Ideas & Insights – blog

If you are an avid user of Instagram, you may have noticed a big change to your feed nearly two years ago. That’s when the Facebook-owned company switched from a reverse chronological feed, to an algorithm-based feed that is determined by your behavior in the...

The Seventh Annual Midwest Undergraduate Data Analytics Competition (MUDAC) and Job Fair was held April 7-8 at Winona State University. I was privileged to participate with a team of judges comparing and grading the various solutions to a research problem posed by the Minnesota Wild...

Now more than ever, PR professionals who have direct relationships with reporters, access to leaders within our organizations, and highly visual and innovative story ideas that deliver compelling images and footage are the keys to successful story placement. Editorial departments remain strapped for time. Newsrooms...

Much like a newspaper has its local authorities and columnists, thought leaders and influencers can have regional/local appeal. So what’s better: going for the national thought leader – a heavy hitter with a huge audience? Or, choosing local thought leaders with focused influence on a...

A recent trip to Egypt with my family got me thinking about lessons from our earliest civilization. What can we learn from a 5,000-year-old civilization that is relevant to business today? Focus on your vision and make sure everyone understands There are many magnificent sites in Egypt...

As we discussed during our last blog post, the beginning of the year is the perfect time to take a step back and ensure you are thinking strategically about your business plans for growth. Do you have smart answers to the following critical questions? Is your...

  As we celebrate the start of 2018, I believe it is important to ask ourselves some tough questions about our businesses.  Take the time to position your team for success by understanding your market and customers.  Can you answer the following crucial questions? Do you know...

Top-rated Thanksgiving Zinfandel Wines and Mike Reiber’s Favorite Zins Feeling pressured to choose spectacular wines for Turkey Day? Look no further. Below is a list of great tasting Zinfandels that your guests are sure to remember. Better yet, they won’t break your budget. Ridge’s East Bench Zin...

Could you do it – live your life in less than 400 square feet? The tiny house concept has spurred all kinds of media attention around this cottage building industry (pun intended). With our background in building products and the home building industry, we’ve been...

“I need to do some focus groups” – a common request I received from my marketing peers when I worked on the client side. As an insights VP for Fortune 100 companies, I actually trained my teams to talk our internal clients out of research...