Archive
Jen Gulvik
February 19, 2020
Resources Jen Gulvik Jen is a builder of brands, buzz and customer love as Houlihan’s SVP, Marketing / Creative Director. Her background in consumer trends, brand strategy and creative marketing has helped Houlihan’s win over new fans and elevate their product. It’s no surprise she’s counted as one of KC’s most influential women in business. Let’s Start by Putting on Our Analytical Hats. What Exciting Things Are You Doing With Customer Data? Look at that. You just used ‘exciting’ and ‘data’ in the same sentence! Data has changed the face of our marketing this past year. We have a new CRM platform that integrates…
Exercise for Marketing Minds
February 18, 2020
Resources Exercise for Marketing Minds We created Quick Question to help marketing teams sharpen their game. Use #1 KICKSTART A CONVO Hand out a few cards at the top of a meeting to drum up discussion. Use #2 WORKSHOP IN A BOX Select a few cards, tape them to paper, and have people write answers next to them. Boom, you’re collaborating. Use #3 DAILY CHALLENGE Draw a card each day to pull out of the weeds for a moment Want More? REQUEST YOUR OWN Quick Question is a limited edition project for clients, workshop attendees and industry friends. If you’d…
The Message and the Market
February 18, 2020
Resources The Message and the Market https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zJ0N9B1wd0 The most successful established businesses earn 36% of their revenue by launching new products and offerings. Compare this to the bottom quadrant of companies earning only 10% of their revenue from new initiatives. It’s clear that success in new launches translates to success in business. Beyond staying relevant to your customers it’s keeping pace to fend off new entrants. Every single month roughly 775,000 startups are launched in the U.S. market. And it’s on the rise, up 28% from 15 years ago. Half of them will fail before their 5th birthday, but it…
Ryan Weber
February 18, 2020
Resources Ryan Weber Ryan is growing the region’s tech ecosystem as President of KCnext. His background in recruiting angel investors to KC is serving him well as he shifts his focus to attracting tech companies and a growing workforce. When Did the Need for a Dedicated Technology Council Become Apparent? In 2009, the Kansas City Area Development Council (KCADC) created KCnext after being approached by a small group of tech leaders. KCADC was having a lot of success attracting numerous companies to Kansas City. However, none of these new firms were tech companies. Knowing there was a sizeable tech industry in Kansas…
Brian Brooker
February 17, 2020
Resources Brian Brooker Brian is a nationally recognized writer, Chief Creative Officer and CEO. His work has helped a who’s who list of companies elevate their message. Brian’s latest endeavour is applying his brand of creative thinking at Garmin. You’re an Agency Guy Gone Product-Side for the First Time. What Advantages Are You Seeing With That Dynamic? Well, for starters, every time Garmin comes out with a new product it’s like winning a great piece of new business. No more pitches. Ever. There are no timesheets, either. I go where I see the need. I stay as long as is required. I…
Andy Tretiak
February 16, 2020
Resources Andy Tretiak Andy leads marketing, advertising and community relations efforts for Sporting Kansas City and Sporting Innovations. As Chief Marketing Officer he has built one of the hottest brands in MLS and our city. Your Agency Background Hammered Home That a Brand Is More Than Logo and Colors on a Jersey. How Did You Roll It out Internally to Get Buy-in From All Corners of the Organization? My goal was to establish a blueprint for the Sporting Kansas City brand based on the vision our ownership group had for the club. This was going to represent a sea of change for the organization,…
Eze Redwood
February 15, 2020
Resources Eze Redwood Eze is an entrepreneur splitting time between a pair of startup businesses with U-Hoops and Wings Cafe. He’s also a community builder for the next generation of business leaders. You Caught the Entrepreneurship Bug Early. Why Did It Find You Before Others Your Age? I didn’t have an allowance growing up. I had a lot of things I wanted to buy! It forced me to look around for problems I could solve that would generate the funds I needed. A Restaurant and a Sports Startup Seem Like Two Totally Different Pursuits. How Are They Similar From Your Standpoint? Any startup business…
Andy Rieger
February 14, 2020
Resources Andy Rieger Andy is the Co-Founder & Operator of Jacob Rieger & Company. Along with partner Ryan Maybee they are bringing the historic spirits brand & iconic distillery back to Kansas City. How Has Your Background in Finance Blended With Ryan’s Bartending Expertise? When we met, we were polar opposites. I was a computer guy, he was a face-to-face guy. I was right-minded and Ryan was left-minded. While our differences would lead people to assume we have a challenging business relationship, it has actually helped us excel. Where I was lacking particular skills for this business, Ryan has been there to fill the…
Matthew Hufft
February 13, 2020
Resources Matthew Hufft Matthew is Founder and Creative Director of Hufft Projects. Comprised of architects, artists, designers and craftsmen, Hufft is bridging the gap between trades and technology. The holistic design work coming out of the digital, wood, and metal studios are routinely recognized by the likes of Dwell, AIA, Esquire, Architectural Record and many others. Your Studio Is Turning 10 Next Year. How Do You Approach Projects Differently Today Compared to When You First Ventured Out? While we are working on a larger number of projects across a broader scope, our design process remains very much the same. There is a…
Brandon Wilson
February 12, 2020
Resources Brandon Wilson Brandon is Creative Director at Contrabrand / RideFourEver where he bridges the gap between tactile traditional design and the function of digital user experience. He made his extreme attention detail evident to many in last year’s Numbers Project. Every Morning Last Year You Woke up and Illustrated a New Number. Every. Day. Which Sounds Easy Until You See Each Day’s Finished Product. What Did You Get out of That Besides 365 Sweet Digits? Thanks. I guess I’ll never really know…ha, but my goal was really simple: do something creative everyday for a whole year. The idea came out of talking to my sister…
Archives
- January 2025
- September 2024
- May 2024
- November 2023
- October 2023
- November 2022
- September 2022
- February 2022
- October 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- October 2019
- September 2018
- March 2018
- October 2017
- July 2017
- November 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- March 2016
- January 2016
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014