CULTURE

In the bustling landscape of modern business, there's a powerful force at play, one that can shape the destiny of brands and pave the way to unprecedented success. It's leadership, and it's not just for CEOs in corner offices or high-profile marketing directors. No, leadership in branding is something that every team leader, manager, and aspiring entrepreneur can embody. So, what does it take to be a brand leader? Let's break it down into actionable steps that anyone can take, regardless of their title or position: Setting the Vision and Mission: It all starts with a clear vision and a compelling mission. As a brand leader, your job is to articulate these guiding principles in a way that inspires not only your team but also resonates with your customers. It's about defining the values, goals, and aspirations that drive your brand forward, providing everyone involved with a sense of purpose and direction. Fostering a Culture of Innovation: Innovation isn't just reserved for the tech giants and disruptors of the world. As a brand leader, you have the power to foster a culture of creativity and experimentation within your organization. Encourage your team to think outside the box, take calculated risks, and embrace failure as a learning opportunity. By creating an environment where innovation thrives, you'll ensure that your brand remains agile and adaptable in the face of change. Leading by Example: Leadership is not about giving orders from the top-down; it's about leading by example. As a brand leader, you have the opportunity to embody the values and principles of your brand in everything you do. Be authentic, show integrity, and hold yourself accountable for your actions. By leading with honesty and transparency, you'll earn the trust and respect of your team, inspiring them to follow your lead. Empowering and Developing Talent: Your team is your greatest asset, and as a brand leader, it's your responsibility to invest in their growth and development. Provide them with opportunities for learning and advancement, and foster a culture of mentorship and continuous feedback. By empowering your team to reach their full potential, you'll create a motivated and engaged workforce that is committed to the success of your brand. Building Strong Relationships: Last but certainly not least, successful brand leadership is built on strong relationships. Take the time to listen to your employees, customers, partners, and investors. Value their perspectives and prioritize their needs. By building trust and collaboration with your stakeholders, you'll create a sense of community and shared purpose that drives long-term success. Effective leadership in branding is not reserved for the elite few—it's attainable for anyone willing to step up and take charge. By setting a clear vision, fostering innovation, leading by example, empowering your team, and building strong relationships, you can lead your brand to new heights of success and significance. The journey begins with you—so what are you waiting for? It's time to unleash your inner brand leader and take your brand to greatness. Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash

Here at LO:LA, think of us as an extension of your marketing team, curated specifically to your brand or campaign. We can offer “a la carte” services on a project or work as your retained agency. We always come from a very collaborative approach, working with all designated stakeholders and acclimating to your internal processes. We will always be transparent with costs, expectations, and deliverables. Our goal is to be your long-term partner. We pride ourselves on how we communicate and offer solutions. We bring big agency and in-house experience with the flexibility, attention, and “outside the box” thinking of an independent shop while never sacrificing quality and consistently turning out compelling creative made with love. Because of our clients’ approval and trust, we’ve been featured as one of the game-changer firms on Clutch. According to their page, London : Los Angeles is among California’s game-changing branding companies. For context, Clutch is a data-driven B2B research platform committed to helping small, mid-market, and enterprise businesses identify and connect with the service providers they need to achieve their goals. Clutch carefully curates lists of the absolute best agencies and organizations by industry and location, simultaneously enabling companies to establish credibility and buyers to find the right services. We’re grateful to have our clients’ testimonials, as these will help us establish our name in the industry. No matter the project size, we are always honored when working with amazing clients. Take a look at some quotes from our clients’ reviews! “They were smart to mirror our management style.They were thoughtful, human, and devoid of ego. It was about great work and clear communication.” – Chief Creative Officer, RTR Media “I’ve worked with LOLA before on another branding and website project – their work is top notch, they’re always fun to work with and approach problems so creatively. I’ll continue to use them for any branding work in the future.” – Jennifer Duran, Founder, Duran Consulting, LLC

Small business owners often feel that, whatever they do, there is simply no way to compete with what the prominent industry leaders are doing. That feeling can be hammered home, especially regarding the respective sizes of your marketing budgets. There is no way for you to match what major brands are willing to spend. However, you shouldn’t give up just yet because there is plenty you can do to promote your brand on a moderate budget. At the LO: LA Agency, we love empowering businesses so they can reach their full potential. Join us as we explore 6 cost-effective ways for small businesses to develop their brand. 1.    LOOK AT YOUR CORE BRAND VALUES If you want to develop your brand, the first thing you must do is establish a solid framework. Consider which goals you want to achieve and how you want your brand to come across to your audience. Since your brand is an intangible asset, it can be difficult for small businesses to develop their brand. We suggest you take a step back and examine your original mission and vision statement. You can get to the root of your brand identity by exploring the values it stands for. Ensure that everything you do reflects those values. Think about why you started your business and what you want to accomplish. Every product intends to solve customers’ problems, so what issues are you trying to solve? How does your product help customers, and how does it deliver its value? Once you stop thinking about your products as a profit for your business and start viewing them as ways you provide value and enrich your customers’ lives, finding the right voice for your brand will be much easier. 2.    CONSIDER REBRANDING Upon their launch, most small businesses need to operate on a highly moderate budget. It’s quite possible that you didn’t have the time or money to flesh out your brand when you started your business. Humble beginnings are nothing to be ashamed of, but you will likely outgrow your initial branding. If you aren’t sure whether you should go for a complete redesign of your brand, you can look for the obvious signs it’s time to rebrand. When you decide it’s time to give your brand a facelift, you should adopt a design that will be familiar to your long-time customers. Rebranding is one thing, but don’t stray too far from what your customers are used to, or you will only alienate your audience. Additionally, consider a redesign that can serve your brand in the future since you don’t want to rebrand every year. 3.    EMBRACE BRAND STORYTELLING There are efficient ways to create a compelling brand story without breaking the bank. Following our steps, you should have pinned down the values you want your brand to represent. Now it’s time to put them into words. One of the most efficient forms of storytelling is a content creation strategy centered on your brand values. If you invite guest writers to contribute to your blog, ensure they don’t stray too far from the content you have been creating. To ensure your brand is accurately represented across all your channels and social media profiles, it would be best if you make a design bible or style guide. Storytelling is one of the best ways for small businesses to develop their brand. Feel free to share your triumphs and successes with your audience since people love to hear a success story. However, you can also share your failures and struggles. As a small business owner, this can be a great way to get people to sympathize and care about your brand, which neatly leads us to our next point. 4.    CONNECT WITH YOUR CUSTOMER BASE If you want your brand to stand out, you have to make your audience care. Evoke emotion in your audience if you want to drive more business with your customer base. It’s not enough to use brand storytelling. It would be best if you also use it to its full potential. That can include sharing user-created content (UCC) on your website and social media profiles. Including customers as part of your brand story is a great way to attract audience attention and stand out from the competition. Invite users to engage with your brand by starting discussions on exciting topics. However, if you decide to go down this route, you should also take the time to respond to what your customers are saying. 5.    MAINTAIN YOUR PRESENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA We already stated that social networks are the best place to post your content. Unfortunately, this isn’t a strategy you should attempt half-heartedly. You’ll need to post regularly to gain the favor of the social media algorithm. Additionally, it would help if you didn’t post the same content across multiple social networks. Doing so will only disincentivize users from following you across various platforms. Try to adapt your content to the specific needs of every forum. If you realize that managing multiple profiles is too demanding, determine which platform is the most popular with your target demographic and make that your priority. 6.    DEFINE YOUR KEY OBJECTIVES There are many avenues for small businesses to develop their brand. Realistically, you won’t have the resources to do everything at once as a small business owner. Therefore, you must decide exactly how you want to develop your brand. Do you want to work on improving brand recognition, trust in the brand, customer loyalty, or perceived brand value? Each of these aspects of your brand can require a different marketing approach. Determine your key objectives and focus most of your efforts there instead of stretching yourself too thin. Small and medium-sized businesses with moderate budgets that want to evolve their brand can check out our Brand-in-a-box as a customizable and cost-effective solution. DEVELOPING YOUR BRAND – IN A NUTSHELL As you can see, there are numerous ways for small businesses to develop their brand that doesn’t require a serious financial investment. You can accomplish a lot with a bit of effort and sincerity. Now go and start spreading the word about your brand!

The advertising industry has seen a massive shift from traditional to digital in the past few years. That is why finding the best advertising partner that can help you with both is crucial to your success. Companies like London : Los Angeles has seen both the orthodox and modern side of the advertising industry. We are confident that our skills are sufficient to help you take your business to the next level. As a matter of fact, our team has been recently recognized as one of the leading advertising agencies in Los Angeles by Clutch. According to their recent research, our team has been one of the top-performing agencies locally. It is thanks to their amazing passion and dedication that we are able to accrue such incredible accolades and accomplishments from the industry. Clutch, in case this is the first time you are hearing about them, they are an established platform in the heart of Washington, DC, committed to helping small, mid-market, and enterprise businesses identify and connect with the service providers they need to achieve their goals. Again, this 2022 Clutch award means a lot to us! With that being said, we would like to extend our appreciation to Clutch and their team for making this award possible. To officially receive this award, here is our CEO and Founder, Nicholas Platt: “We are thrilled with this recognition. A huge thank you to all our clients that make our collaborations a joy! We are looking forward to creating more amazing campaigns with all of you. Our team is grateful to work with amazing and incredible people such as yourselves.” We are excited to work with you! Drop us a line today and we’ll get back to you ASAP.

The London : Los Angeles team is delighted to finally announce our latest The Manifest award! We’ve been named one of the most-reviewed branding agencies in Los Angeles and we are proud to share this news with all of you. This is an incredible milestone for our company and we are happy to celebrate it with all of you. In case you are not familiar with The Manifest, they are a company resource for businesses that aims to gather and verify the complex data, expert insights, and actionable advice you need to build your brand and grow your business – to provide the practical business wisdom that manifests in your success. We would like to thank this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who helped us win this award. Thank you so much to our clients! Your support means the world to us. We couldn’t have won this award and other accolades with you. As a sign of our gratitude, we’ve chosen some of the best reviews we’ve received in recent years. “Their incredible creativity is matched with their ability to listen effectively and execute flawlessly. I rarely see this with creatives – they have brilliant ideas and are able to bring those to light quickly. To do this I assume there is a lot of project management happening behind the scenes. I’m very impressed with the quality of work they turn out.” Jennifer Duran, Founder of Duran Consulting, LLC “Their branding work is what distinguished them from other agencies; every firm has its own strong point, and London : Los Angeles’ team is the best in class when it comes to brand definition framework. The work they did for us was the best in the business.” Corry Reid, VP of Marketing at Fresh Brothers Let’s talk! We are interested in learning more about your business and how we can help.

It is not easy to build a brand for a business. That is a never-ending process requiring much effort, time, and money. When you spend valuable resources to make a dependable and recognizable brand, you want to continue to protect and control your brand identity. Even the slightest mistake might hurt its reputation. Customers are used to quality and perfection. That is why it is crucial to maintain brand consistency across all touchpoints. Here is everything you need to know about the benefits of consistent branding and how to achieve it correctly! WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF CONSISTENT BRANDING? What is a brand? A brand is every piece of your business that comes into contact with a customer. It can be a product, a service, or even a concept that stands behind your brand’s name and what it stands for. A brand represents the level of quality that distinguishes you from the competitors on the market. Once you understand the brand definition, it becomes clear why you must maintain consistency in your branding strategies across all touchpoints. There can be no flaw in any sector. The most significant benefit of brand consistency is that it creates reliable connections and guarantees longevity in the business. With that in mind, here is how to consistently present your brand to the public. DEFINE CLEAR BRAND GUIDELINES The best way to look at brand guidelines is to consider them a checklist for building brand identity and maintaining brand consistency. You should use brand guidelines to define all crucial elements of your brand. That includes: The story of your brand How you communicate with your customers The brand mission Brand colors Logo design Company culture Marketing requirements All of the above are brand components that should always be consistent across all fields of business. On top of that, you should create various templates that reflect your brand’s image and apply them to every process. That could include email correspondence when hiring new employees, customer contracts, presentation templates, etc. These materials should always be represented in brand colors and accessible to your employees. EDUCATE YOUR EMPLOYEES ON HOW TO REPRESENT THE BRAND A company consists of multiple teams, and they all have different assignments. Nevertheless, they should still apply the same brand guidelines. Educate your employees about the brand mission, and teach them how to spread it. The best way to achieve this is to create learning video materials and implement various checkpoints throughout the year. Always ensure all employees finish their checkpoints on time, utilize what they learned, and apply brand best practices when working with customers. DEFINE YOUR BRAND TOOLKIT The brand toolkit is a part of the brand guidelines we mentioned. However, we want to focus on this because it is essential for brand consistency. The brand toolkit includes all the visual elements that define your brand. Your marketing and design teams should define brand colors, logos, slogans, corporate graphics, branded templates, and everything that comes with it. If we think of any brand, these elements set it apart from others. You need powerful and impactful visual cues that will catch the eyes of your customers. The brand toolkit aims to create a memorable image that will stick in your customers’ minds, which is one of the benefits of consistent branding. ALIGN BRANDING EFFORTS ACROSS ALL CHANNELS You can raise awareness about your brand in many different ways: Through social media Public relations Product placement Public events Customer support Website Blog Customer proposals Content These elements serve as a channel to promote brand values and mission. If you do not maintain consistency, it might feel like each channel represents a different brand. Just imagine what would happen if you did not maintain brand consistency across social media platforms. That would create confusion among your customers. For example, those who follow you on Twitter would receive a different message from those who follow you on Facebook. And those who follow your brand on both platforms would be confused even more by the absence of consistency. DELIVER CONSISTENT CUSTOMER SUPPORT THAT REFLECTS YOUR BRAND IMAGE Consistency is necessary for building customer trust in your brand. Customer support is an essential element of any business because it solves customers’ problems and provides answers. If you are looking for ways to gain their trust, you should focus on being consistent when communicating with customers. If you fail at this step, you will create mistrust, which will have severe consequences in the future. It is essential to build a brand that has character and integrity. You cannot have that without being consistent in how you do your business, no matter what part of the business we discuss. Ensure that your customer service agents deliver standardized support that reflects your brand’s communication guidelines. That way, your customers know what to expect when communicating with customer support. It makes solving problems fast and simple. INTEGRATE YOUR BRAND MISSION INTO YOUR CONTENT Whatever content you create and publish must reflect your brand’s mission. Just saying what you are trying to achieve is not enough. You also need to show it through every action. Brand content is the most powerful tool at your disposal. As such, it must precisely reflect the values of your brand. That is crucial because the content is meant for the customers. If they don’t see proof of your brand’s mission through the content you create, they will remain unconvinced that you stand behind your words. MAINTAIN BRAND CONSISTENCY TO KEEP YOUR BUSINESS RUNNING FOR MANY YEARS TO COME All of the benefits of consistent branding revolve around the same goal – building a strong brand image that will last for many years. Because the competition is high, all brands are trying to bring their A-game when it comes to providing quality service. Therefore, it is crucial to do it consistently to stay in the race and stand out from competitors.

El Segundo Award Program Honors the Achievement EL SEGUNDO March 14, 2024 -- LOLA – London : Los Angeles has been selected for the 2024 Best of El Segundo Award in the Advertising Agency category by the El Segundo Award Program. Each year, the El Segundo Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the El Segundo area a great place to live, work and play. Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2024 El Segundo Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the El Segundo Award Program and data provided by third parties. About El Segundo Award Program The El Segundo Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the El Segundo area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value. The El Segundo Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community's contributions to the U.S. economy. SOURCE: El Segundo Award ProgramCONTACT:El Segundo Award ProgramEmail: PublicRelations@distinctionbusiness.comURL: http://www.distinctionbusiness.com

Your brand is, truly, the last unfair advantage you have in business. Creating a memorable brand is about telling your story, Through the right words, images, and content, you can illustrate an unobstructed vision for the brand, articulate what you stand for, and highlight the value being offered. The fastest and most telegraphic element of turning your brand’s vision into a reality is your logo. As Paul Rand said “Design is your silent ambassador and your logo is the focus of your design”. Creating a simple but powerful logo is not only about knowing your brand and your products, but knowing how your customers will connect with them…your logo is really what you want to say and who you want to say it to. There are a few things to keep in mind when you translate your brand into a logo. A logo can serve many purposes, but most importantly it is about conveying the right message to your target audience. Over time, it can come to represent the things customers look for as they grow loyalty with your brand and even become ambassadors of it. The first and most fundamental focus for creating a great logo is knowing and understanding your brand- its vision and its personality. And part of that is an appreciation for the process and insights that lead to that brand vision and particular personality. Many times, brands jump right to the logo design without going through this critical process. Next, you need to be mindful of what the business is or does, the services offered or the products sold. A logo is simply a translation of these things. The fonts, the colors and the shapes you use in a logo should reflect these aspects of the business. A logo must also be something that stands out, it must create an immediate impression. A logo should be exciting for customers to see, it should leave an impact or a memory as well as a sense of anticipation of what is to come. A logo should also create a sense of pride for the brand’s internal team, something of inspiration that they want to share with friends and family. A brand’s logo often becomes a powerful tool in creating a culture of collaboration and success. When it comes to logo design, the color scheme should be planned carefully. When it comes to colors, look to those that best reflect the brand’s mission. Be mindful that colors telegraph emotion- red is energetic or passionate, whereas blue is calm and thoughtful. Choosing the right combination of colors can make all the difference. With fonts, typefaces are a powerful way to speak to your brand’s personality. Brash brands call for brash fonts. Refined brands deserve a more considered font set. If possible, pick something unique or go with a combination of fonts that are readily associated with the brand. The right combination of color and font can be immensely powerful. Then there is the type of logo you want. Do you want a logotype with your company name in the logo? This can convey immediate recognition (think Coca-Cola) and your brand name will become a key part of your advertising. Logotypes can be highly effective when it comes to your marketing and publicity budget. They can also be extremely beneficial to small or emerging businesses. Or you can choose a symbol for your logo. Some of the world’s most famous brands have reduced their presence and recognition to a simple mark (think Apple, Nike or Volkswagen, to name a few). This path may require having to spend more money on awareness to gain traction, but the benefits and return speak for themselves. Creating a combination of both logotype and symbol is the best of both worlds, economically and with one eye on a future state of recognition. Above all, when it comes to logos the universal rule is to keep things simple. Boiling everything down to a simple color scheme, font set, and symbol makes communicating who you are all the easier (it also helps with scalability and being able to move the brand into other markets). One final thought: if you have created a logo that is simple, scalable and applicable to a global audience, you should also be mindful of how it works in all facets, at its smallest and colorless. A true test of a great logo is something that leaves an impact, even if in black and white.

It’s safe to say that 2020 was a year like no other and that 2021 will certainly not revert back to the old normal. So, as marketers think about building brands during this year and beyond, what should we take away from the pandemic? What can we do to help companies grow faster? And how is marketing being redefined in the age of Covid-19? Asking and answering these questions is critical to marketing success in the months and years ahead. Over last several months I’ve been comparing what I’ve learned from two decades working in media and marketing with what we’ve all learned during this single year of epic change. In particular, I’ve identified 10 ways in which the pandemic challenged critical truths about marketing and gave us a new set of rules moving forward. 1. OLD TRUTH: MARKETING BEGINS WITH KNOWING YOUR CUSTOMER. NEW TRUTH: MARKETING BEGINS WITH KNOWING YOUR CUSTOMER SEGMENT. The Covid-19 crisis has reinforced what we already know: that brands must communicate in very local and precise terms, targeting specific consumers based on their circumstances and what is most relevant to them. That means truly understanding the situation on the ground, country by country, state by state, zip code by zip code. For some businesses, such as banks, restaurants, or retailers, it may even mean tailoring communications store by store. Beyond geography, we have learned marketing messages need to be personally relevant, aligned to an individual’s situation and values, as opposed to demographics, such as age and gender. Creating a personal, human connection within any commercial message requires defining consumer segments that describe people according to multiple dimensions that influence their purchasing behavior — from their psychographics to attitudinal characteristics. The EY Future Consumer Index, which has conducted five waves of research with 14,500 individuals in 20 countries since the start of the pandemic, has identified five different cohorts of consumers: Affordability first (32% of consumers): Living within their means and budget, focusing less on brands and more on product functionality. Health first (25%): Protecting their health and that of their family, choosing products they trust to be safe and minimizing risks in the way that they shop. Planet first (16%): Trying to minimize their impact on environment and buying brands that reflect their beliefs. Society first (15%): Working together for the greater good, buying from organizations they find to be honest and transparent. Experience first (12%): Living in the moment to make the most of life, often making them open to new products, brands, and experiences. Utilizing customer segmentation and personas can bring deeper insights to media strategies and creative marketing approaches. Better still, these insights can be carried through to inform the full customer journey. 2. OLD TRUTH: YOU ARE COMPETING WITH YOUR COMPETITORS. NEW TRUTH: YOU ARE COMPETING WITH THE LAST BEST EXPERIENCE YOUR CUSTOMER HAD. Consumer expectations were already on the rise before Covid-19. Gen Z grew up with technology seamlessly integrated into their lives. Direct-to-consumer companies (like Glossier or Parachute) were already conditioning us to expect a level of hyper-personalization since they were particularly adept with our personal data. But when the coronavirus hit, digital transformation accelerated overnight. This, in turn, sent consumer expectations skyrocketing in terms of what companies could do for them with a more digital experience. The customer expects so much more than just a seamless digital transaction, as Carla Hassan, chief marketing officer of Citi, explained to me earlier this summer. Now that companies have their personal data, they want anticipatory, personalized experiences across the entire customer journey. Companies should follow three strategies to ensure their experiences deliver their customers’ rising expectations: Make brand scores a key KPI for the full customer-facing organization, ideally using real-time analytics as opposed to a snapshot looking backwards from a point in time. Build the right data and technology foundation to support important use cases throughout the customer journey. Align individual and collective goals across the customer journey so any disconnects between functional silos like marketing, sales, and customer service are invisible to your end consumer. 3. OLD TRUTH: CUSTOMERS HOPE YOU HAVE WHAT THEY WANT. NEW TRUTH: CUSTOMERS EXPECT YOU TO HAVE EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT. If the bar just keeps rising, we must aspire to new values around customer experiences — in both a B2C and B2B context. Consumers today expect that any experience will be frictionless, anticipatory, relevant, and connected. In other words, they are concerned only with getting what they want, when they want it. And they insist nothing gets in their way. Creating these experiences requires companies to place data and technology at the core of their organization. This likely means building some degree of machine learning and/or artificial intelligence into the mix. Why? Because data enables us to create more relevant experiences across one or more dimensions of the four Cs: Content (that can be provided in experiences like emails or mobile apps); Commerce (such as physical retail, e-commerce, or a hybrid experience); Community (such as convening B2B buyers at a virtual trade show or hosting a webinar on home repair for consumers); and Convenience (like offering consumers coupons or benefits from a loyalty program). Today, most of the 4Cs are delivered in “one-size-fits-all” approaches, but as consumers increasingly demand greater personalization, companies will need to use more data and intelligence to sharpen their decision-making and drive greater relevance in their customer interactions to build stronger human connections to their brands. 4. OLD TRUTH: COURTING CUSTOMERS IS JUST LIKE DATING. NEW TRUTH: COURTING CUSTOMERS IS JUST LIKE ONLINE DATING. For a long time, marketing was largely about buying mass reach or targeted reach at the best rates in media and hoping to convert it. So, basically, it was like going to as many parties or bars as you could in the hope you would find that special someone. It was a world of spontaneity, serendipity, and frankly, a lot of face-to-face encounters. Enter online dating and swiping through apps. Now, finding your perfect match may be less about chance and more about data and algorithms. In marketing terms, we have seen a shift from brand marketing to build reach to performance marketing to generate leads. The pandemic’s acceleration of digital channels only exacerbated that trend. However, while performance marketing enjoys a strong and important position in the mix, leading CMOs recognize that it is a fine balance of brand and performance marketing that delivers the best results, and they must fight hard against a bias toward that which is most easily quantified. Many are bringing their customer relationship management (CRM) team closer than ever to their media teams to see the full continuum more easily and realize efficiencies. CRM, which is powered principally by first-party data, or customer data that the company owns (with the consumer’s consent, of course), is the driving force for initiatives like coupons, personalization, or email marketing. However, that same first-party data can help generate greater efficiency in media, particularly digital media and other addressable formats allowing companies to target on a one-to-one basis. With third-party data declining in value as key browsers usher in rule changes by January 2022, marketers are getting way better at engineering the online “dates” that they want to go on, learning the new ways they need to harness the power of their own data, and developing new strategies to partner with publishers. Even as the targeting (or dating) strategies shift with the new rules of the game, it will be important for companies to leave space for both brand and performance marketing given that bottom funnel strategies drive top funnel goals and vice versa. Simply put: They work better together. 5. OLD TRUTH: CUSTOMERS MUST SIT AT THE HEART OF YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY. NEW TRUTH: CUSTOMERS MUST SIT AT THE HEART OF YOUR CUSTOMER JOURNEY. The concept of customer-centricity is not news. However, the functional silos that interact with customers are often disconnected because of politics, org charts, technologies, or geography. The question is: How can we conceal these internal disconnects from the customer, who assumes that the whole company knows them holistically? We have all called customer service and spoken to a call center rep or chatbot that was not operating with the same information as a retail location — and vice versa. We must remember that marketing is often just the beginning of a relationship with the customer. For example, in a B2C context, we go through a journey of engaging them, converting them to a sale directly or indirectly, and then hopefully retaining them so they become advocates and potentially open to upsells and cross-sells. Marketing must be viewed in the context of the full end-to-end journey and, where possible, work to connect the dots. It is not realistic to believe that the operating model for all customer-facing functions can or should report to the same place. The notion that reorganization solves all is a common misconception. It is far more important to look thoughtfully at the operating model and consider the processes, technologies, talent, data models, and KPIs to find the right ways to align objectively around the customers’ needs — then drive change accordingly. 6. OLD TRUTH: RELATIONSHIPS MATTER. NEW TRUTH: RELATIONSHIPS ARE EVERYTHING. It goes without saying that it is vital to build relationships with customers founded on trust. Advertising, for example, makes a brand promise, and it then falls to the product, service, and customer experience to deliver on that promise. But Covid-19 has placed a new emphasis on relationships, particularly in B2B sales. Faced with a virtual sales environment, teams with existing relationships have been able to maintain revenue momentum, capitalizing on the strength of their prior bonds. In contrast, prospecting for new customers has required an evolved set of skills focused on selling solutions, not products. In both cases, trust and integrity are fundamental to driving market momentum. For sales and marketing leaders in B2B organizations, this has necessitated a serious recasting of talent to identify people best suited to driving relationships in this new world of online interactions — a world that relies less on charm (and even an expense account) and more on insights and solutions. Trust will be built by and rewarded to those that listen to customer needs and then craft solutions to meet those needs. In a B2C context, trust also plays a tremendous role. It is foundational to the value exchange between a company and a consumer. As companies rely increasingly on personal data that they obtain with consent from consumers, they must not only comply with the regulations on consumer privacy and ensure that data is secure, but they also have the opportunity to consider building even more loyalty and differentiation by designing more transparent interfaces for privacy controls. Consumers can make better choices if they know what they are agreeing to share with companies, and the clarity will foster deeper trust. 7. OLD TRUTH: AGILITY IS A TECHNOLOGY PROCESS. NEW TRUTH: AGILITY IS A MODERN MARKETING APPROACH. We have heard for years that technological development benefits from agile cycles instead of sequential or linear “waterfall” approaches. Covid-19 created an irreversible trend for marketing to embrace a similarly nimble mentality. As the crisis has unfolded, a company could quickly find its message was wrong or its supply chain not in a position to deliver, immediately creating an advertising and/or public relations crisis. Imagine a commercial showing people clustered together not demonstrating social distancing, for example. Suddenly, long-lead time creative processes and annual budget cycles felt anachronistic while all the traditional approval dynamics became constraining. The fortunate outcome of the crisis was to create a mindset of marketing agility that is likely to be permanent. This includes continuous consumer listening and demand sensing, not only for the benefit of marketing but for the full company to capture the zeitgeist of consumer sentiment. Meanwhile, operationally, it also means faster decision cycles and more flexibility across key areas like creative, budgeting, and media. 8. OLD TRUTH: YOUR BRAND SHOULD STAND BEHIND GREAT PRODUCTS. NEW TRUTH: YOUR BRAND SHOULD STAND BEHIND GREAT VALUES. The pandemic truly challenged brand loyalty. The EY Future Consumer Index found that up to 61% of consumers, depending on the category, became willing to consider a white label product, let alone switch name brands. That dynamic coupled with growing consumer awareness and activism precipitated during the social unrest of 2020 should make brands very focused on the values they express. In fact, key themes from EY research show that while quality, convenience, and price still very much matter to consumer choice, factors like sustainability, trust, ethical sourcing, and social responsibility are increasingly important to how consumers select their products and services. Marketing has an opportunity to educate the broader C-suite (and even the board) on the importance of brand values when it comes to differentiating in a post-pandemic marketplace where brand preferences have been upended. 9. OLD TRUTH: YOU NEED THE RIGHT TECH STACK TO DRIVE MODERN MARKETING SUCCESS. NEW TRUTH: YOU NEED THE RIGHT BALANCE OF FACTORS (INCLUDING YOUR TECH STACK) TO DRIVE MODERN MARKETING SUCCESS. As an abundance of advertising and marketing technologies proliferate, it has been easy to focus on the proverbial “tech stack” as an end-all game changer for marketing. However, having a Ferrari that you can only drive 40 miles per hour is not much use. For your technology architecture to drive results, it must therefore be matched with sufficient scale in data to fuel its success, the right use cases to drive results, and the right approach to human enablement. This latter requirement is perhaps the most important. Human enablement involves understanding how data and technologies will be used across the organization, making sure that people have the right skills to employ it effectively and that the right measurement approach is in place to motivate innovation and success. Without technology, data, human enablement and use cases in fine balance, the desired return on investment for marketing technology will not be realized. 10. OLD TRUTH: MARKETING IS IMPORTANT FOR GROWTH. NEW TRUTH: MARKETING IS AT THE CENTER OF THE GROWTH AGENDA FOR THE FULL C-SUITE. Unquestionably, there was a time when marketing was a cost center within companies for which the principal accountability was to maximize return on investment. In tough periods when topline results were compromised, it was often one of the first areas to get cut. However, during the pandemic, marketing has been elevated within the C-suite as a driver of digital transformation, a key leader of the customer journey, and the voice of the consumer — all of which are of paramount importance to other functional leaders. Without understanding the zeitgeist of the marketplace, in good times and bad, the C-suite cannot adjust to the threats and opportunities at hand and successfully navigate the future. Covid-19 has created a leadership culture of immediate collaboration focused on the urgent need for resilience. Marketing now has the opportunity to seize an ongoing central role in that dialogue, thereby driving the organization’s broader growth and innovation agenda. ART AND SCIENCE As marketers, we are charged with a continued blend of art and science. We must achieve the perfect balance of humans and automation to unlock a future of better analytics and deployment of AI at scale. We must use data as the fuel yet respect the craft of storytelling to drive meaningful human connections. We must tread a fine line between brand marketing and performance marketing, recognizing that we currently have a bias toward what we can readily quantify. And we must understand what should be centralized and what should be bespoke, identifying where consistency helps and where it hinders. These new marketing truths embody this blend, highlighting the confluence of strategies, operations, and technologies required to drive growth in a post-Covid-19 world. Embracing them represents the path to pandemic recovery and long-term success. For companies and marketers accustomed to the ways of the past, a period of adjustment is ahead. Yet even at this time of flux, we can find familiarity and confident footing in the simplest and most critical truth of all: We must prioritize the perspective of the customer now, next, and beyond above everything.

“Any company looking to either launch or reimagine their brand will have an excellent partner in LO:LA. Throughout the project, the team was extremely flexible and collaborative, demonstrating their dedication to success. I’m most impressed with their ability to pivot. I’ve worked with multiple creatives and sometimes it’s hard to get through to them that their idea isn’t the best. With LO:LA, they genuinely listened, and there was no ego.”  -Ben Kennedy, Founder BKKB Ventures With 25+ years agency experience, one of the things I have always loved about the creative business is its fluidity between experimentation and unpredictability. It’s this dynamic that absolutely requires an agency to be nimble versus wedded to only one set thought. And it demands an understanding that through collaboration and an open mind, the creative approach can change, grow and evolve, as it should. When it comes to branding and marketing, this flexibility and belief in getting to the RIGHT idea should be the primary objective of everyone involved. And though the process of change, doing or thinking something that is ‘outside the status quo’, may be something that doesn’t come naturally, but once mastered is truly liberating and can be a game-changer! I like to call this the Power of the Pivot. And frankly, it is something more brands should embrace and should look to (and trust) their agencies to deliver upon. To clarify, pivoting should not be misconstrued as being indecisive or weak. Nor does it compromises coming up with ideas and creative that doesn’t resonate. To pivot is the fine art of empathy and really listening to where your customer (or client) is coming from. Most importantly, it is being able to understand their true intent and then coming up with the best way to convey it. Personally speaking, this ability to pivot has really benefited our agency, especially during a pandemic that has affected every industry and business (including ours). Being able to shift, to push ourselves in different and sometimes uncomfortable directions, has helped us to produce brand articulations and campaigns that have been impactful and effective. And though the pivot process can be uncomfortable and challenging, nothing makes us prouder than seeing our work help drive awareness and trial and create a deeper engagement between our client’s brand and their customers. As we now embark on the ‘new normal in business and in life, now is really the time to think about the state of your brand. Is your brand is facing an impasse? Does your current marketing really make sense for today? The state of your brand may require a shift, some new thinking. LO:LA is here to collaborate and demonstrate the power of the pivot!

ZEV, an innovative sustainable energy company for electric vehicles, today announced the Fleet Management Functionality of its Intelligent Cloud Platform in conjunction with the driving debut of its Sprinter Electrification Kit. The Fleet Management Portal will allow ZEV customers to monitor their Electric Vehicle through the ZEV fleet portal or extend their own fleet portal by leveraging ZEV’s API gateway. The Intelligent Cloud Platform is the cornerstone of ZEV’s Software Driven Electric Vehicle. Utilizing Amazon Web Services (AWS) and its Connected Mobility Solution, ZEV was able to rapidly develop and test the Intelligent Cloud Platform, which can monitor and configure hundreds of energy-related data elements to create the best electric vehicle driving experience. In addition, leveraging AWS technologies to simulate driving scenarios and redeploy updated algorithms to the components, ZEV will continuously improve its products over the life of the vehicle. “ZEV looks at the electric vehicle as a holistic system where the traditional electric vehicle components are combined with our advanced energy capture solutions and then integrated with power sensitive components to optimize both the driver experience and the range of our vehicles,” said Jonas K. Nicholson, EVP Software & Cloud Engineering, Zero Electric Vehicles. “At AWS, we work backwards from the needs of our customers to deliver on the challenges facing their industries. Our Connected Mobility Solution is one example of how AWS offers powerful cloud technologies and deep industry expertise to help our customers accelerate their pace of innovation,” said Bill Foy, director of worldwide automotive at Amazon Web Services, Inc. “ZEV can leverage AWS’s proven architectural patterns for cost-effective connected mobility solutions, build with the broadest and deepest portfolio of cloud services, and accelerate their time to market for transformative automotive industry solutions.” About ZEV: Zero Electric Vehicles INC. (“ZEV”) is an Arizona based Software-Defined Electric Vehicle manufacture. ZEV’s proprietary manufacturing process enables rapid development and training of EV system models to meet the demands of new EV customers. ZEV’s extensive technology portfolio in applied power management intelligence and BEV thermal control delivers a highly scalable and configurable EV for commercial and consumer customers. ZEV aspires to the highest standards for ‘next gen’ EVs by delivering high-value trust worthy products to global customers. ZEV – EV For All. www.zeroevcorp.com For More Information:info@zeroevcorp.comPhone: (480) 780-7338 Disclaimer: This news release contains “forward-looking information” (within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws) and “forward-looking statements” (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Such statements or information are identified with words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “plan”, “intend”, “potential”, “estimate”, “propose”, “project”, “outlook”, “foresee” or similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. Such statements include the Company’s expectations with respect to the capability, functionality, performance and cost of the Company’s technology. Such forward-looking information or statements are based on a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions which may cause actual results or other expectations to differ materially from those anticipated and which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, management’s expectations regarding future growth, plans for and completion of projects by the Company’s third-party relationships, availability of capital, and the necessity to incur capital and other expenditures. Actual results could differ materially due to a number of factors, including, without limitation, operational risks in the completion of the Company’s anticipated projects, delays or changes in plans with respect to the development of the Company’s anticipated projects by the Company’s third-party relationships, risks affecting the Company’s ability to execute projects, the ability to attract key personnel, and the inability to raise additional capital. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information or statements are reasonable, prospective investors in the Company’s securities should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because the Company can provide no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward- looking information and statements contained in this news release are as of the date of this news release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise this forward-looking information and statements except as required by law.

We are Thrilled to announce our inclusion on the Spona list of Branding Agencies to watch. LO:LA is one of five agencies named in the Winter Stars Branding category. Congratulations to everyone else on the list.