Madison+Main’s Chief Idea Officer Dave Saunders talks about the importance of a company or product’s name in the branding process. Case in point; no one know what a Slanket is, but the Snuggie sold almost $500 million dollars of product.
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Author Archives : Dave Saunders
Hey Folks,
This week’s Weekly Report comes to you from beautiful downtown Doswell, site of the State Fair of Virginia. Today also marks the 9th Anniversary of Madison+Main. On October 3rd, 2005, my friend and Art Director Scott Clark and I moved our two computers into a closet at the Advantech Business Incubator. Thanks to dozens of friends, colleagues, partners and clients, we have managed to grow to 14 employees. Along the way, we’ve had a lot of fun, but we’ve worked hard. So to reward ourselves, we took the day off, and did what every nine year old wants to do on his or her birthday… we went to the State Fair and ate some deep fried Snickers and almost lost them on “The Zipper”.
Monday, September 29th – The former Miss Molly Quarles, now Mrs. Molly Whitfield, was in the office this week, which made everyone happy. At the MMMMM (Madison+Main Monday Morning Meeting) there was lots of good news to share: Lindsey walked five miles to River City Diner for brunch , Jessica celebrated her Grandma’s 80th birthday in Nags Head, and the Alberta Smith Sharks scored their first touchdown of the season. It’s been a tough season for the Sharks, going 0-4 so far, but I consider it a victory since 13 out of 17 players have never played football before, no one has been seriously injured and only one player quit the team.
…Click here to view the full article.
Read More →Hey Folks,
As I rapidly approach another birthday, I realize that my short term memory is fading. I’ve always had a good memory. In the past, I’ve had the ability to recall names, numbers, and lots of other useless statistics, and above all, I never forget a face. I may forget a name from time to time, but I never forget a face. And this week I was fortunate to see lots of familiar faces…
Monday, September 22nd – On Monday afternoon, after a busy morning, we met with friend and partner Mark Creery, President of Data Directions. We always enjoy working with Mark on projects, because his team does a great job and they are committed to making RVA a better place to live, work, and grow. While he was here, we spoke about several new initiatives at the Greater Richmond Chamber. Mark was also among a select group of area business leaders who met with VCU President Dr. Michael Rao this week at the Westin Hotel. Dr. Rao is leading a series of discussions with business leaders on Richmond’s future. By the way, Dr. Rao is an active Twitter user, @VCUPresident. (But he has get 27,000 more followers to catch me.)
…to read the full article, follow this link.
Read More →Hey Folks,
It was a busy week at the corner of 1st and Cary, and I was able to talk to my three of my favorite people. Madison+Main is hosting our 5th Annual Chili Cook Off on Wednesday, October 15thand our celebrity judges this year are: CBS6 Meteorologist Carrie Rose, Richmond.com Editor Karri Peifer, and 8News Anchor Kerri O’Brien. Be sure to RSVP for our biggest event of the year, when we turn Cary St. into Carrie/Karri/Kerri St. (We still have a few slots left for chili teams, so call Lindsey at 804-521-4141 soon if your company wants to enter the cook off.)
Monday, September 15th: Monday came too quick this week, as I “worked” all weekend. Yes, I attended a beer festival on Saturday and a wine Festival on Sunday and I have no right to complain. The inaugural Chesterfield Craft Beer Festival was somewhat hampered, somewhat by rain, but more than 1,000 crafty beer people made it out to support the Chamber. Did I mention that we rebranded the Chamber earlier this year? I’d love to get your feedback on the new logo and tagline… check it out here.
On Monday we had a very good meeting with our friends over at Commonwealth Autism. On another note, Commonwealth Autism received 86 donations at a whopping $7,280 during this week’s Amazing Raise.
…to read the full article, follow this link.
Hey Folks,
When I watch a football game, the announcer warns about “the end of regulation” and viewers eagerly anticipate to find out who the winners and who the losers are. In business, “regulation” has a whole different meaning. Generally, regulation is designed to protect people from business, but somewhere along the way many in our government forgot that small businesses, like ours…and the ones we represent…are owned by people. Despite the fact that 98% of all business is small business (employing under 100 people), many in our state’s vast bureaucracy forget this.
I spent most of my week trying to salvage a state contract we have. Maybe it’s time that the Commonwealth of Virginia – which touts itself as a top state for business — cut out a couple of stupid regulations that are killing small businesses. #OnMySoapBox
Last weekend I was in sports heaven, watching NASCAR live at RIR and watching Virginia Tech bounce the Buckeyes on TV at the same time. I had a great time hanging out with our new client, Brian Walker from Riverside Turf. My son Jack enjoyed the game too, and it was a much-needed diversion following the Sharks‘ football loss earlier that day. #Heartbreaker
…to read the full article, follow this link.
Read More →Hi folks,
It was a short week at Madison+Main and I appreciate the guys and gals at work who took over last week’s report. My friend Harry Garmon, President of Top of Mind Communications, wrote me to say, “I like this week’s report better than yours,” which is a true testament to the team’s writing abilities and sense of humor. Like the old Stealers Wheel song, at Madison+Main, I’m lucky to have “clowns to the left of me and jokers to the right…”
Holy moly. It’s September… and “…here I am, stuck in the middle with you.”
Monday, September 1st: On Monday I wrapped up a long weekend with my son Jack and we drove “The Beast” due north from Ocracoke and survived a near death experience in Buxton (long story short: a gasoline nozzle burst open while filling the car and doused me with gasoline. Jack saved me by punching the emergency shut off button and the station manager helped hose me off. After a few deep breaths and a quick change of clothes, we were back on the road. However, I had to stop suddenly 20 minutes later in Salvo and jump out of my bathing suit because the chemicals in the gas were burning me #NekkidInAParkingLot). Which reminds me, 20 years ago I was naked in the Black Rock Desert and almost caught on fire… it was 1994 at the Burning Man Festival.
This could have been me.
Despite this, we had a great Labor Day picnic with our dear friends, the Moon family: Rob “Full” Moon, Kathy “Crescent” Moon, Sean Moon”shine”, Meghan Moon”dance”, Griffin Moon”walk”, and Danny “Cutest Boy in the World” Moon. Because I still smelled like 87 octane, no one would let me cook on the grill.
…to read the full article, follow this link.
Read More →Hi everyone,
The Main-iacs have taken over Dave’s Weekly Report again, thanks to the overwhelming response we got after our email last month.
But really — our fearless leader is off enjoying the long weekend with his son, Jack, in Ocracoke, so we’re holding down the fort at 101 E. Cary. When it came to writing the Weekly Report, each of us wanted the chance to share a little piece of our week with you. And so, without further ado…
Monday, August 25th (as told by MarCom Executive Sarah Murphy): If you’re an avid reader of the Weekly Report, you’re probably well aware of the “Madison+Main Monday Morning Meeting.“ In the meeting we share personal and professional success stories from the week prior, run through our collective “to-do” list and name one special Main-iac as the “Above and Beyond” Award Winner. This week’s winner was the lovely Casey Severinghaus, and so the following Haiku is written in her honor:
Above and beyond
Casey C. Severinghaus
is always going.
…to read the full article, follow this link.
MADISON+MAIN’S WEEKLY REPORT – AUGUST 22ND, 2014Edit Entry
Posted on August 22, 2014 by madisonmain
“It’s the end of the world as we know it, (and I feel fine).”
– R.E.M., 1987
Hey folks,
There’s so much bad news in the world today, I guess I feel guilty about telling you all of the good things that happened at Madison+Main this week. But, oh well. What the heck? That’s why you read this email. “It’s the end of the world as we know it, (and I feel fine)” by R.E.M. released 27 years ago and we’ve survived, year after year after year.
An army of evil rises in ancient Syria. The holy land is under assault by terrorists. Wildfires in the Northwest. Mexico City was crippled by 3 feet of hail. Swarms of locusts have descended upon Madagascar, but at Madison+Main we had a good week.
Monday, August 18th: On Monday we operated with a skeleton crew as Jessica, Lindsey, and Molly were M.I.A. since they took PTO for a little R&R. But never fear, Kara Forbis was here, making the three hour commute from Blacksburg. We had a great meeting with Brian and Morgan from Charles City-based Riverside Turf, a new M+M client that is releasing a new brand of athletic turf called Premier. Look for Premier on a golf course or pro football field soon near you.
The Monday meetings were back to back to back, but very productive. After we met with good friend and client Melissa Ball at Ball Office Products, Account Exec Casey Severinghaus and I loaded up on cookies. Why would you buy office supplies from anyone else? Ball Office Products has everything the big guys have at the same or better price…and they give you freshly baked cookies with every order.
Late Monday afternoon I met with Dan and Dave from Tax and Business Solutions, our valued biz consultants. They gave us some good advice and expense saving tips. Apparently this year I have been spending like there’s no tomorrow. 
…to read the full article, follow this link.
Hey folks,
A recent weather news story confirmed what I already discovered halfway through the month of August: this month is cool and comfortable, compared to the hot, sweaty “dog days of summer” we usually suffer through at this time of year. The last time it was this cool was 1989, when Vanilla Ice hit the scene. In fact, it’s so doggone pleasant outside, that no one — not even my friend Rey Lowe – can complain about the weather on Facebook. But the hottest thing on social media these days is the Ice Bucket Challenge, which has raised millions of dollars for ALS. Next Wednesday night, the Madison+Main-iacs and I prepare for a DIFFERENT kind of Ice Bucket Challenge to benefit the Central and Eastern Virginia Chapter of the National MS Society. I’m jumping behind the bar at Morton’s to raise money and awareness for people living with MS (like my Mom). I’ll be dumping ice in cocktail glasses and filling them with booze. To RSVP click here.
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| Madison+Main’s Ice Bucket Challenge… for the MS Society |
Monday, August 11th: Over the weekend we gave our friend Leanne a big send off (a backyard BBQ, Watermelon Festival and a monuments tour of Washington, D.C.) before we dropped her off at Dulles and shipped her back to the Isle of Man.
My daughter Hattie celebrated her “Sweet 16″ birthday by going to see some band called One Direction or Wrong Direction (or something like that) at Nationals Stadium.
“It was the best night of my life,” she said.
…to read the full article, follow this link.
Read More →Hey folks,
It was a fun, yet exhausting week at Madison+Main, as we celebrated the return of football. The Redskins invited Brady’s Boys aka the New England Patriots to RVA, but more importantly, the Alberta Smith Sharks began preseason conditioning. All of this meant, I spent a lot of time on the gridiron this week.
This also means I was smiling a lot, since I’ve had nothing to smile about since February 2nd, when football ended. 2-4-6-8 who do we appreciate? OUR CLIENTS!
Monday, August 4th: On Monday we had very productive Creative Concept sessions for Village Bank and Yard Works, and met with Susan and Suzanne at Virginia ENT in the afternoon. Jessica joined me and introduced herself to the VA ENT team, and we worked on a 4th quarter marketing plan for the good docs at Virginia ENT. The practice is also home to Total Hearing Care, Central Virginia’s leading group of audiologists. My grandpa had a hearing aid. My dad has had five sets of hearing aids (the dog keeps eating them) and someday–soon–I’ll need a hearing aid too. And I can guarantee that I’ll be visiting the Total Hearing Care center at Virginia ENT. Seriously folks I’m not buying my hearing aid at Costco.
… to read the full article, follow this link.
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