Lighting the Way to Better Marketing
I was struck by how bright the check out area appeared while I was checking out at a HyVee grocery store. LED lighting is allowing us to put lights in places never imagined, but I never thought the gum an
d candy section needed more light.
I was wrong. According to the Mars and Wrigley companies, they are rolling out the new display technique in front-end displays and have lifted front-end sales by 10 to 12 percent. The brighter environment makes the candy and gum more appealing and puts a spotlight on the candy.
Light attracts attention, and we need the attention-getting technique because most of our noses are firmly pressed into our cellphones at every moment we are not fully engaged. Bright lights put the spotlight on candy, but they can lead others to look up and take notice. 
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
