Let’s be honest. Most business jargon sounds like it was cooked up in a corporate kitchen where no seasoning ever touches the pot. “Synergy.” “Stakeholders.” “Value-added deliverables.” That’s not gumbo—that’s unbuttered toast. Branding shouldn’t sound like a boardroom PowerPoint presentation. It should sound like people. Real people. People who laugh at commercials, remember catchy lines,...

Running a marketing agency in New Orleans has taught me many things, but one lesson stands above the rest: timing and context matter more than just about anything. In this city, people know when it’s crawfish season, when the Saints are playing, and when the beignets are hot. Miss the timing, and you’re left with...

Here’s the thing about attention spans: they’re not getting any longer. Between endless scrolling, autoplay videos, and a million other things fighting for eyeballs, a brand has about the same amount of time to make an impression as it takes to microwave a cup of coffee. Seven seconds—if that. That’s not a lot of time,...

In advertising, the first few seconds of exposure can determine whether a brand is remembered or forgotten. Research into consumer behavior consistently shows that impressions are formed almost instantly, often in less than seven seconds. For businesses, that means branding must be impactful, recognizable, and easy to recall long after the initial contact. Brett Thomas,...

By Brett Thomas, Owner of Jambalaya Marketing, New Orleans, LA In the marketing world, there’s a brutal little truth nobody wants to say out loud: most people won’t give a message more than three seconds of their time. Three. Not thirty. Not fifteen. Just long enough for someone to blink, sigh, and scroll on. And...

There’s a war going on inside the human brain—and brands are fighting for shelf space. Every time someone scrolls, swipes, or squints at a billboard while dodging potholes on I-10, the subconscious mind is deciding which messages deserve to live rent-free and which ones get evicted without a second thought. If that sounds dramatic, it’s...

Let’s go ahead and say what nobody wants to admit: bland branding is the silent killer of modern business. It doesn’t kick down the door with flashing lights and a siren. It just quietly puts your business to sleep in front of potential customers and then slips out the back door before you realize what...

By Brett Thomas, Owner – Jambalaya Marketing, New Orleans, LA Let’s be honest. Watching a national chain roll into town and scoop up local customers is like watching your ex show up to your favorite bar with someone who looks just like you—but taller, richer, and with a much shinier logo. And yes, they’ve got...

By Brett Thomas, Owner – Jambalaya Marketing, New Orleans, LA Let’s get something straight: if an ad doesn’t grab attention, it’s just noise. Worse, it’s background noise. The kind that people tune out while scrolling, driving, or pretending to listen during a Zoom call. That’s why I created something I call The Jambalaya Formula — a way...

Back in the 1930s, America was going through a financial swamp deeper than anything in the Atchafalaya Basin. Businesses were folding faster than a tourist’s poker hand at Harrah’s, banks were closing, and folks were stuffing cash into mattresses like it was the only investment left. It was bleak. And then there was Coca-Cola. While...

Let’s be honest—most press releases are about as exciting as a wet sandwich. You know the kind: stiff corporate tone, vague declarations, a quote from someone with three job titles, and a few links thrown in like parsley. But if that same press release hits Google’s News tab before your competition even knows what hit...

Small towns have big personalities. Everyone knows who sells the best boudin, who fixes your truck right the first time, and which place to avoid unless you’re in the mood to argue with a cousin you forgot you had. But when it comes to the internet? That’s where things get fuzzy. A lot of small-town...