Memorable Christmas movie moments

Get in the festive mood with these clips from all your favourite Christmas movies and shows.






And if you like the movie "It's A Wonderful Life" you have to watch this:



Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.

Brilliant: The Honest $10000 SPAM just in time for the holidays

What happens when an unbelievable offer of $10000 risk free money is actually genuine?

Wishing you a Merry Christmas from Razor Creative

Gift ideas for advertising people on your list

Adfreaks's Gift ideas for advertising people on your list made me laugh ... especially this one:

For the Account Executive - a pocket watch



"How are we coming on deadline?" "When is the talent supposed to get here again?" "Crap, it's still not 5 o'clock?" These are all questions best asked while pulling out a stylish pocket watch and giving it an intense glare. This chrome-plated model from Charles-Hubert Paris ($85) is minimalist enough to work for a man or a woman. As a bonus, it requires daily winding, which gives you a whole new nervous habit to annoy people with during creative presentations.

See the whole list (including ideas for Art Directors, Copywiters, CEOs and more) on Adfreaks here.

Most popular YouTube videos of 2009

According to the BBC, Susan Boyle, the Britain's Got Talent runner-up was the star of the most popular video of 2009 on YouTube. The Scottish singer's surprising rendition of I Dreamed A Dream on the show has been watched by more than 120 million viewers worldwide.

In second place, with more than 37 million views, was a video featuring a disorientated seven-year-old boy recovering from dental work.

Third place went to JK Wedding Entrance Dance, which showed an convoluted dance routine featuring members of their entourage just before their wedding. It attracted 33 million views.

1. Susan Boyle (120m+ views)
2. David After Dentist (37m+ views)
3. JK Wedding Entrance Dance (33m+ views)

Here they are in case you missed them:







Read more in the BBC article here.

Turkey Drive exceeds goal!

We are so pleased that the Sue Stultz Turkey drive has once again reached and exceeded it's goal. Well done Greater Moncton.

This article appeared in this morning's edition of the Times Transcript. Thanks for the mention Sue. Glad we could help.


Alison Scott drops a turkey into the trolley as Joel Murray, 11, watches yesterday at the Moncton fire station on St. George Boulevard.


VIKTOR PIVOVAROV/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
Published Friday December 11th, 2009

Sue Stultz doesn't mind being called the "turkey lady."Whatever helps collect turkeys for families in southeastern New Brunswick to enjoy over the holidays works for her, she says.

But while she doesn't mind the nickname, Stultz refuses to take credit for the drive's success, instead offering that it's the entire community that makes her annual turkey drive successful.

After 12 years, it's one of the most successful charitable campaigns in the region.

This week, Stultz visited Riverview Middle School to speak about hunger, and she says all students raised their hands when asked if they knew who the "turkey lady" was.

Stultz says she was amazed how many of the kids she recognized, youngsters who have been supporting the drive their entire young lives.

"They're the ones that have to carry the torch for us and keep it going, and they're doing a fabulous job," she says.

Today is the final day for the campaign, which is seeking 3,528 turkeys to ensure everyone across southeastern New Brunswick has the perfect Christmas meal. As of last night, the drive had gathered 2,482 turkeys.

There's still a long way to go, but history has proven Metro Moncton residents always come through for Stultz and the drive.

Last year's goal was 3,384, and turkeys were still being donated days after the drive closed, bringing the final total to about 4,300, nearly 1,000 turkeys more than needed.

Yesterday, Stultz wasn't concerned at all that there was still a long way to go to reaching this year's total.

"The people of the Greater Moncton area will come through," she explained. "This turkey drive belongs to the people, and they will ensure that every family is going to have a turkey at Christmastime. They'll make it happen."

Because it's been around for a dozen years, the drive has taken on a life of its own. And while it's easy to simply swing by "Turkey Central" at the Moncton Fire Department's St. George Boulevard station and drop off a turkey, the charitable campaign has turned into a bit of a social event as well.

"It's just like old home week here," Stultz says. "We have people come in and they stand and they talk to each other, and they reminisce about the years that they've had gone by with this turkey drive."

As the week has gone on, Stultz has been moved by the donations and help from both individuals and businesses throughout Metro.

On Wednesday, The Moncton Hospital's food service department dropped off 40 turkeys they bought after saving their tips all year for the drive.

"These are people that work very hard at what they do, and here they are helping out somebody else."

The turkey drive benefits Moncton Headstart, the Salvation Army and all families signed up to any of 23 food banks in southeastern New Brunswick through Food Depot Alimentaire.

"I never like to refer to people that are in need as poor people, because they're not," Stultz says. "Most people that are in need have more gifts to give than you can possibly imagine. They just need a little bit of help from us. They would give to us if we needed. That's the way it goes -- people helping people."

Stultz thanks all supporters of the turkey drive, and she wanted to extend a special thanks to Richard Gould and Stephen Brander of Razor Creative for designing the drive's website, www.suestultzturkeydrive.com

BeckTek Computer Consultants is hosting the website and Red Ball Internet is providing Internet service so turkey drive volunteers can update the drive's Twitter page at twitter.com/suestultz as each day winds on.

For the most up-to-date Turkey Tally, click here.

New appreciation for Pitchmen

I've been watching the TV show Pitchmen on Discovery that stars famous pitchman Billy Mays and Anthony "Sully" Sullivan . It's a great show that illustrates how they choose the products they pitch, how they make the spots and best of all the results.

I always knew that Direct Response TV worked, but never really appreciated it fully. People might think spots for products like Oxyclean, SlapChop, Shamwow, Mightyputty (and hundreds more before them) are corny, but you can't deny that they work.

Last week's show was likely the last in the series due to the untimely death of Billy Mays. But the show went out in style with a pitch-off at a home show. For one hour Billy went up against Anthony in a selling content. Billy was selling a salsa maker and Anthony a mop. The person with the most sales in an hour would win. Even though Andrew cheated he still couldn't beat the mighty Billy Mays. Billy pulled in over $900 in sales ($20 bucks at a time) in 60 minutes. That's 45+ salsa units sold in an hour. Andrew only managed around $600 in sales - impressive but not enough to win.

So why does Direct Response TV work?

There is actually a lot that goes into these spots whether they be short form (2 mins. or less) or long form infomercials.

But the basics are the same:

Build suspense:
This means gradually doling out -- and creatively rehashing -- the benefits of the product.

Repetition:
By repeatedly driving home the benefits and purchasing information of a product, you increase the chance of hooking someone and getting them to buy.

Subconscious cues:
you can be subconsciously swayed by a variety of things -- celeberties, beautiful people, relaxing landscapes, engaging environment and of course convincing testimonials of enthusiastic people explaining how lost they were until this product changed their lives. Throw in some canned applause and cheers from live audience and it's getting real hard to resist.

Call to action and price:
Finally a strong call to action and a killer price point like $19.95 brings to all together. Lets not forget the final ... "but that's not all" ... doubling the offering, throwing in something free or some other hard to resist - sweetening the pot beyond the ability to say no closing.

Read more on the psychology of selling here.

Here's some classic Billy Mays demonstrating his great skill and a winning formula for sales.












Now compare these to an all-time classic.



I feel like buying something.

Razor turns six.

Wow. It's been 6 years (or 2192 days - but who's counting) since Razor started. In keeping with the tradition that began on day one, here's our anniversary picture complete with doodle board.

Here's what we looked like in previous years.

It's always a good idea to proof the translation.

The Welsh translation reads “I am not in the office at the moment. Please send any work to be translated”.

Found on the Publication Design blog.

This is our league - the CFL

Anyone watching the pre-game coverage of the Grey Cup may have seen a "This is our league" video about the CFL - it was so awesome I just had to find it. I've looked but without any luck (when I find it I will post it). I did find this one from last year that is equally as good.

If you are not from a city they has a CFL team it is hard to explain what the league means for so many Canadians. This video gives you a taste of what the CFL is all about.



A line in the video "One Sunday in November it's the nation's glue" really sums it up (I've been to the last 6 Grey Cups - so I know).

Next September Moncton will be hosting a regular season CFL game so that this part of the country can begin to get a sense of what so many others in Canada are so passionate about. I know Moncton will put on an amazing show as always and should be a stepping stone (I hope) towards Atlantic Canada getting a team.

The line "This is our league" sums up beautifully what the CFL means -- but for it to be truly all of ours, we need a team in the East.. the real East... Atlantic Canada.

Moncton entrepreneur honoured by magazine

Congratulations to our good friend Carol Chapman on being named an International Woman of Influence by Global EXEC Women Magazine

Here's the article in the paper today by Aloma Jardine, Times & Transcript Staff

Chapman, president of C2 Communications Inc. and C'volution, was recently named an International Woman of Influence by Global EXEC Women Magazine. The award recognizes women who are influential in an international business market.

"The award itself was for women in an entrepreneurship role doing work further beyond their jurisdiction," says Chapman, who has worked with McCain Foods, Ganong, Kruger Products (which includes brands such as Cashmere, Scotties, Purex, and White Swan), the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, the Province of New Brunswick, Transcontinental Media, and Kimberly-Clark, among others.

Chapman says the award is exciting personally, of course, but mainly she is happy to be able to encourage other women entrepreneurs.

"I think this will show people that you can live wherever you want as long as you are prepared to do and go," she says. "We have a role as senior business people to prove to the next generation that we can do it here and that it can be done by women...

"The only way that we are small is if we think that we are small. People (I work with in the U.S.) have no clue where New Brunswick is... but once they meet you, they don't care if you can do the work."

That feeling was echoed by local businesswoman Aldéa Landry, who hosted a luncheon yesterday to celebrate Chapman's win.

"I find it exciting not only because Carol is my friend, but because it shows we can do anything in this area," she says. "It is good for her, but it is also good for the community and good for the province. It goes beyond just an award for Carol. It is a recognition of the talent and expertise that we have here."

Chapman says one of the things that has made her successful is networking.

"It's probably a strength of women, to some degree," she says. "I think people talk about it sometimes too lightly."

Landry says Chapman has a special talent for creating relationships that helps her "punch way above her weight because it gives her access to other expertise and talent."

Chapman worked at Hawk Communications for 18 years before going on to found C2 Communications and, most recently, C'volution, which focuses on cause-related marketing.

"Cause marketing" is marketing that promotes a business through the business's support of a particular charitable endeavour.

For example, Chapman has been working with Huggies as it works to build playgrounds in underdeveloped areas.

"All of those big corporations are incredibly responsible. They give lots of money but, many times, they don't have a focus so consumers can't see that they can purchase the product and make a difference," she says, explaining cause marketing helps give companies that focus.

"This is a niche market. There are not a lot of people doing it."

Landry says the launch of C'volution demonstrates Chapman's impeccable sense of timing as corporate social responsibility is an area that is growing quickly.

Top 20 Trends in 2010

Consumer Trends Forecast by TrendHunter

Trends via TrendHunter.com.

Moncton Agency featured on This Ain't No Disco

From the Razor Creative Blog

Check it out... Razor is being featured this week on This Ain't No Disco - "a portfolio of some of the best agency interiors in the world". Sweet!

Razor Creative on This Ain't No Disco

(Make sure to vote us up when you're there!)

Blues on the Boulevard: DVD Release Party

If you are in the Moncton area, you should plan to attend the official release of the Blues on the Boulevard DVD. Everyone is welcome.

Date — Monday, November 30, 2009
Location — Delta Beauséjour Hotel in Moncton
Time — 7:00 to 8:30 PM

The party will include:
Exclusive screening of three musical selections from the DVD
Live performances by an ensemble of NBYO musicians
Special guest speakers and more

Please RSVP Don Matheson by Thursday, November 26, 2009 via email at drmatheson@nbyo-ojnb.com or by phone at (506) 872-2973.

Here's a sneak peek from the upcoming DVD of the event.

Bold and Beaten from Hemmings House Pictures on Vimeo.

24 Advertising Agency Spoof

The Vendor Client relationship - in real world situations

Hope you don't recognize yourself in this video.

(thanks to @drewmack for sharing)

Can a snuggie help sell Subaru?

In a word... yes.

According to Advertising Age, the commercial is driving more visits to dealerships and that it's led to a 213% sales increase in October. Created by DDB Toronto, Subaru purchased the rights to the infomercial which appears at the beginning of the spot. Typically agencies create a "spoof" of the spot, instead of using the actual. I saw this on TV the other night and it really caught my eye.

Nice work.

Is Prezi the future of presentations?

Prezi is a new presentation tool described as zooming sketches on a digital napkin.

It's visualization and storytelling without slides. It allows you to think and present in more than one dimension. You don't think in a linear motion, so why present that way? Ideas do not always fit neatly into traditional slides, Prezi allows you to free them and in a living multi-media presenation tool.

I can really see the potential in this -- especially when it comes to presenting raw ideas and concepts. Now you can reveal parts of a concept in a way that makes sense to aid in the getting the notion across. No more "ta da" here's the whole idea then working backward to explain. Plus you can take time to zoom in and focus on specific points... so much potential.

Really looking forward to giving this a try.

Go to Prezi.com to watch the into movie to learn more.

Here's a few good examples of Prezi in action:

Is Facebook Getting Uncool for 18-24s?

Found this interesting article by Steve McClellan in Adweek where Media agencies debate the consequences as usage among younger consumers appears to slip.




"In its early days, social-networking site Facebook was propelled to popularity by a college-age crowd that sought it out as an exclusive sanctuary in which to connect with their peers. For that market, it was an attractive alternative to sites deemed to have lost their cool -- like MySpace, which had become a haven for pre-teens and high schoolers.

Now, it seems, Facebook might be suffering a similar migration. According to comScore, as it has gained a broader audience, the older teens and twentysomethings that drove Facebook's initial popularity are using it less. And research by WPP Group's Mindshare suggests that group is reevaluating the site's worth as a tool for developing friendships. Others believe Facebook's cool factor among younger users is waning. "When you start getting friended by your grandmother, I think that's when it starts to lose its cool," said Huw Griffiths, evp and global director of marketing accountability and research at Interpublic Group's Universal McCann."

Read the rest of the article here

Even a "Bad park job" can create a good PR opportunity.

Some of you may have seen this video "Extreme Fitness BMW parking failure. Worst parking job ever!" where a BMW X3 drives up over two parked cars. It has had over a million views and tons of other coverage.



One of the cars damaged was a 2004 Hyundai Elantra. Well Hyundai Canada took notice, and decided to capitalize on the opportunity.

What did they do? Watch this video to find out.



Bet the owner of the other car damaged wish they had drove a Hyundai too.

Well done.

Cool interactive ad from Atlantic Lottery

We stumbled across this really neat Lotto Max interactive ad while walking down the street today. It's right across from our building and saw it while waiting for the light to change. There was a camera mounted above a screen and as soon as you look at it - something appears "attached" to your image. There was a dream balloon, parachute, snowboard hat and scarf... and likely more.

When you moved your head - or someone else entered the frame, a new dream appeared. Wonderful concept and nicely executed.

Here are some shots of Rich and I dreaming of what we would do if we won the $50 million jackpot (or one of the $1 million prizes)-- guess we better go get our tickets!

Very neat typographic logos

Typographic Logos

View more documents from gerson.abe.

How to Spot a Social Media Fake

Anna OBrien- How to Spot a Social Media Fake

View more presentations from Anna OBrien.

Fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour

The website TheFunTheory.com is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. I think they are for something.

Here are a few samples:







Check out more at the Fun Theory site here -- even suggest your own idea.

Dealing with "Badvocates"

Laurie Burkitt wrote the following post on Forbes.com about how big companies are dealing with online critics. GM for one has gotten a lot of bad press latety, so it should be interesting to see if they can use social media to help polish their tarnished brand.

Here's the article:

Marketers Grapple With Brand-Bashing ''Badvocates''

During General Motors' financial meltdown this year, politicians, corporate executives and journalists piled on to gripe about the auto-maker's business. Most of the chatter was expected, admits Christopher Preuss, GM's vice president of communications. What surprised company execs was the number of bloggers and social media hounds who chimed in to grouse about the car-maker and its vehicles.

One was David Meerman Scott, a blogger on WebInkNow.com, and the former vice president of marketing for media company Knight-Ridder. Scott’s scathing commentary about "faceless," "nameless" GM's marketing strategies fetched 20-plus comments from other GM bashers on his blog.

GM is one of many companies trying to manage a slew of online critics like Scott, particularly since the economic downturn has made so many bloggers--and their followers--distrustful and critical of big companies. The musings and grumbles of these "badvocates," as they are called, can now be transmitted around the globe. These powerful critics represent 20% of the world's adult population online and they reach an estimated 14 people with their opinions, according to New York public relations firm Weber Shandwick.

Muzzling them is impossible. So how do GM and other companies handle these critics? At GM, a social media team of six employees trolls the Web, tweeting, updating Facebook and occasionally commenting on personal blogs. In the case of Scott, who has 29,000 followers on Twitter, GM invited him to Detroit and encouraged him to log the details of his trip and post video clips of interviews Chief Executive Officer Fritz Henderson and other executives. Other companies are also setting up meetings with bloggers to try and establish better relationships with them. Some even hope to drown out critics by getting brand fans to write positive blogs.

GM's Preuss says executives can't invite every blogger to the company, but they plans to reach out occasionally to make sure that influential writers are equipped with correct information about the car maker. In July the Detroit company also launched AskFritz.org, a site where consumers can leave their gripes or ask questions and actually get comments from Henderson. The site, Preuss says, has helped GM respond to critics who might otherwise be splattering comments elsewhere on the Web.

Airlines have experienced a lot of brand bashing on the Web in recent years, particularly on trip-planning sites and, more recently, on Twitter. When consumers miss connecting flights or experience delays, they reach down for their mobile phones and Tweet or blog about it.

American Airlines of Fort Worth is reaching out to people on social networking sites, says Roger Frizzell, vice president of corporate communications, brand and advertising. In August, when New York's LaGuardia Airport closed a terminal due to a bomb threat, American Airlines posted notices on its Web site and sent a Tweet to its followers on Twitter. It leaves general information on lost baggage and canceled flights on its Facebook site. Getting the word out before consumers run into problems at the airport is one way to avoid criticism, says Frizzell.

That’s key, agrees Jack Leslie, chairman of Weber Shandwick. Companies should check out what's being said about their brands and figure out if they should react or comment. Worst case scenario, says Leslie, is to have a viral video like the one United Airlines experienced this past July, when country singer Dave Carroll wrote a song about the airline's failure to replace the guitar the airline supposedly smashed in transport.

GM watcher Scott says he still feels comfortable speaking out against companies, but he's more likely to talk to them first to get information and comments. He recommends that all big corporations should respond to bloggers who bash their brands. "It's easy for a blogger to see a company as a faceless entity," says Scott. "We need to know there are real people out there."

Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce adds a new member - us!

Razor joined the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce this week. We've been thinking about it for a while and finally filed out the form and paid our fees. We now join the over 800 member strong chamber. While we are not listed on the official member directory yet, we are still pretty excited.

The Donald, Oprah, Gates and Hanks EXPO posters.

These are the promo posters we did up for the recent Entrepreneurship Expo here in Moncton: They were not up long - so here they are in case you missed them:

Click each for a larger view:



COPY: Donald Trump is one of the most famous entrepreneurs in the world. He likely won’t be here, but you should.



COPY: Bill Gates is worth about $58 billion Our tickets are just $50.00



COPY: Oprah Winfrey is a very successful entrepreneur. Her show will likely be a rerun on the 19th, so you should come.



COPY: Tom Hanks played Forrest Gump, a very successful movie entrepreneur. If Forrest could do it, so can you.

Razor in the news

From the Tuesday October 20th, 2009 issue of the Times & Transcript -- By Craig Babstock Staff


Original article here.

Entrepreneurs attend expo
Razor Creative co-founder Rich Gould says in the almost six years the marketing agency has existed, it hasn't spent a dime on advertising.

"It's been 100 per cent networking and word of mouth," said Gould.

As he spoke yesterday, Gould was standing at Razor's booth at the Delta Beausejour, taking a break from chatting up fellow business owners and possible future clients for his company. Razor was one of the many local businesses to participate in yesterday's Greater Moncton Entrepreneurship Expo and he said the new contacts he'd met easily made the event worth his time.

"I think this is a great event and I've seen a lot of keen attendees taking notes," said Gould, as his partner at the booth spoke to a pair of expo participants about advertising.

This is exactly what Brad LeBlanc had in mind when he planned the expo. The Riverview entrepreneur and event chairman said yesterday he was delighted with the fact more than 150 people showed up to take part in the first of what will become an annual event. He said it was such a success he plans to hold several expos throughout Atlantic Canada in 2010 to fill the need that exists.

"We've got a really good mix of people here, from those already established in the corporate world to business students to people thinking about becoming entrepreneurs," said LeBlanc, in between shaking hands and talking to participants.

LeBlanc said the expo will mean different things to different people. For example, students might make crucial contacts that help them enter the business world when they graduate, while established business people can network with other businesses and form partnerships. There were also government agencies represented, so people can learn about the financing help available to entrepreneurs, which is key to getting a business off the ground. "Starting a business can be really scary at first," said LeBlanc.

Companies represented at the expo included young ones such as Razor Creative, which has been around since 2003, to larger, more established companies, such as Medavie Blue Cross, NBCC and RBC. The day's schedule of events included a trade show, sessions on topics such as branding and taxes and a talk from local businessman David Hawkins.

"The fact we brought all these people together makes it a success, and there's no better place to launch this, because there's no place better than Moncton to do business," said LeBlanc. Enterprise Greater Moncton director of business development Denis Melanson said LeBlanc approached the business organization about holding the expo and EGM was eager to help out.

"Large or small, there's always something you can learn from other businesses," said Melanson.

38 Marketing Mistakes That You Don’t Want to Make

This is from a great post by Alyssa Gregory from the Sitepoint.com Blog where she lists common marketing mistakes. She lists a lot of wonderful points we should all pay attention to. Here they are:


Common Marketing Mistakes

1. Not being prepared with a marketing plan, USP and budget.
2. Targeting everyone instead of focusing on a specific target audience.
3. Misrepresenting your experience and making unsubstantiated claims.
4. Being inconsistent with your marketing message.
5. Ignoring your existing paying clients and only marketing to the unknown.
6. Not listening to feedback on your marketing activities.
7. Following the competition instead of creating your own place in the market.
8. Not following up with leads quickly.
9. Not editing/proofreading your copy before going public.
10. Underestimating customer service and the power of word of mouth.
11. Not having business cards on you at all times.



Online Marketing Mistakes

12. Forgetting to test your site across various platforms and browsers.
13. Not updating your site design or content, ever.
14. Assuming SEO will take care of itself.
15. Ignoring the needs of your target audience when writing your site content.
16. Not including easy-to-find contact information.
17. Blanketing your business web site with ads that distract from your core message.
18. Copying content from competitors’ web sites.
19. Not providing an informative and engaging About page.



Email Marketing Mistakes

20. Sending messages to people who have not opted in.
21. Selling your subscribers’ contact information.
22. Blatantly spamming by sending unrelated and unwanted messages.
23. Not testing HTML emails in many types of email clients.
24. Making it hard to subscribe or to unsubscribe.
25. Not including a specific call to action in every email.
26. Not testing email personalization to avoid tags.
27. Over packing your emails with competing messages.
28. Underestimating your subject line.
29. Leaving the copywriting as an afterthought.
30. Ignoring your statistics and failing to tailor your messages accordingly.



Social Media Marketing Mistakes

31. Ignoring your online reputation.
32. Forgetting it’s a marathon, not a sprint and cramming in too much, too fast.
33. Not updating your profiles regularly and keeping them consistent.
34. Focusing on sales instead of forming real relationships.
35. Overlooking the importance of conversations.
36. Not having a recognizable image across social media.
37. Not updating your blog on a regular basis.
38. Trying to be everywhere, all the time.


Read more from Sitepoint here.

Birth of the Obama 08 logo

This is from a while ago and stumbled across it again today -- still interesting if you haven't seen it. Creative director Sol Sender tells the story of conception and birth of the Obama 08 logo, including the strategy behind it, developmental concepts and finalist designs for the identity not chosen by the campaign. Obama has been in the news a lot lately and again today (winning the Nobel prize). A lot sure has happened since this logo was conceived.

Freak Skate Board Accident

We did an online quiz/contest for a local skateboard company (Surgo) a few years ago that included this short video. We put it on YouTube and it's now up to almost 47,000 views. Neat. I enjoy checking in on the comments every now and then to see people "discuss" as to whether the video is real or not.

Sometimes can be quite funny.

View the comments here.

Now you can take any rough sketch and make a picture

Found this on gizmodo.com

"PhotoSketch is an internet-based program that can take the rough, labeled sketch on the left and automagically turn it into the naff montage on the right. Seems unbelievable but—as the video shows—it works:"

PhotoSketch: Internet Image Montage from tao chen on Vimeo.

Read more about it on gizmodo.com here.

World's Best Presentation Contest Winners

If you have to give a presentation in the near future, you might want to check out these winners from the World's Best Presentation Contest on Slideshare.net for some tips and ideas on how to do it right:

1st Prize:

Healthcare Napkins All

View more documents from Dan Roam.

2nd Place:

Sheltering Wings

View more presentations from Sarah Cullem.

3rd Place

Feels Bad On The Back

View more documents from mohamad faried.

See more great presentations here.

Razor Creative office shots

Here's a brief view of our humble office space where we spend a LOT of our time. See more images here.

(click the image for a larger view)

Custom-made stainless steel Razor door:


Rich's office:


My office:


Meeting space:


Our rules:


Freelance space:



More images here.

A new brand for for a billion dollar organization

Regional Health Authority "B" becomes Horizon Health Network.

It was one of Razor's biggest and most significant rebanding projects. Regional Health Authority "B" is a billion dollar organization with more than 14,000 people including about 1,000 physicians, 5,000 nurses, and 3,500 volunteers. It covers more than 100 facilities - with 12 hospitals and 35 community health centres and clinics.

The name Regional Health Authority "B" didn't work on many levels. For one, the notion of working for the 'B' group, or the 'rehab' group, as people came to know RHA B, didn't sit well with staff and others.

In rebranding the organization, we wanted a name and a look that reflected their goal of healthier people living in healthier communities where access to health services is seamless, safe and without disparity in language, culture or location. The brand needed to reflect the world-class nature of their organization. One of the challenges was finding a name that worked equally well in both of out official languages. Horizon does just that.

Led by the great folks at C2 Communications, the project covered many phases over the last number of months culminating with the new brand launched internally on Tuesday and to the general public on Wednesday. The new Horizon Health Network brand will slowing begin to spread across New Brunswick in the coming weeks and months.

Make your meeting better

Some great ideas on how to make meetings better from a blog post by Phil Gerbyshak. Read the whole article from bizzia.com here.

Here are ideas. Love them all!

Always have a written agenda and distribute it at least a day before the meetings. This gives all attendees the opportunity to prepare ahead of time, do any research, and ask any clarifying questions, BEFORE coming to the meeting.

Mark on the agenda who is mission critical, and who is optional, for the meeting, and reschedule if the mission critical attendees can’t attend a meeting (or if they don’t confirm their attendance 2 hours before the meeting. No meeting should happen without key decision makers present, or all you do is talk and don’t really DO anything. We use an asterisk (*) by key meeting attendees, and this works well.

Start on time/end on time – This is a pet peeve of mine. So many people show up late, or not at all, that we talk about “professional courtesy” like you’d give a college professor, 5 minutes late is okay for most folks, 10 minutes for executives. NOT OK! If you want to respect the folks that are on time for the meeting, start the meeting on time…and end the meeting on time so folks can make it to their next meeting on time. Even better: End 5 minutes early so folks can get to their next meeting on time.

Stick to the agenda – If it’s on the agenda, discuss it, and discuss it until a decision is made. If it’s not on the agenda, table it for the next meeting. Unprepared comments in a meeting, while they may seem useful, are often made without proper research or consultation of key decision makers.

Distribute meeting minutes (with action items) promptly – Before folks forget what was discussed, distribute the meeting minutes for all to review. Include non-attendees and others that need to be in the loop. Distribute within 1 day for max effectiveness.

If you see this guy, don't let him in. Promotional material for Apex.

Some great graphics and promotional material we produced for Apex Industries for their bullet and physical resistant security doors. Completed for a recent trade show.

Graphic from the front of the promo card and also used as the backdrop for the booth (picture this 8' x 10'!!!) :


Promo video:


A fun project.

Max Mallard at the movies

A while ago we produced a bilingual comic for Commissioner of Official Languages For N.B called "The Adventures of Max Mallard, the boy with ducks for hands / Les aventures de Max Mallard le garcon des canards pour mains." As part of the Frye Festival we brought Max to life and showed a bilingual "reading" of the comic to over 800 kids at the Capitol Theatre in Moncton. Finally now getting around to posting the original bilingual version and the other versions on line.

Thanks to Eggs Films who helped pull it all together and to everyone at the the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages For N.B. who made Max possible.

For more on Max Mallard (includging his orgins) go to 2tongues.ca and click on the ducks or here to view it in French. You can also download the original comic from the site as well.


Max Mallard the boy with ducks for hands. English version.


Max Mallard - Le garcon avec des canards pour mains (French version)


Max Mallard the boy with ducks for hands. PART 1. Bilingual version.


Max Mallard the boy with ducks for hands. PART 2. Bilingual version.

How do you build trust?

Being Trustworthy Does Not Build Trust

This is a great article from Business Week by Keith Ayers, President, Integro Leadership Institute Sydney, Australia

The idea that being trustworthy does not necessarily build trust may seem like a ridiculous concept to you. But haven’t you had the experience of people questioning your motives or credibility without justification? It is behavior that builds trust, not intentions. Other people don’t know your intentions, they only know what you do.

Every interaction you have with another person either enhances trust or diminishes it. The same applies to the managers and employees in your organization. Every interaction your managers have with their team members builds trust, or diminishes it. Every interaction that an individual in your organization has with a customer either builds trust or diminishes it, too.

It would make sense, then, to ensure that all managers and employees are mindful of the behaviors that build trust. Our research at Integro Leadership Institute has identified four elements that must be present for trust to develop:

1. Reliability is the most obvious element. We need to deliver what we say we’ll deliver, keep commitments, and perform the best we can in every situation.

2. Congruence is the behavior that lets people know you are trustworthy. Partly it is how we communicate—saying what you mean and meaning what you say. The other part of congruence is walking your talk—operating by your personal and organizational values.

3. Openness is essential for innovation to flourish. Encouraging employees to speak up with ideas, even to disagree with the way things are done, provides a spark for new ways to create value. Being receptive and listening to employees and customers builds trust and loyalty.

4. Acceptance is the least understood element, but everyone needs to be respected and valued. Your employees and customers are the most valuable assets your company has—are they treated accordingly?

All four elements of trust must be present for trust to build, and be sustained. When even one is missing, trust is diminished, if not destroyed. Take these four elements and discuss them with your team. Which ones are you doing well at, and where could your team improve?

Blues on the Boulevard: Sneak Peak

Last March we helped The New Brunswick Youth Orchestra promote it's Blues on the Boulevard concert featuring Matt Andersen. Here's a sneak peek from the upcoming DVD of the event.

Bold and Beaten from Hemmings House Pictures on Vimeo.

The live show was amazing -- can't wait to see the complete DVD. More information.

Sistema NB is making a difference through music

"What could New Brunswick and Canada learn from the barrios of poverty-stricken Venezuela about social change... and music? Well, a week ago the NBYO launched Sistema NB, a program aimed at inspiring children to achieve their full potential, to impact their lives and society through music. Sistema NB is a New Brunswick and Canadian first and next month, a prototype centre will open in Moncton... stay tuned for more information. On the Sistema NB site, be sure to see the movie of the Caracas, Venezuela visit (produced by Hemmings House Pictures) and the great branding done by our friends at Razor Creative. Outstanding!"

- NBYO President Ken MacLeod

The New Brunswick Youth Orchestra is doing a lot of great and wonderful things, the launch of Sistema NB is just another fantastic example. Hats off the Ken MacLeod, Don Matheson, David Hawkins and the team from the NBYO who have brought this program to Canada and New Brunswick. The New Brunswick Youth Orchestra hopes to change children's lives through music and we hope the new Brand Identity, Website and Promotional Material we developed helps them achieve this very worthy goal.

Visit the new website here to find out more. Or, if you have a child and wish to participate, download the brochure by clicking here.





From the Sistema Learning Tour produced by Hemmings HousePictures:



Sampling of the excellent media coverage:

Article in the Daily Gleaner

Press release about the launch.

More coverage here and here .

Lotto Max is launched - Razor helps it "land" in Moncton and Halifax.

If you live in Canada, you no doubt have heard and seen all about the new Lotto Max Lottery game - in print, online, TV, outdoor and more. It's the first new national lottery in over a decade, and replaces the recently retired SUPER7.

It's a pretty big deal.

So Razor was quite excited when we were asked in play a part here in Atlantic Canada. Atlantic Lottery (ALC) was looking for a way to create maximum impact on launch day. So we thought... what better way to communicate that "Max has landed" than with giant 8 foot Lotto Max balls crushing vehicles parked around town.

ALC agreed.

Late at night, or should I say early Saturday morning (launch day) we installed two "Max has landed" displays. One in Dieppe (Ultramar at the corner of Champlain and Acadie) and one in Halifax (Lacewood Drive Ultramar).

Starting from the second the displays showed up, there has been a steady and constant stream of people at both locations taking pictures and video. Obviously, exactly what we wanted.

It was a huge challenge to pull everything together so quickly -- but we love it when a plan comes together.

A huge "tip of the hat" to Maureen, Courtney and the team at ALC for believing in the idea and letting us run with it, and mucho thanks to Dennis and his talented group at Hansen Signs and to Dan who helped make it all happen.

Watch for the "making of" story, (and it's a good one) coming soon.

Other side:



In Halifax:

Industry Education Council's new brand identity.

The newly formed Southeast New Brunswick Industry Education Council, brings together representatives from the public school system, universities, community colleges, specialty colleges and various industries with a goal to provide better opportunities for students and a stable workforce for the province's growing economy in the future.

Razor developed the new brand identity for the organization which was recently launched at a press conference. We are quite thrilled with how it turned out.

The council includes representatives from education and industry, including NBCC Moncton and Dieppe, School Districts 1 and 2, l'Universite de Moncton, Oulton College, Atlantic Lottery Corporation, Fantech, Atlantic Industries, Imperial Manufacturing Group, Enterprise South East, Enterprise Greater Moncton, and Moneris Solutions of Sackville.

Read more about the launch and the Education and Industry Council in this article.

A joint project of Razor and C2, watch for more communications currently in development.