It’s Potpourri Day at One-Minute Marketer
Here’s just a little bit about a lot of marketing things happening in the world we love.
The Logo Redesign Season Is in Full Swing
General Motors, Burger King, Kia and Pfizer are just a few of the companies that are rolling out cosmetic makeovers of their brands. The goal seems to be simplification and digital alignment. GM’s move coincided with its announcement that it is moving more into electric cars.
The Hyper-Market Choice Days Are Over
Many organizations are blaming the pandemic, but most are limiting choices due to what seems like a natural day of reckoning. McDonald’s is cutting back on breakfast, Clorox is cutting back on different scents and package sizes, Coca-Cola is cutting its underperforming offerings. What companies are finally realizing is that variety is the spice of life — but not endless variety.
Portrait of woman in supermarket
Grocery Stores Are Finally Thinking Like Shoppers
Walmart is working to make the store navigation clearer and match the app. Have you ever just wanted to pull up a store map and search for an item? You can put your shopping list in the app to more easily navigate the store and find items. Walmart calls it “end-to-end” digital navigation that guides customers through their journey. Now, if the app could just identify an employee who can help me.
Please Don’t Say Older People Are Set in Their Ways Again
COVID-19 may be killing brand loyalty because we have been forced to experiment with new products and services. According to Ad Age, “Older consumers age 55 and up, previously known for being intensely brand loyal, are now in play.” The coronavirus has forced everyone to shift buying habits. And we are all looking at products and services with new eyes. That also means that the marketing needs to be more real. I saw a graphic that featured a hunched-over man with a can as an example of the 65-year-old — I’ll race you on a long-distance bike ride any day youngster.
It’s Time for a Chief Entertainment Officer
With the return to events and event marketing, it is time to get serious about the expense and effort. Many shows have gone bankrupt because the people didn’t understand competition with other events, rights fees, legal hurdles and liability issues, not to mention getting a true and relevant branding message into the event. And with streaming and social media, the biggest bang for the marketing buck may not be the event at all, but after the event. The marketing officer has other considerations; the entertainment officer can make sure the money is well used and invested wisely to move the needle.
Mark Mathis III is chief creative & strategy officer, partner and cofounder of AMPERAGE Marketing & Fundraising.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.