Refine and Focus
Share ideas, unlock potential, celebrate and question cultural trends, learn with leaders in busines
As a strategy and social marketing firm, refine+focus believes the secret to success is reverse engineering. We start with defining the results and work backwards to uncover and solve underlying challenges. We frequently host conversations at our office with leaders and entrepreneurs focusing on marketing and strategy. We host social media book clubs and collaborative events to create and share. T
Is your risk taking, reckless or strategic? We all view risks in a different way. Manusha Chereddy, a digital health investor and healthcare entrepreneur, is an expert on pushing past uncertainty to capitalize on a promising opportunity at the right time. Join our Live to hear more about the art of taking calculated risks, and how to make risk taking mostly rewarding.
02/07/2023
Bad outputs stem from poor inputs. If your customer insights are inadequate, it will result in flawed product, branding, marketing, messaging, advertising, business strategy and even business model. To avoid failure, it's crucial to conduct customer research effectively and accurately.
In our last Livecast Purnima Thakre shared 5 common Customer Research mistakes and ways to avoid them - https://www.refineandfocus.com/post/customer-research-do-it-right-please-and-thank-you
Customer Research - Do It Right. Please and Thank You. Bad outputs stem from poor inputs. If your customer insights are inadequate, it will result in flawed product, branding, marketing, messaging, advertising, business strategy and even business model. To avoid failure, it's crucial to conduct customer research effectively and accurately. Here are 5 co...
The right customer research moves the bottom line. Insights from your customer will produce better messaging, new product innovations, and strategies that win. Too many companies make avoidable mistakes. If you know what they are, and how to address them, you'll business will prospect. That's where Customer Insight Strategist Purnima Thakre comes in. In this Live discussion, she'll share the experience working with health and wellness leaders and Fortune 500 tech companies that drive results through customer insights done right.
12/05/2022
Curious about our 2022 wins? See what we're proud of, what we're reading, what's new in our community in our December newsletter. Extra bonus: dancing pictures, fireside chat interviews, and a whole lot of celebration. Read on...
Link in bio! #2022
When was the last time you called any customer service and were helped immediately? It certainly wasn’t in the past 2 years. Why must we hold for hours, and once we finally get a hold of an agent, why does the service almost never meet our expectations? To find out we asked a few business leaders to their “why” behind the current state of customer service. Combining their root cause with our expertise we developed 7 actionable tactics that will help you improve your customer service. Join us to discuss and learn these tactics.
10/18/2022
When was the last time you called any customer service and were helped immediately? It certainly wasn’t in the past 2 years. Why must we hold for hours, and once we finally get a hold of an agent, why does the service almost never meet our expectations?
To find out we asked a few business leaders to their “why” behind the current state of customer service. Combining their root cause with our expertise we developed 7 actionable tactics that will help you improve your customer service.
Join us for a LinkedIn Live session tomorrow at 4:30 pm EST to discuss and learn these tactics-link in the bio.
10/17/2022
Calling all entrepreneurs and startup founders, this is your opportunity to be inspired. Hear from this who’ve been there and done it successfully.
Sushil Bhatia has had an incredible journey as an entrepreneur and innovator. He is a TiE Boston founder and President of JMD Manufacturing. In addition to his business success, Sushil is also an accomplished inventor and life coach. The chat will be moderated by Zach Braiker, Innovative Marketing Strategist and CEO of refine+focus. This promises to be an inspiring event, as Sushil will share his entrepreneurial journey and the lessons he has learned along the way.
Register today and see you there tomorrow!
10/14/2022
Even after almost 3 years of our "new normal", customer service is still exasperating.
Customers expect instant resolution and customer service puts them on hold for hours. The gap between customer expectation and service is only widening with time. We asked business leaders about the "why" behind this widening gap. Here are the 10 reasons why they think customer service sucks.
You have been there holding the phone for hours, what do you think went wrong?
10 Reasons Why Customer Service Sucks Contributors - Purnima Thakre, Jiwoo Suh When was the last time you called any customer service and were helped immediately? It certainly wasn’t in the past 2 years. Why has customer service declined in the past 2 years? Why must we hold for hours, and once we finally get a hold of an agent, why d...
09/22/2022
Asking right (and interesting) questions and having great conversations are art and science. Some people just know how to do it right. Our 3 friends and 3 of the most brilliant aviation and innovation strategists Ravi H. Singh, Chris Fernando and Basil Yap are a few of those people.
They made it so easy for us to share our thoughts and experiences on innovation, community, curiosity, learning and everything in-between and beyond in this latest episode of No U-Turn Podcast.
Listen in to enjoy and understand why we love what we do and how we do it. And also to know what to watch next on TV when you can't seem to find anything to watch. Yes! They covered it all. :)
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-31-a-passion-for-community-and-innovation/id1536994324?i=1000579220635
Let's make a resolution to be creative in 2022. Let's take baby steps into unleashing your creativity and improve your ability to innovate. Everyone has a creative potential, let's find yours.
Join Purnima Thakre as she guides you and our team in exercises and conversations in creative thinking. This is one of the most desirable skills, and in the conversation, you'll have the opportunity to practice and share with our team. You don't need to be creative to join us -- just be willing to try!
How does a group of people with similar interests become a community? Typically, it takes more than just chance and circumstance. It requires the focus, care and attention of community leaders, facilitators, and active members willing to collaborate to bring their vision to life. We manage many communities, and we'll share what's worked with our team, our causes, and our interests. Ask questions and join us!
05/12/2021
Why are you waiting for lightning to strike when you could be harnessing the power of lightning itself? Bill Bernbach said, “It may well be that creativity is the last unfair advantage we're legally allowed to take over our competitors.” Knowing your creative type can help your teams collaborate and reap the benefits for innovative ideas and better decision making. Take the quiz to learn your creative qualities and your best collaborator, tell us what you get: https://mycreativetype.com/
Creative Types by Adobe Create Everyone has a creative “type”—knowing yours helps you maximize your potential. Take our quiz to discover your type!
05/10/2021
Investing resources in the right places is essential for thriving in a pandemic. Product and industry matter, but success has also been seen in unlikely places. A commonality among almost all unlikely success stories? Investing in digital marketing. In a stay at home environment, opportunities to engage customers have shifted to online platforms. But it isn’t just about having a webpage and maintaining a decent social media account, it’s about building online communities for your customers to immerse in your brand. Share an example of a business that thrived during the pandemic and tell us why.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/24/business/small-business-coronvirus.html
These Businesses Thrived as Others Struggled to Survive As the pandemic ravaged small businesses across America, some were surprised — and conflicted — about their success.
05/07/2021
Has the pandemic decreased or increased your creativity? For MrBeast, the idle restaurant kitchens of the pandemic provided a resource to make and package their own burgers for sale.
Innovative models like this show that business can thrive even in this challenging environment if leaders are opportunistic. But as with all innovation during the pandemic, we’re curious: Is this model the Uber of the restaurant business or an idea destined to fade after the pandemic?
https://www.strategyzer.com/blog/business-model-disruption-mrbeast-vs-mcdonalds
Business Model Disruption: MrBeast vs McDonalds Let's analyze the Virtual Dining Concept behind MrBeast’s Burgers, a new business with the potential to disrupt the fast food industry.
05/06/2021
Stop trusting statistics over real people. Real people carry unique insights, answers to the questions your brand is dying to know, and clarifying details on who you’re targeting.
But since we all like a statistic: 67% of brands rely on analytics and only 33% have direct conversations with customers. With all the insight interviews, phone calls, and survey’s give, we’re wondering why brands aren’t more eager to socialize. What do you think?
https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2021/04/nerf-typeset-content-column-five-content-examples/
3 Ways to Know Your Audience: Hire Them, Talk to Them, or Tease Them These social, content, and marketing examples show the joys, toys, and noise that come from knowing your audience – Content Marketing Institute
05/04/2021
If you're not paying attention to customer’s pain points, you won’t be able to satisfy them. Luckily, finding out your customers' pains is easy: get curious and ask them.
Casa Blanca, an upcoming real-estate brand, noticed first-time home buyers find the process daunting, confusing, and stressful. By creating a platform that treats real estate like a matchmaking app, they give young buyers a sense of security and familiarity. Would you swipe right on this new model for real estate?
http://ow.ly/MyTG50EDJUj
How This New Real Estate App Is Standing Out From the Crowd Similar to a dating platform, users can swipe left and right on properties.
There’s regular creative. Then there’s the inspire & educate young children as the Head of School during the pandemic kind of creative.
If you know Stephanie, you know that she is a person who brings joy to the workplace—any anyplace really; she inspires others and reimagines the mundane in ways that help us find the magic in the world. In this conversation, we’ll share stories that will inspire, as well as applications of Design Thinking to real world problems you’ll find useful. Join us!
It's that time of year where summer internships are about to begin. 400+ candidates apply for 6 internship spots at refine+focus. There is something exceptional about the internship program at refine+focus. It's the meaningful career and life building experience we create for our interns.
If you want to provide your interns with meaningful experiences, ones that helps them grow as people and professionals, and learn marketable skills, join us today.
Creating a program like this takes time, and when done right, it's very fulfilling. Join us today for a conversation about what we do to create a meaningful program-we'll share stories and recommendations.
Hearing directly from Gen Z women is critical to understanding what works and why. That's why we've invited members of our current and extended team, Gen Z women with the experience of working on Gen Z marketing. Too often words like authenticity and values are tossed around without providing deeper context. In this conversation, we'll arrive at depth, while sharing real insights and stories for you to learn from. Join us!
Our hobbies shape us in both personal and professional spheres. Let's talk about the value of our hobbies and what they have taught us. We'll share ours. Bring yours. The discussion starts at 3 EST.
03/12/2021
Who wants a delicious piece of art? Taco Bell recently sold digital art to raise money for the its charity, The Taco Bell Foundation. What seems like a a chance to hop on the digital art bandwagon is actually a marketing strategy. Creative expression and company values are reinforced through this platform, and Gen Z ate it up. Read more:
http://ow.ly/Ks4v50DXkg9
Taco Bell Issued NFTs for Digital Taco Art Taco Bell jumped aboard the NFT bandwagon this week, releasing five pieces of “limited” digital art on the blockchain. A quick primer for those unfamiliar with the latest fad sweeping t…
03/10/2021
Gatorade recently thought outside the bottle. Instead of waiting for the unreliable lightning bolt, they asked, "How do we better support athletes?" Their answer is a patch applied during workouts to measure sweat levels. The data from the patch is displayed in an app which then offers further guidance into future workouts and recovery. Data, personalized products, and better serving their target customer is at the core of this innovation. Read more:
http://ow.ly/5FaO50DUQ7G
Gatorade made a smart patch that measures your sweat and hydration Gatorade is getting into the wearable fitness craze. The drink maker is launching the Sweat Patch to help athletes measure their fitness and hydration.
03/08/2021
Communication is the key to innovation. It's catchy and it's true. Taking down the barriers of hierarchy in your teams can lead to authentic connections, healthy debate opportunities, and even doing less work! Read for more information and comment below: What are your tips to inspire innovation in your teams?
http://ow.ly/uapV50DSvAE
4 ways leaders can promote innovation among team members, according to Clorox's chief people officer Here's how Kirsten Marriner keeps her company moving forward while managing high demand for its products during the crisis.
03/04/2021
Did you miss last week's Lunchtime Live? Don't worry, you can still get our insights! Hear from Zach Braiker and Purnima Thakre of refine+focus on best practices for reaching women with marketing that resonates. From 16+ years of experience, they share their insights and what works for them—watch the recording now: http://ow.ly/5xhv50DQoOG
Marketing to Women We all know the marketing to women isn't about "pink it and shrink it." Yet many of us, especially marketers, are scrambling to understand the best ways to g...
03/02/2021
Women hold an immense amount of buying power, driving an estimated 70-80% of all consumer purchasing decisions. Yet research shows that 91% of women believe advertisers don’t understand them.
At refine+focus, we’ve worked with both large and small brands to help them succeed at marketing to women. The catch? It’s not just about marketing to women—it’s about marketing to a specific customer segment that you’re trying to target. Our experience has taught us that it all boils down to listening and learning.
Check out our latest blogpost to learn tangible ways to market to women—read more: http://ow.ly/IHDG50DNVRk
Marketing to Women – refine+focus Women hold an immense amount of buying power, driving an estimated 70-80% of all consumer purchasing decisions. Yet research shows that 91% of women believe advertisers don’t understand them.
02/25/2021
This week’s gets meta—join ANA’s webinar to learn how to perfect your next virtual event, from defining your target audience to leveraging post-event engagement data to convert prospects into customers. Don't miss it—register for free here: http://ow.ly/pzxJ50DJLMj
Better Together: ZoomInfo + ON24 - Perfecting the Digital Event Mix Before, During, After: Perfecting the Digital Event Mix for an Integrated Buying Journey
02/23/2021
Emotional intelligence is critical to great leadership. Prioritize your employees' mental health and wellbeing by leading with empathy—discover five ways to do so via Forbes: http://ow.ly/lyLk50DHOmR
5 Ways To Lead With Emotional Intelligence Businesses will need to implement more than just expanded benefits to support workers during this challenging time. The focus on well-being must be accompanied by empathetic leadership.
We all know the marketing to women isn't about "pink it and shrink it." Yet many of us, especially marketers, are scrambling to understand the best ways to gain insight and develop compelling approach to reaching women--approaches that are authentic and effective. Join us in discussion as we share our POV and answer your questions on this important topic. From 16+ years of experience, we'll share what works for us.
02/16/2021
So you've put in the work and gotten a side hustle off the ground. How do you know when to take it full time? Discover key signs that you're ready to make your passion project your day job—read more: http://ow.ly/ZsXa50DBJfi
5 Signs It’s Time To Take Your Side Hustle Full Time Times of crisis are often the best time to go all-in on your passion project.
02/12/2021
“What do dolphins eat?” This was the question that researchers asked kids to search for in a recent study conducted by Google. What they found wasn’t limited to the realm of child psychology—discover how their insights offer lessons into search behavior at large: http://ow.ly/hOlB50DyZOJ
What Do Dolphins Eat? Lessons from How Kids Search — Best of Whiteboard Friday We're bringing back this slightly different-from-the-norm Whiteboard Friday, in which the fantastic Will Critchlow shares lessons from how kids search.
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