Well, hello spring!

It’s been a tough few weeks in Michigan, with winter overstaying its welcome by a long shot. But spring is finally here and we’re in for a treat of a weekend.

Before you take off for the afternoon, take a few minutes to check out this week’s edition of Our Favorite Headlines. It’s jam-packed with content, including an impressive marketing feat from Adidas, a reality check about customer experience, a reminder about the power of direct mail and digital, and some curated resources you’ll definitely want to browse through.

Without further ado, we give you this week’s roundup:

 

Adidas will create 30K videos at the Boston Marathon —
1 for each runner

The Takeaway: Call us crazy, but we’re still buzzing from the results of Monday’s Boston Marathon. Even in less-than-ideal conditions, Adidas, a long-time partner to the Marathon, took the opportunity to create a lasting experience that would directly connect runners with their brand. The feat of creating 30,000 personalized videos may sound a bit crazy, but Adidas was able to deliver through extensive planning and testing. The best part? The effort is helping drive huge amounts of traffic to their website, where people can shop for Adidas gear, including specially-branded Boston Marathon clothing and shoes.

 

Brands, Consumers Differ on What Makes a Poor Brand Experience

The Takeaway: Customer experience can be a tough nut for marketers to crack for a number of reasons. For one, marketers may not have a say in the dealings of other customer-facing departments, like sales or customer service (though they should all work closely together). Another reason may be that the customer experience initiatives your company prioritizes don’t reflect what your customers actually want. That’s what this survey found, highlighting that consumers want positive, easy, and personal interactions with staff members, even while brand professionals underestimated the importance of such factors.

 

Direct Mail Still Works: How To Use Tech To Elevate Traditional Marketing

The Takeaway: We’ll resist elaborating too much on this article, since you should already know exactly how we feel on the topic of pairing direct mail and digital. The short version: if you’re not using the two together, you’re missing a lot of opportunities.

 

30 Websites That Will Make You Unbelievably Smarter

The Takeaway: Bookmark all these websites… stat.

Did you do it? Do it already.

Now that that’s done, this is goodbye. Our job is done. Seriously, between the course content available, the videos featuring expert speakers, and the broad library of articles all contained within this list, you don’t need us at all. I guess it was nice while it lasted…

Kidding, of course! Do you honestly think you could get rid of us that easily?

 

5 podcasts for communicators

The Takeaway: If the list above overwhelms you, these five podcasts might be a better place to start. Curated specifically for communicators, these podcasts can help you develop your craft. Plus, you can listen to them on the drive to and from work, which means they won’t require a huge time commitment. Happy listening!