Evolve's Blog
Break Out of Your Routine
Submitted by Evolve on Tue, 04/23/2013 - 17:06
Companies in a slow economy can fall victim to the slow and steady survival game. They expect consumers to react positively to the same information. But what they are really doing is becoming white noise, blending in to a background that is easily glossed over by consumers who have a keen eye for what’s new.Small Errors with Big Consequences
Submitted by Evolve on Tue, 04/09/2013 - 08:35
Macy's made a huge mistake. Well, maybe not huge in terms of the size of the mistake, but it still resulted in a rather significant loss in sales. Recently, the retail giant sent out a mailer to its customers with a pretty important copy-editing error. They were intending to discount a sterling silver and 14-karat gold necklace from the original price of $1,500 down to $479, which is still a great deal. But that mark down got even better when the "9" was left off the end, making the actual retail price $47. Customers flocked to Macy's locations in Dallas, where the mailers were released, to jump on the great offer. And because the damage had already been done, the stores honored the misprinted price until they were completely sold out.What Fads Can Teach Us About Our Message
Submitted by Evolve on Tue, 03/26/2013 - 16:09
In the early 90s, when every color seemed to have the words “neon” or “fluorescent” preceding them, a fashion genius came up with the idea of creating athletic clothes that changed colors with your body heat. Kids everywhere begged their parents to buy the totally radical “Hypercolor” clothing line, but their elation was short-lived. What most people, including the designer, neglected to think about was what parts of the body gave off more heat than others.Marketing Tip: Just Imagine You're Talking to Aliens
Submitted by Evolve on Tue, 03/19/2013 - 16:12
In early December of last year, the Voyager 1 spacecraft, Earth’s most distant human-made object, reached what scientists believe is the very edge of our solar system’s gravitational pull. While it flew beyond the reaches of the “planet” Pluto back in 1989, it is just now breaching what is being called the “Magnetic Highway,” a sort of interstellar rip current. Once the probe hits the current, it will become Earth’s first interstellar traveler.Don't Let Your Business be the Best Kept Secret in Town
Submitted by Evolve on Fri, 03/08/2013 - 16:48
Local businesses face an uphill climb from the moment their doors open for the first time. It’s been cited that 30 percent of all new small businesses fail in their first two years, and only 51 percent of small businesses pass the five-year benchmark. While there are countless reasons why some small businesses fail—i.e. poor planning, overexpansion, lack of capital—a big reason why the 51 percent succeed is their significant exposure in the area. And while a lack of exposure won’t spell certain demise, it will lead to something I like to call, “The Best Kept Secret Effect.”Lessons in Brand Marketing: Groupon
Submitted by Evolve on Tue, 03/05/2013 - 11:20
It’s hard to let go, especially when the thing you’re letting go of is a billion dollar company that you’ve watched grow from infancy into a troubled teen-ager. But that is exactly what Andrew Mason, former Groupon CEO, had to do late last week. Amid two quarters of sub-par performance, waning public interest and stock prices that were dropping through the floor, Mason was asked to tender his own resignation from a company he founded.Social Media: a Double-Edged Sword for Business
Submitted by Evolve on Fri, 03/01/2013 - 16:38
To say that social media can be under-used, or rather severely misused, might be an understatement. We have all seen posts and comments that have left us scratching our heads and asking, “Why would someone write that?” But as much as some of us would like to hang up the mouse, put away our smartphones, buy a cabin in a secluded area and chop some wood, we still can’t discount the role that social media plays in a company’s image and perception.Lessons in Brand Marketing: Maker’s Mark
Submitted by Evolve on Mon, 02/18/2013 - 11:23
You may have recently noticed a few headlines placing one of the titans of the whiskey world right smack in the middle of a PR nightmare. Bill Samuels, Jr., chairman emeritus at Maker’s Mark, admitted in a interview recently that the bourbon giant would be cutting the proof of their product from 90 proof to 84 proof. He blamed a miscalculation in their sales forecasts and said that due to increasing demand and decreasing supply, diluting the bourbon was a good solution.When Times are Tough, the Tough Advertise.
Submitted by Evolve on Mon, 07/30/2012 - 08:03
We all remember how life was just a few short years ago. For small business owners, things seemed to just be cruising along. Business was good, folks were spending money, and life seemed, well, easier. However it is most often when business is humming and life is good that we make some of our biggest mistakes. One of the mistakes that I have seen has been when companies begin to pull back on their advertising dollars in hopes that their brand will fuel itself while they save a little cash in the process.Our World is Going Mobile. Better Grab a Seat Now.
Submitted by Evolve on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 10:57
By 2014, it is projected that more users will access the internet from their phone than from a computer. Does this mean that all of those fancy flash-based, heavy content sites will become obsolete? Will you drop an egg from a angry bird on the submit button to send a form? Probably not, but it does mean that if you do not have a user-friendly mobile presence you’ll be missing out on over half of all web browsers.
