Following is a guest post from our friends over at Long & Short of It, masters of ideation, customer insights and market research. They like to say they “dig and find lots of data and then turn it into actionable insights.” Following is their guest post.
We say it all the time: your brand is more than your logo, colors, or tagline. It’s the entire experience someone has with your organization—from the first impression to the unexpected moments when things go sideways.
A recent personal experience reminded us how important those edge moments are.
After noticing a series of fraudulent Uber charges on a credit card, the card issuer (Chase) sprang into action. The fix was fast, proactive, and personal. New card issued. Fraud reversed. Passwords updated. Clear, helpful guidance provided.
Uber? Not so much.
What followed was a frustrating series of scripted chat messages, vague instructions, and unhelpful links. The ease that defines their ride-booking experience vanished the second support was needed. Despite a brand that promises simplicity and seamless service, the follow-through just wasn’t there.
Interestingly, Chase—a brand that sounds buttoned-up and corporate—was the one that delivered a genuinely great customer experience. Uber, with all its cool-factor and sleek promise of effortless mobility, fell short when it mattered most.
So what does this have to do with your brand?
Everything.
Because a brand promise isn’t worth much if it only applies to the easy stuff. It has to show up everywhere—especially in those behind-the-scenes moments. The ones your customer will remember long after the flashy first impression.
It’s a good reminder: your brand doesn’t live in a brand book or strategy deck. It lives in every interaction, especially the unexpected ones.
So how can you make sure your brand shows up consistently?
Here are three simple steps:
1. Audit the fringes. Look beyond the obvious touchpoints. What happens when someone needs support, has a complaint, or engages with back-office processes?
2. Empower your people. The best brand moments come from humans making smart, on-brand decisions. Give your team clear guardrails—and the freedom to make it right.
3. Pressure-test your promise. What happens when things go wrong? Build in ways to deliver your brand values even in the messier moments.
Your brand is built in the quiet moments, not just the shiny ones. Make sure it’s saying what you want it to.
In today’s digital landscape, capturing content is more important than ever. Businesses are trying to tell their stories, engage with customers and showcase products or services in a way that resonates. And the easiest, most immediate tool we have to capture this content is right in our pockets: our smartphones.
While phones have made content creation more accessible, it’s crucial that we don’t overlook the power of each shot we take. Every photo represents your brand and communicates your message. The way we capture content on our phones can make a significant impact on how your business is perceived. Here’s how to approach using a phone to capture content.
Know the Purpose Behind Every Shot
When you’re capturing content for your business, it’s essential to have a clear idea of why you’re taking the photo. Is it to showcase a product? Highlight a behind-the-scenes moment? Or share an event or promotion? Understanding the purpose behind each shot will guide how you frame the image and what elements to focus on.
Consistency in Branding Through Composition
Your business’s content should feel cohesive across all platforms, whether it’s on your website, social media or email marketing. The composition of your photos plays a big role in maintaining that consistency.
Use composition techniques like the rule of thirds to create balanced, visually appealing images. The “rule of thirds” divides the frame into a three-by-three grid, creating intersections that are areas to place your focus.
The rule of thirds is where you mentally divide the frame or screen of your phone into thirds, both vertically and horizontally. This grid overlaying on your screen will help you to place your key subject where the lines intersect. This means that placing your subject into the center of the screen will create a less interesting composition.
Leverage Lighting
The importance of lighting can’t be overstated when it comes to using your phone. Good lighting can elevate a basic product shot into something eye-catching, while poor lighting can make even the best product look unappealing. For businesses, consistent lighting is key to maintaining quality.
If you don’t have enough natural light, then your content may look dark and grainy. Too much light will lead to harsh lighting on your subject. When using natural light, work with the sun and overhead lights to make your content look the best. Consider investing in an affordable lighting kit to ensure products and people are well lit.
By taking a thoughtful, intentional approach to how you capture content, you ensure that every shot speaks to your brand and communicates your message clearly.
So next time you grab your phone to capture a moment for your business, remember to consider the composition, lighting and story behind each shot.
Updated database offers details on over 1,000 schools and nearly 3,500 technical programs, helping companies recruit the next generation of skilled trades professionals.
Sonnhalter, a communications firm marketing to the professional tradesman in the construction, industrial and MRO markets, has updated its free database of vocational education and technical programs across the United States. The list includes over 1,000 schools and nearly 3,500 programs.
Originally launched in 2015, Sonnhalter’s vocational program database offers detailed, easy-to-read information on each program, including addresses, phone numbers, websites and more. The database also features state-specific listings, as well as national programs and resources, and easy-to-sort course titles.
Designed to support companies in their efforts to recruit the next generation of skilled tradesmen, the database is a valuable resource for grassroots campaigns targeting vocational education. The user-friendly, sortable tool can be filtered by program type, location, degree type and other key criteria.
“Sonnhalter understands the challenges faced by the industry, particularly the skills gap and the need to attract young people to the trades after high school,” said Matt Sonnhalter, vision architect at Sonnhalter. “We hope this updated edition of the vocational education database provides companies with an effective tool to connect with and inspire the next generation of trades professionals.”
Established in 1976, Sonnhalter is the leading B2T marketing communications firm to companies that target professional tradesmen in construction, industrial and MRO markets. Sonnhalter is located in the historic Brownell Building in the heart of downtown Cleveland. Sonnhalter’s brand identity highlights its expertise in marketing to the professional tradesmen. Its tagline, “Not Afraid To Get Our Hands Dirty,” promotes the employees’ willingness to roll up their sleeves and dig deep into clients’ businesses, also, it refers to the market it targets: the tradesmen who work with – and dirty – their hands every day. Sonnhalter developed the acronym “B2T,” which stands for “business-to-tradesmen” to capture the essence of its specialty. For more information, visit the company website at Sonnhalter.com.
In today’s day and age, the reputation of your brand is crucial. If someone were to misinterpret your product, or the meaning behind a campaign, a bruised reputation could scorch your brand for years on end. People may forgive, but they do not forget. Therefore, the notion of authenticity is vital. The media has been known to “shout-out” those who do not comply with an authentic personality, thus leading to “de-influencing” certain brands who say they are one thing but turn out to be another.
To combat that, testimonials and video testimonials using real-world customers, who are there to vouch for your product and brand are very effective tactics. If your audience senses some kind of un-authentic vibe, to the guillotine you and your company goes. In this blog, we will examine the ways that testimonials and video testimonials can be a critical tool for the success of your company.
Boosting credibility
The way your customer base perceives your brand is likely the most important factor as they decide whether they want to keep buying your products and services. Credibility is a huge factor in that. If your company does not seem credible, your customer base will plummet. Using video testimonials with real people offers the opportunity to boost your company’s credibility. Seeing people like yourself using and enjoying the same product can enhance your company’s credibility and foster a positive connection with your audience.
Enhancing engagement amongst your audience
Engaging with your customers and encouraging them to share their experiences through testimonials can be beneficial. This interaction not only makes customers feel valued but also strengthens the connection between them and your company. By actively seeking their feedback on social media, you’re likely to boost your brand’s credibility.
Cost-effectiveness
By having the right mindset, simple equipment and great lighting, filming video testimonials can cost you next to nothing. It doesn’t take much to create a great video for your audience, which can then lead to a great outcome for your company. It’s quite a misconception that people need the highest quality of technology to create something great. You can do anything with a little bit of technology and a great idea.
Increases customer retention
By creating a conversation between the company and a customer, with the use of testimonials and video, the customers will be coming back for more. But if the customer were to see someone alike using a product and speaking highly of it, the notion of seeing someone satisfied, who is similar using this specific product, speaks volumes. Thus, the customer retention rate can skyrocket.
From these various points, it’s evident how important testimonials and video testimonials can be for your company. It can boost credibility, enhance engagement amongst your customer base, it’s cost effective and can increase customer retention. From that, why not try it?
Matt Sonnhalter gives his top five takeaways from WWETT 2025! Matt reveals photo opportunities, pipe relining, comics and more. Watch the full video below.
Following is a guest post from our friends over at Long & Short of It, masters of ideation, customer insights and market research. They like to say they “dig and find lots of data and then turn it into actionable insights.” Following is their guest post.
Amazing how this quote from an AI assistant in the 1968 film (2001: A Space Odyssey) is now so relevant to where we are today. As if you needed another article on AI and the impact on marketing, writing, or quite frankly, anything else in your life. Love it or hate it; it’s here, it’s not going away, and it’s up to you to decide what or how to leverage the technology.
Most of our work falls into four categories: advising, thinking, creating, or writing. And writing can be lonely—anyone who does it knows that feeling. AI can help here if you decide to go down the path of not 100% human developed content. It can be used simply as a thought starter, a copy editor, or a way to bounce around an idea to get a different perspective. But there is that slippery slope—at what point is AI doing the writing or thinking for you? That’s probably for each of us to define.
And now for some full disclosure, the above was 100% human written. Curious how AI defines its own role in writing? I asked ChatGPT whether there are defined standards for AI-generated content. Here’s what it had to say:
There isn’t a universally accepted or predefined scale that categorizes writing by its degree of AI involvement—from completely human-generated to entirely AI-produced. Instead, what we see are evolving guidelines and best practices in different industries:
Continuum of Use: Most discussions frame writing on a continuum. On one end, you have writing that is entirely human-produced; on the other, work that is fully generated by AI. In between, many pieces are the result of a collaboration where humans leverage AI tools for idea generation, drafting, or editing.
Industry-Specific Guidelines: Different sectors (such as journalism, academia, and marketing) are beginning to develop their own policies. For example, some academic journals now require authors to disclose any use of AI in their writing process, while media outlets are debating transparency standards for AI-assisted content.
Emerging Standards: With rapid advancements in AI writing tools, there’s growing pressure for standardized disclosure practices. However, no consensus exists yet on a formal “level system” similar to frameworks in other fields (like the SAE levels for autonomous vehicles).
Human here again. AI did a decent job as the information is relevant, organized, and sufficiently to the point. Though it is too academic in tone, and this is not how we write at L&SOI (though, AI can be taught tone).
The lesson from 2001: A Space Odyssey? When you hand over too much control to AI, things don’t always go as planned. So, where is your comfort level? At what point or through what prompt do you believe you crossed the line from it being truly your thinking and writing to something that you let AI run for you?
