There are still companies oblivious to the fact that branding changes, even “tweaks,” can improve their business performance significantly. In the internet and the digital landscape, messaging can be more effective and accessible than ever! If you don’t know where to start, Clutch.co suggests Killian Branding to help you get started.  Started as an advertising firm in 1987, but changed as the world changed. Agency talents and vision evolved to encompass the full scope of branding in the digital age. With clients across many time zones, served by offices in Chicago and Charlotte, special ..read more

In light of our team’s hard work and positive impact in a difficult year for many businesses, we merited the prestigious honor of Clutch Leader for 2021. According to Clutch’s 2021 report, Killian Branding was hailed as the highest-ranking branding agency in North Carolina! To help give clearer context, Clutch is an established B2B market research platform based in Washington DC. Aside from its collection of data-driven reviews and articles, the site is also known for its esteemed leadership awards. Every year, the Clutch team evaluates countless service providers to determine which ar ..read more

W.B. Olson Construction has been building their impressive success for 50 years. For 30 of those years, we've been alongside. From creating their logo and website in the early '90s, to hundreds of projects and upgrades up to the present, we've been proud partners. This video is one sample of a) how impressive their work is, and b) how we've helped tell the story. They are easily our longest-served client. So, here's to 30 more. (BTW, if you have a library or school or aquatic center to build, these are the guys to call.) The post A half century (!) appeared first on Killian Branding ..read more

The old joke as I recall it, when your airplane was landing in Dayton (or Topeka/Knoxville/Boise/Bakersfield/Omaha) the flight attendant would announce impishly, “Please set your watch back 50 years.” Probably apocryphal. A genuine time-rewind is needed when you see advertising where the call to action (CTA) is a phone number. Back in the day, the phrase was, “Operators are standing by!” voiced with optimistic retail urgency. (Spoiler: they were not.) It is almost always ineffective to use a phone number as your CTA. The worst-case example (where “ineffective” actually translates to “stupid ..read more

Well, yes and no. It's true enough that many businesses are no longer constrained by where they can work successfully, unless they're beauticians, pickpockets, or sidewalk umbrella-twirlers. Go boldly to find new customers anywhere. It is unremarkable these days to do commerce in Khartoum, Kokomo, and Cucamonga. The trend of commerce without contact has been gathering steam for years. COVID-19 merely accelerated it, which is why today we polish our Zoom skills, stay conscious of RoomRater, and keep a dress shirt on a hanger near the desk. 2020 has meant reeducation for people whose careers ..read more

Having clients on three continents requires one of two things: constant traveling, or learning to collaborate digitally. Since travel often involves confinement in a tin tube with people who cough and sneeze, our teams have invested time and effort to find the best digital tools for working with clients. Here are the best-of-breed tools we use to stay connected and collaborate with clients and each other: Dropbox (for file sharing) Confession: We LOVE Dropbox. Like, really love. Our teams use it for all their file storage and file sharing. It's great because our teams can have all their f ..read more

Missed Bob Killian's appearance on CoronaTV with Joseph Jaffe on April 7th? Watch the full episode above! (Skip to the 9:20 mark to watch Bob's segment (be advised, however, by skipping ahead you will miss out on *the* Macy Gray)). The episode features discussions about: how brands can (and should!) respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic why every brand should use his new book, REBRAND!, during this time to evaluate how to adapt their business quickly The three things every brand needs to succeed Buy Bob's new book on Amazon now! Buy On Amazon Interested in booking branding expert Bob ..read more

Buy on Amazon Here On a slow-grow plateau? Are competitors gaining on you? Are your company sales flat? Are your candidate's poll numbers slipping? Are your college's applications from targeted students in decline?  In short, is it time to rebrand? No, rebranding doesn't have to be a total renaming makeover — maybe all you need is a revised logo, new tagline, refreshed website or a retelling of your brand narrative. But how can you choose what's really needed, what's going to be a practical investment, what's going to deliver a revitalized brand strategy that can kickstart your gr ..read more

As usual. While we shelter in place/self-isolate/self-quarantine/work from home/maintain social distance, we hear the familiar plaintive outcry for magic. Instant solutions that will get everything back to normal by Thursday. Wouldn’t it be pretty to think so. That prudent position — accept what you can’t change, change what you can’t accept — requires a clear-eyed examination of both “can’t” realities. Current example: those who speculate about a Covid-19 vaccine arriving (miraculously) before, let’s say, election day. Merely wishful thinking, or cynical disinformation? In our new book (Rebr ..read more

Ever notice how many clickbait headlines online  invoke the words “trick,” “secret,” or “simple”? (Yes, we’ve all clicked on them.) The simple secret of a branding miracle, of course… does not exist. Nor, may I add, is there a “trick” to weight loss, home buying, marriage, public policy, child raising, investing, radioactive waste, wine pairings, religion or elections*. No human problem more complex than, say, which way to tighten or loosen a light bulb can be solved with a pithy formula. (FYI, even “righty tighty, lefty loosen” isn’t 100% reliable. All the lightbulbs in the New York subways t ..read more