire workforce. Companies large and small are seeing firsthand that remote employees make for happier, productive and agile teams - reducing stress, lessening distractions, offering flexibility and decreasing turnover.
Every marketer’s dream is that there is a silver bullet for marketing. One strategy that increases brand awareness, drives quality leads and drives them immediately. But we all know that just isn’t the case. Marketing requires ongoing strategy and a constant commitment to achieve your goals.
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