Recently we’ve seen a number of articles surmising about the death of social media as we know it. The growth rate peaked in 2020 / 2021 and currently time spent on social media is lower than it was in 2019 and growth itself has slowed as we reach a ceiling of usage. True, there are small pockets where the number of users is increasing - in the U.S. where current usage is below the global average. Overall, people are spending less time sharing and liking. Where is this trend headed?

VICE Insights recently released its 2024 Guide to Culture with Ten Culture Codes to understand the evolving needs of Gen Z consumers and the forces of change shaping their lives. Recently, two Red Cat Marketing colleagues got together, one Gen X and one Gen Z, with the task of representing their entire respective generations, and talked candidly about some of the report’s findings as compared to their personal experiences and viewpoint.

We all know that a brand is the identity and story of a product, making it distinct and recognizable to its consumers. This includes a company's values, mission statement and other non-visual aspects. While all aspects of branding are important, how often do you evaluate the visual expression of your brand? Things such as your logo, tagline, colours, typography, and aesthetic.

Branding is the process of creating a distinct perception and identity of your business. The logo is just one portion of this, generally the first thing a customer sees and recognizes about a brand. It is the visual signature that represents your company or product and should evolve with the business.

Wednesday, March 20th was World Happiness Day. The results of University of Oxford’s 2024 World Happiness Report were shared, and headlines written. Canada ranked 15th happiest out of the 143 countries studied with a score of 6.9, and the U.S. ranked 23rd with a score of 6.7. Both were behind the Nordic countries with scores ranging from 7.3 - 7.7, as well as countries such as Switzerland and the Netherlands. But with these countries benefiting from weeks and weeks of available vacation time, and university tuition that you aren’t still paying off into your 30s, it’s a ranking most of us can probably accept. Let’s raise a glass to celebrate!

The ultimate goal is to appear at the very top of the search engine results page (SERP). The way to do this is to optimize. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process used to optimize a website’s content relevance, link popularity, and tech for optimal ranking on search engines.

SEO isn’t something that you can just set and forget. It’s important to stay up to date on SEO trends in order to ensure a website ranks optimally on search engines such as Google. Read on to discover three key trends you should be aware of, as well as the SEO basics that are still incredibly important.

We’re all familiar with the adage that acquiring a new customer costs more than retaining an existing one. The actual number varies depending on the source and industry, however 5 to 10 times seems to be the generally accepted range. Think about how much is being spent on marketing initiatives - the majority of which is typically spent on finding new customers. Why aren’t we focusing more on customer retention? Because it is so much more difficult. It requires patience, discipline and effort from departments beyond marketing. Read on to discover some best practices on how to build strong customer relationships.