Ab’s Labs Blog
Next Generation Employee Experience
Will you ever forget March 2020? I remember vividly my family was going on vacation for Spring Break until the news broke of the Coronavirus. Airports shut down. Hotels closed. Freeways were empty. Offices were quiet. We spent the next several days, weeks, months, and years fearing the unknown and adjusting to our new life at home.
It’s no secret the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Americans were profound. Conversate Labs knows the importance of continuing the conversation when an unprecedented event like this has had such a significant impact on our lives and work.
Top Brand Trends of 2025
Avery, a brand manager for a large company, sat down and reflected on the past year. Her team just completed a 2-year marketing campaign and the business is growing with core customers. But as 2025 begins, she wonders what’s next. She remembered a few troubling data points from their last campaign that weren’t quite hitting the mark with younger consumers. She pulls some data and starts to investigate. Then a meeting pops up on her calendar with her boss asking for more analysis on campaign performance and ideas for the year ahead.
Do you find yourself in Avery’s shoes kicking off 2025 wondering what’s next? With our ear constantly to the ground, Conversate Labs is staying curious and announcing our top branding trends for 2025. Yes, we know AI is here to stay and purpose is passion, but something else is nagging us to push the boundaries of branding like never before. Introducing the Three A’s of Branding:
Supply Chain Storytelling
In a world of AI and modern technology, we are producing more goods faster than ever before, but have we forgotten to bring the customer along with us in our journey? Today’s customers have high expectations. From quality to delivery, people expect an exceptional experience with your brand and want a two-way interaction with your product or service in real-time. As innovations soar and technology investments are made to improve the supply chain, companies today are struggling to tell their story and reach the next generation of customers. Without a clear focus on customer touchpoints that greatly improve the experience, companies are missing opportunities to build trust and long-term loyalty. That’s why we recommend going back to the basics of connecting with your customers in 2025.
The 5 C’s of Great Communications
You have approval to launch a new brand campaign and everyone on your team is so excited. But now you ask, “What should we say?” So many of us get captivated by fancy designs, new ads, and empty promises. But the real work of great marketers and communicators today lies in their ability to connect and care, or what we are advising our clients to focus on the 5 Cs of great communications. What makes someone stop endless scrolling? Why does one ad make you laugh or cry and the other to take a bathroom break? How can we figure out what makes us purchase that product a month later after several online campaigns? I’m going to give you a sneak peek into the art and science of great branding and explore why focusing on the Top 5 Cs will help you create a winning strategy.
Designing Conversations for Insightful Testing
Whether you're stepping behind the glass for the first time or revisiting the experience, the benefits of being in a research venue with your team are extensive. There's a ritual to conducting research in-person, a commitment that transcends observation. If you're a road warrior, you know the feeling. Your body is almost programmed to these moments. When you’re sitting on the airplane with your own thoughts, there's a profound connection between the researcher and the journey of discovery. These moments can lead to unique ideas and directions. When you’re in-person, your attention is dialed in, focused on what's happening on the other side of the glass – fewer distractions, more clarity – something that only being in an environment designed for insights can allow for. Discover how to maximize your in-person research.
Renewing Purpose & Modernizing Cultures
Ever wonder how a company gets started, why a consumer chooses to spend their money or where a store chooses to first open its doors? Figuring out the motivation behind your actions can be a powerful exercise. Purpose isn’t driven by a company, it starts with passionate employees, managers and leaders. Coming together to serve each other, a mission, values, and common goals can’t happen without each other. So how to you reach the next generation when it comes to talking about your core purpose and workplace culture?
Top Brand Trends in 2024
When the leaves fall and winter weather sets in, we are reminded of a new year and new beginning ahead of us. If you are like us, we don’t like to go into something unprepared! We decided to take the time to reflect on all we accomplished and learned in 2023 so we can help our clients go into the new year with the confidence they need to achieve their goals. How can you create a winning brand strategy in 2024? Drum roll, please…
Eisenlauer Named to Turning Point Board
October 13, 2023 - Conversate Labs is pleased to announce its owner, Abbey Eisenlauer, has been elected to the Board of Directors at Turning Point. A non-profit organization providing comprehensive domestic violence services to women, families, and children for more than 40 years, Turning Point has experienced growth in McHenry County and was looking for Board expertise to help tell their story.
Unlocking Brand Value
With a crowded marketplace, younger generations gaining purchasing power, and the rise of direct-to-consumer sales online, many brands are asking the question - Is brand loyalty lost today? The need to understand brand value and beliefs is where marketers can focus to unlock future loyalty. But what makes someone loyal? I have spent the last 20 years helping companies understand the value their brand has with customers and employees before they make a major change. As mergers and acquisitions happen more frequently, entrepreneurs start their businesses, and old brands look to transform for the future, understanding brand value is an important part of your strategy. How will you stand out while strengthening your brand value?
Icing on the Cake: Recognizing Employees Their Way
We have been talking about the growing disconnect between companies and their workers. We decided to ask professionals around the country about their work experiences post-pandemic over the past few years. As we all embrace the new ways of work, some talked about the welcomed change to remote or hybrid work while others were glad to be back in the office. But the conversation quickly turned to what was missing from their career. This wasn’t just a job to them, they were searching for something more. Some talked about the lack of respect or sense of culture, while others want higher pay and flexibility. But there was one thing all workers said was missing from their work experience. But first, let’s start with a story.
Just One Click: Managing Reputation
When we are young we learn, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.” This golden rule has been around for a long time, but has social media changed the rules we live by? In just one click, a reputation can be forever changed. Companies and leaders are scrambling today to understand and manage their reputation with various stakeholder groups, but how can it be done effectively?
Why Human Insights Will Win in 2023
Have you ever taken a survey and quickly answered the last few questions just to get it over with? Or have you been chasing data and updating dashboards with little thought on what to do with it? With so much data and so little time these days, we have prioritized speed over quality and we are often left paralyzed as a result. Our recent conversations with marketing leaders indicate a need for solving some of the toughest questions business leaders have faced in years. But is there really an “easy” button?
When Managers Dare to Care
It is well known the role of the manager has been evolving over the past few years. Managers have always been responsible for achieving goals, fostering teamwork, and managing priorities, but Conversate Labs has found that many managers describe themselves much differently. Taking on more roles during the pandemic like problem solvers, therapists, strategists, and much more, all while leading virtual teams, the role can seem like a daunting task. So we thought we would ask, “What do employees want from their managers in 2023?”
A New Employee Experience
We all have a bit of stress these days when confronted with new social situations. Stemming from the pandemic, most of us are transitioning to more in-person events and find it difficult to speak freely or feel heard by those closest to us. Do our new social fears have any relation to what’s causing American workers to quit their jobs at alarming rates today? Conversate Labs recently spoke with professionals all across the country about their work experiences in the hopes of answering why it seems like the only option is to quit their job.
Wellness at Work
We have been hearing about corporate wellness programs for years, but what has changed? Since the pandemic, workers across the country are reporting record numbers of burnout, stress, worry, and health issues among other things. There is no disputing that companies and workers have never been further apart on what it means to be engaged and fulfilled at work and in life. As we all grapple with the new ways of work, companies are racing to figure out the new employee engagement equation.
Conversate Publishes New Research for CES
Conversate Labs Publishes New Research for Consumer Electronics Show on The Great Resignation.
More Than Just a Game
In the summer of 2020, when we were fully immersed in quarantine life, I got the good news that our Club’s course was opening up again and my friend wanted to make a tee time. We agreed to meet on the course, promising each other a safe distance or whatever we had to do to play the game. Little did I know that the game of golf that day would help me and so many others heal from one of the most difficult times in our life.
Dear Disney, Can You Hear Me Now?
As the saying goes perception is reality. A few weeks ago, Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek made national headlines for not publicly opposing the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill in Florida. As a result, employees walked out of work in a protest demanding a response from the national icon. Increasingly brands and major corporations are expected to be social advocates on a wide variety of issues by their stakeholders – customers, employees, investors, and their communities. Often finding themselves in the hot seat with everything from their reputation to employee morale and profits at stake, what can brands do when politics hit the boardroom?
The Great Resignation or Disconnect?
There has been a lot written about The Great Resignation. We have analyzed, surveyed, and hypothesized at length, but something is still missing. After talking with so many colleagues, leaders, and friends in the business community, it was clear to us at Conversate Labs an in-depth conversation just might be the key to finding out what’s really going on.
We recently hosted two focus groups where we talked to professionals across the country who changed their jobs in the past two years. There is no survey alone that could get to the real answers of why people are leaving their jobs, and therein lies the problem. What we are now calling “The Great Disconnect” is a multi-faceted issue that requires intense understanding and listening with the people impacted the most so we can begin to work together on solutions for retaining talent and improving the work experience.
The “Aha” Moment
New insights through meaningful conversations is what Conversate Labs does best. Read this week's blog to find out how you can have more "aha" moments this year.