The Story

The booth is set up. Anticipation is high. And CBC is about to drop some experiential guerrilla marketing on these credit union marketers here at the 2008 Marketing Association of Credit Unions (MAC) conference.
That’s right–it’s go time.
Throughout the day I’ll be live-blogging to give you a taste of what’s up here […]

My last mini case study explored the fluffy French power room that is Anthropologie. This time I’m going to concentrate on a slightly-less-feminine company called Tao of Tea. Not many of you have probably visited Tao, since it is a local Portland establishment. However, you may have heard of the tea house, […]

I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Starbucks is undergoing a lot of changes in an effort to get back to their core. (Check out this article about Howard Schultz’s return in TIME magazine.) One of the changes includes getting rid of the popular breakfast sandwiches - a truly sad moment for several […]

We seem to be on a roll with posts associating food and evolving brand identity. If you’re a loyal fan of this here CBC blog, then you’re familiar with our rants and raves of Les Schwab’s free steak. Yes, the tire store’s gift is random. But it’s oh so memorable. Alas, that’s not […]

I saw a purple and yellow couch in a store window the other day. Even though I graduated from high school more than 10 years ago, I can’t see those colors and not think of my alma mater.
Purple and yellow (well, actually it was gold) were the school colors of my high school’s sports teams […]

Footlocker is currently running an ad campaign based on the simple question, “What’s Your Story?” The basis behind the question and campaign is that everyone has a story and Footlocker has the new kicks that best match your story . . . be it athletic, stylish, old school, or whatever. As everyone is […]

I went to Caprial’s Bistro for dinner recently - a well known Portland restaurant - and had a very interesting experience when ordering wine. There was no wine list…instead, the entire back wall of the restaurant was covered in shelves with bottles of wine. When you are ready to order your wine, you […]

“The Finishing Touch” is the fifth article in a five-part series about using multi-sensory marketing and experiential branding in the banking industry. The articles were authored by CBC’s Jeff Stephens for ABA’s Bank Marketing magazine, which is running the series during this fall/winter.
Branding With All Five Senses
Part five of a 5-part Series on Multi-Sensory Branding […]

On a recent trip to Southern California, I got my first taste of Pinkberry, the fast-growing frozen yogurt chain taking over LA and NY. Each one had the store concept I had heard so much about - the hanging lamps, pebble floors, ghost chairs, etc. The stores are cool, and the frozen yogurt […]

We’re proud to announce that The Story is now listed on the AdAge Power150 – the world’s top media and marketing blogs as ranked by Todd Andrlik at Advertising Age. Though we concentrate on bank and credit union branding, the ideas presented in our blog are relevant for folks far outside the financial services […]