COMMUNICATION IS A SKILL THAT CAN BE LEARNED! But it isn’t a skill that’s regularly taught in school. Here are some tips and examples to help your team polish up their presentations, learn how to disagree professionally, and level up what people think of them.
What is it about some websites that just instantly feel right—even if you can't quite put your finger on why?
That’s because many of the visual cues are recognized subconsciously, rather than consciously.
Campaign landing pages are widely considered a best practice for advertising campaigns, and there’s solid reasoning and evidence behind this. Here’s why:
We’re pleased to announce that two recent creative projects have received awards from the 2025 International Hermes Creative Awards Competition.
We know that stories are what move the human heart. This has been true since the dawn of time, and is true for individuals as well as businesses. As humans, we are especially drawn to stories that feel true, authentic, and well-told. And when delivered with the power of music, motion, and imagery via video, a story’s impact is multiplied.
Creative work by CMBell and our clients has garnered five awards from the international Hermes Creative Awards competition. Four platinum and one gold award was given for video productions—including the Walla Walla video released last fall. Winning client work represented Andrae’s Kitchen and Adventist Health.
If you’re in business, it’s likely that more prospective customers will visit your website than your actual storefront. In fact, your online presence is a vital determinant in whether visitors will buy from, support, work for, or donate to your cause.
Creators of great websites understand this and artfully use the tools that can convert your visitor into a customer. You can too.
Your annual report may be your most important communication tool—It offers a snapshot of company performance, shows how you're creating value for your stakeholders, and offers a glimpse into the purpose that drives your organization.
To get the most from your investment, design your annual report as both a marketing tool and a reporting tool that can reach shareholders, employees, and customers.
For most businesses, it’s very likely that customers will interact with your company more online than in-person. It's also the case that nearly everyone searching online for your type of business won't get past the first page of Google results; and once they visit your website, they won't stick around if they can't immediately find what they are looking for.
Are you in the midst of layoffs? Budget-cuts? A merger or acquisition?
If you are downsizing, then you know the anxiety it produces among employees and the way it impacts morale, productivity, and customers. Communication during these times is a powerful tool that can help keep your employees engaged during difficult times. Here are 14 internal communication tips we’ve seen work during difficult times:
There’s no better way to bring your mission and values off your walls and into your halls than by showing your leaders and employees walking the talk.
And there’s no better communication tool than video to build a values-driven culture. Video can capture symbolic moments in which people bring values to life in authentic ways—and spread the role-modeling throughout the organization.
While colors are trending towards bright, vivid hues, the hard-working neutrals—white, gray, black, and brown—have a staying power because of their flexibility. They might not be your favorite color, they don't tend to steal the show, they aren't usually even noticeable, but they are the bedrock of strong design.
In today’s market, video marketing is an essential—and nothing works like a riveting patient story.
But not all patient video stories are created equally. Some feel flat, boring, too promotional or too predictable, while others depict a relatable experience and compel the viewer to feel connected to the organization.
Trust is the currency of leadership. It’s what inspires others to follow, support, and engage in a leader’s vision.
But there is troubling news on this front: this precious asset is in steady decline, with only 37% of the general population saying that CEOs are credible, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer, a global study with 33,000 respondents
This general mindset of distrust filters into the workforce of every organization—even into those with high trust factors. That’s why understanding how to use communication to build trust is such a timely skill to cultivate—and one that almost every leader can improve upon.
The days of a one-size-fits-all channel are gone. As many as five generations with diverse communication appetites make up today’s workforce—making the job of the communicator increasingly complex. Some workers are at desks and access email, while others rarely do. Reaching them all requires using a wide range of channels and multiple deliveries of the same message. Here are the most popular channels being used for internal communication.
Creative work by CMBell and our clients has garnered five awards from the 34th Annual Healthcare Advertising Awards competition.
In this year’s competition, nearly 4,000 entries were judged by a national panel who reviewed creativity, quality, message effectiveness, consumer appeal, graphic design, and overall impact.
Hats off to our creative team and to our clients for earning this recognition!
The interview is the foundation for many kinds of videos—from executive updates to a good story. Setting up a good video interview starts with you, the project manager, before the video crew ever arrives. Here are some tips we share with our clients that can help you get a better video.
A local shelter came to us looking for ways to support their largest fundraising campaign in history—a new facility for women and children looking to transition from homelessness to lives of self-sufficiency. Their story is powerful, but they needed a way to tell it more broadly, and that’s how this video was born.
When it comes to millennials, one of the most important actions employers can take to improve their engagement is to offer routine feedback. According to a recent Gallup report, only 19% of young workers state that they regularly receive feedback, and just 17% acknowledge that the feedback they get is meaningful.
This type of internal communication could involve technologies like Slack or others that connect managers and their teams with real-time feedback.
You can read more about the Gallup survey and how to engage your workforce here. The bottom line: millennials have grown up in a world of continuous feedback, which has deeply shaped their employment expectations. Employers who understand and respond to this will see higher employee engagement among this demographic.
You already believe in the power of story. You’ve seen how it can sell, persuade, compel, inspire—even better than a well-crafted argument. But are your stories helping you build your business?
If not, here are some possible reasons—and tips on what you can do about it:
Communications has never been more important to businesses and organizations, and as we look at trends and needs among our clients, we’re convinced that our new mission statement precisely describes the space we’ll occupy: Creating signature communications that drive purpose and grow business.
As an outgrowth of that, we’ve updated our visual brand, and in this entry, we’ll take you behind the scenes on some of the work that led up to this.
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