Balcom Agency

How do you recognize great creative? Try this simple test. Step 1: Look at the work. Step 2: Look in the mirror.

Did you:

Smile?
From in-on-the-joke grins to full-out belly laughs, funny stuff grabs attention and sticks with people. The latest Old Spice television spots do the trick for me. http://www.oldspice.com/videos/ Ditto on the Betty White spot for Snickers. http://www.snickers.com/ads/superbowl.html Closer to home, this billboard we created for the Museum of Science and History still makes me smile. http://www.balcomagency.com/our-work/addys/fort-worth-museum-of-science-and-history-6

Furrow your brow?
Intrigue, the unexpected or a little well-conceived misdirection can sneak through the clutter, too. As long as people can connect enough of the dots, it works. The original Mini campaign had lots of ‘Huh?’ power. http://inventorspot.com/articles/mini_cooper_no_small_advertising_6530
See 23 more surprising ads here: http://www.trendhunter.com/slideshow/hidden-surprising-advertising#17

Squinch your eyes shut like a slapped cat?
It’s tough to shock people anymore, but when you do, the fallout can significantly extend the life of a campaign. Are the shock waves worth it? The debate continues. Here’s a PG-13 collection of shockvertising. http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/top-50-shock-controversial-ads

Raise your eyebrows?
Sometimes pure, unadulterated information can be powerful. The Tap Project campaign for Unicef cuts right to the chase. See a video about it here: http://www.tapproject.org/media/

What campaigns are making your face move these days?

Writing related sites from practical and tactical to whimsical and witty – because you never know what will move the muse.

Blue Pencil Editing
http://bluepencilediting.blogspot.com/

Copyblogger
http://www.copyblogger.com/

Magnetic Poetry
http://www.magpo.com/play.asp

RhymeZone
http://www.rhymezone.com/?loc=bar

Six Word Stories
http://www.sixwordstories.net/

The Onion
http://www.theonion.com/

ThinkExist
http://en.thinkexist.com/

VisualThesaurus
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/

WordSpy
http://www.wordspy.com/

Word Swimmer
http://wordswimmer.blogspot.com/

What word-centric sites inpire you?

Sometimes a little eye candy can help get the creative juices flowing. These sites come highly recommended by our art directors and web designers at Balcom.

Adoholik

http://adoholik.com


Core77

http://www.core77.com/

Design Addict

http://www.designaddict.com


Design is Kinky

http://www.designiskinky.net/


Design Sponge

http://www.designspongeonline.com/


Surf Station

http://surfstation.com/


Style Boost

http://styleboost.com/


Smashing Magazine


http://www.smashingmagazine.com/


TenaciousToys

http://www.tenacioustoys.com

The Die Line

http://thedieline.com


What other design sites inspire you?

1  It’s FREE!
Many social media tools like Facebook, Blogger, Twitter and LinkedIn are free, but making them work for a brand takes a great deal of time and effort. Great content is key, so take some time to build a good content strategy. Here’s how: http://www.convinceandconvert.com/integrated-marketing-and-media/build-your-brand-a-social-content-ladder-in-5-steps/

2  Only kids use social media.
Actually, people 35-44 are the most dominant group on social media. You can learn more about who uses what here: http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/02/16/study-ages-of-social-network-users/

3  If we build it they will come.
Creating an active social community around your brand is an organic process – and nothing grows in a vacuum. Think of integration as fertilizer, and consider all these potential catalysts you may already have in place – offline media, email, newsletters, point-of-sale, promotions, partnerships and search.

4  It’s just a marketing initiative.
The transparency built into social media means it’s inevitably going to impact other areas of an organization. Corporate communications, public relations, sales, customer service, legal and even HR need to be part of your internal conversations – because, like it or not, they will become part of your social media conversations.

5  You can’t measure social media effectiveness.
Effective social media plans always include measurable goals. Conversion metrics should be part of any plan from day one. Here are some good case studies:

•    Staples, Steaz (organic tea), Toyota and restaurants: http://socialmediaatwork.com/category/case-studies/
•    Long list of case studies with ROI: http://www.seoptimise.com/blog/2010/05/30-seo-social-media-marketing-case-studies-that-prove-the-roi-of-it-all.html
•    Western footwear manufacturer example (Shameless plug alert, it’s a Balcom client.): http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/2010/05/10/from-staid-to-social-a-social-media-case-study/

Any more social media myths we need to debunk?

Part 1: How did we get here?

Welcome to the paradigm shift.

It’s no secret that advertising is changing. Fast. So whether you’re pining for the good old days when you could squeeze the Charmin®, scrambling to learn how to Tweet or developing your Google-killer, it helps to consider how we got here.

The Four Catalysts (Or The Four Horsemen if you’re having a bad day)
•    Internet
•    Cable/Satellite TV
•    Search
•    Social Media

Runner-ups
•    Gaming
•    Mobile

Much of the upheaval started in the early nineties with a little-known phenomenon called the Internet. At roughly the same time, television’s holy trinity of ABC, CBS and NBC began to see their kingdom erode under the deluge of cable and satellite channels (Sound familiar, radio?). Throw in the proliferation of search and the recent explosion of social media and it’s clear that the advertising model that gave us the Marlboro Man, “Where’s the beef” and “Just do it” will never be the same.

Next --
Part 2: What does here look like?

Find a client who begins your first meeting by asking for a website that touches hearts as well as heads -- and hugs you when you leave.

Visit a school garden and discover that a tower of stones wrapped in chicken wire is a “lizard hotel.” See one of the “residents” welcome you by running across your shoe. Try not to squeal.

Interview a second grader about his garden journal. Admire the drawings and poems. Point to his sketch of a cocoon. Ask what it is. Be amazed when he says, “That’s the chrysalis.” (Look up the spelling of chrysalis when you write about it later.)

Go to a teaching workshop and sit in on the Sunflower Session. Learn all about the plant’s teachable moments. Discover that sunflower plants can be taller than you, and a little scary with the roots still attached.

Listen to teachers describe how rainwater collection saves as many students as raindrops, how pepper plants bring parents to school and how helping things grow stops kids from tearing each other down.

Work with a team of designers, developers, writers, illustrators and animators who set the bar at brilliant. Steady the bar when it wobbles.

Show the website to the client for the first time. Watch them start to cry. Try not to squeal.

See a video about the project: http://www.balcomagency.com/our-work/portfolio/clients/real-school-gardens/ADDY

Visit the site: www.realschoolgardens.org

The buzz surrounding social media continues to whip into a tornado-like frenzy. But before you ditch everything you learned in Kansas and set off for the Social Emerald City remember that many of the basics you practiced back on the farm still apply.

Know your customer. What’s important to them? How do they seek out information? Find out how (or even if) your consumers use social media.

Consider your strategy. Think about how social media can help you reach the goals you’ve already set. Don’t re-invent the wheel – just give the wheel a little more traction.

There’s no place like home. And “home” is where you want your customers to end up. Is it on your website? At your event? On your side? In your store, office or facility? On the phone? In your database? Be Dorothy-like in your quest to get customers home.

So if all the flying monkey hype surrounding social media has sent you looking for a field of poppies to plop down in, relax. @kansas is actually a lot more like Kansas than Oz. Sure, social media is a paradigm shift for marketers. But at its most basic level, social media is people having conversations online. And people have been having similar conversations over back fences in Kansas for generations.