Our Blog

Hastedt Speaks to Retail Dive About Pride 2025

This year, many big brands ditched Pride from an advertising and marketing perspective. And that’s a shame—but what happens when they want to come back? Our co-founder Jeff Hastedt spoke with Daphne Howland at Retail Dive about the impact of the pullback. Read more here https://www.retaildive.com/news/retailers-ditching-pride-hurt-brands-later-target-costco/750866/

Media Team Offsite 2025

The Media Team at Brkthru wrapped their fourth annual department offsite, and their second at our Detroit Training Center. This group of 45 media wizards – leaders, media traders, ad ops and SEM specialists – spent their time together refining their craft, learning about new and emerging tools and participating in presentations with partners from The…

In the News: Mellinger Speaks to Room 1903

It’s not just about being seen — it’s about being seen by the right people, at the right time, with the right message. If you have a digital media partner like us, we can provide historical data and trends to help refine your audience. Brkthru President Jonathan Mellinger shares his social media advertising advice for…

Pride 2025: Different this Year

Marketing and advertising campaigns this Pride Month are different. In many cases, non-existent. Most usual brand sponsors are facing a tough economy and criticism from the current administration over LGBTQ-focused marketing. Our Co-Founder and Managing Director Jeff Hastedt and Rivendell Media CEO Todd Evans spoke to Joanna Gerber at AdExchanger about what’s happening, why, and…

PODCAST: Travel Marketing Summer 2025

The summer travel season is under way, and the months of economic and travel uncertainty have left some ad agency and DMO, attraction and events marketers anxious about what’s to come. Brkthru leaders Liz Brooks and Nolan Gauvreau have extensive experience managing successful travel and tourism campaigns, and took time to share valuable DOs and…

8 More BTU Caps in the Air!

The most-recent graduates of Brkthru U completed our week-long onboarding and training becoming the thirteenth class since launching the program in December 2022. This group of new Brkthru employees chose the name 13TU (a clever mash up of the numbers 1 and 3 to resemble a B). Dave Asch, Kelsey Martinolich, Jackie Lixie, Kyle Jackson,…

Core Values in Action: Caring and Contribution

As we wrap up celebrating the anniversary of Brkthru, we thank the many Brkthru employees who volunteered throughout the month as part of our 31 Days of Service program. This year, 91 Brkthru employees, working with their regional hubs, as teams or individually, dedicated nearly 800 hours of community service for 24 non-profit organizations. This…

Thank You Cbus Hub Volunteers

During the month of May, Brkthru employees celebrate the company’s anniversary by taking part in the 31 Days of Service initiative. As Brkthru hubs across the country get together to volunteer at local organizations and charities, we are reminded of the importance of giving back to our communities. The Brkthru Columbus Hub, Colleen Buzza, Matthew…