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When to Break Brand Guidelines: Navigating Creative Flexibility

Brand guidelines are essential tools that help maintain consistency and coherence in a company's visual and messaging identity. They provide a set of rules and standards that ensure a brand is instantly recognizable and trustworthy. However, there are situations where the strict adherence to brand guidelines may need to be reconsidered. In this blog post, we will explore when it might be appropriate to break brand guidelines and how to do so effectively while preserving the essence of your brand

Google IP Updates Bring Changes to the Marketing Landscape

In a move that could significantly impact digital advertising, Google has announced plans to introduce a new feature called IP Protection within its Chrome browser. This feature will limit third-party access to users' IP addresses, changing the way that advertisers track and target online users. As one of the most widely used web browsers, Chrome's adoption of IP Protection signals a shift in the digital marketing landscape, requiring businesses to adapt their ad strategies to connect with their

How to Choose the Perfect Color for Your Brand Personality

Have you ever wondered why some brands instantly capture your attention, while others blend into the background? The answer often lies in the cleverly chosen colors that paint their visual landscape. Colors are not just visual elements; they are powerful emotional cues that can shape our perceptions and influence our behavior.

How to speak Gen Z: The ultimate slang word list revealed

Gen Z is the most diverse and connected generation yet, and their slang is just as unique and expressive. From "bussin'" to "no chill," Gen Z slang can be confusing to outsiders, but it's all part of their culture and way of communicating.

Authenticity vs AI: Can AI Help Business Owners Maximize Time?

In today's competitive business landscape, innovation and efficiency are paramount to success. AI has emerged as a transformative force, empowering businesses to streamline operations, spark creativity, and expand their reach. However, amidst this technological revolution, a caveat remains: AI's double-edged sword can also be wielded to generate misleading and inauthentic content. While AI offers boundless potential, it's crucial to harness its power responsibly, ensuring that authenticity remai

5 Common Misconceptions About Short-Form Video

In the evolving landscape of digital marketing - short-form content has gained immense popularity thanks to platforms like Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. However, there are several misconceptions surrounding this marketing strategy that may deter a business from fully embracing its potential. Let’s debunk these myths and shed some light on how to correct potential mistakes when posting social videos to your feed.

Your LinkedIn Persona: Best Practices for Business Owners

LinkedIn isn't just another social media platform; it's your digital business card, online resume, and networking playground all rolled into one. But how can you make it work for you? How can you stand out from the crowd of suits and ties? Fear not, we will discuss the key of LinkedIn's success.

The Rising Influence of Content Creators

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, content creation has risen to prominence as a driving force behind brand growth and audience engagement. As we venture into 2024, the significance of content creators is reaching new heights and reshaping the dynamics of content marketing and brand buy-in. This blog post will delve into why content creators are growing in importance, why the future of content marketing is entering a ‘community-based’ era, and the keys to successful content cre

Finding Balance Between Social Media and Mental Health

Social media has become integral to our daily lives in our hyper-connected world. While it offers numerous benefits, from staying connected with loved ones to accessing information and entertainment, it also comes with challenges, especially regarding our mental health. Finding a healthy balance between social media and mental well-being is crucial. In this blog, we'll explore strategies to help you navigate the digital age while safeguarding your mental health.

Marketing to Gen Z: 7 Strategies for Success

Gen Z, a generation known for its strong opinions, unique tastes, and rapidly growing buying power, exerts a significant influence in the marketing world. However, defining exactly who belongs to Gen Z can prove as elusive as pinpointing their favorite childhood movie (was it "The Lion King" or "Up"?). To provide clarity, we'll adhere to Pew Research Center's definition: anyone born in or after 1997 falls under the Gen Z category.

Prototyping for Client Success: Enhancing Customer Experiences with Figma

In a fast-paced and competitive market, delivering exceptional customer experiences is essential. When designing a website, a mobile app, or any digital product, it is key to ensure it exceeds client expectations. This is where functional prototypes through tools like Figma come into play. Prototyping has evolved from being a mere formality in the design and development process to becoming an integral component that can significantly impact client success.

Ways How to Measure Brand Awareness

Ever wonder why some brands just stick in your mind? Why that jingle from 10 years ago still pops into your head? Well, it's all about brand awareness. In this blog post, we'll uncover why it's such a big deal and how to show its real value.

Color Psychology in Design

When it comes to branding, it is crucial that you leave an impression on your audience and stand out from the competition. Many may underestimate the significance of color in their visual identity. Color alone shapes how a customer perceives your brand. With color psychology, there are certain associations colors have. Our minds are powerful, and color can affect our emotions. You want to strategize the colors chosen in your palette, it will enhance your brand identity tremendously and will help

The Key to Great Logo Design

Selecting a final logo is a critical decision for any business or brand, as it will become a visual representation of your identity. The goal is to look further beyond just personal taste and preferences. Take a look at this quick guide by Sagi Haviv, an influential logo designer who has created popular logos such as Chase, National Geographic, and NBC. We use his guide as a way to narrow down logos for the best fit and alignment with the clients’ brand. Before making your choice, consider

Demystifying Design File Types: A Comprehensive Guide

Designers and creatives work with a vast array of file types so their work can be used on a variety of different print and digital collateral effectively. From digital illustrations to web designs, understanding the different design file formats is essential for smooth collaboration, seamless sharing, and effective project management. In this blog, we will explore the most common design file types, their specific characteristics, and the applications they are commonly associated with.

The Key Role of Brand Voice in Marketing

In today's fast-paced and competitive market environment, businesses face the challenge of standing out and making an impression on their target customers. With so much noise and information overload, gaining the attention of potential clients can be a daunting task. However, there is a powerful tool that can help businesses break through the noise and establish a lasting connection with their audience: the brand voice.

9 Types of Logos & How to Use Them

As a brand first agency, we understand the significance of a well-designed logo in establishing a strong brand identity. A logo serves as a visual representation of a company and helps create a lasting impression on customers.In this post, we explore different types of logos and provide insights into how and when your brand should use them.

How To Balance Fun And Business On Social Media

Ah, the nostalgia of when social media was a fun and carefree space! Remember the days when our feeds were filled with amusing memes, heartwarming stories, and exciting updates from friends and family? It seemed like a digital playground where we could connect, share, and simply enjoy ourselves.

Welcome To Threads: Instagram’s Twitter Alternative

In the fast-paced world of social media, businesses must stay ahead of the game to connect with their audience and elevate their online presence. Instagram Threads, the newest app in the social media landscape, has sparked curiosity and excitement. In this blog post, we will explore how Threads, Instagram's latest app, revolutionizes business engagement and visual storytelling while competing with Twitter.

Customer Reviews Do Matter: Boost Trust and Credibility for Your Brand

In the competitive business landscape, establishing trust and credibility is paramount for the success of your brand. As you navigate this journey, there's one tool that can play a pivotal role in achieving your goals: customer reviews. These gems of feedback hold incredible power and influence. In this blog post, we'll delve into the significance of reviews and uncover how they can become a driving force in boosting trust and credibility for your brand.

Why Companies Should Stand as LGBTQ+ Allies During Pride Month

The entire month of June is a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. It is a time for communities to come together to embrace diversity and advocate for equality. It is also a month for companies to use their voices and show support for the community. When brands step up as allies during Pride Month, the positive impact will span across their employees, customers, and society at large.

How to Get Qualified Leads

Are you tired of chasing leads that don't pick up the phone, answering your emails or simply vanishing into thin air? If you're struggling to generate qualified leads, or any leads at all, it's time to revamp your approach. In this blog post, we'll show you how to avoid wasting money on unqualified leads and focus on attracting high-converting prospects. Buckle up and get ready to supercharge your lead generation strategy!

Design Trends: Is It a Good or Bad Thing for Your Brand?

Today, we're delving into the fascinating world of design trends and their impact on business branding. Are these trends a magical recipe for success, or do they pose potential pitfalls? In this blog post, we'll explore the ongoing debate, delving into design trends' positive and negative aspects to help you form a balanced perspective.

Think Like Your Customers, Not Just About Them

In today's competitive business landscape, understanding your customers is crucial for success. However, many businesses make the mistake of solely focusing on their customers' needs and preferences without truly empathizing and thinking from their perspective. To build strong connections and provide exceptional customer experiences, it's essential to think like your customers, not just about them.

Why it’s Important to Establish a Personal Brand

Creating a personal brand is a key part of building a successful career for yourself. No longer is your professional reputation limited to a resume and references. With social media and the importance of establishing an online presence – a personal brand has become a key part of your identity for personal and professional opportunities.

6 Social Media Tips to Increase Engagement

Social media has become an important aspect of any digital marketing strategy. It's a powerful tool to help businesses reach a wider audience and increase brand visibility. However, with so many social media platforms and best practices to consider, it can take time to figure out where to start. In this blog, we'll share tips and tricks for maximizing social media and achieving success. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced marketer, these insights will help you take your social media game

How to Build a B2B Online Community

Whether you're a startup or a well-established business, building an online community can help you increase brand awareness, generate leads, and develop long-term customer relationships. In this blog post, we'll explore why building an active online community is essential for B2B businesses and how you can get started.

How to Humanize Your B2B Social Media Presence

B2B social media can be a bit of a buzzkill - it’s all about presenting a professional and polished image, right? But what about the human side of social media engagement? You know, the one that can help build meaningful connections with potential clients and partners? The good news is you can use plenty of personal strategies to add personality to your B2B social media presence.

Incorporating Illustration into your Marketing

In today's world, you need to make sure your brand stands out against the competition. The use of illustration can help you do this. It also has the potential to do more than just attract attention. When used creatively, illustration can create memorable experiences for consumers and clients alike that will keep them engaged with your message.

From Likes to Leads: Transforming Your Social Media Presence

It's a fact that having a large social media following only sometimes guarantees sales. To effectively turn your social media presence into a lead-generating machine, it's essential to actively engage with your audience and provide them with valuable content that solves their problems or helps them achieve their goals. By doing so, you can build a loyal following and attract potential customers who are genuinely interested in your products or services.

The Importance of Typography in Design

Typography is an essential part of graphic design. It plays a crucial role in how a piece is perceived in branding. With typography, you have the ability to arrange font styles and sizes to make text easy to understand.

Using HubSpot For Your Data-Driven Marketing Strategy

Data-driven decision-making has become a buzzword in recent years, and for good reason. By leveraging brand data and insights, companies are able to make informed decisions that lead to better outcomes and improved performance. In the world of marketing, this approach is particularly valuable. Of the various platforms on the market, NickelBronx sees HubSpot as the premier choice. HubSpot recognizes the power of data-decision making, provides a variety of tools to put your marketing data into pra

Why Brand Guidelines are Essential for Your Business

If you’re not familiar with brand guidelines, they are a set of rules that define the correct practices for using your brand. These are created to keep your brands over look and feel easily recognizable across all platforms to your audience.

Hit or Miss Rebrands

Rebrands can go one of two ways, hit or miss. In this post, we’ll explore three examples of rebrands that hit or missed their mark and why.

5 Steps to Building Your Brand on Social Media

You have a product or service and you want to sell it. Great! But how do you get people to notice it? Where do they go to find out about the products or services that are available to them? They go online. In this article, we will discuss how you can build your brand on social media in order to reach your target market, increase awareness of your company, and ultimately increase sales.

How Brands Can Master Authenticity in 2023

Branding is creating and maintaining a unique, consistent, and recognizable identity for your business. A strong brand strategy provides a framework for who you are, what you do, and why it's relevant to your customers. The foundation of every successful brand is authenticity.

Branding, Marketing, & Advertising: What’s the Difference?

What’s the difference between branding, marketing, and advertising? Even for marketers, the differences between these three areas can blur together. While branding, marketing, and advertising are interconnected, there are distinct qualities that separate them and allow them to stand on their own.

Boost Your Business: How to Create a Great Branding Strategy ASAP

Many small business owners wear multiple hats. They have to do the accounting, marketing, sales, and operations themselves. This can be difficult because there is not enough time to do everything needed for the business to grow. One task that's often overlooked is branding. Your brand forms the foundation of how customers and prospects perceive your company, so it's important to have a solid branding strategy. Read on for the best branding ideas so you can learn how to boost your brand.

Put Your Money Where Your Marketing Is: When to Spend?

In a world of unlimited resources, you’d probably market your company on full throttle 24/7. But we’re not in that world, and more often than not, budgets need to be made months in advance. In light of this reality, how can you determine when you should invest more in marketing? Contrary to popular belief, the percentage of your annual budget that you spend on marketing should be determined by business development, not your bottom line — meaning that when times get tough, it’s not the time to cu

Top Six Mistakes When Posting Instagram Reels

Canva vs. Illustrator: Which to Choose

If you're looking for a new design tool, you've probably come across the Canva vs Illustrator question. They are both powerful tools for designing, but which one is better? In this blog, we'll walk through the pros and cons of these two popular programs so that you can decide which tool might be right for your business.

Why Invest in Project Management Software

What is a project management system? It is an all-in-one application that assists teams organize, track, and manage all of their work. For Nickelbronx, it’s a platform that lets our team plan, collaborate, and execute on all aspects of a project so that our team performs at our best.

The Five P’s for Building a Strong Brand

Your brand is the face of your business – it’s how you present yourself to the world and how your customers perceive you. Building a powerful brand is critical to the success of any business, but where do you start?

MY HOT TAKE ON THE COMMANDERS

While the Washington Football Team/Commanders is a dumpster fire of an organization by any standard – I’m just going to focus on the marketing and culture failures at play here.

How Figma Can Change the Way You Work

If you’re not already familiar, Figma is a collaborative, cloud-based design tool used primarily for interface design. It’s similar to platforms such as Sketch and Adobe XD, but the web application surpasses these when it comes to team collaboration, file organization, sharing designs with clients, prototyping, and maintains a fast and easy learning curve.

WHAT WE LIKETO TALK ABOUT