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.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
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."
Saturday, October 24, 2009
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.
Friday, October 23, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
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.
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.
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
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.
Friday, October 9, 2009
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.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
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:
2nd Place:
3rd Place
See more great presentations here.
1st Prize:
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.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Razor Creative office shots
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.
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