http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/ work inspired en-us Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:02:07 EST Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:02:07 EST http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rss.html Movable Type Pro 4.33-en 60 http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2010/03/keeping_your_brand_cool_in_a_crisis.html The name of the game is speed. With the insanely rapid pace of information on social media, keeping your brand intact by responding to consumer issues ASAP, or even before they happen, is absolutely essential. According to John Thomson, CEO... Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:40:56 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2010:/aquentblog//11.2303 Julia Thahar Advertising Branding Marketing Social Media http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2010/03/biodegradings_in_the_bag.html Since the 1990's SunChips have been Frito-Lay's healthy option for their snack line.For years, however, the brand never really seemed to take off. In fact, sales seemed to stall over time.Then a few years back, their brand team discovered that... Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:30:27 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2010:/aquentblog//11.2296 Tim Donnelly Advertising Agencies Branding Ecology Food and Drink Marketing Practice: Marketing Tim's A Day in the Life Blog http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2010/02/linchpins.html Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:54:15 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2010:/aquentblog//11.2283 Greg Carter Branding Career Marketing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2010/01/wow_that_looks_a_lot_like_a_big_flat_iphone.html So the much anticipated iPad got its unveiling yesterday and ... well, the jury's still out.My first thought, it looks and acts like a gigantic iPhone. Which I'm not against. But there's no phone.It works like a NetBook, but the... Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:38:54 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2010:/aquentblog//11.2273 Tim Donnelly Branding Communication Marketing Movies Music Practice: Marketing Publishing Tim's A Day in the Life Blog Trends Video http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2010/01/bing_apple_gets_a_little_sweeter_on_microsoft.html According to BusinessWeek, Apple is looking at replacing Google with Bing as their default search engine on their iPhone.Yes, it turns out the rivalry between "I'm a Mac" and "I'm a PC" isn't as strong when it comes to Apple... Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:53:28 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2010:/aquentblog//11.2269 Tim Donnelly Advertising Branding Marketing Practice: Marketing Tim's A Day in the Life Blog http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/11/marketing_as_a_conversation_isnack_20_versus_new_coke.html When I was at university, my all time favourite subject was Consumer Behaviour.I loved learning about the relationship between organizations, their brands and their customers.In those days though, most marketing messages were delivered via a one-way street - broadcast... Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:33:45 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2203 Karen Thompson Advertising Branding Communication Digital Food and Drink History Market Research Marketing Marketing Management Marketing Technology New vs Old Media Practice: Marketing Practice: Media Practice: Online Marketing Public Relations Social Media Social Networking Technology Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/10/rebranding_right_or_risky.html A company rebrand is, ideally, a fantastic opportunity for businesses to reinvent and/or refresh themselves within the marketplace, to reinforce and reflect their core values and, above all, to reconnect with consumers. In reality however, a rebrand often leads -... Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:41:17 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2212 Tim McNamara Branding http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/09/its_fontastic_or_not.html It seems the favorite affordable store of Designers all over the world IKEA, has just stepped down a notch in they eyes of many of their fans.Yes, they've switched their font selection for both print and Web materials from Futura... Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:46:01 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2175 Tim Donnelly Advertising Branding Design Practice: Graphic Design Sales Tim's A Day in the Life Blog http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/04/on_spec.html There's a heated argument raging, and we've heard it before, about the reality of both spec work and crowdsourcing creeping their way into the design community.At the CreativePro site, founding editor Pamela Pfiffner writes that "Spec Work and Crowdsourcing"... Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:02:43 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2044 Tim Donnelly Advertising Aquent Branding Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/as_a_recent_college_grad.html As a 2-year-removed college grad, an adherent to no particular religion (other than The Religion of Non-Stop Awesomeness), and a relative newcomer to the Facebook scene, I was surprised to hear the WSJ report that giving up Facebook for Lent... Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:40:05 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1957 Advertising Branding Marketing Social Networking Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/as_economy_declines_brand_identity_becomes_comfortable_1.html UPDATE! Seems I'm not the only one who didn't like the rebrand. Check it out here. As the recession wears on, popular brands nationwide are putting considerable effort - and dollars - into rebranding strategies designed to make us feel... Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:28:46 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1950 Advertising Branding Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/forget_about_transparency_how_ome_kin.html Good news for all you wannabe Mad Men (and Women)! There's now an alternative to getting into advertising: becoming an advertisement. That's right. Anyone with untouched skin space and no self-image issues can now create an online profile and pimp...I... Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:38:27 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1939 Advertising Branding Careering Trends Viral Marketing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/enough_with_the_rebranding_already.html This post was written by Aquent's Alex "Get Your Damn Re-branding Off of Me" Weaver. This is a picture of him. Maybe it's the sinking feeling that what we've been doing with our lives up to this point is precisely... Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:37:06 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1931 Branding History Public Relations Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/interactive_advertising_and_the_dearth_of_creativity.html A couple weeks ago, Mr. Randall Rothenberg published a manifesto on interactive advertising creativity, which I missed at the time but discovered thanks to a post by Alan Wolk on whether or not creativity still matters. Mr. Rothenberg's lengthy (by... Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:03:26 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1929 Matthew Grant Advertising Agencies Branding Creativity Interactive Design New vs Old Media http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/happy_valentines_day_from_aquents_alex_dr_love_weaver.html This post was written by Aquent's Alex "Dr. Love" Weaver. This is a picture of him. With Valentine's Day hard upon us, I couldn't help but sit back and reflect on all the great matches that Aquent has made since... Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:36:30 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1926 Advertising Aquent Branding History http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/mapping_a_brands_genome_pepsi_and_the_universal_principals_of_design.html AdAge published a story yesterday on what is supposedly Arnell's design strategy brief for the new Pepsi logo. As that article states, it is unclear whether is this a viral hoax or what but, if you haven't read through it,... Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:45:22 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1920 Matthew Grant Branding Creativity History Viral Marketing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/what_are_blogs_good_for.html I didn't need the Fake Steve Jobs to tell me that blogging won't make you rich (though I'm comfortable). And while I do believe that blogging can help you find work, I understand from this ex-CNN head writer/senior producer that... Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:01:58 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1911 Matthew Grant Blogging Branding Careering Copywriting Job Search http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/britney_spears_marketing_guru.html This post was written by Aquent's Alex Weaver. This is a picture of him. Though still teary-eyed from the vision of eight gold medals and one giant pot leaf now hanging around the neck of Michael Phelps, I could not... Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:09:24 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1901 Matthew Grant Branding Interactive Design Social Media http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/01/aquent_you0.html One distinguishing characteristic of Aquent has always been our entrepreneurial spirit. That spirit, at its best, expresses itself as independence, self-reliance, creativity, and the desire to serve others. In this vein, we've developed a corporate culture that seeks these attributes... Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:48:05 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1830 Matthew Grant Aquent Branding Careering Creativity http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/12/blog_promises_for_2009.html People talk a lot about "brand promise," so that got me thinking about "blog promise." What exactly does this blog promise, and am I delivering? Right up front, of course, this blog promises "career advice and insights for marketing professionals."... Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:32:02 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.1818 Matthew Grant Aquent Blogging Branding Marketing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/12/how_do_we_justify_our_existence.html The Web is about dis-intermediation and, as part of the staffing industry, we're intermediaries. So why haven't we vaporized? Because finding work and finding the right people to work with requires human insight. Turns out we're human beings and we... Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:39:05 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.1799 Matthew Grant Aquent Branding Job Search Social Networking http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/12/reality_marketing.html Third "vlog" installment. This one was inspired first by Josh Bernoff's discovery that people don't trust company blogs and secondly by a comment made by Christopher Penn on Twitter: "I'd actually listen to a cold call from a sales person... Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:49:20 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.1784 Matthew Grant Aquent Blogging Branding Marketing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/09/a_dose_of_snark.html As I mentioned towards the end of this post, the French marketing genius Clotaire Rapaille discovered that the brand essence of the "US Presidency" is "cheap entertainment." Ever since I heard that, I have never doubted it, and every subsequent... Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:54:01 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.1572 Matthew Grant Branding Creativity History Public Relations http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/08/does_social_media_frighten_you.html Thoughtful post over at The brandbox on why companies are hesitant to take the social media plunge. Reason Number One: Fear of transparency and losing control of the "message." Important Lesson Number One: You don't control your message. Thanks for... Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:25:52 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.365 Matthew Grant Branding Marketing New vs Old Media Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/08/this_statement_is_a_lie.html Talking with a friend yesterday, he noted that my wife was a writer and then asked if I was a writer as well. I said I was, but explained I was in marketing. "So, you write lies," he said with... Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:38:15 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.363 Matthew Grant Branding Ethics History Marketing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/07/special_pleading_i_want_you_to.html Though I can spin things and beat around the bush with the best of them, I tend to prefer "straight talk" (sometimes called "honesty" or "frankness" or "no BS"). For example, while working recently on a survey of our clients,... Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:31:41 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.345 Matthew Grant Aquent Blogging Branding Ethics Marketing Public Relations http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/04/people_make_the_difference.html Back in 1992, our CEO wrote a letter to all Aquent employees outlining the four principles that guide us in the work we do. The first principle, and the one that has consistently spoken to me, is, "People make the... Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:18:54 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.318 Matthew Grant Aquent Branding Careering History http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/03/new_podcast_erik_hauser_talks.html Ever since I spoke to Erik Hauser last year I've been looking for an opportunity to speak with him again. He's optimistic, he's infectiously enthusiastic, and he has a lot to say on a lot of different topics almost any... Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:03:50 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.310 Matthew Grant Advertising Branding Careering Creativity Experiential Marketing Interviewing Job Search Podcast Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/03/what_is_a_website.html This is a snapshot of Modernista!'s new website. Yes, they are using their Wikipedia page as their homepage (though apparently Wikipedia took it down for a while due to this unconventional usage). They also use Google News for their "news"... Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:46:28 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.308 Matthew Grant Agencies Branding Design Interactive Design New vs Old Media Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/03/brains_on_brands_part_2_straw.html In Part 1 of our podcast interview with James Intriligator, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Wales in Bangor, we talked about branding, loyalty, and consumer psychology. In Part 2, we discuss personae and customer motivation, different neuormarketing... Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:50:06 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.305 Matthew Grant Branding Careering Creativity Design Experiential Marketing History Interactive Design Marketing Podcast Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/03/brands_and_brains_marketing_me.html The other day an SEM specialist told me, "Marketing is a hard science." She said it, at least in part, ironically. "Marketing? A science? Come on! What's next? Fishing?" Marketing may not yet be a hard, or even soft, science.... Sat, 15 Mar 2008 02:46:20 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.304 Matthew Grant Branding Careering Design Experiential Marketing History Interactive Design Marketing New vs Old Media Podcast Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/03/ron_leland_on_brand_architectu.html Ron Leland of Real Life Brand Architecture is an architect by training, a surfer by vocation, and happens to be the president of the Orange County Chapter of the AIGA. He's an enthusiastic, reflective, and interesting guy who has... Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:56:48 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.301 Matthew Grant Branding Careering Creativity Design Podcast http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/01/so_many_channels_so_little_tim.html The writing is on the FunWall: Marketing is undergoing an unprecedented and overwhelming proliferation of channels. This isn't new news, naturally. It's been going on for a while, what with computers in taxicabs and digital bulletin in elevators and all.... Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:02:27 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.281 Matthew Grant Advertising Agencies Branding Careering New vs Old Media Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/12/the_aquent_talent_blog_in_2008.html Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:01:25 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.276 Matthew Grant Aquent Blogging Branding Careering http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/12/logos_culture_paranoia_and_goo.html Obsessed as I am with the reach of this blog, I wanted to find out if my last post about absinthe had gotten me any Google-love. Turns out the interweb contains a boatload of absinthe-related content, so Ye Olde Talente... Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:01:38 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.271 Matthew Grant Branding Creativity History Marketing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/12/marketing_a_hallucination_the.html Many years ago, I met a group of people who, having encountered absinthe in Spain and despairing of it's unavailability here in the United States, decided to take matters into their own hands and distill it themselves. The concoction they... Mon, 03 Dec 2007 21:58:18 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.270 Matthew Grant Branding Creativity Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/11/william_lunderman_on_brand_des.html (Note: I had to repost this entry without the Odeo player due to a technical glitch. If I can fix it I will. - Matt)William Lunderman is VP of Global Strategic Brand Design at Colgate-Palmolive. He's thus far led quite... Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:22:34 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.268 Matthew Grant Branding Careering Design Management Globalization Marketing Marketing Management Podcast http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/11/brand_narratives_and_other_tal.html The Advertising Research Foundation, which publishes The Journal of Advertising Research, released a white paper last month entitled, "On the Road to a New Effectiveness Model," (you can purchase it from the ARF here), which got written up in Brandweek,... Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:19:19 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.266 Matthew Grant Advertising Branding Copywriting Creativity Marketing Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/11/customize_your_message_and_you.html An Aquent Talent Spotlight Article by Anne Stuart Figuratively speaking, our planet is smaller than it used to be, thanks to jet travel, the Internet and other inventions that reduce the historical limitations of distance and time. But when it... Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:36:51 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.264 Matthew Grant Aquent Branding Marketing Marketing Management Talent Talent Spotlight http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/11/the_challenges_of_localization.html On November 29th, Aquent will be sponsoring an American Marketing Association webcast entitled, "Global vs. Local: Seven Key Insights for Global Marketing and Brand Management." The featured speaker will be Donald A. DePalma, who is a business globalization analyst with... Tue, 13 Nov 2007 20:31:08 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.263 Matthew Grant Aquent Branding Interactive Design Market Research Marketing Marketing Management http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/11/david_meerman_scott_on_the_new.html When I was at PodCamp in Boston a couple weeks ago I finally met David Meerman Scott, whom I'd wanted to interview at the time that we were doing the webcast with Paul Gillin. David has literally written the book... Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:18:57 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.261 Matthew Grant Advertising Blogging Branding Careering Marketing New vs Old Media Podcast http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/10/sticky_advertainment_the_webki.html I was checking out the buzz log over at Yahoo! and came across this ominously titled post, "The Webkinz Will Rise," about the collectible and cuddly phenomenon known as Webkinz. Apparently, "Webkinz" ranks in the top 100 searches on Yahoo!... Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:21:59 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.249 Matthew Grant Branding Interactive Design Marketing Social Networking Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/09/an_aquent_podcast_miniseries_c_2.html In this third and final installment of our podcast mini-series, we speak with Carol Burke, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications at AMN Healthcare. Carol discusses how she makes sure that her team is using the marketing channels most preferred... Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:07:09 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.248 Matthew Grant Aquent Branding Careering Copywriting Design Design Management In-House Interactive Design Marketing Management Podcast http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/09/an_aquent_podcast_miniseries_c.html In conjunction with the webcast we're presenting today, I interviewed a few folks we work with and asked them how they coordinate their marketing messages and programs across a variety of media from print to web and beyond. I then... Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:29:46 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.246 Matthew Grant Aquent Branding Copywriting Creativity Design Design Management In-House Marketing Management Podcast http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/09/dont_tase_me_bro_and_brand_nir.html I've become a little obsessed with the "Tasing" of Andrew Meyer. Thanks to the ubiquity and power of modern technology, I've been able to review the incident from multiple angles just like on a DVD. If you haven't had the... Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:42:00 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.244 Matthew Grant Branding http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/06/internal_branding_and_part_of.html One of the things that I have done on at off during my tenure at Aquent is write songs about the company and it's various initiatives. I have not recorded many of them, but recently started doing so. Most of... Thu, 28 Jun 2007 21:42:17 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.215 Matthew Grant Aquent Branding Viral Marketing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/06/3_things_i_learned_about_produ.html My friend, Alex, is a product manager represented by Aquent's Boston office. He was a product manager in the biotech world for the last 9 years and when I spoke with him about the evolution of his career the... Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:02:18 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.214 Matthew Grant Branding Careering Marketing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/05/do_you_have_an_olfactory_portf.html Our creative director has a coffee maker at his desk and when I walked by it yesterday I thought it smelled really good. "You know," I said, "Americans associate coffee with 'home.' That's why realtor's put on a pot... Fri, 11 May 2007 17:51:35 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.188 Matthew Grant Branding Market Research Marketing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/04/guest_blogging_blues.html Maintaining a blog can be hard work. You have to stay current; you have to be original; you have to "participate in the conversation." Still, you're in control. You know who your audience is (or is supposed to be), you... Wed, 25 Apr 2007 17:56:44 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.178 Matthew Grant Blogging Branding Social Networking http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/04/brands_are_people_too.html A few weeks back, I wrote about brands which have switched genders. Of course, "switching" implies that brands are gendered in the first place, which pretty much everyone would agree is true. Turns out, according to the New York Times,... Tue, 17 Apr 2007 01:38:50 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.174 Matthew Grant Branding Marketing Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/04/do_brands_undergo_gender_reass.html It all started when I got a Friend Request through my MySpace account from a woman who said she had known me in graduate school. I didn't recognize her from her picture for one simple reason: when I knew her,... Sat, 07 Apr 2007 13:06:56 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.168 Matthew Grant Advertising Branding Marketing