Do you know someone looking to work with a wonderful manufacturing company in the Chicago area? We happen to know the team at Chicago Glue and can tell you that they’re a great company to work with. Please see the job listing below and feel free to pass it on to anyone you know who may be interested. Chicago Glue and Machine, (CGM) is a privately held company proudly growing for the last 34 years while staying true to its founding family roots. At CGM we manufacture and distribute adhesive solutions by selling, servicing and standing behind our adhesive formulas READ MORE >>
As part of our recently launched ODEA Productions, we’re exploring 360-degree and 3D objects as a way to showcase products. As 360 and 3D technology continues to advance and become more usable, more companies and brands are interested in how these tools can impact awareness and sales. The appeal of these techniques is that they give you as the audience control – essentially making you a user rather than a viewer. When interacting with an image, you can easily manipulate it by rotating to see various angles. In more advanced 3D objects, you can even open an image and see READ MORE >>
It’s finally here! Today is the day your new marketing hire starts. You’re finally going to have someone on staff that is dedicated to your company’s marketing efforts. Or maybe you just signed a contract with a marketing firm to help support your initiatives. Are you nervous? You shouldn’t be! We’re here to remind you that as long as the marketing team (whether internal, external, or both) maintains strong communication throughout each engagement, projects will go smoothly and produce great ROI. We promise, marketers aren’t that scary! Here are five tips to help you work effectively with a marketing team: READ MORE >>
You may have noticed that at ODEA we live and breathe BOLD. But what does bold really mean? We’ve each picked out an example of marketing out in the world that we find bold. As you’ll see, bold can take on many forms. What does bold mean to you? JJ’s pick… Merrell’s VR Experience Why is it BOLD? “When you launch a new product or service, you want your customer to feel excited about it and remember it, right? Merrell did just that. Having a VR studio create a 4D, motion-tracked, multi-sensory experience was the definition of BOLD marketing. They READ MORE >>
If you follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, you may have seen some of our marketing stats posts. As marketers, we’re always trying to stay in the loop with the latest data. What’s working for B2B marketers? What are the habits of today’s consumers? How is technology impacting the way we market? Below are some of our favorite marketing stats that speak volumes to us. We try and take these nuggets of information into account when we research a new project or opportunity. We hope they inspire you to think about marketing a little differently! EMAIL Each of these READ MORE >>
As a marketer, you’ve undoubtedly been asked by your boss or your CEO to explain the ROI of a certain project or initiative. Marketers are often challenged to prove that their efforts have made an impact and that the budget spent was worthwhile. This push for ROI is common but overlooks some of the most valuable data points we have. While stats like web traffic and email engagements can’t be directly equated to a sale, they can tell a story. At ODEA, in addition to focusing on the elusive “return on investment”, we believe analytics give specific insights into what READ MORE >>
Yolo. Totes. Awesomesauce. Cray. Are you cringing yet? Me too. Trendy things, from clothes to cars to food, all have a shelf life. We believe words have expiration dates too, especially when a perfectly innocent word transforms into a buzzword. The rise and fall of buzzwords are especially true in marketing and branding, where they have a distinct season of popularity before plummeting into the abyss. Harold Evans says in his book, Do I Make Myself Clear? Why Writing Well Matters, that “…clarity and wit, not trendiness, are the goals of quality writing.” Over time, buzzwords eventually lose not only READ MORE >>
“If you’re going to lead, lead with grace and compassion.” – Michelle Obama As a three-year user of HubSpot, I was thrilled to finally attend my first Inbound. And it was worth the wait! While I came back to work with a wealth of knowledge, several Word docs of notes and a notebook filled with chicken scratch revelations, I have condensed my learnings into seven key points. I hope they inspire you as much as they’ve inspired me! 1. Create the conditions for your creativity. Piera Gelardi, Refinery 29 My very first session was Piera’s insightful keynote. She READ MORE >>
If you are new to the world of content marketing, you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed when it comes to planning your blogs, eBlasts and social media posts for the week. How do you know what to write about? When should it be shared? What did we post last week? That’s where a content calendar can make your life easier. Content calendars can take many forms depending on how you like to stay organized. Regardless of what yours looks like, the goal is simple: keep track of content that you’re planning to send out in the future. The elements READ MORE >>