As we discussed in our last EnergyWire, rapid advancements in generative AI are changing the ways we find and create content before our very eyes. It's an exciting time to be a digital citizen—and it can feel like an intimidating time to be a brand or website owner as well. No one knows exactly what the future looks like, but we all know AI is here to stay. 

Topics: Customer-Centric Marketing, Digital Transformation and User Experience, Innovation, Smart Technology, Marketing Strategy and Best Practices, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Search, SEO, Paid Search

AI is everywhere: from project management tools and grocery shopping apps to world-renowned art museums and personal beauty-care shoppers, and everything in between. Soon, it might become unimaginable to perform our jobs without the assistance of AI tools. 

Topics: Customer-Centric Marketing, Digital Transformation and User Experience, Innovation, Inspiration, Smart Technology, Marketing Strategy and Best Practices, AI, Artificial Intelligence

Walk into any coffee shop in Vermont or visit any ski hill, and you’ll see heads covered in patterns of brightly colored flowers, butterflies, or tiny foxes, paired with neck warmers clad in similarly cheerful patterns pulled up over chilled rosy cheeks.  In 2008, when Corinne Prevot, a crafty high schooler, started making hats for herself and her ski teammates, this explosion of colored patterns on slopes and in towns began. Sixteen years later, Prevot is now the founder behind the growing, beloved Vermont brand Skida. Many things have changed since her first hats, but the delightful patterns remain her signature.

Topics: Innovation, Industry Expert Interviews, Inspiration, Branding and Brand Value, Sustainability Marketing, Vermont, Marketing Strategy and Best Practices, Sustainable Brands, Branding

Edited for content and clarity by Chris H. Hadgis

In 1987, Stan Day’s invention of the Grip Shift, or the bike gear twist, “changed the world.” Since then, the company now known as SRAM has grown, adapted, and acquired 14 additional brands along the way. 

Soon-to-be former VP of Marketing at SRAM, David Zimberoff (DZ), earned a highly-unique departure gift: he got to select the replacement for his role at SRAM to pursue his dream of designing a low-cost, sustainable, mobility solution for rural communities.

Topics: Customer-Centric Marketing, Innovation, Industry Expert Interviews, Climate Change, Inspiration, Branding and Brand Value, Company Culture, In the News, Marketing Strategy and Best Practices, Sustainable Brands

As TikTok, Instagram, and other social media platforms grow and evolve, brands have new ways to engage with consumers. 

Yes, the “Instagram/TikTok made me buy it!” trend is real, and it’s certainly not just about ads, which many users have gotten great at ignoring. These days, it’s influencer nudging that often pushes customers to buy. Thanks to the widespread use of these platforms and massive followings, influencers are driving sales. Recent studies show social media users (that is, most people) trust influencer promotions more than celebrity ones. And nearly 50% of social media users say they’ve bought a product after seeing an influencer advertise it.

Topics: Innovation, Social Media Strategy and Best Practices, Content Marketing, Branding and Brand Value, Marketing Strategy and Best Practices, Brand Activations

As 2022 winds down, we’re joining countless others in a moment (or two) of reflection over a year fueled by forward thinking, positive momentum, and growth. 

Topics: Innovation, B Corporation, Climate Change, Branding and Brand Value, Sustainability Marketing, Creative, Climate and Social Justice

The best way to understand someone’s problems, as the old adage goes, is to walk a mile in their shoes.

Topics: Innovation, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Social Media Strategy and Best Practices, Content Marketing, Sustainability Marketing, Creative, Brand Activations

In 2021, $284 billion was spent on advertising in the United States. That’s a staggering number, representing a lot of power.

Topics: Innovation, B Corporation, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Branding and Brand Value, Sustainability Marketing, Creative, B2B marketing, Climate and Social Justice

“What if we do nothing instead?” 

So asks the uncertain doppelganger of our decision-making hero in KSV’s latest “Uncertainty” energy-efficiency campaign. But our hero is undeterred: She won’t let this uncertain version of herself stop her. No, upgrading to energy-efficient equipment with expertise and funding incentives is too good of an idea.

Topics: Innovation, Energy Efficiency, Creative, B2B marketing, Creative Showcase

“Ours is a banal sort of apocalypse,” Amanda Hess wrote recently in her New York Times essay “Apocalypse When? Global Warming’s Endless Scroll.”

“From Don’t Look Up to Greta Thunberg videos to doomsaying memes, we are awash in warnings that we are almost out of time. But the climate crisis is outpacing our emotional capacity to describe it.”

Topics: Innovation, B Corporation, Climate Change, Inspiration, Branding and Brand Value, Sustainability Marketing, Marketing Strategy and Best Practices, Climate and Social Justice, Sustainable Brands