TheSkimm, littleBits, Salesforce. What do these disparate brands have in common? Each has successfully grown its business by actively engaging the help of communities outside its organization.

When was the last time you received a media RFP that said, "Put together the best overall marketing plan that you can for brand X"? I've seen hundreds of RFPs to date and none have asked anything similar.

Over 50% of consumers check out brands prior to purchase to make sure they are involved in some sort of positive social impact, according to a 2013 Cone Communications Social Impact Study. Yet the majority of them find companies' communication about their Corporate Social Responsibility efforts confusing. Here are 10 tips to get it right.

Pondering the proper place of programmatic for pinpoint promotional planning

In a year when moviegoing is down and many high-profile films have disappointed at the box office, "It" has become a monster hit. After five weeks in release, it still ranks as the third-highest-grossing film in the nation, with total revenue of over $300 million in the U.S., and nearly the same internationally, for a total gross of over $600 million and counting. And all of this despite (or perhaps because of) a cast of largely unknown talent, and source material more than three decades old.

Twenty years ago, it seemed like every kid went to Toys R Us. The company had great branding, right? It was a destination for kids who wanted the latest toy or adults looking to buy gifts for the younger demographic. But like any business, retail has changed. Retail is now overwhelmingly digital, giving birth to websites like Amazon and forcing traditional brick-and-mortar stores to rethink their business model. Sure, Toys R Us has a website. It actually looks pretty good, too. Fact is, though, that retail companies cannot rely on the type of “destination branding” Toys R Us had in …

We weren't prepared for tears in this routine focus group, testing a television campaign for a health care system. Seven Spanish-speaking Los Angeles residents were just introducing themselves, when one broke down crying. She shared being undocumented after 24 years in the U.S. The others in the group squirmed uncomfortably. The moderator moved to the next participant, but the uneasiness lingered. .

Fresh out of undergrad, and before I became a marketing researcher, I was a publicist. Fascinated by the "machinery" that helped direct the media conversation, frame brand perceptions and ultimately consumer behavior, PR actually led me to research, as I was captivated by the ability of statistics and consumer insights to add truth and empirical fact to that dialogue. In graduate school, my studies aided my further understanding of that interconnectivity.

Any time a brand cuts up to $140 million in digital spend and its sales immediately rise, you know something is fundamentally wrong with the way the advertising industry does business.

When you conjure up a memory of your grandparents' home, what springs to mind? Is it the sweet smell of cookies in your grandmother's kitchen? Perhaps it's the sound of the radio in the garage as you helped your grandfather work on one of his projects. Eventually, the family grew older. Grandma and Grandpa moved out of their house and went to Florida or took up residence in a retirement community.