BrandingWeb site evaluation entails a review of user experience and key communication points. To build your website for the long run, continually assess, update, tweak, and upgrade your content. At Sparxoo Agency, our team has developed a standard process for … Continue reading
With the upcoming 2011 football season approaching, we have picked our top 10 quotes from football greats that are inspirational to entrepreneurs and business leaders.
1. “It does not matter how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get up.”
- Vince Lombardi Continue reading
Launching a new business merges a balanced blend of entrepreneurial spirit, passion, and the ability to leverage a talent to build a brand. Founded in 2010 by Anna Roberts Ostroff and Alan Ostroff, the origin of Infinity Theatre Company is a model of leveraging talent and building a brand around a value proposition. Although this entrepreneurial endeavor has proven arduous, Anna and Alan have established an innovative business with the ability to inspire and transform those around them. Connecting community to the performing arts is no simple mission, yet these entrepreneurs have crafted a passionate dream into an extraordinary adventure that is becoming a staple in the Annapolis district. Continue reading
Imagine drilling down into the guts of a product without ever opening the package or avoiding the painfully long wait times while a sales person checks the inventory to see if an item is in stock. These are just two ways luxury brands are enhancing the in-store customer experience. Sparxoo has spotted new tech trends in luxury, which often involve e-commerce. But, the bread and butter of the luxury industry has been the superior in-store experience. So what drives an exceptional in-store experience? Continue reading
It seems like in order to find one great ad, you have to watch 20 “for the low low price of $19.95″ commercials. Many brand advertisements fall short of the mark because of common mistakes that can be easily avoided. For instance, perform adequate customer research and testing before signing on a spokesperson. Continue reading
What makes Madonna, Coca-Cola and Apple iconic cultural leaders? Why do Apple fans spend hours standing in line to buy the next innovation? It is a brand’s ability to creatively, uniquely and strategically position itself in the market that makes it successful. In essence, they learned to think outside of the box and be different. Continue reading
“Today, to break through the clutter of the hundreds of other competing products out there it pays to be different,” writes Peter Drucker. One way of breaking through the clutter is to follow through on the concept or mission of the company selling the product to create an immersive, engaging brand experience.
Continue reading
Google has so indoctrinated keywords into webmasters, sometimes branding can be put on the back burner. However, Google’s keyword-centric view of the world could be changing. Continue reading
We performed an analysis of Google web trends via Search Insights to see where the greatest growth existed for each year beginning with 2004 and all time. Then we zeroed in on those categories with the greatest uptick within a given year. Continue reading
Once considered the ecological movement in the 1960s and 70s, the concept of consumer environmentalism evolved into the green movement in the 2000s. The impact of the green movement had a profound effect on consumerism, with organic, eco-friendly, locally sourced, permeating the consumer lexicon. Now, is the time for the next evolution of the green movement: blue. Continue reading
For the past 3+ years, Sparxoo has had the privelege of leading strategy assignments for major companies such as NBC, Fox Sports, Comcast, Lifetime, JP Morgan Chase, and others. We frequently lead innovation workshops and experts work-sessions to stretch thinking and spur growth. Today, for the first time, we had our own brand innovation workshop. Many firms are great at strategy, and many more at creative. We seek to be unique in our ability to integrate strategy and creative, all while focusing on making meaningful connections. Continue reading
What are the top search results for your name? If it’s a link to a MySpace pic of you drunk at a college frat party 5 years ago, you might want to spend time modifying your image before applying to jobs. The same goes for CEOs, other executive leaders and politicians. Personal branding, as expert Dan Schwabel can attest, is becoming a necessity as competition for jobs, new business and voters intensifies. Continue reading
As we enter 2011, there are seeds of renewed optimism. Consumer confidence is off its lows and a new consumer is emerging, one who will pursue wants and needs on her own terms. In response to tomorrow’s consumer, creative and business-savvy entrepreneurs are innovating to form volunteer mobs, crowdsource maintenance of local waterways and much more. Below, we share 11 Market Trends for 2011, with a bonus trend at the end!
Read more about 2011 market trends
In 1983, American Express helped restore a deteriorating Ellis Island with $1.7 million by offering $0.01 for each card transaction and $1 for each new card issued. Lee National Denim helped organize workplace drives in which employees contributed $5 for the right to wear jeans to work on the first Friday in October, totaling $75 million for breast cancer research and advocacy over 13 years. Integrating a social cause into the broader company mission can elevate the brand image by engendering good will in the community while creating an opportunity to connect with new customers and rallying your team behind a uniting cause. Continue reading
Build Trust and Respect as an Ethical Company
Walk into an Elevation Burger and you’ll notice it isn’t your typical burger joint. Posters line the walls touting its mission to locally sourced ingredients as much as possible. Their social mission makes Elevation Burger more than just a burger place, it is a place to support environmental sustainability. Therein, lies a relationship and trust.
Read more benefits of a social mission. Continue reading
Gen Y is so oversaturated with ads that many billboards, pop-ups and Hulu ads have just become mundane wallpaper in their daily lives. In fact, according to the market research firm, Yankelovich, a person living in a city 30 years ago saw up to 2,000 ad messages a day, compared with up to 5,000 today. How then, can a brand pierce through this seemingly impenetrable wall of advertising messages? We’ve refreshed Sparxoo’s Generation and Psychographic Reports with new Gen Y trends to help your brand survive and thrive.
Read more about marketing to Gen Y. Continue reading
James Dean, Marlon Brando, Steve Jobs and even Barack Obama have sported Levis jeans. The famous denim is known for its durability and toughness. Levis, unlike your piece-of-junk dryer, is among many brands that Boomers can say, they make them just like they used to. It’s partly nostalgic, but mostly the search of quality. Levis, along with other quality brands, such as Volkswagen, should continue to be big hits with Boomers in the next five years.
According to a study by Focalyst, AARP and the Kantar Group, Boomers are more likely to be brand loyal to a service rather than product brand. Boomers want to “interact with brands that provide personalized service and seem to care about us and we’ll pay more to do it,” writes the blog Baby Boomer Insights. If, however, you are a product brand, it’s your task to make customer service better to create… Read more.
Continue reading
