If the sight of Christmas decorations next to Halloween candy on store shelves makes you raise an eyebrow, you may want to get used to it – because a trend has arrived that garden retailers can’t afford to ignore.

In recent years, 43% of holiday shoppers planned to start shopping in November. But signs are indicating a major shift this year, and retailers need brace themselves: holiday shoppers are shopping EARLY in 2020, and their preferences have changed.

Read more to learn 3 must-have tips for positioning your brands this holiday season.

As the end of the year approaches, many brands have already begun preparing their social media strategies for the new year. 

Social media continues to evolve and if your brand doesn't follow the trends and changes, your efforts may fall flat. 

Thankfully, there are a few social media trends coming to light that brands should consider as they prepare for the new year. 

Read on to learn about 7 social media trends that can help boost engagement. 

We’ve already talked about the controversial Pepsi ad and the factors that contributed to its failure. To do cause marketing the right way, the campaign must be consistent with the brand and relatable to the target audience. Heineken has recently created a great example of a powerful cause marketing ad.

The international beer distributor created a four minute ad with the tagline “Open Your World.” The video shows strangers with opposing views working together and discussing their contrasting beliefs over a beer. The ad has received widespread praise and definitely works to bring people together, instead of tearing them apart.

Let’s examine these two beverage companies with two political ads — why did Heineken’s ad succeed and Pepsi’s ad fall short?

Continue reading to learn more about Heineken’s Worlds Apart experiment.

Charlie Brown’s pal Linus once told us, “There are three things that I’ve learned never discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin.”

We’re not so sure about the Great Pumpkin, but we know the religion and politics piece no longer rings true. Especially with the anonymity of social media, people are not afraid to publicly voice their opinions on political and social issues.

So, how do brands take a stand?

Well, the answer might be – they shouldn’t.

Pepsi is under attack for launching an ad that tried to tackle social injustice and racial inequality. The company faced such strong backlash against the ad that it was pulled shortly after its release. However, the damage was already done.

No, Pepsi wasn’t trying to be insensitive. But perhaps they were trying too hard to relate to younger generations and the issues they care about the most.

Cause marketing can be beneficial for brands when done correctly. However, it is important to approach the subject with great sensitivity.

Continue reading to learn how your brand can successfully utilize cause marketing.

During the 2015 Super Bowl, Budweiser released #BestBuds, an emotional commercial about a friendship between their beloved Clydesdale horses and a puppy, which probably made you tear up more than the Seahawks fans at the end of the game.

While you will inevitably sob into your chips, dips and beers during the 2016 Super Bowl, you can at least learn some skills about marketing your brand along the way.

If anything, the Super Bowl commercials teach us about how to effectively market your brand, particularly on social media.

Continue reading to learn how Super Bowl commercials can help improve your brand.

For all companies, building and developing a captivating brand persona is key for marketing strategies. Yet, many overlook another big component of success: personal marketing.

Like a corporate brand, creating a personal brand requires a tactical approach. It can be challenging, but those who figure out the skill sets needed to promote themselves, see their careers climb to new heights.

Continue reading for more tips on how to market yourself and nab that dream job.

Snapchat, the popular Millennial photo sharing app, is revolutionizing themselves as a company.

While Snapchat has incredible features, the brand’s philosophy is the real winner.

With a cautious attitude, the company continues to incorporate geofilters, a fun way to share where you are, and advertisements into their app without disrupting the overall experience.

While they’ve broken down walls for users to see what is going on in the world, Snapchat maintains a friendly relationship with companies that advertise on the app.

Continue reading for more information about how Snapchat’s policy teaches businesses how to create better content.

Those who list “multitasking” as a skill on their resumes should consider revising. According to Devora Zack, CEO of Only Connect Consulting, multitasking cuts productivity by 40 percent.

When we work on two projects at once, our brains are actually switching back and forth between each activity non-stop. Our bodies think multitasking is a good thing because each time we start a new task, our brains gets excited.

Science proves; however, that multitasking decreases productivity and exhausts the brain.

Continue reading for more information about how to focus at work.

For this week's Spring Speaker Series, we sat down with CEO and founder of Garden Media Group, Suzi McCoy. Suzi has run Garden Media for 27 years – an accomplishment worth noting.

After working with a range of clients in her early career, Suzi quickly discovered it was happy “ladies and gentleman” of the gardening industry that made every day enjoyable.

Continue to read more about Suzi’s career as an industry pro – from successes to lessons learned.