the mash

So you’re managing a new acquisition. How do you prepare to create one happy family? In our experience guiding c-suite leaders as they navigate the process, we've noticed there is no one-size-fits-all solution. But there are seven critical questions that make the difference between a graceful implementation or a floundering one. Learn how to answer them with confidence and ensure your newly expanded organization can thrive.

Our team made its annual pilgrimage to IBS/KBIS to see how brands are innovating across product categories. Las Vegas abounded with noteworthy developments. Our leadership team shares their key takeaways from the 2024 tradeshows.

Through 2034, the U.S. government is offering households a tax credit to cover up to 30 percent of the cost of installing rooftop solar and battery storage. It’s called the Residential Clean Energy Credit, and two of our Interrupt team members took advantage of the policy to transform their respective homes’ power sources from gas and electric to solar. Hear their personal insights into the selection and installation process.

Our brains are bogged down in the digital era, where an entire world of by-the-minute information is at our fingertips. Always. How do you get creative in the midst of such mental messiness? Senior art director Dave Behm uncovers some methods for quieting the madness that help him stay creative.

Mean Girls is back in theaters, and for Associate Creative Director Sara Syrek, back on her mind, too. She revisits her aspirations for admittance into the catty popular girl group and what she’s learned since then about ways people can be an addition, a bonus, a benefit—and ways they can totally deplete and subtract. Be an adder, Sara advises. Learn how.

When it comes to trends, hindsight really is 20/20. Looking back on the past year, our Director of Brand Content Jen Molnar sees five movements that brands should either pay attention to or capitalize on for 2024, happening on our screens, in our climate and beyond.

We’ve worked to design a sponsorship for Owens Corning that “Raises the Roof” inside Allegiant Stadium as part of OCR’s support of the SRS Las Vegas Bowl. Take a peek behind the scenes of the larger-than-life project we took on to paint the town Pink.

Taking risks is hard. It’s even harder when you’re comfortable. It’s why companies with the biggest share of the market so often fail to exercise true market leadership. At one time, they must have been consciously seeking to advance the market by aggressively taking advantage of unusual, growth-oriented opportunities. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have become so large. So, what caused them to alter their mindset and actions? Learn more about “the leader’s trap” and how to avoid it.

As marketers, there’s a lot we can do to build a compelling story around a brand or product. But when users can readily and consistently separate your product from the competition, you’ve got something special. Our Director of Brand Content Jen Molnar explains how a Lego sorting session sparked an ah-ha moment on the importance of developing distinctive (and memorable) physical product features.

Shyla Helmintoller had a hunch. But in the web of doctor’s recommendations and referrals (or lack thereof), she had to take getting help for her daughter into her own hands. Our project manager explains how the “get shit done” attitude she brings to her day job helped her navigate advocating for her daughter during her main job: parenthood.

This year’s Interrupt holiday giveback was focused two high-impact organizations serving our community: the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northwest Ohio and Toledo Humane Society. Both depend solely on the support of donations (neither receives tax dollars). If you're looking for a place to donate items or money this year, we think these orgs are worthy of your contributions, too.

The building materials industry is at a unique crossroads: customers want more personalized service than ever before. And AI may lend itself best to the needs of the building materials industry to deliver that. Executive Creative Director and Brand Strategist Anita Holman explores how this game-changing tool could enhance every brand’s ability to develop personalized advice in ways that were never humanly possible before.

Hashtags once felt like a make-or-break element of a social strategy. But with the introduction of SEO search on platforms like Instagram, brand management teams need to rethink their strategy. Your words still count—but how you use them is changing. Learn more about the status of that pound sign (and your caption writing) in this rundown.

Naming a new brand or product is one of the toughest gigs in the world of branding. Here are five tips from our executive creative director and brand strategist, Anita Holman, on things to remember when your company is embarking on a major rebrand or preparing to introduce a new product.

The strength of your “fan following” is also the strength of your brand. And one powerful way to build that loyalty is to allow your customers’ creativity to shine through in your marketing. Associate creative director Erin Kunz explores the brands that shaped her adolescence and how embracing user-generated content helped them build an even stronger identity.