The Clifton Edge combines the technology of the TenNine with a more wearable silhouette. Earlier this year, the running shoe specialists at Hoka One One released the TenNine —a shoe so strange and bold in its design that it comes with its own special warning label on the shoebox: “CAUTION” it reads. “Using this product for anything other than running may impair balance and dexterity. So, don’t wear these on stairs or while driving.” Read Full Story

On Running’s Cloudnova is the brand’s first fashion sneaker, and cofounder David Allemann says it ties perfectly into the trends this crisis is accelerating. A record number of retailers have closed their doors, and people all around the world are hunkered down at home amid the global health crisis created by the spread of COVID-19. This does not appear to be the ideal moment to launch a new product for any company, unless it’s a mask or a hand sanitizer or some sort of bread-baking accessory. Read Full Story

Consumer loyalty is often influenced by how a brand responds during a crisis and without a doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic qualifies as just that. As such, brand agency MBLM has released an updated COVID study, ranking the top “intimate” brands in the US. As with its annual study, brands are ranked based on survey responses… Read More » The post These Are the Most “Intimate Brands” in the US During COVID-19 appeared first on Marketing Charts .

Cole Haan designed this sneaker with Slack, in Slack. Today, Slack has a new product. No, it’s not another workplace communication tool; it’s a sneaker. The tech unicorn has partnered with heritage footwear brand Cole Haan to launch a men’s sneaker in the four colors of the Slack logo. Read Full Story

Posted by amandamilligan Becoming an authoritative brand is no easy feat, but the massive benefits are worth the effort. When you’ve built authority, potential customers and clients begin to count on you and trust you — and it’s hard to imagine that trust not leading to a sale (at some point). But how exactly can a brand begin to build, or build upon, their authority? Content is an excellent way, and in this article, I’ll go through my tips on how it can be done. 1. Answer your audience’s questions If you’re not doing this, there’s virtually no way you’ll become an authority. People grow to rely on brands when those brands provide the information they’re looking for, so if your content marketing doesn’t incorporate those answers, you’re not demonstrating to your audience why they should trust you. By building on-site content that provides this kind of value, you can …

Posted by amandamilligan As you might imagine, it’s not easy to get your brand name mentioned in top media outlets. But if you put in the work to engage in content marketing + digital PR , the benefits are massive: High-quality backlinks to your site A significant boost in brand awareness An increase in your brand’s authority Improved relationships with writers who loved your content I’ll explain how you can earn this type of coverage and its corresponding benefits for your brand. Step 1: Create newsworthy content You probably have an instinctual sense of what qualifies as news, but some of the key newsworthy elements are timeliness, proximity, and significance. Timeliness is tough. Hard news is usually covered by media outlets automatically anyway. However, there’s a way to create news — and it’s through data journalism. By doing your own research, conducting your own studies, running your own surveys, and …

Posted by MiriamEllis Image credit: J.B. Hill What’s the good of a survey if it doesn’t result in at least a few surprises? I know my own eyebrows leapt skyward when the data first came in from the Moz State of the Local SEO Industry 2020 Survey and I saw that, in a break with tradition, participants had placed user-to-business proximity at a lowly third place in terms of influencing Google local pack rankings. Just a year ago, our respondents had voted it #1. If you’re feeling startled, too, here’s our chance to take a more granular look at the data and see if we can offer some useful theories for proximity’s drop in perceived dominance. First, a quick definition of user-to-business proximity What do local SEOs mean when they speak of user-to-business proximity? Imagine an Internet searcher is standing in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, looking on their …

Posted by MiriamEllis Get found. Get chosen. It’s the local SEO two-step at the heart of every campaign. It’s the 1-2 punch combo that hinges on a balance of visible, accurate contact data, and a volunteer salesforce of consumer reviewers who are supporting your rise to local prominence. But here’s the thing: while managed location data and reviews may be of equal and complementary power, they shouldn’t require an equal share of your time. Automation of basic business data distribution is the key to freeing you up to focus on the elements of listings that require human ingenuity — namely, reviews and other listings-based content like posts and Q&A.; It’s my hope that sharing this article with your team or your boss will help you get the financial allocations you need for automated listings management, plus generous resources for creative reputation management. Location data + reviews = the big picture …

For better or worse, technology affects communication because it is a part of our everyday lives. It impacts the way we work, entertain ourselves, and stay in touch. You might see the average elementary-aged child with their head buried in a smartphone and tempted to take a gloomy outlook on what technology has done to us. But is it all bad? From a business perspective, you could argue that technology communication is beneficial. With this in mind, here’s a breakdown of everything you need to know about how technology affects communication with customers, plus how to use these developments to your advantage. How Has Technology Affected Communication? Technology communication affects us continuously. As we make technological advances, new trends in communications emerge and often become the norm. Machine learning and artificial intelligence will have a significant impact on how we communicate. Chatbots currently field over 25,000 conversations per month. Furthermore, …

Scientists have a hard time figuring out where food-borne outbreaks come from. This new tracking system makes the detective work easy. If you’re unlucky enough to eat a salad contaminated with E. coli, it’s possible that you’ll never know the original source of the bug. After one recent outbreak of illnesses linked to leafy greens that ended in December, the CDC said that its investigation couldn’t identify the specific type or brand that had caused the problem. Even if a farm is flagged as the source, it often takes so long for the investigation to be completed that the lettuce isn’t recalled before consumers eat it. Read Full Story