entrepreneurs: start your brand here
One of the most difficult things for a startup (other than getting cash) is building a brand identity. Coming up with a good name, a strong identity and finding a url that's available.
Greg Verdino points to a pretty cool tool that makes it a lot easier. IncSpring is a site that sells brands. Pre-created, pre-designed, and some even come with the url ready to go. At reasonable rates, too - most are a couple of thousand dollars - which is less than many design firms would charge for the same quality work. That's affordable for a small business.
Even better - the public can vote on their favorite brands. So you can get a sense of what's good before you commit. I like HotCocktail. That would be a sweet name for an agency, an apparel company, or of course a bar. Or an identity. You should just rename yourself HotCocktail right now, and insist that all of your friends refer to you as such.
Labels: branding, design, identity, smallagency, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:55 AM
3 comments
2008 Plaid tour: experience it all.
Phew. Another year on the road has screamed past faster than a Plaid van at 85MPH.
If you haven't had a chance to check in, or missed some key moments, now's a great time to catch up on the most glorious tour ever to hit the highways. PlaidNation 2008.
See all of the daily wrap up videos here. It's the next best thing to being there.
See the interviews and extra footage here. The interviews with Robert Scoble, Biz Stone and Cathy Brooks (coming later this week) are extra remarkable.
Read the Twitter stream. If you're new to Twitter (or just bored at work), this is a great way to see it's value. An entire tour has been documented (and archived) moment by moment, as it was happening. Reading the stream is like re-living the tour.
Watch the 11:40 shows. These vidcasts were recorded live at 11:40, wherever the van happened to be at that moment. You'll see additional discussion about what happened on tour, with extra detail brought to the show by the people on the tour. The most popular episode: Plaid gets kicked out of a popular celebrity cemetery in Hollywood, California.
Check out the Flickr photo stream. Better than your Aunt Lucie's vacation to the Galapagos Islands, you'll see other workplaces, cool locations and Plaid employees mostly avoiding trouble.
We've put all of this and more together for you, on the tour dashboard at PlaidNation.com
Thanks to everyone who wrote about it, talked about it, or became a part of it. We're already in planning mode for next year's tour, and have some incredible surprises. Just wait until 2009!
Labels: plaid, plaidsummertour, self promotion, smallagency
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:55 AM
2 comments
how to get on the cover of rolling stone magazine
37 Signals has a sweet primer on how to get ink. Some of their tips are just good plain business practices, too.
Labels: self promotion, smallagency, strategy
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:56 AM
1 comments
Lynn Elliott Marketing sucks ass.
We see these counterfeit sites from time to time. And every time I hear about them, it's infuriating. Our media buying friends over at MediAssociates point to another vendor who completely copied their site.
The original is above. The plagiarized version is here:
Just one more reason to hire a reputable design firm to produce your collateral materials. MediAssociates is taking the high road, and enjoying the flattery. I'll take comfort knowing that eventually, Google will pick up on the headline to this blog post. :)
Labels: adindustry, design, smallagency
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:39 AM
1 comments
just say yes.
SwissMiss has found some outstanding advice for anyone with a customer. Which I guess would include just about everyone. And everyone in our business should read the original post from Ideas on Ideas. Awesome outlook on our business.
Labels: adindustry, marketing, smallagency, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:26 AM
0 comments
the big plaid video experiment
We just purchased the Plaid design and brand crew these really sweet video cameras. Flip video cameras that record 640 x 480 digital video (60 minutes of video, without tape!) with built-in usb plugs. They fit in your pocket. Basically, a video camera designed for the YouTube generation. AWESOME IDEA.
Anyway - we're embarking on an experiment of sorts. Everyone's now armed with these cameras. So we're going to try video blogging. Not the vidcast-shot-from-the-laptop that everyone else is doing - but sharing our experiences, as they happen. (You can't carry your laptop camera into the Bodega, can you?) Funny, stupid, creatively inspiring, or people falling asleep at their desks. Low production, no edits, no soundtracks, just video clips. Whatever happens when we're recording.
The experiment kicks off tomorrow morning, as a bunch of us leave for Mexico. Should make for some fun video. We're traveling tech-lite (only ONE laptop!!), so we won't be uploading every hour, but I promise some good regular video. If we like the results of the experiment, we'll get cameras for the extended Plaid team, across the country. This could really be a cool, creative group video blog. Or a complete waste of time.
So as not to bog down BrandFlakes, we won't post here - but instead on our 'behind the scenes' agency blog - http://blog.thinkplaid.com/. Stay tuned.
Labels: blogging, plaid, smallagency, video, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:17 PM
3 comments
plaid not the only summer tour
Because we're an agency, we of course believe that the sun orbits around our very being, and that everything we do is original and filled with awesomeness. So naturally, as we're about to embark on the Plaid BrandAid 2007 Summer Tour, we believe that it's the only tour in all of the land.
Turns out other people are hitting the highways too. Just got an email from Jay, who's about to tour the country with a ton of fat. Really. It's one part of their overall campaign "to inspire, motivate and educate men, women, young adults, teens, children and families about the latest and greatest tips, tricks, tools and "thinking" for weight loss, exercise and wellness."
Like Plaid, MyPetFat is also looking for tour sponsors. Although I'd be willing to guess that their burrito and Slurpee budget isn't as big as ours.
Regardless, looks like there's going to be a lot of fun on the roads this summer!
Labels: adindustry, smallagency, streetteams, yummyfood
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:21 AM
0 comments
what a cool help wanted ad looks like.
I'm sooo inspired to produce about ten of these right now. How about a collection of favorite agency songs? Or how about just a collection of Journey songs? Or the ten best punk songs of all time? Or anything from Giuli's playlist? I could go on and on. Videolicious self promo for a firm that's now hiring. All in one take. LOVE it. Watching it over and over right now.
Labels: pop culture, smallagency, video, viral, workplace, youthmarketing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:13 AM
0 comments
good creative kicks big budget's ass
Isn't it totally awesome when something really creative and simple just kicks the ass of everything else?
Two sites came to my attention recently, that just totally rocked. Small budgets, smaller brands - and yet they capture your attention like nothing else.
Author Miranda July needed a website to promote her new book, and book tour. So...rather than have her design firm build a deep site with RSS feeds and a complex PHP back end, she produced a website. On her fridge. And it delivers a message in a supremely unique and effective way that you want to show your friends.
The second is from an agency, West Wayne. What at first looks like an error message, you'll quickly realize is something entirely different. Brazen? Totally. But that's a good thing for an agency. Wanna learn more about their services? Schedule a meeting. That's a pretty cool tactic.
Sweet.
Labels: creativeinspiration, design, marketing, smallagency
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:48 AM
3 comments
clients want multiple partners
This article in Adweek is about three weeks old, but a really good read about where the industry is headed. Great news for smaller firms like ours. And outstanding news for brand managers, who are getting the best of the best for each and every one of their projects.
The skinny:
+ Brands are more comfortable working with multiple agencies.
+ Bigger agencies are more comfortable working with smaller agencies
+ The consumer is more fragmented than ever. The age old "18 - 22" demo is a joke. There are now multi dimensional audiences within each demo. And you'll need to speak to them all, if they need your product. No one agency can be great at absolutely everything.
Partnerships rock.
Labels: adindustry, branding, marketing, smallagency, strategy
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:02 AM
0 comments
killer creative workspaces
This is porn for creatives, architects and interior designers. This Ain’t No Disco has assembled a blog-style collection of wonderous creative workspaces. Be inspired, get ideas, or get jealous. Agencies can submit their photos, and users can comment or vote on their favorite interiors. We've GOT to submit photos of our space. From How Design.
Labels: architecture, creativeinspiration, design, smallagency, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:12 AM
2 comments
advertising 2.0 doesn't exist
Smartass, cartoonist and super industry genius Hugh Macleod has a wonderful rant/post about the ad industry, behemoth clueless agencies, and more. Very funny and for the most part, right on.
Labels: adindustry, marketing, smallagency
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:27 AM
0 comments
time to cut the bloat
I'm pretty sick of everyone attempting to predict what's going to happen with whatever in 2007 - but I thoroughly enjoyed this post from Marc Brownstein in Adage.
Marc
I say, bring it on. Clients should be expecting more for less. Because the landscape has changed, and so much more is possible. Time to cut the bloated, over-staffed, twice-as-many-people-as-necessary-on-a-project agencies out of the mix.
This thinking should be a BOON to the small agencies - because we're all setup to produce great creative without the bureaucracy, without the PowerPoint decks, without superstar directors, without a roomful of suits. And we're not alone. Agencies like ours our chomping at the bit to show Marc's clients what can be done for less. 2007. The year of the small agency, indeed. Hooray.
I'm not sure why I placed the image of Donny Deutsch in a swimsuit on this post. I couldn't think of anything appropriate for agency fatcats, and overspending. It's the best I could do. Sorry.
Labels: smallagency
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:15 AM
1 comments
we love xeni
Xeni Jardin, of BoingBoing fame, appeared on CNN last night with host Kristie LuStout, to talk about fun, holiday themed videos online. Apparently, one of the clips she covered was a production of ours from last year, that we did as a part of our agency holiday card. A Christmas Gory. You can see the YouTube version above, or go to the official A Christmas Gory website, and see more (be sure to check out "behind the scenes".)
This was our most successful holiday greeting card ever. We sent the original card to just over 200 recipients. A Christmas Gory has now been seen by well over 100,000 viewers worldwide. Thanks Xeni!!!!
Labels: self promotion, smallagency, video
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:08 AM
0 comments
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