Blog
Plan a Road Trip for National Travel & Tourism Week
Today, we offer a slight departure from the kind of content we usually share in this space. Our passion is building great brands and helping destinations market themselves with exactly the right combination of data and creativity. We write about these things because...
Separating Good Advice from Bad Advice
With the proliferation of blogs, podcasts, and social media platforms, it’s easy for anyone to be a self-proclaimed expert on any subject and dole out advice. Sometimes, the advice is colossally bad. Imagine my dismay when I recently read some ill-informed counsel in...
A logo doesn’t exist in a vacuum
Usually, stories about rebranding successes or failures show up in my industry newsletters or LinkedIn feed. You know it’s a major screw up if one also fills Facebook, Instagram and every major news site. Cracker Barrel has suffered the biggest brand black eye since...
Creativity Propels Bedford County Success
Every time we have an initial discussion with a prospective client, we think to ourselves, "how much will we move the needle for them?" Not, "can we?" Or, "is it possible?" Our expectation is that together, we will achieve some level of advertising or marketing...
Reaching its Full Potential or Wasting Space
One of my favorite travel magazines arrived in the mail recently. I started to glance through it while I ate lunch. Because of what I do for a living, I enjoy looking at the ads more than most people. A few ads got my attention for different reasons. Note that I will...
Shifting the Focus: A RFP Process Based on Value
The government procurement system that issues RFPs, especially when soliciting proposals for creative and other professional services, is completely broken. The system is so riddled with flaws that it is essentially useless. The process rarely results in the best...
Time to Reform the RFP Process for Professional Services
Over the course of our 30 years as a creative services firm, we have responded to quite a few Requests for Proposals (RFPs) from government procurement offices, and received many more that did not deserve a response. Since some tourism offices are part of local or...
What Do We Know? What Don’t We Know?
I once saw a clip of a news conference where a high-ranking government official was talking about national security and the intelligence community. While his remarks made perfect sense when it comes to gathering intel, I started thinking about how it really is the...
Back from Our Blogging Break – a Few Random Thoughts
It has been awhile since we posted a blog here. We took a brief hiatus, although we stayed busy writing some blog posts for clients. It’s both a pleasure and an honor to be guest blogger for a client, because it gives us a reason to spend time in their community...
Exciting News – New Scenic Trail Coming to Two of Virginia’s Most Scenic Counties
Some exciting news has been filling my social media feed for the last 24 hours. A new scenic trail will soon run from New Castle to Eagle Rock running roughly parallel to Craig Creek. For those unfamiliar with these small towns, the trail will be just north of...
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