Increasing 401k Plan Contributions – Our Successful Campaign
Posted On November 14, 2019
Showing off a bit of our work with an independent recordkeeper who we’re working with to increase plan contributions in test groups. This will be seen by 20-24 YO Males Enrolled in their plan. It will arrive to them via email and USPS on / near the same day. You should ask, “Is it working?” Answer: YES. Quite nicely, in fact.
Categories: Financial Services, Product Design, Work
‘A passion project:’ Varsity Brands not only sells sports gear, but works to create school spirit
Posted On February 19, 2019
With iGen following in the digital footsteps of the millennial generation, having grown up with technology at their fingertips as a primary source of communication, many of us Generation X parents find ourselves desperately seeking outlets that will force them into face-to-face social interaction. And many of us are turning to team sports. Our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” is working to fuel – and equip – this phenomenon. Adam Blumenfeld is CEO of Dallas-based Varsity Brands, a major youth sports equipment distributor that does much more than sell bats and gloves. Varsity Brands… Read More
Categories: Entrepreneurship, iGen, Podcast, Product Design, What's Working with Cam Marston
Process is as important to building boats as winning football championships
Posted On January 15, 2019
To excel in the world of college football, Alabama coach Nick Saban is famous for focusing on what he calls “the process.” He doesn’t worry over the end result as much as he does about completing the steps he knows it will take for his team to get there. That emphasis on process is also important in the manufacturing world. Our guests in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” Joan and Owen Maxwell of Regulator Marine, tell us that what’s good for winning national championships is also good for building quality boats. “Everything we do is a… Read More
Categories: Product Design, What's Working with Cam Marston, Workplace
Getting creative: How to know when you need outside help
Posted On May 23, 2018
What is creativity? The answer to that question will be different depending upon who you ask. But to Rich Sullivan, CEO of Red Square Agency in Mobile, it’s really quite simple. “Really, creativity to me is the ability to adapt,” Sullivan says, “the ability to take what’s happened — facts and experiences and trends that you can draw a backwards line on — and be able to look what’s going to happen and predict something or literally influence what the future is.” Influencing the future is what Sullivan’s clients would like him to do – particularly, influencing their future sales…. Read More
Categories: Advertising, Podcast, Product Design
Do millennials have us motoring to a sharing economy?
Posted On July 12, 2017
How important is your car? Most of us would say, “very.” We are a nation that loves the freedom of private automobiles. It may surprise you, then, to hear that 30 percent of millennials who responded in a Goldman Sachs survey had no plans to buy a car. Another 25 percent said that while a car was important, buying one was not a priority. This particular section of the survey appears to have focused on Goldman Sachs interns, so we can assume many of them were in New York, where having a car is not a priority for many, many… Read More
Categories: Automotive, Generation Y / Millennials, Product Design
25% of the US Population and Spending $200 Billion Annually by 2017
Posted On June 26, 2016
I’ve written a lot in this space about the millennial workplace, but appealing to employees is only part of a company’s challenge in dealing with generational transition. Even more important is adjusting to the millennial consumer. Forbes contributor Micah Solomon is calling 2016 “The Year of the Millennial Consumer,” noting that millennials make up 25 percent of the U.S. population and are expected to be spending $200 billion annually by 2017. How to appeal to a growing demographic that is wielding an increasing share of the nation’s buying power? You’ll need more than hip ad campaigns and catchy Twitter hashtags…. Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Product Design
Do-it-yourself customer service? Yay or nay
Posted On October 16, 2014
Back in the day, if a customer had a question, she went to the office or store and spoke to the manager. Perhaps she called on the phone. Either way it was a one-to-one conversation. The same was true with making a purchase. A person selected what they wanted, brought it to the checkout and paid a real, live person (and usually with cold, hard cash). Today, customers can engage in entire transactions – from purchase to return to replacement – without ever speaking to a single person. And while I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been frustrated by the… Read More
Categories: Product Design, Work, Workplace
How are brands adjusting to new generations?
Posted On September 2, 2014
Much of my work consists of helping people connect. Whether it is businesses with consumers or employers with employees, the underlying need is for individuals or groups to find a common ground for authentic communication. Sometimes, however, the conversation goes meta and we’re talking about how a brand can make that connection to the individual. It’s growing beyond human relationships to marketing, and the bias a generation can bring to how they receive that marketing. This article in Canada’s Globe and Mail discusses how Generation Y may (or may not) change branding. It’s an interesting dialogue with a marketing executive… Read More
Categories: Advertising, Product Design
Texting while driving…golf carts
Posted On August 14, 2014
Golf courses have a problem. Young professionals simply aren’t hitting the links with the same regularity as their Xer and Boomer predecessors. The New York Times reports that in 2013, only 22 percent of travelers under 33 played golf when they stayed at a resort, compared with 42 percent of baby boomers. And resorts are working hard to determine the best way to attract them. From the article: Resorts are … making changes that would have been unthinkable even a decade ago, adding speakers to golf carts and Wi-Fi access on the course, building high-tech training centers and miniature golf… Read More
Categories: Entrepreneurship, Generation Y / Millennials, Product Design
Technology and the elderly – a growing market
Posted On June 26, 2014
Older workers sometimes feel displaced by younger workers who are more tech-savvy, having grown up in a mobile-oriented world. But those same aging Boomers are creating business opportunity for technology companies. As this San Francisco Gate article points out, Boomers want to be using technology to make their lives better and more enjoyable…but they have different challenges with it than the younger generation of developers personally encounter. So savvy tech companies are turning to seniors as consultants in new technology development. It’s not rocket science – companies have been using focus groups to understand their target audiences for years. But… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Product Design