Blog

In Customer Experience, Bigger isn’t Better; Better is Better

December 4th, 2017

by AMAWM

For far too long companies have focused on size. More profits. More subscribers. More customers. More leads in the funnel. Bigger, so the establishment believes, is better. I invite you to challenge that thinking for a moment. What if better were truly better? Charles Kuralt famously said, “Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything.” He was right about Interstates, and if asked about business today, he might say, “Today, it is now possible to do business end-to-end without seeing or speaking to another human.” In many respects, technology has removed humanity from business and customer experience. I believe the most successful companies are those who embrace technology without losing humanity.... Read More

Marketing That Moves: AMAWM’s Mission for 2017 – 2018

September 7th, 2017

by AMAWM

Welcome back to another great year with the American Marketing Association of West Michigan. Over the summer, the AMAWM board got together, reflected on the previous year, and got to planning. Based on some surveys, general feedback, and conversations from members, it was clear what changes needed to be made and what our audience really wanted. This year, we have made it our mission to engage our audience in luncheons, workshops, networking events, and other resources that provide the education and take-aways they need to get their professional marketing efforts moving in the right direction. We want you to take what you learned and be able to apply it to real life marketing challenges. With that, AMAWM is proud to announce this year’s... Read More

The Role of Typography in Marketing with Terrance Weinzierl

April 4th, 2017

by Dan Gibson

At our most recent luncheon event we were lucky to have Terrance Weinzierl join us to explain the vital role typography plays in marketing. Below are just a few of the top take aways from his insightful talk: Type is everywhere. Every sign, billboard, shirt label, smartphone app, website, restaurant menu. Any one room/location can easily have hundreds of types. Every individual letter was created by someone. There isn’t some magical program that generates the rest of the alphabet, numbers, and symbols after you create the first one or two. Fonts (especially for Terrance) are created using a combination of pen and paper, and electronic tools. Typically starts on paper or bar napkins. Then moves to the computer to elaborate on. Type is... Read More

Luncheon Recap: Why the Mobile User Experience Matters

March 2nd, 2017

by Dan Gibson

At our most recent luncheon event, we welcomed Katie VanderPloeg of Kmotion Design Inc. who educated attendees on why the mobile user experience matters. It’s no secret that mobile devices are vital to an effective marketing strategy and considering the user experience is what could make or break a campaign, or even your company. Katie left the audience with strong data to support why the experience matters and how people across the globe are using mobile phones. She also explained how the idea of utilizing “micro moments” to capture customers has become a key strategy, and why your user experience should make it easy for users to find what they’re looking for at any given time. Katie was generous enough to share her... Read More

Luncheon Recap – Change & Opportunity in Modern Media with Emily Richett-Hughes

January 16th, 2017

by Dan Gibson

This past Tuesday Emily Richett-Hughes helped us discover how modern media continues to progress and how the changes are opening up exciting opportunities. If you’re feeling disappointed that you happened to miss out on our latest luncheon event, as always, we’ve got your back. Check out top take aways heard straight from attendees and connect with us to keep the conversation going. We’re experiencing a complete shift in the PR industry as social media allows everyone to be a “journalist” You don’t need to be an expert to have your voice heard, Simply contributing to the conversation is extremely powerful. Spend some extra time to know your story and come up with creative ways to share that with your audience. It’s easy to... Read More

Top 10 Takeaway’s – Snapchat for Marketing Professionals Luncheon

September 20th, 2016

by Dan Gibson

Last week we kicked off our new season of luncheon events at our new amazing location! Marketers from all over West Michigan attended the “Snapchat for Marketing Professionals” event at the GRAM. Our friend Austin Pierce and his talented team from RCP Marketing, presented on how Snapchat can be utilized in our marketing strategy. We learned together, ate together, and left feeling excited about the possibilities of using Snapchat when we got back to our desks! We polled the audience to learn what they found most interesting or valuable about the talk or event as a whole. We’re super nice people and thought it would be cool to share those insights with all of our marketing peers, in case some of you missed... Read More

Speed Dating Success and The Luncheon Venue Reveal!

August 29th, 2016

by Dan Gibson

We want to thank everyone that came out last Tuesday for our new season kickoff and speed dating networking event! It was one of our best networking events and we hope you all left with the same feeling of excitement that filled the room throughout the entire event! It was a great way for all of us to meet each other and share our marketing stories in a fun and efficient activity!   We enjoyed seeing so many new faces and getting the chance to talk to many of you! We hope you enjoyed meeting our amazing board and learning more about what the West Michigan AMA is all about. For those of you that couldn’t attend, we are happy to announce our... Read More

A Message From Our President and HUGE Announcements. Let’s PARTY!

August 15th, 2016

by Jen Wright

Hello West Michigan Marketers! After 3 years on the Board of AMA, I’m very excited to be kicking this year off as the President of our West Michigan Chapter! It’s such an honor to be leading the most incredible group of professionals that represent the oldest professional organization in West Michigan. Our new season begins soon and I’m thrilled to let you know what’s been going on behind the scenes. We’ve worked diligently this summer to enhance our events in creative ways and have put together an impressive lineup of speakers and programming for our luncheon events that you won’t want to miss. I know everyone that attends will leave feeling energized, informed, and ready to get to work! We are kicking this... Read More

How the Digital Age has Changed the HR Marketing & PR Game

May 19th, 2016

by Hannah Morgan

The definition behind recruitment is to enlist people to join your organization or business. Many years ago, recruiters did this by picking up a physical phone book and calling candidates by going down the list of names. Today, the resources to aid us in recruiting are unlimited. The digital age has transformed the world of recruiting. We have LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Job boards, and the list goes on… However, in West Michigan we have a very unique community where perhaps solely utilizing technology isn’t the answer. Earlier this week I attended a luncheon event co-sponsored by the AMA West Michigan Chapter and the PRSA West Michigan Chapter, where a panel of local marketing professionals came together to share with us some of... Read More

5 Key Elements to Effective Integrated Marketing

April 19th, 2016

by Dan Gibson

Kimberly Elmore, Marketing Manager and Creative Consultant for Gilson Graphics shared what effective integrated marketing means to her and how she keeps things highly creative and engaging. She explained how her unique skillset and background has allowed her to be both left and right brained in order to dwell in the grey area between logic and creativity. She believes that tension drives her to produce artistic marketing materials that make an impact. She showed examples of past work and explained the process of creating those pieces while also describing how effective they ended up being. She outlined 5 key elements that go into all campaigns, both for Gilson and their customers. These elements act as a guide when developing integrated marketing pieces so... Read More