As the FIFA World Cup takes over North America this summer, one of the most talked-about branding moments hasn’t happened on the pitch. It’s happened on the side of a stadium. To comply with FIFA’s longstanding “clean venue” requirements, host stadiums across the United States have temporarily shed their corporate identities. Levi’s Stadium became “San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.” Mercedes-Benz Stadium became “Atlanta Stadium.” SoFi Stadium became “Los Angeles Stadium.” The goal was to ensure FIFA’s official sponsors own the commercial landscape during the tournament….
Your brand is the visual and written essence of your identity. It tells your story, conveys your values and connects you with your audience. Much like how a chef plates a dish with care because people eat with their eyes first, your brand needs a strategic rollout to capture attention and drive engagement. You’ve invested in a new brand—now, make sure you get the return on that investment with a thoughtful and well-executed launch. Campfire & Co. teamed up with Hodges to help evolve our…
Here at The Hodges Partnership, we’re big believers in the EOP model – short for earned, owned and paid media. We’ve got folks on staff who eat, sleep and breath earned media. They have Today show reporters on speed dial. Other Hodgers live in the owned media world, churning out quippy social media content in their sleep. And a third paid media crew can tell you all about Meta’s average cost-per-click and why A/B testing is the way to go. My team? We span all…
I’ve never been much of a Barbie girl. In fact, at one of my grade school birthday parties, I shouted with childish brazenness, “I HATE Barbies,” only to be humbled and embarrassed when one of the party attendees handed me a present shaped in that all-too-familiar rectangular box. It was a Barbie. I ended up loving her. While my nostalgia meter is not completely off the charts this “Barbiecore summer,” I do appreciate a well-executed marketing campaign, though I don’t think you have to be…
Having a photo bank full of relevant, authentic brand photography goes a long way. Those photos can be used in a number of ways: printed collateral, social media, advertisements and more. But keeping your bank of photos up to date is important, especially in the tourism industry. With any locality, there is always one thing that seems to be a constant: change (we like that c-word better than construction). New street art, new residents, new restaurants, green spaces and businesses. With all this change comes…
Colorful screenshot of the Canva platform with the word’s “Your design has been published” highlighted on the front of a purple image.
It’s hard to plan for virality. Yet, it is the thing that every content creator – and brand – chase. The viral moment that skyrockets them to consumer relevance, sales and success. When I was little, I staged a video for America’s Funniest Home videos, where on a snow day, my best friend, her little brother, and I stood on the same sled at the top of a hill in her backyard. Video camera rolling, we shoved ourselves down the hill and purposefully wiped out…
I used to be Hodges’ only resident TikTok expert – that is, until they hired someone younger than me. *sighs sadly* In January of 2019, I downloaded TikTok – for research purposes, of course. My work at Hodges demanded it, and it had really started to take off in the U.S. Early TikTok adapters will know that the platform has changed quite a bit. Writing this, I am floored that I’ve surpassed my two-year anniversary with the addictive app. The pandemic has rendered time a…
When coronavirus hit Virginia, our office went fully virtual, and we continue to work virtually to this day. Luckily, we are in an industry where we are able to do so – staying connected via Zoom, Slack and through our shared client responsibilities. Casey Prentice and I head up Hodges’ internship program, where every semester we host two students for a three-month, paid internship. We pride ourselves on the caliber of The Hodges Partnership internship – students work as an extension of our team, doing…
We’re a pretty tight-knit group here at Hodges. So, this whole full-time, work-from-home concept is far from what we’re accustomed to. No brainstorm happy hours. No Saturday Night Live debriefs at our Monday morning staff meeting. No group trips to Ironclad for a change of scenery and cup of quality java. What was once a perk of the job – getting to work from home when you needed to – is now the reality we are living in, day in and day out. So, to…
Those who know me best know I love to cook. If you were a fly on the wall in my kitchen, you’d likely hear me narrating my dinner preparation like I was a Food Network Star. In fact, when I was little, I drafted up a pitch for Food Network because I was disappointed in its lack of children’s programming. Never followed through though. You’re welcome, Hodges. My YouTube homepage is filled with cooking videos. My Pinterest with recipes. At 26, I own a KitchenAid…
I’m hailing it the most cringeworthy social platform yet. But then again, my mom never let me have MySpace. Plus, it’s the first platform where I am older than the primary target audience, so maybe I’m just getting old and crotchety? TikTok. The what Remember Vine? RIP. And how about Musical.ly? Similar to both those ghosts of app pasts, TikTok is an app for making and sharing short videos. In fact, TikTok used to be Musical.ly until it was purchased by the Chinese company, ByteDance…
