You can’t out-perk a trust problem. Try as many brands might, they can’t seem to get past building their loyalty strategies around symptoms of the deeper issues they’re ignoring. This reactive approach leads to pouring money into the same three “fixes”: richer loyalty perks, sleeker UX updates, and shiny new branding. In this edition of Plain Talk, we’ll explore the main reasons why your customer loyalty strategy is failing and what you can do about it.

As long as the marketing industry has existed, it’s been the case that when global financial disruption strikes, marketers must pivot. Those pivots represent challenges, but they’re also opportunities for brand leadership and differentiation. In this edition of Plain Talk, we explore how marketers can take a disciplined, strategic approach to budget planning in the face of global tariffs and economic uncertainty.

Most organizations don’t write marketing requests for proposals (RFPs) very often, and that’s understandable. When you do, it usually means your business is facing a moment of change. Whatever the reason, the goal is the same: to find the partner that can help you move your brand forward. However, sometimes that’s where the trouble starts.

Because most teams are unfamiliar with the RFP process, they often write documents that are too vague, too rigid, or too focused on the wrong things. In this edition of Plain Talk, we’ll share some practical steps to help you write better marketing RFPs—the kind that lead you to the right agency partner.

In this edition of Plain Talk, you’ll learn how to work more effectively with your marketing agency. We’ll go over how to kick things off with clarity, communicate without confusion, and build a partnership that gets better over time. On your mark, get set, let’s go!

From start-ups to mature companies, mom n’ pops to multinationals, every product or service should have a marketing strategy. While surprisingly there are many definitions of strategy (and tactics)—some good, some not so good, we can all agree that when marketing is working, there will come a time when your strategy will need to scale to keep your business ahead of competitors. In this edition of Plain Talk, we’ll dig into how marketing strategies must scale to support (and keep up with) your brand and, more importantly, how to recognize the signs when it is time for a change.

The restaurant’s staff was “in the weeds” a lot more than a typical Saturday night and it was starting to overtake the kitchen. A full house of four and six-top tables loaded with hungry guests was starting to get antsy, and the manager knew that her reputation was on the line every time they got slammed like that. But it’s OK. She knew it was coming. In this edition of Plain Talk, we’ll reveal the most direct cause of customer loyalty. Then, we’ll look at improving the employee experience and how it flows into creating customer loyalty.

Imagine sitting in a waiting room, watching your car’s oil change when a marble suddenly blocks the funnel, causing oil to spill everywhere. As absurd as this scenario seems, it mirrors a common marketing blunder—focusing on mid-and top-funnel activities while neglecting the clogged bottom of the funnel. In this edition of Plain Talk, we’ll explore real-world examples of bottom-funnel issues across various sales models and provide insights on how to audit, communicate, and resolve these costly problems.

Whether you are a small business owner or a marketing lead in a larger company, 2024 looks like a pretty sunny year for many businesses. The economy looks set to grow, and businesses that put in the extra effort should have a pretty good year. And the good news is that growth doesn’t have to come with a hefty price tag. In this edition of Plain Talk, we’ll discuss free, cheap, or affordable things you can do to market your business better (and a few that might require extra help).

From being told to “Just Do It!” to the “now more than ever” pandemic lectures, we’ve all been viewed as “vessels.” The brands we love have, on occasion, transitioned their messages from what they can do for us to what we need to do or do better. Enough! Advertising brands this year need to focus on how they are useful and relatable to us and not judge us against their standard or lecture us. In this edition of Plain Talk, we’ll discuss how consumers are fatigued by assertive marketing (cause or otherwise). We’ll also explore how brands might better relate to them.

As a full-service agency with more than 80 clients, we often get asked our opinions on which CRM solution is best for a given client’s situation or if a certain CRM software is any good. While we have our favorites and can often provide insights on which is best for a client’s needs, the answer is they are all pretty good. The secret to getting results from your new CRM is in its implementation! In this edition of Plain Talk, join us as we take a deep dive into implementing a CRM system the right way.