Thinking Inside the Board: Using Mood Boards to Generate Ideas and Build Consensus
Also called vision boards or inspiration boards, mood boards are tools for communicating a vision, feeling, theme, persona or mood for a design or a style in a way that can be quickly absorbed and understood by those viewing them. Mood boards can be used to confirm that all stakeholders are on the same page or get feedback if not. Join Cobalt Communications Art Director Mark Miller on an exploration of this vital design tool. Read More…
The Zen of Zero: The Pluses and Minuses of Inbox Zero
07/08/19 07:43 AM Filed in: Productivity
Aristotle once remarked, “We are what we frequently do.” If this is the case, do we want to be our email inboxes? And does the “Inbox Zero” email management technique function as the cure to the email abyss or compound the disease? This article examines Inbox Zero to determine its utility. Read More…
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: A Marketer’s Guide
06/26/19 08:24 AM Filed in: Strategic Communications | Marketing
Even for the most experienced marketing pros, the responsibility of keeping your brand’s content flowing across the web can be daunting, even exhausting. It’s like feeding a monster that’s never satisfied. So,in this article, we turn to a familiar mantra of environmentalism — Reduce, Reuse, Recycle — to explore how marketers and business professionals canget more mileage out of theircontentand do more with less. Read More…
Why We Love Expletives (or Love to Hate Them)
05/21/19 07:58 AM Filed in: Strategic Communications
Swearing in the workplace used to be a no-no — no questions asked. But as three-piece suits have been replaced by khakis and no-tuck shirts, so too have we become more casual about the occasional oath or obscenity. Research shows that swearing can play an important role in communication, though there are some who argue it has no place in civil discourse. Read More…
Thinking Like Sun Tzu: How to Conduct a Competitive Analysis
05/15/19 07:33 AM Filed in: Strategic Communications | Branding
Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War, is often regarded as one of history’s greatest military strategists. According to the Chinese general, if you want to defeat your enemy, you must know them as well as you know yourself. The same is true if you’re marketing a brand — to succeed, you must know your competition. Read More…
The Lessons of Winning and Losing: A Primer for Marketing Communications
04/30/19 08:35 AM Filed in: Strategic Communications | Marketing
Ali, Namath, Secretariat — we remember winners because they overcame staggering odds to reach the pinnacle of their sport. But if there’s a winner, there must be a loser. History’s winners and losers can teach us a lot about how to communicate effectively. In this article, we consider a few classic victor vs. vanquished duos to uncover important marketing lessons. Read More…