Matthew Coleman

Agency vs. Corporate: This question constantly rears its head throughout a marketer’s career. Which side of the fence do you fall on? For Kourtny Shaw, Director of Marketing at Southwestern Illinois College, the answer is clear: Corporate all the way. But why? Kourtny argues that immersing yourself in a single brand gives you: → A deeper understanding of the brand's nuances → Greater focus and clarity in your marketing efforts → One cohesive strategy to wrap your head around On the flip side, agency life can be a whirlwind. Juggling multiple clients and campaigns simultaneously can be: → Overwhelming and mentally taxing → Difficult to give each brand the attention it deserves → Tough to strike a balance between creativity and business objectives But let’s be crystal clear: there's no right or wrong answer. It all comes down to your personal preferences and career goals. Some thrive on the fast-paced, ever-changing nature of agency work. Others prefer the depth and stability of working on a singular brand. The key is to find the environment that allows you to: → Showcase your strengths → Grow and learn in ways that excite you → Strike the balance between creative and business outcomes — So, which side do you fall on? Are you team agency or team corporate? Why? Tune in to this week's episode with Kourtny Shaw to hear more about her journey and insights!

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In SimpsonScarborough's 2021-22 “State of Higher Ed Marketing” report, 60% of lead marketers at universities were part of the senior leadership team and reported directly to the president. This number continues to rise in Universities as institutions increasingly recognize the importance of brand management and strategic communication in navigating today’s competitive higher education landscape. Through my research and professional experience, I have seen how this dynamic plays out. Unfortunately, many leaders at the community college level still silo marketing and communications departments under other administrative units, often excluding them from the strategic decision-making process. This is a missed opportunity. Marketing isn’t just about promotion—it’s about aligning institutional strategy with the needs and perceptions of stakeholders. As my dissertation research confirmed, when chief marketing and communications officers are integrated into the highest levels of leadership, they significantly impact university performance, reputation management, and enrollment outcomes. If your CMCO isn’t sitting at the cabinet table and reporting to the president, you’re not just under-utilizing them, you’re undercutting your institution’s potential. This concludes my Monday evening stream of consciousness.

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What’s kept me going in entrepreneurship for over a decade? The ability to create an environment like this 👇 A lot of people start working for themselves because they want freedom. IMO, one of the best things about starting and running a company for the last 11 years is the ability to create that freedom for others, too. It has been a privilege and a (big) challenge to learn what people need from their workplace—and how to make changes. Jenny Weeden and I have been running our internal NPS for a handful of years now and I’m not going to lie… I definitely shed some tears over the first couple of surveys. The NPS does exactly what it should: unearths the things in our workplace that people are unhappy about. When discovered, we set out to find the root of each issue, and determine how we can make change. Change, by the way, is an imperfect process, with bumps in the road, false starts, wins, and losses. Fast forward to this year’s NPS, we received our highest score yet thanks to the willingness of our team to be honest, to engage in meaningful conversations, and to make change together. We're still constantly evaluating our environment and I expect that we will be as long as the company exists. Thank you, team Accelity. 💛 There is no group of people I’d rather spend my time at work with. (Mostly remote, because that’s how we want it! 😇)

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When you create a cohesive game plan for your marketing, that's when you see the greatest results.

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We talk so much about how people are lazy processors, effort averse, etc. etc. But what is also true is that, assuming they have the capacity to do so, people love to create. To generate. To put something new into the world. So, to broaden a discussion in an area where Ian Norris is working - what if instead of nudging consumption, we starting nudging creation?

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Who’s are AMA-Cincinnati Ignite!? #AmericanMarketingAssociation #Cincinnati #MarketResearch #CustomerInsights #DataScience #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Marketing

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I consider this my personal "Gold Medal" Today MarketingProfs published my article titled: "Why Understanding and Measuring Brand Love Should Be a C-Suite Imperative". It is an honor to be featured by such a respected outlet in the Marketing world, being a "top pick" is the Icing on the cake. But let me tell you why this is so special for me: 1. The article is about Brand Love, an old concept that I have been studying for years now. And every time I learn something new about it, it becomes more and more important. Latest case study is Nike, but more baout that next time. 2. I write about AI and its role in helping brands grow brand love. Most marketers look at AI as a way of automating, reducing cost and putting more content out there. This can end up lowering the quality of the content and therefore being just noise and a huge waste of everything, from money to time, to peoples nerves. Of course this damages brand love. But AI can also be your great creative "dupla" and a poerful motor to grow brand love. 3. Also Ann Handley is one of my biggest idols in creative writing and she is the Chief Content Officer t for MarketingProfs. Now I feel a bit closer to her wonderful Aura ;) --------- If you are interested in learning more about Brand Love and AI adoption in your company please feel free to reach out, I'm happy to help. #AIinMarketing #inklantern #BrandLove #AIAdoption #FutureOfAdvertising #UnPredatorMarketing

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On Monday, I had the pleasure of sitting in one of Janis Crow's Marketing Strategy course presentations. The class is a higher level marketing option at Kansas State University that challenges the students to dig deep and apply a wide variety of marketing tactics to a particular "client" and their challenges. Granted, we all know how things eventually played out in Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb with GSQ (Complexity Gaming out, FaZe Clan in), I still thought it would be an interesting exercise for students who may not yet have 1) been able to flex their critical thinking in brand fit or brand strategy especially within this space and 2) ever thought about how there could be certain characteristics of different orgs that would be more impactful or more appealing to some brands and not others. The brands that served as example RFPs were silly hypotheticals, like Splendiferous Paint Brand that wanted to steal market share from Sherwin-Williams after the CEO's nephew fell in love with Power Wash Simulator and a QSR called Greaseball's Burgers & Calamari that had quickly grown in popularity due to its irreverence. The students spent a few weeks researching each org and ultimately were asked to answer two things: 1) Which org would satisfy the business objective or align more with brand tone and 2) How would they suggest these campaigns come to life? The results were great and I loved seeing how they were able to think outside of the box and apply real pre-sale and biz dev tactics toward brands, albeit through the lens of fictitious requests.

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I hope you'll join us next week for Business Brew! We're doing our best to get back on a regular schedule. Follow the Business Brew LinkedIn Page for the latest updates. #BusinessBrew #business #Spokane

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Question for marketers: Is there any scenario you can come up with where you would purposefully connected your brand to a garbage truck?

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Ethics in marketing isn’t just an option; it’s a shared responsibility. In this video blog from August 26th, I discuss the crucial role of ethics in marketing, guided by the American Marketing Association (AMA). We explore the AMA's three key ethical principles: Do No Harm: Ensure our actions do not harm stakeholders. Foster Integrity: Be transparent and fair in all interactions and decisions. Embrace Ethical Values: Practice honesty, responsibility, fairness, transparency, and citizenship. These principles help build trust with stakeholders and create value responsibly. At Mercadotecnia y Ventas, we are committed to following these standards to strengthen our profession and benefit society. You can read the blog here: https://lnkd.in/ePh-G4FA Listen to it on: Apple Podcast: https://lnkd.in/eHufUi2x Spotify: https://lnkd.in/e6c-FfH9 Or watch it on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eAKpfcCD And remember, in marketing and sales, we always need to create value. Thank you to everyone who has followed my work at Mercadotecnia y Ventas! Your support is invaluable. 🚀

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I had a ball on "Hello, Iowa!" talking about the ins and outs of personal branding with Who-Tv 13's Megan Reuther. Whether you're a solo-preneur or C-suite exec, there are mindful, strategic ways to put yourself out there effectively and efficiently. More importantly, there are countless opportunities to promote your company via your team. (Yeah, I said it! Marketing the team who works for you can be your biggest promotional asset.) Eager to learn more? Get me on your calendar to find out how! #personalbranding #marketing

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What’s happening Brand Nerds?! We have a new Brands, Beats & Bytes episode with special guest and fellow Coca-Cola alum, Don Scheibenreif. After decades of success in his career, Don shares his tips and thoughts on CPG, tech & more. To catch the full episode click the link below. Please share & subscribe. https://lnkd.in/gaJZKyz

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Great example of what not to do with post-purchase marketing 👎 After making the sale, one of the goals of marketing is to make sure the consumer’s actual experience lives up to the expectations created by all the marketing that was done before the sale. Do that well and it can help make the consumer’s experience with a product even more favourable than it already was. Do it poorly and it leads to returns, negative word of mouth, etc. I just moved into a new condo last week and this is the signage on the entrance to the study room and rooftop lounge. Notice something funny about the signage? The builder’s signage creator meant to type “Study”, their finger slipped from the “Y” to the “T”, no one caught the typo and even when the signage was printed, management thought it was fine to post signage with a typo anyways! 😂 This signals to a new condo owner all sorts of potential problems with the building (“if they don’t care about this detail, what else don’t they care about?”) which will inevitably lower property values and profits for owners. (thankfully I am renting my condo so this is less of an issue for me) So beyond the obvious lesson to proofread your work, once you get consumers in the door, don’t forget to live up to the expectations set you set for them beforehand! #marketing #consumerbehaviour

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AI in CHI for Marketing and Business professionals interested in AI. Join us on Nov 14th at 4:00 at DePaul. More details on agenda to follow. #AI #Digitalmarketing

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Maybe measuring last click isn’t the best way. It’s actually archaic and only building growth for Big Tech, and not your company. “Our research across hundreds of brands in dozens of categories shows that it’s possible to rigorously measure and strategically target the feelings that drive customers’ behavior.” If marketing is in the business of selling something… and we know we all buy things based off a myriad of emotions… then maybe it’s time to start measuring something else. It’s not rocket science. It’s emotional science. https://lnkd.in/euwMST4u #brand #marketing #storytelling #video #controlthenarrative #emotionsells

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If you're In/Around Detroit and/or heading to #DigiMarCon there, say hello to our very own Curtiss Gulash who will be attending and speaking at the event. Expect Curtiss to share the truths and the myths about AI & Paid Media and why, despite recent advances, you still can't "set it and forget it". #paidmedia #digitalmarketing

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