The Greater Omaha Chamber has announced the 2020 Business Excellence Award winners, including naming Bozell as the Small Business of the Year. The Business Excellence Awards are an annual tradition recognizing regional organizations that elevate the community and make Greater Omaha a better place to live, work and play.

So, you think you want to rebrand. After all, companies rebrand all the time, right?

Maybe you feel like you’ve lost touch with your customer base. Or maybe you want to expand market share. Maybe your brand isn’t capturing and representing your core values as much as you would like. Or maybe your company needs to make a clean break with a troubled past and introduce itself anew to the marketplace.

But do you know how much of a change you’ll need to make to your brand? Rebranding carries risks as well as rewards, and it’s important to create your rebranding strategy around your actual business problems.

This is a scary time right now. There are a lot of unanswered questions. New information is being revealed every day. Things are changing constantly. People’s lives and daily routines are being turned upside down. That’s all a given. But here’s another …

Now is not the time to go silent.

People really do want to know how brands are responding to this pandemic. A couple weeks ago, our CEO, Kim Mickelsen, mentioned that now is the time for overcommunicating. And she’s absolutely right. This is the time to listen and have a respectful dialogue with them. Show consumers that you’re in this too – that you understand and have their best interest at heart.

How to turn your annual event and/or fundraiser into a digital success.

As we are receiving daily updates from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) on COVID-19, it’s clear that we’re in a constant state of change and uncharted territory. For me personally, this means many of my loved ones are experiencing cancelation or postponement of exciting events like baby showers and weddings. But professionally, I’m seeing an impact on industries across the board and thinking of what the proper next step is. For many, it’s going virtual.

How to manage your brand while managing your bravery.

Clickbait never feels right, but right now the profiteering verbiage slices its serrated blade particularly deep. The coarse edges of badly framed infomercial-type ads cut into our collective purview like an angry fart. Read More

Advertising agency Bozell won three gold and two silver awards, plus one judge’s citation, at the 2020 American Advertising Federation (AAF) District 9 American Advertising Awards. Gold winners will advance automatically to the national competition in June. Bozell’s awards represent five of just 72 total 9th District awards. Awards include:

“Flatten the curve.” Thanks (or no thanks) to COVID-19, this phrase has become part of our daily vocabulary. It’s everywhere: in headline news, on social media, and chats between co-workers and friends. Just one month ago, we hadn’t even heard of it, even though this debilitating disease was sweeping through Asia.

Fast forward to today and we are in the midst of a global pandemic. For me, it feels unworldly. It’s like we’re trapped in an apocalyptic sci-fi movie except there’s no Brad Pitt in sight to save us. It’s overwhelming and brings on that sense of helplessness when we feel that there’s nothing we can do.

Q. What can businesses do during the global crisis caused by the pandemic?

A. I know it sounds strange but think and imagine. When times are good, we don’t take the time to think because we are busy getting things done. Now is the time to think and analyze. Worry and anxiety won’t get it done. The business world will be drastically different in a few months. Step back a bit and prepare for that future.

As an expressive extrovert who rarely turns down a chance to spend time with friends and family, it crushes my soul a little to think there will be no hugs and high fives during these uncertain times of Coronavirus. (Though I know it secretly makes my introverted friends very happy.)

Fisher-Price launched a brand refresh effort in December of 2019. The work done by Pentagram, Wieden+Kennedy and Fisher-Price is a masterclass on brand expression. The coordination of different agencies, contrasted brand history, varied expressions across multiple touchpoints for multiple products, and a pitch-perfect execution like this doesn’t happen by accident. You would be forgiven if you thought that with money, size, and ubiquity, a brand refresh effort like this would be relatively common. Not easy, but certainly not a risky endeavor. Almost templated.