Years ago, I walked into a restaurant that felt more like a dare than a dining experience. The music didn’t match the lighting. The menu read like someone had lost a bet. And the walls were coated in color choices that didn’t care what Pantone said.…
The first time I walked into a Velvet Taco, I knew before I’d even taken a bite that this was my kind of place. Why? Because it had a pulse. It didn’t feel focus-grouped or filtered. It felt... certain. Like someone had the nerve to follow a gut…
Everyone wanted to know. How did the founder of a startup with a vision to disrupt the non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages market land supermodel Bella Hadid as a partner? “Make a great fucking product,” said Kin Euphorics CEO Jen Batchelor. I…
How they repositioned alcohol-free products from category irrelevancy to aspirational choice for health-conscious beer lovers. During Prohibition, it was called “near beer.” Brewers like Anheuser Busch and Pabst would make regular beer, then boil…
Commuting in Dallas is, by most standards, a nightmare. But the silver lining is that it gives me time to think. One recent morning when the traffic gods gifted me an inordinate amount of thinking time, I was forced to grab my cuppa Joe on the go at…
“Reverence” is not a term you would typically hear describing a branding approach. When I visited The Homestead in Virginia, I had no idea who the owners were, much less their branding. This is a property that was founded in 1766 and has that…
Even in the age of AI, agencies that know their value will never give everything over to the tool. One of the big lessons I learned when working on a Miller Lite campaign back in the day was that agencies can come out with some really crazy work…
Reinvention starts with getting brutally honest about what isn’t working. There are many reasons once-stellar brands begin to fail, and in my decades in the advertising business, I have just about seen them all — weak leadership, internal…
Listening and acting with intention and transparency can drive a truly happy workplace. We recently won the Ad Age Best Places to Work award for the first time. After the shock, surprise and overzealous company celebrations, it got me thinking…
Does Agency Size Matter? A nimble model offers more flexibility while losing none of the practical knowledge and strategic thinking. As a small marketing agency, we recently submitted a request for information (RFI) for an account that…
Firehouse has spent a significant amount of time working in higher education, having been lucky to count Western Governors University, Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business, Bellevue University and Texas Wesleyan among our…
We all know the foundation of solid ad strategy is creating an emotional connection with your target audience – something that aligns with their personal experiences and stands out from what every other brand is saying to them. Yet when it comes to…
Raise your hand if you consider “conventional” a compliment. If your hand is raised, I have a question for you: why is a Credit Analyst reading this blog post? Listen, “conventional” isn’t a bad word. Some of the best ovens and mortgage rates…
What Technology Can’t Fix In most business circles, there’s a feeling that if a company is going to be successful, leaders have to be up to date in implementing the latest and greatest technologies — and the hot button today is AI. But…
About a month ago, AdAge published an article titled, "Why Agencies are Obsessed with Pitching on Process Instead of Talent." The article talks about the dearth of intellectual capital at the modern agency that has resulted from firms, facing more…
Navigating Scope Creep and Tough Client Conversations For the advertising or marketing agency that has put in the hard work to earn a new contract with a client, these are the tough conversations. What starts out as a manageable and profitable…
Generic New Business Client: "Our sales aren’t on track to reach our goals for the year. We’ve got to turn this ship around…and fast. HELP!” Advertising Brand Strategist: *Reviews client current messaging strategy + key assets shared…
One of the biggest days in advertising happened this weekend: The Super Bowl. Some people are there for the game, the teams, the celebrity appearances at the game, the eventual awards at the award shows. But we’re one of the ‘I’m just here for the…
It’s no longer enough for an agency to represent itself purely on the basis of its creative output. Clients today need to focus less on case studies and more on trust. There are plenty of fish in the sea for clients looking to establish a…
AI isn’t the end of creativity—it’s a new chapter. The most common talking point I hear is that using AI can help us do things faster and more efficiently than before. It can write copy, make videos, create content, and more, all with just a…
Biased research, caving to opinions, internal fatigue, and moving on too quickly—these four mistakes in marketing, at any point in the process, will hamstring the work, derail campaigns, and strain agency/client relationships. By learning from…
As seen in Fast Company. Every chief marketing officer worth their salt knows the importance of having a brand stand apart from the competition, to be unique in the eyes of the consumer and get recognized for it. After all, isn’t that the main…
Sometime in the late eighties, sifting through comics, I came across an old, worn copy of ‘Astounding Science Fiction’ circa 1950. On its cover was a robot, then-unfamiliar to me, offering a wounded man in its hand. Its eyes blank and red, but…
Sometimes I feel like I’m running a huge con. I’ve fooled everyone into thinking I’ve got my stuff together. Any minute, everyone will figure it out, and I’ll be exposed as someone who has no idea what they’re doing. Enter imposter syndrome.…
