Archive for the ‘creative’ Category

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Marketing Before, During and After

Saturday, July 31st, 2010

Since I’m on a major Seth Godin kick these days, I thought I’d share  some thoughts on a blog post he wrote called Upstream and Downstream. It suggests companies and individuals not be confined by the parameters of just what it is they do or make. It discusses all the important things that happen BEFORE the service or product is made, and what happens AFTER – and how getting involved with the upstream and the downstream can drastically improve the results of, well, the little thing you’re doing in the middle…creating your widget.

We’ve been doing a lot more upstream and downstream projects for our clients lately, and frankly we love it. Why? It creates a better outcome for everyone when a creative agency gets a seat at the planning, execution and after-market table. Instead of  just churning out ads for products or services at the time the product is ready for market, we get to provide our client value in the upstream by providing a unique marketing perspective early on – about what tweaks and enhancements they can do to that product or service to help help it sell better BEFORE it goes to market. Our upstream projects include product naming, experiential input (such as interior spaces, event planning, team training), package design, usability, new product formulations, and more.

And downstream is just as exciting. We have been asked to execute strategies to keep consumers engaged with product once it is sold, to cross-sell related merchandise, to create loyalty programs to keep them coming back for more, and to create digital and social communities where consumers can interact with other users.

What are you doing to take advantage of opportunities in the upstream or downstream of your business? Let me know by commenting to this blog, and  you will be entered to win Seth Godin’s new book Linchpin which I will give away when I get back from vacation later in August.

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Posted in Uncategorized, creative, marketing | 1 Comment »

get results: integrate your marketing efforts

Monday, July 12th, 2010

While there are several definitions for what ‘integrated marketing’ means, we’ll use it in this blog post to define when physical activities (television, print, radio, events, etc.) are blended with website and social media offerings. This integration is a powerful way to achieve your marketing goals, whether they are to drive sales, promote brand awareness, increase online traffic, or get a new message out. Traditional offline activities, like their online counterparts, continue to provide a great deal of marketing potential. The two used together create a combined energy that exceeds the sum of the parts.

Consider how Kraft has recently used integrated marketing in their latest product promotions. For their current Wheat Thins campaign, their stated goal was to increase product discussion and the number of followers of their @CrunchIsCalling account on Twitter. It is clear Kraft has concluded that (1) increased online product discussion and (2) increased followership on Twitter will (3) increase brand affinity, (4) establish a perceived consumer connection and ultimately (5) increase sales.

To bolster their followership, Kraft assembled an on-the-ground response team to seek out Twitter users who tweet about the product. They call their responses interventions and have assembled a Wheat Thins “The Crunch Is Calling” YouTube channel where viewers can watch the response team roll in and interact with each Twitter user.

Of the large number of Internet surfers who see the videos and witness the entertaining interventions, many will seek to invoke their own engagement. The content of the videos will certainly appeal to the demographics that use YouTube and Twitter. These users will very likely engage the brand directly online and will almost certainly share what they have seen both online and offline.

At smith&jones we see online as a major tool in the comprehensive toolkit we use to connect companies with their customers. If you are interested in a marketing campaign with integrated activities; if you want ideas that are unique and captivating; if your goals are to increase brand awareness and connect with your consumers, get in touch with smith&jones. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

Posted in Fun, News, Uncategorized, creative, interactive, marketing, technology, water cooler | No Comments »

Lexus’ interactive experience worth the ride

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

lexus-dark-ride-trailer

Lexus spared no expense in this interactive experience for its soon-to-be-launched, the hybrid CT200h. As I tried out this virtual ride that bears my initials, I wondered if that would be enough reason to go out and purchase this sizzling new car when it debuts next February. (You’ll have to stay tuned in the beginning of next year to see if I buy!) The virtual test drive combines film, gaming and lets me choose how I want to guide the driver through a series of adventures. It uses my facebook identity, along with my computer’s camera, my own voice and as much information as I was willing to give Lexus – in other words, the more I was willing to put into the experience, the more I got out of it. At one point, it asked me to tell it a story – if anyone has ever heard one of my stories…you can only imagine. Pretty ridiculous. This Lexus ride is soooo cool, it doesn’t even talk about the fact that it’s fuel efficient – it simply emphasizes the tech and the attitude. Check it out at www.lexusdarkride.com.

Posted in Fun, creative, interactive, marketing, technology, water cooler | No Comments »

“renu”-ed packaging

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

As someone who wears contacts and (of course) loves great design, I was happy to find that Bausch & Lomb redesigned their “ReNu” packaging. I’m a huge fan of their product and I love that this redesign is close enough to the old packaging that I was easily able to spot it on the shelf. And the new design is clean and refreshing, just like the solution!

Screen shot 2010-04-07 at 12.47.33 PMHave you been pleasantly (or unpleasantly) surprised with new packaging lately? If so, please share in the comments!

Posted in Random Thoughts, creative, marketing | No Comments »

happiness machine

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

I’ll keep this short and sweet as I just wanted to share this great video from Coca-Cola that I recently came across. The video description explains, “A Coca-Cola vending machine is transformed into a happiness machine delivering ‘doses’ of happiness. Where will happiness strike next?”

This idea is super clever. And if you watch this video and say you aren’t just a little jealous of the kids at that school – I might think you’re lying. Also, as you may know, Coke’s current tagline is “Open Happiness” and smart brand support like this always makes me smile (pun intended).

My only question is: do you think it’s real or staged? Let me know in the comments.

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Posted in Fun, creative, interactive | 5 Comments »

Changes in culture: the tattoo taboo

Monday, February 15th, 2010

I have noticed recently a bunch of ads featuring people with tattoos. This wouldn’t be worthy of comment if the tattoos were part of the punch line like in the recent Gillette ads. But these are just people, with visible tattoos, in ads. In these instances I can only assume that the advertisers are trying to reach out to a younger, more-accepting audience who are okay with tattoos or have tattoos themselves. (In fact, 40% of Gen-Xers claim to have tattoos, according to a 2007 study by Pew Research.)

While there’s been a long-standing taboo about tattoos in the workplace, it is becoming more and more common to see an executive with an ink-covered arm under a rolled-up sleeve. Stats say that older generations are still less likely to hire someone with visible body art, but as the younger generations climb the ladders of business, this might begin to change.

This woman has been depicted in two McDonald’s print ads that I have seen in a few magazines (tattoo on her inner arm):

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and I came across a State Farm ad showing a man with a visible arm tattoo, but i didn’t manage to cut it out and save it for this post!

I’m not sure if this rates on the same scale as Katharine Hepburn wearing pants on the silver screen, but I think all movements of culture are worthy of note. Anybody else seen any tattoos in recent ads that are not the point of the ad? I am keeping my eyes peeled for them now that I have seen a few!

Posted in creative, marketing, water cooler | 2 Comments »

Getting creative about creative thinking.

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

This is the final fifth and sixth combined blogs reporting on the exciting findings we learned about at the Edge Conference sponsored by the Ad Club of Boston on November 16th. During the event, some of the most creative minds in communications & brand-building shared with us inspirational stories, presentations, spirited panel discussions and valuable information that we imparted on our viewers during a series of blogs. Look back through our archives for the other entries!

Sometimes we creatives hit walls about how to be more creative. One of the best parts about attending the Edge conference was getting to listen to creative people talk about how they keep the good things coming. Finding inspiration from our clients, the world and each other is a constant work in progress.

Two of the stand-out presentations of the day for me were by Clark Scheffy, Practice Lead, Consumer Experience Design Practice IDEO, and Alex Bogusky, Co-Chairman Crispin Porter + Bogusky. Both talked about getting outside the usual methods of marketing and really getting inspired by their clients’ products. Both gave presentations that included unexpected ways of displaying their content, and great stories about how they get inside their ideas. Scheffy rode around in a camper for one client and got random surfers on the beach to try out new surf shorts and tell him what they thought for another. Bogusky went so far as to invent a product/project and pitch it to the city of Denver — without being asked (check it out here). These are people who look at challenges as fun, and you got the sense that they rarely use the same approach twice.

What I took away from their (amazing) presentations was that we should appreciate how unique and interesting each of our clients is and that the regular old plan (logo, brochure, media buy, website) just isn’t working the way it used to. Also, these are people who don’t take their work home with them. Instead, these are the people who take their home-life to work. They bring in their hobbies, their own views and interests, talents and curiosities. Their unique personalities spark new ways of thinking, reactions from each other, collaboration and learning.

It was inspiring to see how different all that creative idea-generation can really be. So, here at s&j we are implementing a few of these great ideas in the coming year. So far, we’ve broken down some walls and added some couches so we creatives can feel a little less-boxed in and really get inside our creative process. Next we’re looking at how we present our work to our clients and how we present our agency to the world wide web (keep a look out for our new website early this year!). While we are keeping all of our great personality and playing into the same strengths that have kept us in business for almost 15 years, we’re also looking to get inspired, try out some new things, and add some new value to our clients in the new year — it’s not so much a resolution as it is an evolution.

What’s in the new year for you?

* You can also check out Alex Bogusky’s new book about creative thinking, Baked In.

Posted in Edge, Fun, creative, marketing | 1 Comment »

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