For too many businesses, marketing remains an expense item—a necessary cost of doing business – not a strategic driver of profit. But what if marketing wasn’t just an expense? What if, instead, it operated as a profit center—accountable for delivering measurable,...
3 Tips to turn a head-on contest with fin-techs to your advantage An announcement from SoLo Funds, a fin-tech company that operates a digital peer-to-peer lending service, could serve as both a warning and an opportunity for traditional banking institutions. SoLo...
If end-of-year sales results against the 2024 marketing budget were lackluster, it may be time to shift thinking on budget planning. For decades, a rule-of-thumb for setting marketing budgets has reliably been a simplistic percentage-of-previous-sales formula. We’re...
6 ways to optimize marketing ROI during economic uncertainty Depending on whom one asks, anywhere from 30 to 35 percent of North American firms plan to increase marketing budgets for 2025 – apparently the lowest number to do so of any region in the world. Why the...
The grand opening of a new bank branch we attended last week proves it’s possible. Similar to the illustration, the branch featured a wonderful, open-space “Universal Branch” design demonstrating the “branch of the future” we’ve written about, and the intersection of...
Without a doubt, a retail or other customer-facing enterprise can pin a significant portion of its success to location. Whether a grocery store, bank branch or family medical practice, WHERE one is situated is a major factor in business success. Once location is...