Karin F.

What’s happening Brand Nerds?! We have a new Brands, Beats & Bytes episode with special guest and fellow Coca-Cola alum, Don Scheibenreif. After decades of success in his career, Don shares his tips and thoughts on CPG, tech & more. To catch the full episode click the link below. Please share & subscribe. https://lnkd.in/gaJZKyz

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Before heading into the weekend, here’s what’s “Top of Mind” for me this week in industry news: Read: The NFL’s annual Schedule Release Day in May has become a de facto holiday for sports fans. From FaceTiming celebrity fans to capturing man-on-the-street-style tourist interviews, each team’s creative, tongue-in-cheek approach spurs engaging content that adds to the hype for the upcoming season. https://lnkd.in/eTE__3pQ Think: Inspired by the 2013 film “Her” and the foundation of human conversation, OpenAI released Chat GPT-4o, which can go as far as detecting emotions through tone of voice and facial expressions. As the AI race continues, how will this and other advancements will drive the evolution of marketing? https://lnkd.in/eXfYPvbg Know: Amazon is wagering big on culture with a “Pop Culture Jeopardy!” spinoff coming exclusively to its Prime Video platform. The first from the Jeopardy franchise to debut on a major streamer, the spinoff’s focus on culture-defining topics is sure to unite fans and viewers across generations. https://lnkd.in/etHBsGmf 

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Not sure why, but I woke up thinking about hot dogs. I mean, imagine you want a hamburger. In addition to the pervasiveness of McDonald’s, you have dozens of national chain choices (I.e. Burger King, Wendy’s, etc.), regional fan favourites (I.e In & Out, Whataburger, Shake Shack) and lots of local ma and pa burger stands. Same is true if you want to grab a sandwich. There are dozens of national, regional, and small shop choices, such as Subway, Jersey Mikes, Jimmy Johns, Panera Bread, and many more. Same is true with pizza. But, what if you want a hot dog? You really only have one regional fast food option, Wienerschnitzel. Oddly, Costco sells a lot of hotdogs, and hot dogs abound at every stadium. Very few burger joints, like Sonic, also sell hotdogs. Many street vendors in big cities like New York sell them, as do lots of convenience stores. But for some reason - despite being wildly popular, beloved by kids and backyard bbq enthusiasts- hot dogs haven’t achieved the same popularity as burgers, sandwiches, or pizza. I believe Wienerschnitzel stands alone as a fast food purveyor of the beloved “tube steak”. Any guesses why?

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IS DISRUPTION BAD OR IS IT GOOD? It depends on vision and leadership. Post-COVID, GES leadership queried customer feedback, acted, and removed friction for exhibitors and supply chain partners. Here's their story. #GES #exhibiting #tradeshows #experientialmarketing #viad #exhibitcitynews

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There are 200+ days between the Superbowl and kickoff of the next season. But during this gap, the NFL never goes away. This week, they released the 2024-2025 schedule to a lot of fanfare. They continue pushing out events, content, and news to keep their audience engaged. It's a beautiful model of year-round engagement that you can borrow for your association. 🏆 Superbowl --> Your keystone annual conference ✨ Draft --> Host events or produce content that profiles new members 🔄 Free Agency --> Sharing news about key member changes & moves 📆 Schedule Release --> Build up hype when you announce your conference 📺 Off Season Hard Knocks --> Sharing behind the scenes of planning 🔍 Pre-Season --> Smaller, more focused events to build engagement They treat each of these touchpoints as a big event. You may not have the budget and Taylor Swift influence that the NFL has, but a well thought out plan that spaces out your touchpoints via multiple mediums will allow you to stay in touch with your membership and make it easier to sell your Superbowl. #eventprofs #eventdesign #sparkeventcollective

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Merch Trends at the 2024 PGA Championship 🧢 Not at all surprised by the patches on hats trend. We've seen an uptick in this trend and have worked on some cool designs for our clients. 👕 I was a little surprised to see golf shirts in solid colors are making a coming back. However, I was not surprised about the softer shades in color, specifically the mint. ⛳Co-branding with your company logo or event is a topic that has come up in conversation in recent days. #golfapparel #brandedmerch #brandedapparel

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Interested in sharing your story that intertwines entrepreneurship / business and endurance sports then let's chat. I find the connection between the two to be very strong and I'm interested in how they help you when you're doing the other. For example, how does being an endurance sports athlete help you in business and how does your work in business help you with your endurance sports training/racing. Let's Chat.

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March Madness will always be the best ever. Rock Chalk Jayhawk! Stanley Cup playoffs is the best in pro sports. The first three rounds of this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs have been the most-watched edition of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) postseason in the US since 1996. Confirmed: Conference finals delivered an average audience of 3.9 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, TNT, truTV, Sportsnet, CBC, TVA Sports, up 34 per cent compared to last year In the US specifically, the recent third round delivered an average audience of two million viewers, up 26 per cent year-on-year (YoY) Playoffs viewership currently up 14 per cent YoY in the US, with an average audience of 1.3 million across ABC, ESPN, TNT, TBS, truTV Playoffs are currently the most-watched since 2018 across North America NHL also announces a multi-year Canadian partnership with Intuit, designating Intuit QuickBooks, TurboTax, Credit Karma as the official small business accounting software of the league Context: The strong TV ratings for the Stanley Cup playoffs continue the positive viewership trend enjoyed by the NHL throughout the 2023/24 season.  The league announced in April that more than 58.6 million viewers tuned into games across North America during the regular season, which was the most-watched on cable in 30 years in the US and the most-watched generally since the 2015/16 campaign. This continued into the postseason for the opening weekend of the first round of the playoffs, which saw an average of 2.62 million viewers watch across North America, up 11 per cent YoY. The growth in viewership has not affected ticket sales, either, as the league set a single-season attendance record with 18 games of the regular season remaining. More than 22.5 million fans attended games, with stadiums filled to 97 per cent capacity throughout the campaign. https://lnkd.in/gE_SSY2r

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I had a wonderful catch-up visit with Helen Fanucci, founder of Pipeline Power recently and wanted to bring an episode of Market Dominance Guys back in case you missed it. Helen Fanucci, Chris Beall, and Corey Frank emphasize in this episode that outdated title-based targeting must give way to responsibility-based keyword searches on LinkedIn and intent signals from job profiles. They delve into common missteps sales leaders make, from over-researching targets to allowing bloated pipelines and territories that hamper productivity. Tune in to learn how to focus your targeting, embrace open territories, have meaningful conversations, and build trust with the right prospects from day one. I really enjoyed the Success Beneath the Surface episode from Chief Outsiders with Deborah S. Fell and James Hyman. James offers invaluable insights for CEOs and business transformation leaders facing the daunting task of overhauling large to enterprise-sized organizations. James emphasizes the importance of broadening one’s skill set, knowing what “good” looks like in various business functions, and leveraging the expertise of others to drive change. Lany Sullivan talked about her journey to building community IN-PERSON through "peopling" rather than shoving a bunch of digital content at people hoping it lands. She and I talk about aligning ourselves with people and organization with like-hearts and passions to deepen the relationships. Discover how building a strong foundation of community relationships can support your personal and professional growth. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/gTiAW93F

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A storm of controversy over the direction the Star Wars franchise has taken continues to get worse. Kathleen Kennedy and Leslye Headland have both lashed back at fans and essentially told them to shut up. Kathleen Kennedy has gone so far as to tell the fans that the brand belongs to Disney, not the fans. What a short sighted vision! The fans are your customers and if they don't like the product you are putting out, then you have a decision to make - arrogantly keep making a product people don't like and see customers leave in droves or change direction and fix your product to appeal to your customer base. It's basic Marketing 101. If you want to rebrand and go after a different audience, then say that's what you're doing. Telling your customers to shut up and like what they don't want is a sure-fire way to lose. #marketing101

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Friends, I present to you: my career, in pens. I realized today (as I’m always looking for my favorite one) that I seem to hold on to pens from the brands I either created or marketed. I thought this would be a fun little social experiment, so here’s my journey. Lewis Web Creations - my early 2000’s entrepreneurial start into web marketing. SafeNet - too many fun facts here, and grateful for the similarly fun people I worked with here. I was able to market SentinelCloud as my first dedicated search marketing role, and then promoted into a newly created management role as a result. We then launched BuzzWorthy, our internal social sharing program that drove solid engagement with our employees and followers. I worked to transition the brand to Gemalto after they acquired SafeNet during my time there (Gemalto later was acquired by Thales.) Apologies to my CYC coworkers as those pens are definitely MIA. But, happy to represent ArmadaHealth with QualityCareConnect after all the sweat and tears that went into that brand launch. This was my first foray into understanding the nuances between ML and AI also. Last, but definitely not least - AAE Speakers. This might have been my biggest brand shift yet, and if business growth is any indication, I think it worked out pretty well. I have always thought of myself as a digital marketer first, but in reality, I’ve been successfully marketing brands throughout my career while not necessarily realizing it. Definitely an a-ha moment for me. How often do we grab a pen and start writing, but don’t think about where it came from. I’m really glad I did. #mycareerinpens

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Summer Series 2024 with #GCCPortfolio and GrowthPlay Alycia Sutor How Pets Combat Loneliness Owning a pet can be especially beneficial in reducing social isolation. Pets provide companionship and can serve as a bridge to connect individuals who might otherwise be more isolated. Providing companionship and unconditional love pets help us fight depression, improve our mood and outlook, facilitate healing, increase resiliency, plus bring distraction. Research has even shown that dog and cat owners laugh more daily than people without pets. They can give a person a sense of purpose and allow them to talk to someone that will respond in a loving & kind way. Pets are the best listeners! Question: What was the name of your first pet? Check out our Howl of Fame https://1l.ink/QXLBRR2

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The 2024 NFL DRAFT starts tonight so let’s talk playbooks. Playbooks help everyone in an organization understand what to do or say when communicating with specific audiences. We write them for brands since guidelines sometimes leave too much guesswork for the average employee. Instead of telling someone to be more “authentic,” playbooks include actual language to use, a way to tell the brand story in their own voice, proof points to emphasize, FAQs, and more. Playbooks put the tools together so that everyone can use them.

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  Top 5 Most Popular Cities for Summer 2024? Writing in Forbes, travel expert brittany anas cites a recent Kayak survey finding that Americans are flocking to these destinations this summer:   1. Seattle 2. Last Vegas 3. Orlando 4. Honolulu 5. New York   Pulse Experiential Travel has you covered in all these cities and more. #incentivetravel #engagement #experiences    https://lnkd.in/giuKNuak

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It’s so refreshing to see such an emphasis put on great branding and the creative that drives it. It’s a struggle with some clients to get them to understand why branding is so important. Some either have an inflated sense of the brand’s actual reach or don’t understand why it is important at all. Engaging creative with a solid brad is a winning formula for sales. Great series!

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I get questions all the time about our Brand Clarity Blueprint. Honestly, it’s such an amazing tool for any business to help them clarify their brand message and to build a marketing communication strategy. It is one of the most exciting things I get to do. Seeing how businesses around the country, and even around the world, have utilized our blueprints to help them communicate more effectively is thrilling. I recorded this overview to show you the depth and value of this tool. Whether you are a real estate agent, own a professional services company, want to learn how to stand out in a “me too“ industry, or want to utilize this for your clients, this blueprint is for you! I work with marketing agencies, business coaches, and social media strategists around the country who white label our blueprint for their clients to use as a gateway into their services. If you’d like to learn more, I would love to chat. https://lnkd.in/eV7hxxSm

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I think there is an opportunity for a news brand called "mainstream" who's brand is to dedicate itself to the highest, non politically motivated, curious, non-click bait, news. I know many of us want it. thoughts? #news #journalism #mainstreammedia

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