Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 10:39AM | by Mary McKeown-Christie Proud participants of Korey Howell's 6th Annual Go Red for Women Photo Campaign in the February of Austin Woman Magazine. Honored to be included with such a great group of go-getters!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 2:19PM | by Mary McKeown-Christie The Austin Chamber will honor eight business leaders as Volunteers of the Year during the 134th Annual Meeting scheduled for Feb. 1 at the Hilton Austin. Volunteers will be recognized for their work on behalf of Chamber initiatives in 2011.
Volunteers will be recognized in the following areas: Joe Cantalupo of Parsons Brinckerhoff for Infrastructure & Regional Development; David Reiter of Luminex Corporation for Government Relations; Tracey Nelson of Maven Marketing Solutions for Marketing & Communications; Mark Curry of Wells Fargo for Education & Talent Development; Ray Wolf of Green Integrated Services for Small Business; Michael Laing of Wells Fargo for Membership Ambassador; John Price of Vast.com for Global Technology Strategies; and Rob Hutton of D.R. Horton, for Economic Development.
http://www.austinchamber.com/the-chamber/publications/focus.php#Annual
Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 3:59PM | by Mary McKeown-Christie Great article in the Harvard Business Review!
We've all been taught that trust and reputation are important elements of branding. Today, though, trust is not simply a nice thing to have, but a critical strategic asset. Therefore, it makes sense to be specific about how and why it adds value. The drivers of brand value have changed over time, and there are three forces at play that have brought the issue of trust to the center stage:
1. If we look at company valuations, an increasing portion of a firm's value resides in intangibles. In The Brand Bubble, John Gerzema and Edward Lebar highlight the fact that in the 1950s, about 30% of firm value was intangible (at the high end); today it is closer to 62% globally.
Let's look at some of the components of intangible value. Gerzema and Lebar offer this construct:
Saturday, December 3, 2011 at 6:48PM | by Mary McKeown-Christie 
MMS is pleased to announce new clients Allensworth & Porter, LLP, Lifeline Power Yoga, Balanced Hormones and Health, and the first annual Holiday HAAM JAM benefit CD and event to the practice!
We’re honored to work with them, and look forward to building their businesses!
Thursday, June 30, 2011 at 8:59AM | by Tracey Nelson 
Yesterday, I took my kids to the bank, so they could open up their own checking accounts. They were presented with a portfolio of options to “personalize” their new debit cards. Each option carried the logo of a sports team, university, consumer company or non-profit organization. The co-branding strategy for each of these brands was clear: putting the logo in front of a consumer every time the card is used and associating their brand with a solid national financial institution, connoting financial stability. In the case of the non-profits, the co-branding could also serve to remind the consumer to share a bit of that wealth they’re spending.
Co-branding, combining two or more brands to form a new product or a strategic alliance, is often avoided by brand management as it’s thought to be too risky and requires that positive market gain – and profits – be shared. It does take some element of control out of your hands, as your brand’s reputation is then aligned with another’s, but I believe that in most cases, the benefits can far outweigh the risks, provided you choose your partner wisely and that the two brands have a natural relationship, readily apparent to the target market. Co-branding can greatly reduce marketing costs and should be considered when your brand strategy calls for:
My kids’ choices? My daughter chose a non-profit and my son chose a university – Hook ‘em Horns!
Tracey Nelson, Principal & Co-Founder,
Maven Marketing Solutions
