I tweeted the other day Digitally creative, innovative, design savvy, experiential , savvy to the user experience, agile, hungry = creative tech agency – So what does this mean and or refer to?

I was thinking about our small boutique agency. As we continue to grow and create successful campaigns for our clients, we work to carve out a space for those companies who greatly desire our skill, expertise, creative tech skills & bandwidth -while meeting and exceeding their objectives. Yes and keeping the money in their pockets with low cost innovation and implementation and high returns. Some believe the more “likers” and followers you have the better success you will be – yet they forget that it is quality not quantity you want via information and engagement. There is today no accident that your neighbor, former high school teacher, doctor, dentist and boss former & current are all on Facebook. (Yes we may all want to take an extra minute to review our privacy settings) It means that all the brands you can think of, businesses, products and services know we are all there too and they are looking for new marcom partners and business advisers to help them reach all of us. Both online and offline. It will be those such as ourselves with a wealth of award winning traditional talent and  savvy experiential technical talent – who clearly understand and can translate that user experience – on an array of platforms, that will help you knock it out of the park- in reaching that customer in the place you desire to have them go. Read the rest of this entry »

There has been a large amount of buzz, articles and info. on businesses getting into mobile. In the last couple of weeks I have personally attended two conferences that had mobile as one of their key topics of discussion. My thoughts come from an article that I just read and will include with this post – about the fashion business and how that industry can make the most of mobile commerce. Coming from the fashion business as my first career it triggered some thoughts.

Most of us, even those of us who still do not have smart phones own phones that provide cameras, texting and email. We take those phones with us everywhere and use them as a beacon to stay connected, informed and give us the answers to the info. we need immediately. This simple deduction makes mobile a key player in how we live our lives day to day. For those that have a smart phone such as myself – apps are a key way to get information from brands, products and services we use and evangelize and keep customers  informed. In some cases these apps allow the purchase of products from a mobile device, other apps provide updates about sales, events, promotions and new product launches. It makes sense in the retail world that finding ways to leverage mobile commerce should be high on the marketing budget and strategy list. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the ways that companies can be successful with a  ROI via onine initiatives – is through search. Search defined as Search Engine Marketing is defined as “a form of Internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs) through the use of search engine optimization, paid placement, contextual advertising, and paid inclusion.” in Wikipedia.  One of the regular questions we receive from our clients both current and new is what is the next thing? Read the rest of this entry »

As we begin to eagerly move forward in the last quarter of 2010 – social media is no longer something that is unfamiliar to most. Today via my Twitter feed, I saw a question from Mitch Joel of Twist Media and Author of the book Six Degrees of Separation – that asked
Does complaining about customer service in social media make a difference?

All sizes of companies big and small have lost their leverage with purchasing customers – because the public in many cases has lost trust in brands. These customers who have had information pushed to them for years and years – now have the opportunity and are armed with the information they need about products and services -without the assistance of the companies that produce and offer those products and services. Read the rest of this entry »

That tag Ideas Worth Spreading is attached to TED Talks. It has been a while since I have posted one of their fabulous lectures. I find them to be innovative, creative, shocking, funny, inspiring and a place where the unimaginable ideas make really great sense. I try to go the site regularly pick a random topic – listen and learn! You can find them at http://www.ted.com. I recommend you make the visit if you have not. You are sure to find some of the people you know, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and those you may not know such as Joanna Blakeley.

As we all know I not only began my career in fashion – but to this day love it as much as my days as a 3 year old – sporting my mothers jewelery, bags and shoes. I just listened to a lecture by Joanna Blakeley that I am going to post – that uses the free culture of fashion and copying to show how many businesses – including the business I work in now – that the freedom leveraged from fashion from not having legal right to copy rights and trademarks – can be a very lucrative business for all. Both designer and mass market. The ideas she SHARES and the analogies she uses from one of my most favorite things – give great pause for thought – for many industries. By the way “we all need to cover our naked bodies as she says” and as you will see in the presentation the ROI is nothing to sneeze at!

Open source for the digital world has certainly taken on this idea of not only SHARING ideas but copying those that were great and putting a new twist on them……how are you free in your industry to SHARE your ideas? IF not – maybe it is time to look at this wonderful video that talks about how creative industries can learn from fashion’s free culture.

Enjoy.

Best Nicole

I was in a meeting a few weeks ago and one of the executives in the meeting mentioned -that many of her clients are not using social media. Big corporate companies in some cases are not – but IF you think for a second that it is not being used by every industry you can think of – think again! Almost everyone I know and that YOU know has a Facebook profile or knows someone who does. From your local grocery store, to your local news station, to the boutique who sells your favorite shoes all have a presence on Facebook! Read the rest of this entry »

Before there was social networking there was real-world networking. And you know what? It came with drinks and hors d’oeuvres, so it wasn’t all that bad.”

–Rich Brooks, president of Flyte New Media

There are many retailers that are still not online. Many claim they are not ready. Some are dabbling—but even the dabblers are unsure of how to truly leverage the success that can be attained. A few weeks ago I attended a launch at a major retailer. They have done a 360 degree turn in their brand offering and are certainly looking to expand their old reputation for a new contemporary one in order to attract a broader more modern customer. At the launch, they had some laptops sitting out with the idea that people could go and tweet from the event at the computer stations. Great intentions but from my perspective here are some ideas about how they could have kicked it out of the park.
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A friend called me today and asked me to watch the Oprah show—something that I don’t do during the day. The topic was about an up coming CBS show where Presidents/Owners of companies go undercover to see what it is like to work out in the field.
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