Posts Tagged ‘marketing’

The Perfect Omelet!

Monday, January 25th, 2010

3 Eggs
Salt & Pepper to taste
1t water
Wisk briskly until eggs are blended

Melt 1T butter in a hot skillet – Just before the butter browns, pour in egg mixture, let set a moment and begin shaking the pan vigorously until it rolls over on itself. Decant onto a warm plate, brush with more butter (!), top with fresh herbs and serve.

Julia Child nailed the perfect omelet with five basic ingredients and the right tools. No one really knows how many fails she had before perfecting her technique, and they don’t really matter because most likely, they were done in the privacy of her own kitchen. Once her show went live, any foibles she had were well planned and purposeful as shown here:

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Resolution | Building A Better Coop

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Fads. None of us are immune to them all the time, it’s just that some are easier to resist than others.

For instance, brown was never the “New Black” for me, it was just brown. Chickens, on the other hand, now those were a fad I just couldn’t pass up.

Chicks

Fluffy Yellow Chicks? I’ll take 5 of those Silver Laced Wyandotte’s please! We’re allowed to have 3 hens, but I figured there might be some natural attrition. I also allowed for human error that 1 or 2 might turn out to be Roosters. We watched in awe as the chicks went from fluffy, to gawky to beautiful. Well, all but one of them. I would stand out by the run watching them, the sun glinting magically off their iridescent tail feathers and remark to my partner “Baby, they’re so pretty! Except that one, why is she so ugly?” And then, one day, we heard a tentative, garbled Rrrrr-rrrrr-rrrrr. The ugly one, it turned out was our only hen. (more…)

Social Media Revolution

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

I came across this video about a month ago and was so impressed by it, I went ahead and pulled the stats out to use in client interaction. Take a few moments to take this in… well worth the time out of your day to see the real impact social media is having on the world as we know it.

Use your social media manners!

Friday, December 4th, 2009

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As with anything, there is a time, place, and etiquette surrounding social media. Without some simple guidelines, social media has and will get completely out of control. Here’s some genius ideas to keep you and your brand worry free and always looking your best.

Social media mimics real relationships — in many cases. Would you do the following within real face-to-face relationships?

  • Jump on the friendship bandwagon without properly introducing yourself?
  • Consistently talk about yourself and promote only yourself without regard for those around you?
  • Randomly approach a friend you barely talk to and simply ask for favors — repeatedly?
  • Introduce yourself to another person as “Pink House Gardening?”

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may need a refresher course on social media etiquette — and perhaps real-life etiquette also. Here are some egregious sins that you must not perform on social media sites. Avoid these violations and learn how to manage and maintain online relationships on a variety of popular social media sites. (more…)

Guerrilla Marketing to promote change

Friday, November 27th, 2009

Although Guerrilla Marketing can indeed prompt it’s target audiences to buy a product or influence their purchasing decisions, it can also bring about change in a way that is not monetary at all. The following campaigns were compiled by D-Lists and struck a chord with me.

The campaign below was designed to bring awareness to landmines and the continued use of them in certain countries. The ketchup packets turn into a powerful graphic message when the corner is torn off giving the impression that the boy’s leg has been lost and is bleeding as ketchup seeps out.

The second ad is for Project Cuddle; see description below.

Finally, the Dublin City Council simply got sick of people leaving gum on the sidewalk so they came up with an effective, yet inexpensive campaign to get their point across.

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Microsoft Meets Retail

Monday, October 26th, 2009

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Well, we had to see it coming sooner or later… In true Apple/Steve Jobs/Best Marketing in the World fashion, Microsoft has opened it’s first retail location in Scottsdale Arizona. The store itself is “much like the Apple store, but with more colors” and seems to feature more gaming-driven offerings in hopes of appealing to a wider age group. Get ‘em while they’re young, I guess.

While I applaud Microsoft for finally extending their brand through retail, I wonder what the ever-ahead-of-the-game Apple has in the works to wow the public next. Theme park perhaps?

Read more about the opening and see new photos here.

Zoom Creates Capabilities: The more the merrier!

Friday, September 25th, 2009

It has come to light recently, through the course of not one, but two separate jobs, that Zoom Creates has more capabilities than we initially thought. Besides the things Zoom is known for, including design, all things digital, marketing strategy, relationship marketing and of course social media brilliance, we have happily discovered that we are a powerhouse of digital audio creation.

When it comes to voiceovers, professional podcast creation, radio ad production and improving quality of pre-recorded audio files, Zoom Creates is definitely your team of choice. Because we are under strict NDA for the two projects I mentioned, I am unable to post them here. I had originally intended to post the latest and greatest (and first) super fabulous music video brought to you by Pink Noise. Unfortunately, the magic isn’t ready for mass release quite yet. Our very own Kurtis Holsapple, member of the legendary Pink Noise Boys and audio/digital wizard, will be kind enough to share it with us once it is perfected.

In lieu of the Pink Noise video, I give you Elton John and the Muppets. No correlation whatsoever, but please do enjoy.

Awards Season

Monday, September 21st, 2009

halle-berry-oscarsIn the design, web and marketing world, it’s nearly always award season. There are the HOW Awards, the Communication Arts Awards, the Summit International Awards, the Direct Marketing Awards, the Webby Awards and let us not forget our very own Portland Rosey Awards. The list is nearly endless. Every week, new mailers arrive on my desk that offer us the opportunity to pay a handsome fee to enter our work in their contests, with the promise of accolades, high profile judges and fancy trophies. So many categories! Such gorgeous awards!

Of course, the awards will cost you. Your merit and creativity alone, the applaud of the high profile judges, your entry fee, none of those earn you an actual award. For that you must pay another fee, plus shipping to have the illustrious award delivered, plus extra for the engraving.

Yes, it’s a bit silly. But it’s our way. In our industry, awards are currency—they boost our self-esteem and put us on the map. Awards give you street cred. It’s sort of like getting street cred in high school because the popular girl let you buy her a milkshake, but it’s credit nonetheless. And so we enter the awards contests, we share our victories, we drool over the fancy judges, and yes, we even pay to have the trophy shipped to us, with engraving. All for the sweet smell of victory.

What Happens Behind the Curtain

Friday, July 17th, 2009

On A Deadline

Here at Zoom Creates, we like to think of marketing, web development, design and account services as a bit of an art. We are professionals, after all, who fine-tune our craft with the focus and detail of a team of surgeons.

There are times, though, when the rubber meets the road, a deadline is just around the corner and things get messy. Fun, but messy. We look around for the secret talents that lie within our Zoom family, because sometimes a project needs one final edit to make it perfect and it needs to be an inside job.

This is one of the joys of working at Zoom Creates: each of our members possess an arsenal of talent for the work they do 40 hours a week. But what about the other 128 hours out of the week? Well … take a look.

On any given day, you may find a Zoomer seeking out Complementary Colors for a daily photo blog, or perhaps applying makeup for an upcoming stage appearance with Pink Noise. You might run into one of our principals at a model train show, or see a Zoomer at a specialty shoe shop feeding her passion for footwear. Other Zoomers take pleasure in gallivanting across the globe, taking the Flat Design Team with them, or brewing their own Craft Beer (pun intended).

Regardless of how the other 128 hours are spent, as a firm we take great pride in the abilities we exhibit in and out of the office. And if you’re wondering what’s taking place behind the curtain in the photo above, just know that we will make the deadline for the project at hand and the result will be fabulous—even if the production itself was not glamorous. And we’ll have  had a great time producing the results-oriented work we are known for.

When It Rains, It Pours.

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

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I was combing the grocery store aisles last week because I needed salt for a recipe. I didn’t need just ANY salt, though. I wanted the very best salt. I saw a plethora of different brands, some name brands and others generic. The one that stood out, of course, was Morton’s Salt. It was packaged better, and featured a nifty little pour spout that the others lacked. Besides that, I’ve known since childhood that the round blue box contained the best salt in the world. How did I know that? Marketing, my friends.

The branding of Morton’s salt began in 1911 with a significant image that has evolved over the years, but essentially stayed the same. We are all familiar with the little girl and umbrella holding a box of salt pouring out behind her, amidst the rain. Her tagline is “When it rains, it pours.” Why? Because in 1914, Morton’s salt publicized their claim to fame: their salt contained magnesium carbonate, an anti-caking agent that allowed the salt to pour freely even in great humidity or rain. Today Morton’s salt doesn’t contain magnesium carbonate anymore; rather, it contains calcium silicate, an equally anti-caking alternative.

So that must mean that Morton’s is indeed the better salt, thus the higher price tag and much higher annual sales. Not too fast: upon reading the ingredients for other leading and generic salt brands I found that they, too, contain anti-caking agents which allow them to also  pour freely in the rain. What is the Morton’s secret, then? Brand. Brand. Brand.

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