Freshly Brewed

Supercharge Your E-blasts

2010-02-25T16:52:00.003-06:00

Was your last e-mail campaign a boon or a bust? The industry average for e-mail click- through is around 3%. Some e-blasts do better, some worst. Here are five ways to insure your campaign is firing on all cylinders:

1. Tantalize. The best way to get some attention is to tempt the reader to read further. Without spelling out the whole offer, let the reader know that there is something worthwhile at the end of that click through trial.

2. A clear subject line. The subject line is where you will hook the reader. Make it a good one. Remember, it’s more about being clear than being cute.

3. Sell the sizzle. Lame copy is the quickest way to lose your prospect. Don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle.

4. Added value. People see enough ads in a day. They are not going to go to the effort to open an e-mail that is clearly nothing but another ad. You need to give them something for their trouble. A discount. An insight. Something.

5. Set limits. A limited time offer gets more clicks than an open-ended one.

A strong e-mail campaign with the right offer can get anywhere from 7% to 14% click- through. Why settle for less?

Can your website be saved?

2010-02-18T09:58:00.006-06:00

There are several blind spots in website design. There are several mistakes that are routinely made web architecture. The reasons they are made are many. Honest oversights. Budget limitations. Template-based websites. And so on.

But, thankfully, every one of these blunders can be corrected on the backend of the process. All it takes is a lot of time, money, delays and profuse apologies. Or you can catch them on the front end and look like a hero.

Here are a few mistakes we frequently see:

Lousy navigation
Sometimes the old ways are the best ways. Never let cool and different ease out intuitive and user-friendly in web design. There is a reason that Detroit keeps putting the steering wheel on the left side of the dash each and every year. It just makes life easier.

No search function
The cool thing about the Worldwide Web is that it is like this big, giant archive. So take advantage of that on your site. Make sure a search field is on every single webpage. Don’t have it? No worries. You can add a search function to an existing site without having to write a lot of complex code or needing to learn Jedi mind tricks. Check out Google Custom Search. That quick, that easy.

Bad content organization
Web content should be bite-size and keyword rich. Never plop down a huge block of text onto a page. Use headlines and sub heads to break it up and make it user-friendly. Plus, remember the story of the camel. Commitees are famously lousy organizers. Your site map should make good logical sense. Don’t let it degenerate in to a group think land grab. Most importantly, remember, SEO. Optimize your content for the searchbots. One day, they will become our Overlords.

Poor legibility
Not everybody has the eyesight of a twenty-three-year-old web developer. Pick clean, readability fonts. Provide tons of white space and lots of photos for eye-relief.

Poor interface design
Pages on your website should be consistent without feeling monotonous. But be careful. Too much variation in your pages can start to create navigation confusion and a lack of brand consistency. As a rule, never change color schemes from page to page. Let every page embrace the brand color palette.

PC incompatibility
Web designers typically create their website designs on a Mac. Consequently, their creations often look great on a Mac and like roadkill on a PC. Test drive your font choice, color palette, etc. before you committing to a look.

Big screen bias
These days, the best sites are being designed to work as well on an iPhone® as they do on a Dell® laptop. The reason is obvious. Some folks are starting to surf the web on their mobile devices nearly as often as on their desktop computers. Consequently, you should consider how well your site is going to perform on the small screen as it how it looks on the big ones.

So now you have a heads up. The more of these things you consider on the front end of your site development, the better the result on the backend.

The thing about Bing.

2010-02-09T13:49:00.010-06:00

Bing, Microsoft’s bold foray into the world of search engine marketing, doesn’t exactly have Google on the ropes, but it may have them on the run. Consider this. Microsoft is planning on investing 5-10% of their operating income in search marketing over the next few years. Now, 5-10% may not sound like much, but remember we are talking Microsoft dollars. So we’re talking upwards of $11 billion. Not exactly chump change. Plus, for a Microsoft product, Bing is not half bad. It is colorful, easy to navigate and, well, something kind of different. And different is good in the fast-moving world of the Internet.Which is why, if properly done, Bing could stir up the world of search to the benefit of users and marketers alike. Of course, if you’re Google, you don’t welcome a cash-rich company like Microsoft poking around in your kingdom. So I wouldn’t be writing the obit for Google just yet. They are very likely to up their game, build on their deep loyalty base and leave Bing in the dust. It’s like my granddaddy used to say, you don’t want to wake a sleeping dog with a sharp stick. After all, sleeping dogs have something sharper than a stick. They have teeth.

Hey Apple, it’s time to embrace Social Media

2010-02-05T09:25:00.012-06:00

As innovative of a company Apple is, it is surprising to think they have not embraced Social Media. Heck, even Bill Gates has a Twitter account now (@billgates). After just 2 weeks, Mr. Gates has more than 415,000 followers and the list is growing every day.

It is worth noting that within the past week Apple launched a YouTube channel where Apple has published five high-def videos about the new iPad. This move into Social Media makes sense considering a few years ago Apple’s only competitor was Microsoft. These days they also have to worry about Google, Nokia, Adobe and now the Amazon Kindle.

The more Apple pushes new products, the more competition they are going to have. It took time for the fans of Apple to build a base for their computers. With a little research, anyone can find out that if you bash Apple computers online; there will be fans ready to defend the brand. In iPad’s new waters, though, it is risky to assume the fans of other brands will easily jump ship and join Apple.

In 2010, it has been predicted by many experts that Social Media Marketing will take off. More and more companies are integrating Social Media into their businesses. For Apple, that means this mix of competitors will be, if not already, joining the Social Media race. If Apple does not start as well, they may lose some serious ground.

In the past, Apple has been very non-transparent and very controlling of their messaging. The only way anyone finds out about products is through rumors and at shows they host. Even their videos on YouTube have comments disabled. That is a shame because they could get a feeling for how people are perceiving the new iPad from those comments.

At the same time, the fact that they have created a YouTube account and published these videos shows they are fully aware of the power of Social Media. All five of the YouTube videos have embedding enabled. That means every time a person wants to blog about the new product, they can easily copy the code from YouTube and embed one or all of the videos within their blog. Now their fans are not only standing up for their brand, they are provided with a way to easily spread the word about new products.

So what MAY happen over the next few months? Steve Jobs on Twitter? Employee-published YouTube videos? An official Apple Fan Page? It will be interesting to see how Apple will take on Social Media, or if they will keep on ignoring it. I predict we’re going to be seeing more of Apple on our social networks. Once that happens, I predict bigger gains from Apple and even better products.

The death of the 30-second TV spot

2010-02-03T12:18:00.001-06:00

Shakespeare said that a coward dies a thousand deaths. Well, the 30-second television commercial has died nearly as many. The 30-second spot eased the 60 off the stage in the 1960s. When the 15-second unit came on the scene in the 1980s, people prognosticated that the 30-second spot has not long for this world. With the advent of TiVo, again, forecasters began to write its obituary afresh.

"The ad industry is changing," said Jeff Binder, Senior Director for Connected Home Solutions with Motorola. "The 30-second mass spot is probably 10 years from being extinct."

Joseph Jaffe, in his book Life After the 30-second Spot, argues that brands would be wiser to redirect their advertising dollars into video games and elaborate word-of-mouth schemes.

But the more the TV commercial dies, the more that it seems to be reincarnated in a slightly different form. When we fast forward it on our DVRs, it rears its ugly head at the beginning of our online news stories and Hulu® re-broadcasts. It takes over the home page of our favorite website promoting some new movie, begging us to click it and put it out of its misery. It rings up our mobile devices and pesters us some more. It fills the widescreens of our cinemas and sporting events. The more stakes that advertising prognosticators pound into its heart, the more the 30-second television spot keeps coming back with Dracula-like regularity.

Let’s face it, there will always be a place for the TV spot. It’s not that the Web is killing off TV; it’s that the lines between computers, TVs, iPods and cell phones are blurring. That is why brand managers and CMOs need to be partnering with brand agencies that understand the power of an idea. Great advertising has never been about tactics. It has always been about powerful, integrated ideas. The 30-second spot has never been more than a vehicle for the idea. Just like the billboard, the e-blast, the Twitter alert, you name it. It is the idea that has the power.

So let’s not be too fast to cart the old boy off to the mortuary. Besides, if the world didn’t have TV commercials, when would we ever get a chance to go to the bathroom?

Guerilla Marketing Meets Social Media

2010-01-26T10:05:00.005-06:00

Recently, Coca-Cola® pulled what would have once been known as a “stunt.” These days, it is nothing short of marketing genius: The Happiness Machine. Click over to YouTube to watch the video

The event happened on the campus of St. Johns University in Queens, New York. A Coke machine appeared to be on the fritz in the student union and instead of stealing your money, this machine was defective in your favor. A student would put in their money and an ice-cold Coke would plunk down. Then another unexpected plunk. Followed by another. And another. And another. The bewildered and amused student would then begin passing out Cokes to other passers-by. Giant grins would appear on everybody’s faces. And all of this is captured on film.

But that is not the end of it. This fun, guerilla event is then posted on YouTube and then it goes viral. Somebody tweets me about it. I write a blog on the event. I e-mail the link to a few friends. And pretty soon, just like the generous Coke machine, the marketing message just keeps on flowing and flowing. No stopping it.

Integrating Social Media into your marketing mix is essential these days. But it is not just something you tack on. It is something you strategize and maximize. It is something you get creative about and you leverage. And it doesn’t take a giant brand like Coca-Cola® to do this. Social Media is the great leveler. Every brand has access to it. The question is what are you doing about it? Get your company thinking about ways to turn to Social Media. It could turn Social Media Marketing into a happiness machine of your very own.

The theory of logo evolution

2010-01-21T10:29:00.004-06:00

Being in the branding business, you get a lot of opportunities to launch new brands and revamp others. Probably, the most ticklish of these branding assignments is the brand re-design. This is usually a high-wire tightrope journey between a new marketing director who wants to radically update their brand and a quiet hunch that there may remain truckloads of equity in the brand’s current logo design.

When faced with this power struggle between the hunger for being different and the wisdom of staying the same, it is imperative to not throw the baby out with the bathwater. It is helpful in these situations to look at how some of the big brands have struck this important balance over the past century.

Shell Oil has a name that is so iconic that its earliest logo was the proverbial no-brainer. And as we chart the mark’s evolution we can see in many ways how the brand has moved full circle without ever straying off the path. The one thing that was added in the 1940’s was a distinct color palette from which Shell has wisely not departed.

Pepsi has had a far more checkered odyssey. For the first 50 years, they dabbled in an ornate script that spelled out the entire name. Then in the 1960’s, they shortened their moniker to put the brand on a first-name basis with their customers. Somewhere along the way, the all-red palette was probably determined to be too close to Coca-Cola. Interestingly, the Coca-Cola brand still uses their original script logo in their packaging and marketing. Hasn’t exactly held them back.

Rebranding is tricky business. If the brand is held in high esteem, be careful to hold on to all positive equity. Of course, some brands are in the process of running for the door. Here, a radical makeover is in order. After gunning down a few dozen innocent bystanders, trigger-happy security company Blackwater USA recently decided they needed more than a new logo. They needed a name change. Today, Blackwater operates under a far less controversial name–– Xe Services.

What is Google Real-Time Search? Why is it Important for Brands?

2010-01-13T13:55:00.005-06:00

Google Real-Time search uses the publishing technologies of platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo Answers and blogging to populate Google’s search results.

Does this mean my Facebook status updates and latest Tweets could end up the first page of search results within Google?

The answer is yes. Hot or trending topics seem to trigger this effect automatically. Right now if you tweet about Tiger Woods there is a chance your twitter post could be streamed on the front page of Google’s real-time search results for “Tiger Woods.”

At the same time, we have noticed that only popular or trending topics seem to stream automatically on the first page of Google’s search results. A search for “Agency Creative” did not bring up any streaming tweets or status updates, but when we filtered all results to “latest” we found a blog post of ours that had only been published for 23 minutes.

Why does Google want people to know what I am blogging about?

Google is not the only company interested in the average person’s opinions. CNN has been using iReporters for some time now. CNN’s iReporters are every-day people who write and submit stories to CNN.com. CNN then reads through the stories and features stories they feel are relevant on their Web sit..
Brands also care what the average person’s opinion is when it relates to their industry. There are countless brands that have been using social media to see what consumers are saying about them. Google is making it easier for these brands by aggregating social media search results onto one page.

What does this mean for brands?

People have been having conversations within social media about brands for years. Google has now made these conversations transparent and readily available to any person who uses the right keyword or phrase within Google’s search.
As a brand, it is very important to address consumers who talk about your company within social media. If done right, your brand’s participation in social media will have a positive result when compared to your brand’s silence in social media.
Interested to see what people are saying about your brand? Go to Google's home page right now and do a search. If your brand is not a trending topic on the first page of search resluts, click "show options" and then "latest."
Confused? Watch this video to see it in action.

Above the fold: a rule to be broken

2009-12-29T09:18:00.001-06:00

Since the earliest days of the newspaper industry, the front page of the paper was laid out to get the top stories above the fold. Inside the paper, was a similar situation. Savvy ad execs like Don Draper knew that if a quarter page ad fell in the middle of that crease, readership would plummet. The fold could make you or break you. These days, this line of thinking has carried over into the Internet. There remains an abiding notion that an optimum website design lives above the fold (the depth of your browser window.) But even this is starting to change.

A six-year study has called this “rule” into question. 800 people observed in clinical settings showed that the scroll bar is very much a part of how they peruse a site. Only 3 people in the study failed to scroll deeper than the browser window’s depth. The online “fold,” it would appear, is not some impenetrable barrier. What does that mean for how we design future websites? It means a lot.

Less is more
Interestingly, the study indicates that the less you have above the fold, the more likely someone is to scroll down your page. And consider this, a cluttered home page that tries to squeeze everything into the real estate above the fold may be making your site less inviting. So think outside the box. Spread out. Let your site breathe.

The advent of Smart phones
With the arrival of the iPhone, Web design has radically started to evolve. Because of this phenomenon, sites are beginning to use less Flash and more Java script. Also, fonts are growing bigger, bolder and cleaner. People with smart phones are all about scrolling. No fold exists.

Less clicking. More sticking.
Web architects today are designing sites to require less drilling down and more scrolling down. The fewer clicks that are required to access information, the better.

Balance
All of this, of course, needs to be taken with the proverbial grain of salt. After all, even the old newspaper men printed some of their news stories beneath the fold. They just wanted to make sure the top headlines were visible when the papers got stuffed into the news stands. A website design is no different. No matter how deep the page goes, you want to populate the top of the page with your lead items. Your secondary items can go below the fold. Prioritize.

Visuals are important
As you design deeper Web pages, avoid the temptation to stick all of the visuals up top. Populate the area below the fold with something other than gray matter. The more visuals there are, the more people read the content. It’s a fact.

Take your next site to the next level. Don Draper would be proud of you.

Why Businesses Should Consider Using a Content Management System in 2010

2009-12-21T16:14:00.006-06:00

A Content Management System (CMS) is used for creating and managing the content on a website. A CMS offers people who know little about HTML with a set of tools that makes editing a website as easy as editing a Microsoft Word document.

Agency Creative designed and developed a website for Equest that featured a Content Management System. We will use their site as an example to show you why a CMS website was beneficial for Equest and why it can also be beneficial for your business.

A Content Management System website would allow for you to have less dependence on your developer when it comes to quick edits.

With time, comes change. Websites should not ignore this rule. With a CMS website, businesses have the power to constantly tweak their website’s content to reflect trends that are always changing.

Let’s examine a brief scenario involving the Equest “About Us” page.

Lets say Equest notices numerous comments on their Facebook fan page about one of their newer services. Naturally, Equest decides it would benefit users if they mentioned this service on their "About Us" page. All they’d need to do is

Find the page (under articles for the CMS system)

Add the new content using the built-in WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor.

Click Save

After those four steps, their “About Us” page would be updated.

Here is the system at a closer look.

On the left side of the page is the WYSIWYG editor. Here users can change the content, upload photos, create links and much more. On the right, there are options to change the Meta description and keywords for search engine optimization purposes.

Conclusion

We wanted to give Equest a well-branded site that gave them the ability to make quick edits. The CMS solution was perfect for them. In fact, it is perfect for any business that needs complete control over the speed and implementation of website content editing.

If your industry demands websites with up-to-minute information or you are constantly going to your developer to make edits to your website, a Content Management System is an efficient solution.

If you are interested in learning more about a CMS website for your business, you should contact us at info@agencycreative.com or call us at 972-488-1660. You can also look over two more CMS websites we developed for another client below.

http://www.financialfreedomofamerica.com/

http://www.firstfinancialfreedommortgage.com/

dPi re-energizes its brand

2009-12-10T06:58:00.002-06:00

dPi has just named Agency Creative as agency of record. Based in Dallas, dPi is a leading provider of energy and home phone services to the growing pre-paid market. No contracts, no deposit, no I.D. are required to switch on your electricity or home phone. Just pay up front. It’s that easy. But reaching this “pay as you go” market is no easy task. They are a very diverse and mobile group. Consequently, it’s our job to break through language barriers, culture barriers and connect with the dPi customer. We do everything from TV to social media marketing. And it all has to be done in multiple languages for multiple audiences, not to mention multiple channel partners. Everything has to build the brand, as well as build demand. And, at the end of the day, we do it. We do it well. And we do it at a breakneck speed. After all, this is retail.

Holiday Cyber Shopping

2009-12-08T09:50:00.004-06:00

Black Friday’s results were an encouragement to American retailers. Sales grew a whopping .05%. Okay, strike “whopping.” Still, considering the poor state of the economy, not too shabby. But the real news is what happened online. There, sales were up 11%. That’s a hefty $595 million. Pretty “whopping.”

Rather than queuing up in your long johns in some frosty parking lot waiting for Walmart’s doors to open, the smart customers pointed and clicked through their Christmas lists. They filled up their cyber shopping carts and checked out without standing in a single line. Plus, they did this all in the toasty comfort of their own homes.

Forecasters believe that Black Friday is just the tip of the iceberg. Trends indicate that online shopping begins to go through the roof on the Monday following Thanksgiving weekend. These emerging trends in holiday shopping reveal how consumers are deepening their love affair with the Internet. Now is the time for marketers to put their brand where the customers are lining up: the Web. You don’t have to have an e-commerce site to see results. Look at social media. A recent survey indicates that Facebook, Twitter and customer reviews are some of the most effective tactics for mobilizing consumers to talk up products (Etailing survey of 117 companies, September 2009). Leveraging social media can improve your organic rankings on search engines, populate the Internet with positive product reviews and even raise the click-through rates of your online banner ads.

Today, having a marketing plan that wisely utilizes the Web is essential in both building your brand and building demand. Marketers who embrace this trend will reap the dividends. Those who don’t will be, like that midnight line in the Walmart parking lot, left out in the cold.

Making that sensory emotional connection.

2009-11-23T12:49:00.007-06:00

A couple months ago, on a warm Saturday evening, I was sitting on the patio at Stan’s Blue Note in Dallas with some friends. While I was somewhat paying attention to the conversation, as I was updating my Facebook status, I heard a familiar song come over the bar stereo. “Like a rock, I was strong as I could be…” If you’re like me, and not familiar with the man behind the music (Bob Seger, I looked him up on Google), you might have another way of connecting with this song…through those long-running Chevrolet truck commercials.

One thing a lot of great brands have in common is their ability to connect emotionally with consumers via the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. In the case of my encounter with Mr. Seger, sound is all I needed to remind me that Chevy trucks are built like a rock and can withstand extensive mileage, weather and wear and tear for many years. This is great example of a brand that drove home a strong selling point with a catchy classic that mirrored its most important product attribute.

And when fighting a consumer’s mind for recall and recognition, especially these days with so much traditional and digital clutter, you have to tap into a consumer’s senses and connect with them on a personal level. Whether you do it through an exciting TV spot, a catchy radio tune or a compelling logo that shapes your brand around a their brain, your consumer will remember you.

One of the more common, widely exposed senses is sight. And a good example of brand consistently triggering your eyeballs is McDonalds. You’ll find nothing new here that’ll tell you why McDonalds is number one in the fast food category. And why they’ll most likely stay number one for a while. When you’re driving in your car and you see the Golden Arches in sight, a quarter mile down the road amongst a handful of other fast food joints, odds are your mind will gravitate towards this iconic sign. That’s because you probably don’t need to see the name of the restaurant to know that McDonalds will satisfy your craving for short-term, inexpensive happiness. At least you know what makes me happy.

While the two aforementioned senses ruled consumer advertising for nearly a century and a half, according to world renowned branding guru Martin Lindstrom, author of “Brand Sense – Build Powerful Brands through Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight, and Sound” (2005), the other untapped senses must be tapped in order to make an effective sensory connection.

Starbucks is a great example of a brand that tied smell with its most obvious product: coffee. It wasn’t until 2008 when Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz reinstated the idea of freshly ground coffee beans at Starbucks locations. The thought was to bring back that rich, coffee aroma to trigger that powerful emotion in Starbucks customers. One whiff of this successful smell would leave a mental note in customers’ minds as to where they needed to pick up their next cup of Joe.

At Agency Creative, we really get to know our clients’ brands and help them make that emotional connection with their consumers. We dig deep to understand what makes their brand unique and special, and discover how we can expose their greatest qualities.

Will Google Wave be the final death nail of e-mail?

2009-11-09T09:32:00.011-06:00

Since May of this year, Google Wave has been highly anticipated by the Internet community. It’s Google’s newest project that they are slowly releasing to the public. On September 30th, the beta version of Google Wave was launched and access was given to a select few 100,000 people for testing.

It has been referred to as a game-changer for communication and even the death of e-mail. So how is Google Wave going to back these statements up? With key features that make Google Wave much cleaner, more efficient and just more fun than e-mail. Let’s take a look below.

How is it different from e-mail?

Google Waves are messages between two or more people online. Google claims that the idea of e-mail came more than 40 years ago. So, with the help of the two brothers who invented Google Maps, the Google team sat down and recreated an online messaging tool that is more efficient and also comes with all the bells and whistles of Web 2.0.

Features

1. Real-Time Updates. Updates to Waves will be real-time. Real-time means the days of clicking “send” after you type your message are over. With Google Wave your text will simply appear to all recipients as you type it. So if you and your co-worker have a Wave open at the same time, his or her words appear as they type them. After your co-worker is done typing, there will be no need to click a send button because the message will already be visible to you. (For those of you concerned about your case of chronic impulse typing, real-time updates can be disabled.)

2. Web site and Blog Embedding. Your wave can also function as a dynamic part of your blog or Web site. If you choose, you can embed your Wave onto your blog or Web site so you or all of the people included in the Wave can update your blog or Web site in real-time with ease.

3. Wiki Functionality. You may not know this, but before it became today’s go-to encyclopedia, Wikis were primarily used internally among employees of companies for editing documents. Google Wave is bringing this technology into homes and offices with easy accessibility. Imagine being able to have four co-workers attached to a Wave with the ability to all read a document and make changes as necessary without having to print it out and send it through the office.

Random Fact: Before Facebook went international they used a Wiki-type service to have the social network translated in numerous languages. They put out a request to bilingual users of the English site and asked them to comb through the content and translate it into whatever language they knew other than English. The plan worked and they had their site translated cost-free by users of Facebook.

4. Gadgets within Google Waves. Much like blogs and Web sites today, you will be able to have gadgets functioning within your Wave. One of the gadgets that has been shown off is a translation tool. It works like this: you are talking to someone from Russia and neither one of you are fluent in the other’s native tongue. As you both start the Wave with each other you also enable the translation gadget. As you type to your recipient the gadget takes the message in real-time and translates it for you. This in turn creates a seamless conversation between two people who do not speak the same language.

5. Message rewind. If you are invited to a Wave a week after it was started you will probably have a few questions as far as what chronological order messages were typed. This will not be much of a problem. First off, these messages will probably look something like your Facebook wall today. Someone posts a message, and someone else can leave a comment under that message. If that is not enough for you, you can rewind the message back to the beginning so you can watch what order each addition was added.

How can you get a Google Wave account?

Right now the only way you can get an account is if someone you know has one already and they nominate you to be an early user. If you do not know anyone with an account, then you have to wait for the full release, which is unknown at this time.

Learn more about Google Wave

Short illustration video that briefly describes Google Wave. (2:15)

Google’s short video on Google Wave (7:52)

Google’s long video on Google Wave (1:20:11)

7 Ways to Build Your Brand using Twitter

2009-11-05T14:08:00.005-06:00

Let’s get one thing straight. Twitter is not some trendy, high-tech way for teenage girls to pass notes during biology class. It is a foundational marketing tool that can seriously improve your organic ranking on search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. If your brand isn’t taking advantage of Twitter, be forewarned, you will soon be left behind. Here are the basics of making Twitter work for your business:

1. Choose a strong Username.
Choose a one word Twitter username that is relevant to your company and is easy to remember. Your user name becomes part of your Twitter URL, e.g. http://www.twitter.com/Jackbox. This creates a static URL for future search indexing.

2. Pick a good Account Name.
Your account name is what appears in your profile, next to your icon/image. This can be different than your Twitter username. Jack in the Box uses simply Jack Box for their account name. You will want to choose an account name that promotes your company or brand.

3. Promote it like a wild man.
Once your account is set up, start building your list of followers. A good way to do this is to prominently display your Twitter URL on your Web site and Facebook page. Along with the Twitter icon, have a blurb encouraging users to “follow” your brand on Twitter.

4. 26 characters. One plot.
The first 26 characters of each tweet are important for SEO. They determine what appears in the tweet title tag and hence what shows up as a search result on most search engines.

5. Keywords are key.
Wherever possible, start your tweet with a keyword phrase to theme the message, e.g. Energy Saving tip of the day.

6. Make it easy to re-tweet.
By limiting the number of characters in your tweets to about 120, your followers can easily add RT @YourUserName in front of the tweet and pass it on.

7. Link, link, link.
Whenever possible, insert links in your tweets to direct users to content on your website. Twitter is a significant traffic driver for blogs and websites. To keep the character count down, use a URL shortener like Is.gd or Bit.ly. In some cases, Twitter automatically shortens your URLs using bit.ly.

You can View Agency Creative's Twitter at twitter.com/AgencyCreative

Is Social Media Marketing Right For My Business

Agency Creative helps Tyler Technologies, Inc. unveil integrated branding initiative

2009-10-27T07:30:00.000-05:00

Tyler Technologies came to us with a problem. They are the nation’s leading software provider exclusively serving the public sector, but name and brand awareness for Tyler was low. Tyler had grown through a series of strategic acquisitions, but customers were more familiar with the product names than the name of the parent company. That’s when Agency Creative was called to action. We conducted quantitative research with Tyler’s customers and prospects. We flew around the country and sat down with the key players of Tyler’s various divisions. Then, in a few months time, our partnership resulted in a new mark, full-blown brand architecture and integrated campaign that has help put Tyler out in front, without overshadowing the equity of their acquired entities. The new brand was initially previewed last month in Denver at the 2009 Courts Technology Conference with a 40’x40’ exhibit featuring multiple creative elements developed by Agency Creative. In addition to eye-catching booth graphics, the display featured the company’s new positioning line “Empowering people who serve the public” and a three-minute video developed by the agency. “Agency Creative has provided tremendous counsel, creative strength, insights and patience throughout this process,” said Tyler’s Vice President of Marketing Samantha Crosby. “Their partnership and focus on Tyler as a valued client were essential to the success of our new brand.”

Is Social Media Marketing Right For My Business?

2009-10-08T09:28:00.008-05:00

When radio stations first went on the air, people were introduced to a new media for their entertainment, such as movies, magazines, television and the Internet. It did not take long for companies to realize the potential of what is now called “traditional media marketing” to generate brand exposure. For at least half of the past decade, people have been using social networking sites and reading blogs for entertainment. Recently, companies started realizing the unique potential of advertising in social media. In fact, not too long ago, “social media marketing” became a coined phrase according to Google Trends. In 2009, the phrase’s popularity has already grown 4 times faster than it did all of last year. There is something different about social media marketing though; communicating through social media is extremely cost-efficient and the process involves far fewer steps than other forms of advertising. Both a commercial on television and a blog written by your company have the potential to reach audiences globally at the same time.

At the speed that social media marketing is becoming a social norm for companies, in the near future, it will be common for most companies to be involved in some sort of social media. Today, if a company is operating without an e-mail address or a Web site, they seem out of touch. Soon we can expect the same for companies who choose not to participate in social media.

There are many pros and cons to social media. The following is a list of pros and cons to help your company determine if social media is right for you.

The pros

Social media marketing helps improve the relevancy and organic search engine results of your company’s brand.
Your company can reach target audiences that traditional marketing cannot.
Social media marketing has become one of the simplest ways to humanize your company, while at the same time generating brand loyalty.
Creates customer interaction, making it easier to tailor your products and services to your customers by listening to their needs and concerns.
Offers another way to learn more about your target audience and gain new target audience prospects.
Social media marketing is extremely cost-efficient (even when outsourced to a marketing agency) when compared to traditional media marketing.
Adds transparency to your company, offering consumers an open perspective of your business (very important to Generation Y which is being called the “most transparent generation to date.” You can read more in our Gen Y article).

The Cons

Social Media Marketing demands commitment; once you have an audience, it is up to you to cultivate them and keep them interested.
With the aspect of transparency, anything you publish is open to the public.
Without the ability to repress reader’s comments you are open for potential scrutiny.
ROI is delayed most of the time. Social media is viral, but it still takes time. This is something that should be thought of as a long term marketing effort when deciding if your company should engage in social media.

With all of that being said, simply publishing a Facebook Fan Page and posting a few random tweets about your company isn’t going to get your company the viral exposure for which you’d hope. Before beginning your social media marketing campaign, you need to formulate a plan, choose your target audience, decide what each social network will address and set your goals.

One of your goals should be to spread knowledge about your company and your industry, the kind of knowledge that your followers will feel inclined to spread to their friends.

For examples of social media efforts you can view Agency Creative’s social media links below:

http://www.facebook.com/AgencyCreative
http://www.twitter.com/AgencyCreative

Related Article:
Understand the Gen Y Audience

Targeting Consumers with Content Marketing

2009-10-06T17:50:00.007-05:00

In today’s busy world, Internet-savvy consumers are on the hunt for relevant content at fast speeds. Most consumers begin their online search for your products and services long before they ever know anything about your company. So how do you make your company stand out online? Content. It’s time to become a content marketing expert.

Content marketing is the art of understanding what “content” the consumer wants or needs to know. When you impart that information to the consumer, you instantly become the consumer’s friend. You begin to form a relationship with them. You become a trusted resource that they will, in turn, pass on to their friends and colleagues.

So you understand it is important for your business to have relevant content, now what? It’s time to develop a content marketing plan. First, make a commitment. Understand that great, high-quality content takes time, effort and expertise. Second, think about your target audience and the type of consumer you are seeking. Third, determine the wants and needs of the consumer. And fourth, put your plan into motion by creating a content marketing schedule. Set your plan for at least six months out of when and where content will be generated and posted. You may want to consider hiring a media and marketing strategist to create a strategic content marketing schedule. Sound like a plan?

Creating a content marketing plan can be challenging, but Agency Creative can help you define and create a strategic content marketing plan for your company. Check back in a few weeks for my newest blog on content marketing tips.

Give your Web site a Face-lift

2009-10-02T09:24:00.009-05:00

Sure, any Web site can benefit from a little tinkering. A total makeover might not hurt, right? But many companies could literally use a “face” lift. Recent studies in eye tracking show that people spend more time with Web sites that feature a human face. It is basic human nature. Someone walks into your office, you look them in the eye. You instantly assess their mood and respond accordingly. If the person looks ticked, you get your back up. If they are smiling, you smile back. One way or another, you immediately connect. Well, it turns out, this basic human instinct is something we carry into surfing the Web. In fact, eye-tracking studies indicate that when we look at a Web page we look right away for whatever human face is on the page. The second thing we notice? Whatever the face is turned toward. Humanity in a Web site isn’t just eye candy. It actually makes the site more effective. This is just one more way you can increase Web usability and make your site stickier.

Above is a site and branding campaign we developed for our client Allied Affiliated Funding.

Marketing in the Blink of an Eye

2009-09-29T09:18:00.004-05:00

It’s the two-second rule. In the first few seconds of looking at a billboard, web banner or magazine ad, most consumers have already formed an opinion. Malcolm Gladwell explores this phenomenon in his best-selling book Blink. He calls this the “decisive glance.” Cops do it, art dealers do it and so do you. Today, it seems, marketing is more like speed-dating than going steady. Consumers are moving at a breakneck speed. They are juggling smart phones, steering wheels and piping-hot cappuccinos. Our TV sets have remote controls and DVR. You have to be ready to grab the viewer in exactly an instant. At Agency Creative, we know how to make brands stand out. We make sure that your message is translated into a quick, powerful impression that customers can consume in a quick slurp or a full-throated gobble. It’s what we do. And we would like to do it for you. This second. Contact us at info@agencycreative.com.

Understand the Gen Y Audience

2009-09-22T10:35:00.002-05:00

There is a buzzing “Buzz Word” in the workplace; Gen Y. Companies want to know who they are, what’s so special about them, and how they market to them?

Who is Gen Y?
Generation Y are also known as Millennial or Echo Boomers. Their birthdates range from late 70s to early 90s and there are over 75 million living in the US. Raised by Baby Boomers, they were brought up to believe they can do anything and be anything they want.

Everything about Gen Y has been shaped by opportunity and destruction. Technology has given them the greatest opportunity for advancement, while every year their lives are shaped by a worldly disaster. From the Gulf War, Columbine Shooting, 9-11, Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina to Desert Storm in Afghanistan, Gen Y has been affected. Yet, they are striving to be the most optimistic and creative generation.

What is so special about Gen Y?
Gen Y is the fastest growing segment in the workforce today. They have high expectations not only of themselves, but of their co-workers and boss. They are hard workers, but a generation of multi-taskers, who can be working on a project, talking on the phone, updating their Twitter, Blog and their Facebook all at the same time.

Gen Y lives by a work-life balance, which isn’t just a trend, but their mantra. They aren’t looking for just a JOB, they are looking for JOY. It’s important to them to have joy while on the job. More than half of Gen Y workers prefer a job with volunteer opportunities, according to the Deloitte Survey. A place of work that donates, has a significant cause, or has a volunteer program is more likely to have Gen Y happiness than no Gen Y at all.

How do I market to Gen Y?
The Gen Y community has grown up learning, “Don’t trust advertisers.” Less than half get their information and news from television or radio – both traditional media forms of advertising. Most of the Gen Y community gets their information and news from one another. They text, IM, watch YouTube of each other, Twitter and they Google everything. They speak to each other about their likes and dislikes then blog about it at the end of the day.

There are 6 major rules to consider when marketing to Gen Y.
1. Create a good quality product
2. Provide it at a good value
3. Have fast service
4. Allow them to have an “experience”
5. Make sure it’s hip
6. Most importantly, be authentic

Authenticity is the most important rule when marketing to the Gen Y community. To earn their respect and get them talking to their friends about your product or brand, you have to be authentic. They know real when they see it.

A couple of important things to remember when learning about Gen Y and how to market to them is: listen, hang out, experience their life on their terms and most importantly respect them. They are the most transparent generation to date and Social Networking is the key to successful marketing with Gen Y.

Facebook and Twitter are two of the most popular social networking sites to immediately get connected to the Gen Y audience. Check out Agency Creative’s Facebook and Twitter to begin your connection:

http://www.facebok.com/AgencyCreative
http://twitter.com/AgencyCreative

The Twittering/Facebooking of America

2009-09-02T15:35:00.006-05:00

I'm paid to be clever. That's how I feed my family. So why squander my wit on Twitter? Why give up the groceries for free on Facebook? I do it to stay connected with old friends. So a guy I haven't seen in five years--who now lives in Ohio--can tell me I made him laugh. But the pressure is incredible. Artie Megibben is... what? I can't just say, "I'm ordering a coffee at Starbucks." After all, I'm a Creative Director. I have to say something cute. Right? And so I do. But I don't get a nickel for it--just friends who I make smile.

Of course, there are other reasons some one might send a tweet or update a Facebook wall. It can actually improve the organic rankings of your company's Web site. How awesome is that? I know! You see, we have special knowledge of cool stuff like that at Agency Creative. We are into Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and Web 2.0. We know how to raise your rankings with Google and Yahoo. We know how to sneak hardworking keywords into your Web content and how to streamline your nav menu to make it more intuitive. It's sort of secret Ninja knowledge that we would love to share with you face-to-face. Or Facebook-to-Facebook. Whatever works for you. Now, excuse me while I think of something clever to tweet.

3 Must-Have Tools for Performing Effective Search Engine Optimization

2009-08-28T18:41:00.009-05:00

Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO, is the process of doing everything you can to make sure your Web site ranks well organically on search engines in hopes of efficiently capturing site traffic among qualified online users.

We have taken the three most important tools related to SEO and compiled a short and powerful list for anyone who is interested in SEO.

1. Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide

The Google guide won’t teach you how to trick Google into ranking your Web site first, but it will tell you the do’s and don’ts when it comes to optimizing your site for Google.

Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide (PDF Download)

2. Web Site Grader

This toolbar lets you check page rank, domain age, Meta data, links on social bookmaking sites and many more tools.

Web Site Grader

3. Search Engine Ranking Tool

Mikes-Marketing-Tools.com published this free tool to quickly and easily check the rankings for a key phrase with a domain name across multiple search engines in seconds.

Free Search Engine Rankings Check in Seconds

These tools are a great start for building a Web site that utilizes Search Engine Optimization, but that is only half of the work. The other half of the work is knowing how to properly construct a Web site using relevant keywords, Meta data, content, and link building. When developing content it is important to be strategic if you want your Web site to be search engine friendly.

Tyler Technologies Partners Up With Agency Creative

2009-06-04T10:08:00.002-05:00

We are happy to announce that we have just been named agency of record for Plano-based Tyler Technologies. Tyler Technologies is a publicly traded company that provides software & services to more than 7,000 local government offices throughout all 50 states, the US Virgin Islands, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom.

“Agency Creative clearly demonstrated their experience, strong creative and keen strategic branding insights. They fully understood the daunting scope of our needs and our unique opportunity to grow this brand. Add to that instant sense of chemistry, and we knew we had found true marketing partners,” confided Samantha Crosby, Senior Director of Marketing, Tyler Technologies.

“Agency Creative is thrilled to be part of the Tyler Technologies team,” said Agency Creative President, Mark Wyatt. “We look forward to advancing the power of this already significant brand.”

Agency Creative is a full-service strategic branding agency that specializes in helping companies deal with the challenges and obstacles that are associated with brand transition. If your brand is in transition, call us at 972.488.1660. It’s what we do.

Agency Creative launches new branding campaign for Allied Affiliated Funding

2009-05-20T17:12:00.003-05:00

Allied Affiliated Funding, formerly known as Allied Capital Partners, is a nationwide leader in commercial finance specializing in accounts receivable factoring - also known as invoice factoring. Allied selected us in late 2008 as their agency of record.

"The Agency Creative team has been an absolute delight to work with on the re-branding of our company. Their professionalism, strategic guidance, creativity and keen attention to detail is refreshing. I have been very pleased with the exceptional work and service we have received, and I am glad to have found such a reliable and innovative agency partner," stated Karen Tramel, Director of Marketing.

On April 21, we launched the Allied's new strategic brand positioning and branding campaign. Read the full story and see the creative.

Smart Marketing During Lean Times

2009-02-04T17:33:00.004-06:00

Our current economic environment has many clients pulling back their advertising budgets. So knowing where to place the advertising dollars when times are lean is extremely critical. One of the most effective and least costly marketing tools is search engine marketing (SEM). Of course, it performs better when your web site is optimized with relevant content, keywords, meta data, etc. Our clients typically obtain 35 to 50 percent more leads/success through their SEM program over other individual tactics within their marketing mix. To top it off, it is easy to track and identify the ROI. There are no guarantees in garnering the top organic listing(s), but an online pay-per-click ad campaign will provide first-page exposure while increasing organic listings. Some industries perform much better than others, so I recommend at least a three-month SEM program to see if it can be a top perfomer for your company.

Agency Creative has moved!

2008-12-06T09:09:00.006-06:00

We are finally settling in to our new offices after moving the weekend prior to Thanksgiving week. Our offices are still in Addison, just 1.5 miles North from our old location which was at Addison Road and Arapaho Road. The new office address is 16901 N. Dallas Parkway, Suite 212 located in the Treepoint Plaza. A two-story black glass building that sits just between Addison Road and Dallas Parkway. Our building is a half mile South of Trinity Mills and the Dallas Parkway.

We look forward to showing off our new digs to you.

The Real Thing?

2008-07-03T10:29:00.003-05:00

Is Coke the real thing? Do things go better with Coke? Does Coke add life? A brand can make whatever promise it chooses to––and Coca-Cola has made its share. But sometimes, a brand promise is like this sidewalk mural. It works only when viewed from a certain angle. View it from any other vantage point, and it is flat. Unconvincing. The problem is that many brands want to promise something that looks convincing from only one angle. Their angle. At Agency Creative, we work to protect our clients from these kind of company-centered promises. We let them spit them out and we politely shoot them down. We then work with our clients to craft a brand promise that works from every single angle. Because the best advertising promises are those that dimensionalize the brand. Not the ones that fall flat.

Having fun yet?

2008-07-02T09:45:00.004-05:00

This Volkswagen ad from Germany got us thinking. Wouldn't it be great if life came equipped with a Thrill0meter? A way to track how much fun you are having? Well, at Agency Creative we have just that. We call it the Big Wall. We throw our ideas up on the Big Wall, then ask ourselves what is exciting. What is unexpected. What makes our palms sweat. We cover our bases, then we aim for the fences. We keep swinging until we knock it out of the park. Because if we aren't thrilled, how is your customer going to be thrilled?

Through their eyes

2008-06-26T11:34:00.007-05:00

The National Geographic Channel is running a series of ads that "visualizes" seeing the world through the eyes of others. This is something that Agency Creative prides itself on. The ability to view your brand through the eyes of your various targets. We put ourselves in the shoes of your customer. We peer through the peepers of your internal audience. We look at the brand from the vantage point of your retailers, wholesalers, etc. We get a glimpse of the brand through the eyeballs of all stakeholders and stockholders. We call it "360-degree thinking." You can just call it smart.

When in Roam

2008-06-24T09:13:00.007-05:00

AT&T wireless has recently launched this highly visual campaign to tout their worldwide roaming capabilities. From India to China, from Japan to Tinbucktu, AT&T has got it going on. These ads brilliantly celebrate this news. Having a strong story is one thing, how impactfully you communicate it is something else. At Agency Creative, we look for ways to make you stand apart strategically. But we don't stop there. We look for ways to make you stand out creatively. Ads that promise. Ads that pop. Call us today. You'll be in very good hands.

Something for a Rainy Day

2008-06-20T09:06:00.003-05:00

This German McDonald's kiosk demonstrates how effective out-of-home marketing can be. Too often, agencies design their messages in a vacuum. The result is a message that may hit the mark, but miss the opportunity. This kiosk is not just clever, it is evidence of a coordinated team effort. At Agency Creative we are redoubling our efforts to dig deeper, coordinate better and look for the most powerful ways to maximize our clients' messaging. The benefit? A downpour of impact.

Got a light?

2008-06-16T11:27:00.004-05:00

Does your brand flicker? Or does it light up the world? Does it burn up the place? Does it engage? Or does it simply not offend? This Australian ad for Nicotinell reminds the reader that smoking causes premature aging. It is an ad that grabs your attention, makes you smile, scratch your head and smile again. It engages. It involves. It informs. It probably even rubs some folks the wrong way. But that's okay. Just as long as, at the end of the day, it moves the needle. At Agency Creative, we believe that great advertising isn't about being outrageous. But it is about getting noticed––lighting a fire. So, again, let us ask, "Got a light?"

A Point To Ponder

2008-06-13T16:36:00.015-05:00

We recently received an RFP from a potential client identifying their needs in finding a new agency partner. Within their RFP, they identified that their new agency must be "nimble, efficient, economical". Well. We are certainly nimble and efficient. To be a trusted partner, we have to be quick, responsive and flexible to address our client's needs. But "economical? That's a great question. I first had to stop and try to understand what the client meant by this. Did they mean "cheap". I wouldn't say we are cheap. Or did they simply mean "competitively priced"? I hope they meant the latter. Because cheap doesn't always deliver effective results. It's the time invested in creating a strategic program or campaign that determines the outcome. It's that balance of being nimble but at the same time being experienced and smart in creating effective marketing programs. At the end of the day, it is the results we are judged on. So I would hope our client's feel we charge a fair and competitive price and they keep the relationship because of great results. Oh, and because they like us too.

Get in touch with your Inner Knievel

2008-06-12T09:10:00.005-05:00

Husqvarna Motorcycles has just launched the above campaign: "Jump Higher." The campaign is a lot of fun. It is a left-handed tribute to Evel Knievel, making him look a little like an underachiever. But "Jump Higher" should be more than a headline. It should be the mantra of every CMO, brand manager, AE and agency copywriter. It should be on the tip of their tongue when they wake up. It should haunt them when they sleep. Asking how high is up is what we do at Agency Creative. And when we get the answer, we shoot even higher. How about you? How high are you jumping?

Play to your strength

2008-06-11T09:13:00.003-05:00

Tesa, an international adhesive tape manufacturer, has recently kicked off this fun campaign. A clever visual. A simple headline. All of which is focused on a single, solitary benefit: strength. I am sure that there were plenty of other nice things that the manufacturer could say about their tape. But they didn't. They were fanatically single-minded. Good ads work like an archer's arrow. The sharper the tip, the deeper the arrow can penetrate the target. Helping clients sharpen their message is one of the things we do at Agency Creative. Call us for details.

Outlive the competition

2008-06-10T09:45:00.003-05:00

POMx, a pomegranate health drink, is running these transit ads in the New York subway system. You can't help but laugh. Cutting through the clutter is one way to outlast your competition. For ideas on how to get more bang for your buck, call Mark Wyatt today.

Got potential?

2008-06-09T10:14:00.003-05:00

Open a Guatemalan newspaper, and you are likely to see this ad. The headline translates to "It's in you." It's not so much an ad about Gatorade. It's an ad about you and me. We all have the potential to bench press our own weight, run a marathon or at least let the Stairmaster have its way with us. So, what holds us back? The coziness of our own comfort zones. Too many times the same thing happens to a brand. We see it for what is. Not for what it could be. At Agency Creative we don't just learn about your brand we dig into its DNA and look for traces of untapped greatness. When we find it, we channel into new directions and unleash it on the marketplace. To learn more, click here.

Hitting it out of the park

2008-06-06T09:31:00.004-05:00

XBats ran this eye-catching ad to promote their super-charged maple bats. The visual says it all. The headline "Hit the ball a long, long way" is probably overkill. Hitting it out of the park is what Agency Creative is all about. We aim for the fences. We lean into the ball. And we make contact. Call Mark Wyatt for the pitch.

Whip it good

2008-06-06T09:10:00.003-05:00

Incremental growth. It is what motivates a brand like Cool Whip to develop a new product–– whipped cream in an aerosol can. Ironically, in the mid-Sixties, all whipped cream came in a can. That is, all that you didn't whip up from scratch. Then came this novel non-dairy brand in a white tub called Cool Whip. Now, four decades later, Cool Whip in a can is a new product. Is this brilliant marketing or poor brand stewardship? Will this be a bottom line win or a shot in the foot? Those are the sort of questions we ask at Agency Creative. Because one thing is sure. The brand that isn't always moving forward is usually falling behind.

Feeling Jerky?

2008-06-05T12:23:00.006-05:00

I have a guilty pleasure. It's beef jerky. Our last road trip, I grabbed a Slim Jim and a Diet DP every time I filled up. As much as I love Slim Jims, do I really want to join a Slim Jim-sponsored social networking site? Probably not. That doesn't mean it's not a good idea. Emerging media is constantly creating new avenues on the information super highway. A few of them may turn out to be cul de sacs and dead ends. At Agency Creative, we're constantly keeping our ears to the ground and our noses to the grindstone. We are always monitoring what's emerging in emerging media. To learn what is working and what is tanking, give Mark Wyatt a call. And ask him to show you his Slim Jim avatar.

Mixed messages

2008-06-05T09:11:00.005-05:00

Is your brand sending mixed messages? Are you hoping consumers see your brand as premium quality, while all of your messaging is shouting low, low prices? It is important that your day-t0-day tactics continue to build the brand, not simply move inventory. Building the brand while we build demand is something in which Agency Creative specializes. It even rhymes. How lucky is that?

Cool Brands and Cold Brands

2008-06-04T09:30:00.008-05:00

What makes a brand cool? What turns a brand into a hot commodity? Why is it cool to own a Mac and boring to own a PC? Why are Levis cool and Wranglers frumpy? Why does a well-known brand name like Clinton lose out to a new-kid-on-the-block like Obama? Sometimes it's the message. Sometimes it's the money. Sometimes it's about style, not substance. But most of the time, it's about relevance. Relevant brands have an enduring appeal. Apple has remained relevant by constantly pushing the envelope––taking their assets and looking for new applications. You design the hard drive that works for a laptop. Make it smaller, and it is an iPod. And iPods beget iPhones. Or take Levi's. Little has changed in these durable work pants. But the brand has reinvented itself time and time again to stay cool. From gold rush panhandlers to WWII Rosie the Riveter. From James Dean to Jerry Garcia. From Garth Brooks to Justin Timberlake. So what are you doing to make your brand relevant? Agency Creative has some thoughts. Give us a shout.

Do Clients and Agencies View Advertising Differently?

2008-06-03T09:40:00.010-05:00

Are you and your ad agency two different tribes with competing goals, objectives and visions? Does your ad agency view you as the enemy or their partner? Is developing advertising with your current agency exciting or a beat down? Agency Creative has hone the agency/client process so that we start on the same page and stay on the same page. When that doesn't happen the following top 10 count down can be the kabuki dance you and your agency are doomed to repeat:

10
Agencies show up on time to meetings to show ads even after flying across the country to do so.
Clients are late, in their own building.

9
Account people get 5 phone calls from the client about dinner reservations, airport transportation and ballgame tickets for every 1 pertaining to an ad.

8
The presentation of an ad to a client begins with the agency explaining what the ad they're showing was created to do. This is followed by each person from the client in turn explaining in words no one at the agency has heard before a fully different description of what the job of the ad was meant to be.

7
When an ad is presented, the head client pushes it along the table to the next client without reading it. After it circles the table the last person pushes it into the middle of the table where it sits for the rest of the meeting like a spurned treaty.

6
If a client does look at the ad he holds it at arms length with both hands, grimacing as if it were an enlargement of a membership card in the Communist Party of America with his name on it.

5
If an ad makes its way past 4 layers of approval to a meeting with a client who can say yes or no, that client will begin the meeting by saying, Well, I don’t know anything about this advertising business, but....

4
More time in the meeting is spent discussing the copy than the headline.

This is followed by even more time spent on a monologue by the client asserting no one reads copy.

The bulk of the meeting is spent making certain which version of the logo will be used, for which design the company spent a sum of money greater than the yearly fee paid the agency.

The discussion of where the ad runs, how often, and how many millions of dollars will be spent takes 2 & ½ minutes and is later changed in a 2-minute cellphone call from a bar.

3
The decision to run one ad rather than another is made by 15 people who don't work for the client or the agency but were found wandering about in a shopping mall one afternoon and who, when approached by people with clipboards did not possess even enough sense to walk the other way but instead were persuaded in less than a minute to follow an unknown person down a hallway into a dark room after being promised a bowl of M&M’s and maybe enough money to buy a tank of gas. (This is called a focus group. Bad news--you'll get a chance to see more than one before you're dead)

They will not be aware they are making a decision, will not know which of their remarks made the decision & which not, but their unconsidered & unconnected sayings, pauses, burps & look-abouts will be collected into a voice more powerful than the weight of the agency’s argument or the common sense of anyone involved.

2
The most easily moved item of business in any client’s day, even the ad manager's, is a meeting with the agency. It does not outrank an auto mechanic’s call, a takeout container of Chinese food, a discussion of baby clothes with an office intern, or.....

and the Number 1 tell-tale sign that what clients think of advertising is different from what agencies think--

The person from the agency presenting the ad is paid $300k a year.
The person from the client to whom the ad is being presented makes $55K.

Filter or plastic?

2008-06-03T09:23:00.003-05:00

Brita Water Filters is attempting to cash in on the recent plastic bottle scare.
The premise of their new ad campaign is that you might as well be drinking from your crankcase when you drink bottled water. The campaign's disturbing, eye-catching visuals jerk us out of comfort zones. They make their point. Brita pounced on the news cycle. Agency Creative salutes a brand that can be this nimble.

Fill'er Up?

2008-06-02T17:22:00.009-05:00

With gasoline costs going up, biofuel is sounding pretty good. This Swedish ad reminds us that biofuel is so clean you can drink it. Kids, don't try this at home. Agency Creative wouldn't want it on our conscience.

Welcome to our blog

2008-05-29T10:32:00.004-05:00

This is the very first post of the brand new Agency Creative blog! Stay posted for updates on marketing tips, agency news and other fun and important information about marketing and advertising in general.

And feel free to visit our Web site at www.agencycreative.com to check out our results-oriented work.