Crossroads

Embrace the Gray More Often

Daniel Molina — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:34:35 +0000

What I’m about to write will sound silly. It slapped me, before I even formalized and packaged it in this pretty little post, as an ironic oversimplification. And that’s sort of the point. Here it is: Everything in life is about balance. From public relations to relationships to shipbuilding, it matters not. “Duh,” you respond. The implication, however, is not in this otherwise uncontroversial statement, but in how we tend to overlook it in practice. The solutions to many of our most hair-pulling problems are rarely clear-cut. Rather than finding a magic bullet, the best path presented is sometimes “all ...

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What Kind of Media Do Millennials Want?

Andi Enns — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:49:11 +0000

No shortage of research and theories exists about what Millennials want. Commenters often point to mainstream media and their influences on our culture, ranging from trashy reality TV to the fast-paced Sesame Street. They claim millennials attention spans are “shot.“ Others have theories about what sort of Generation Y-targeted content makes money online. Web surfing for young people, they caution, is like experiencing severe ADHD and a caffeine overdose simultaneously. As a result, those vying for their attention should keep it simple, keep it short and keep it coming. One media company is defying the conventional wisdom and lending valuable ...

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Blue Bunny Launches ’100 Years, 100 Wishes’

Kaylan Viveros — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:58:21 +0000

This past Monday, April 29, was a day three years in the making. The launch day of a cause program we couldn’t be more honored to help bring to life for a client we couldn’t have a deeper respect for. 100 Years, 100 Wishes is a 100th birthday celebration for Wells, makers of Blue Bunny Ice Cream, a gesture of gratitude for 100 years of business and an effort to make a difference in the lives of 100 kids who really need a smile. The program joins together two organizations – Wells and Make-A-Wish – whose missions align in a ...

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March of Dimes PSA Receives Continental Recognition

Chase Wagner — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:33:05 +0000

Earlier this week I traveled to New York City to accept an award on behalf of Crossroads, Barkley and our March of Dimes client. Our team received the SABRE Award for best public service announcement in North America for the “A Healthy Baby is Worth the Wait” PSA. The time lapse video chronicles a real woman’s journey through each week of her pregnancy. While the recognition of our work was incredibly rewarding, the real reward was getting the chance to work on a project like this. More and more births are being scheduled early for non-medical reasons. We now have ...

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One Year and Counting

Mike Swenson — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:00:33 +0000

The first year of Crossroads’ life has gone by quickly. When we launched this company in May of 2012, we had already spent more than a year thinking about structure, brand and message. And now all of the sudden, Crossroads is one year old. We launched talking about real and how it is truly the only way for organizations to act in the 21st century. Our analogy of how we all live in glass houses today has resonated with people. There is really no place left to hide even if you wanted to hide. But all of us at Crossroads believe ...

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Millennials Help Shape the New Brand/Consumer Dialogue

Jeannette Francia — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:24:37 +0000

From email to social to mobile, the number of communication channels has exploded over the last generation. Millennials have come of age during this era of technological advances and embraced them like no other. So when it comes to marketing to this group via new channels, brands would be wise to adhere to emerging research and answer this consumer group’s question of what’s in it for them. Some of that research has come directly from our partners at Barkley. It highlights a new consumer-engagement model to meet millennials’ thirst for direct interaction with brands as well as an expectation of ...

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Cause Marketing Works

Mike Swenson — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:07:33 +0000

The era of consumer participation has clearly arrived. With enough blog posts daily to fill The New York Times for the next 19 years, consumers have a voice — and social, digital and mobile technologies will continue to enable their participation. Nielsen reports that smartphones now account for more than 50 percent of the U.S. mobile phone market and of course that number continues to climb. This has big implications for marketing communications, especially when it comes to cause marketing campaigns, and it’s just one of three core reasons Cause Marketing is more important than ever before: Consumers Have a Voice – As ...

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New Media Show Journalistic Common Sense

Chase Wagner — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 14:31:47 +0000

Much has been made of social media’s roles – both positive and negative – in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. In the midst of all the horrific developments, however, I found myself returning over and over to one online news source for patient, impartial and factual coverage. The site wasn’t any of the old school behemoths like CNN or NBC. It was Deadspin, a popular sports-oriented blog described as “sarcastic, humorous and often critical of mainstream media.” Its usual content features a heavy dose of juvenile humor; yet it was one of a few outlets conducting patient and ...

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Bombing Brings Out Media’s Best and Worst

Mike Swenson — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:23:05 +0000

Since I was a member of the broadcast media once upon a time and have been fully engaged with the media my entire career, major news events always fascinate me. Of course, the tragedy in Boston is much more than a major news event. It is, quite simply, a tragedy with epic consequences. The media coverage from Boston has been epic at times and not so epic at others. My biggest concern with the media in this day of constant news and opinion is the second part – opinion. When there is a vacuum of facts as there has been ...

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J.C. Penney and the Power of a Sale

Robert Marts — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:31:11 +0000

Have you heard the name Ron Johnson? He’s the person credited with giving the world the Apple retail store and has made headlines recently for a not so successful overhaul at J.C. Penney. A talented marketer, Johnson was wooed away from Apple to become the new CEO of J. C. Penney in 2011. He came armed with a new way to make good on the idea of ‘everyday low prices.’ Johnson wanted to do away with the constant discounting associated with major retailers. His promise was to drop his prices so low that the discounts were already built in. I ...

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