General BUZZ

Branding vs. Advertising vs. Marketing vs. Public Relations

Branding vs. Advertising vs. Marketing vs. Public Relations

Not too long ago, a humorous comic strip made its rounds through the internet and was a great illustration of the differences between branding, marketing, public relations, and advertising. While funny, it raised key point that everyone should realize abo

How Nine Inch Nails Built a Brand on More Than Just Music

How Nine Inch Nails Built a Brand on More Than Just Music

In the mid-to-late 1990s, Nine Inch Nails had nearly become a household name. The band’s creator, front man and driving force, Trent Reznor, had become the icon of goth kids and aspiring musicians everywhere. Even today, Nine Inch Nails remain popular a

When Weird Marketing (Sort of) Works: Mr. Six

When Weird Marketing (Sort of) Works: Mr. Six

Sometimes brand mascots are so weird and out of left field that they work because of their sheer uniqueness. But on the other hand, they can sometimes be weird enough to backfire. And, oddly enough, there is even a third category: those mascots that fa

Be a Branding Hero

Be a Branding Hero

Everyone loves a great hero story. From Beowulf to The Avengers, heroes are ingrained in storytelling from all periods of human history. Did you know that you can sort of take advantage of this fact when it comes to branding? It’s true. If you can cl

Striking Up The Brand

Striking Up The Brand

Let’s get back to basics and face the fact that some people in the small business environment still don’t have a proper handle on what branding actually is. This is that day in class where we review stuff from the beginning of the year, but try not to

Why The Top Brands Are At The Top

Why The Top Brands Are At The Top

Recently, a survey of 70,000 consumers revealed the top 100 brands in the world. Some of the results were surprising but some were very predictable. Before taking a look at some of the results, it should be noted that the factors involved in the survey we

Carving Out Your Niche

Carving Out Your Niche

The number of people that are going into business for themselves is growing every year. Because of this, the online working environment is getting more competitive than ever. Freelancers in particular really need to find a way to make themselves stand out

Maintaining the Real World Office

Maintaining the Real World Office

Sure, the majority of small businesses are run online these days. But there are still small businesses all around the world that are doing very well via either traditional or “hybrid” means.  For these businesses, they not only have to worry about ma

Halloween is Over…Are You Ready for Christmas?

Halloween is Over…Are You Ready for Christmas?

Right around the end of September, a lot of big businesses—especially retail giants—start the Holiday rush. This starts off with putting out Halloween-themed items and merchandise which slowly allows the Christmas stuff to trickle in. It seems that th

How Branding Mistakes Are Like Horror Movies

How Branding Mistakes Are Like Horror Movies

Happy Halloween, folks. In the spirit of the day, we’re going to take a few moments to compare your business decisions to a horror movie. Bad marketing and brand building is exactly the same as some of the dumb moves characters tend to make in horror