Attendees of the ON Brand 2024 conference gathered to discuss current trends and concerns in marketing, advertising and public relations. The event attracted members of professional marketing and communications associations as well as the larger branding community. ON Brand took place Thursday, July 25, on Creighton University’s campus.
Guest speakers and session leaders included expert voices from Omaha and across the nation, such as Business Manager Kathleen Riessen of Applied Art and Technology, BLK & Bold Specialty Beverages CEO and Co-founder Pernell Cezar, and Sprinkk President and Founder Tessa Porter.
Here are five takeaways from the event:
1. Keep the customer (and those influential to the customer) in mind.
When designing a product or service, a business needs to visualize both the target consumer they are seeking to sell to and the experience they want the buyer to have when using the product or service. In a session led by Maven Media Collaborative co-founders Josefina Loza and Danelle Schlegelmilch, the pair said companies should not be afraid to test out different interactive media techniques—even suggesting virtual reality—as long as the decisions leading up to that point are intentional.
Companies can create brands that stand out to consumers by providing consumers unique experiences and considering their needs and interests. For example, Cezar said he hopes BLK & Bold product designs encourage shoppers to go on a “journey” to learn more about both their coffee and mission. Porter said she wants Sprinkk to be a source of joy, so tactics like distributing a free marshmallow recipe is a way to accomplish that while also promoting her business through social media.
2. Individuality is possible in a crowded market or established industry.
A novel mission statement can disquish a company from the competition. Cezar said the BLK & Bold’s business model includes a component of pledging a portion of their revenue to nonprofit organizations. Cezar said that having a goal beyond making a profit created a better chance for a small company to catch the eyes of targeted consumers and connect with them. Along with their mission aligning with their core values and personal stories, Cezar said going through the B Corp Certification process added another layer to their brand-building. Plus, gave them a chance to self-evaluate their company’s development to better focus their energy for desired milestones.
In the case of Sprinkk, Porter said she built her company around fulfilling a gap she noticed in the established industry—specifically lowering production size requirements seen at other manufacturing facilities. She emphasized her “candy scientist” role and branding to showcase Sprinkk’s focus on R&D and removing current production barriers for experimentation.
Sprinkk founder and president hands out candy during her presentation at the ON Brand 2024 conference.
3. Creativity is attainable.
According to Riessen, everyone can be creative, even if feeling stuck. She said the main roadblock to creativity is FUD: fear, uncertainty and doubt. A solution is to activate different parts of the brain and escape the thought cycles holding back new ideas. This can be achieved by physically moving around or by finding ways to use the five senses to trigger core memories.
4. Share ideas.
It can be difficult to share brainstormed ideas with a coworker or team, Riessen said. Especially when dealing with FUD. She advised branding professionals to lose the pressures of the “best” idea by starting with the “dumbest” ideas. Similar to beginning with a rough draft, simply getting thoughts out there for consideration and collaboration can lead to a positive solution.
Porter said the recurring ideas that keep popping up in your head and beg the question why no one seems to have already done something similar, are likely good ideas to explore. The best way to know for sure is by telling others to receive feedback. Even if they may disagree, said Porter, they may offer an opportunity to expand further on the concept or approach it at a different angle.
5. AI poses both promises and potential risks.
Branding experts approached the role of artificial intelligence in the field with a mixture of support and criticism. Noor Naseer, VP of media innovations and technology at Basis Technologies, led a session discussing the development and implementation of AI into advertising. While describing AI as a “natural opportunity” to make marketing more efficient and cost effective, Naseer also noted the need for companies to actively make a plan to evaluate AI solutions and to question whether or not they are maintaining trust with consumers. It starts with disclosing the use of AI in provided services and ads.
Aaron Templer, founder and strategist at Three Over Four, led a session calling for businesses to pay attention to news and studies analyzing the uses and misuses of AI. He further detailed the concerns of underlying biases, misleading prompt responses and unapproved content usage seen in current AI applications.
