Marketers and their creative partners know there is no sure thing when it comes to marketing. They spend resources creating assets; producing images and messages hoping to drive success for their brands. No matter the category, competition is always fierce and consumers have become increasingly fickle when it comes to their brand preferences. The pandemic has presented new challenges for marketers. With non-essential stores closed or closing, many retail brands have had to play catch up by creating or significantly increasing their digital presence as customers’ traditional shopping patterns adapt to this “new normal.” Brands and creative agencies are constantly looking for ways to improve their odds of success in today’s evolving marketplace. Research can certainly play an important role in this quest. Successful campaigns start with the answers to three critical questions: *What do your customers really want and need? *Do your customers believe your product meets those wants and needs? *What do your customers need to see/hear to convince them that your product is the right choice? read more at: https://www.jschmid.com/blog/breakthrough-creative-research/

The way people interact with brands is not as orderly or linear as a customer journey map seems to indicate – or a sales funnel, for that matter. I’m not implying that understanding, mapping and optimizing the customer journey, and your path to conversion isn’t mandatory – it is. But I am suggesting that it’s worth looking further in an attempt to understand the way actual, living, breathing, thinking humans experience your brand. As a human, I can attest that my journey from awareness to purchase and later repurchase is never linear or orderly. If we drill down to a closer view, we can talk about the cluster of interactions that are driven by something the customer did. Place an order? There’s a cluster of activity there. Visit the website? There’s a cluster of interactions there. Sign up for email? Ad cluster. more at source: https://www.jschmid.com/blog/look-inside-the-customer-journey/

“We CHEWS you, Chi!” Those four words emanating from The National Confectionery Sales Association (NCSA) put sweet smiles on the faces of all Chicagoans, knowing that their town had been selected as the permanent home of the Candy Hall of Fame Experience. Chicago triumphed over fellow finalists New York and Orlando to land the planned 60,000-sq.-ft. HOF that will honor—not Babe—but Baby Ruth. “For more than a century, Chicago has been home to some of the most iconic names in American candy, including Ferrara, Mars, Brach’s, Tootsie and Wrigley,” said Shelly Clarey, Chairman of the NCSA. “Establishing the Candy Hall of Fame Experience here reflects the city’s deep connection to the industry and creates a home to celebrate the people who helped build it.