Touch Screen Comes to Local Coffee Venue
By Susanne Masi The McDonald’s near my home was remodeled – with a new image, WiFi connected touch-screen menu, and double drive-thru lanes. Another step in its efforts to compete with more trendy coffee shops, along with offering frappes, macchiatos, mochas, lattes, an advance-order app—even delivery service. I admit, I actually like McDonald’s coffee, […]
Chicago’s Ever-evolving Skyline: The Future of the Skyscraper in Chicago
Chicago’s ever-evolving skyline – a series A few months ago, we re-published an article written by Dr. Michael Masi, Eric and Kevin Masi’s father, that was originally published in 1975. The article, “The Birth of Architecture in Chicago,” touches on so many parts of Chicago’s architectural history. Since the time the article was published, much […]
Generation Future
There are endless discussions about how business leaders need to connect with Millennials and how that affects the planning, design and programming of real estate. Initially, identifying the Millennial cohort was useful, just as it was once helpful to think of distinctions between Boomers and Gen X (I can’t remember the last time I heard […]
Stone Opens the Window to Art
Marketing calls for creative and inventive thinking, new ways of gaining visibility and interest. But the world tires quickly of gimmicks and cleverness, and hungers for real experience and connection. We see that everywhere in real estate marketing, so we’ve turned our full attention to ways our clients can connect with their communities to create […]
Where Will Marketers Go in 2018?
Each new year brings new ideas, new technology, and new ways of thinking – which all lead to new ways to market. At the beginning of 2017, it was predicted that virtual reality and augmented reality both would start really taking off. But AR soared so much further than VR – mostly thanks to Snapchat, […]
Apple’s Mark on the Mag Mile
Guest post by Sebastiano Masi The new Chicago Apple flagship store on Michigan Avenue and the river is the first of its kind – and it is one of the most ingenious buildings in Chicago. The Mac-shaped building sits right at the historic confluence of Chicago, where Michigan Avenue meets the river. It is on […]
The Birth of Architecture in Chicago
Real estate and architecture have been part of my awareness since as long as I can remember. I recently rediscovered The Birth of Chicago Architecture, an article written by my father in 1975, and am amazed at how much of the detail he rendered still seems present in Chicago’s spirit today. I am sharing it […]
John Hancock Center Website: How to Spell Genius with an X
The thought of working on one of Chicago’s most admired icons is enough to get the whole agency jumping up and down. We got that chance recently when the owners of Chicago’s John Hancock Center – affectionately known as Big John – called on us to build an online presence for the building. The John […]
The Power of Space
As we put the finishing touches on another corporate space branding project (more to come on that!), we’re reflecting on the category as a whole and why these projects are so powerful for companies. Layout, design, and the overall experience of a workspace has an even bigger effect on employee satisfaction and productivity than most […]
25 Lessons in 25 Years: Part 5/5 – Trust
As we move towards the finish line of our 25th year of business, we’re reflecting on just a few more lessons we’ve learned. This time, we’re thinking about trust. It’s a big part of any business, internally and with clients. And trust plays an especially important role in the marketing industry – consumers must first trust […]