Links We Savor: Build Your Future with LEGO, iPhone Turns 10, Japanese Animal Puppets and More!
Our monthly roundup of the most compelling, click-worthy and inspirational content around the web.
Whether you’re a real kid or still a kid at heart, you can’t help but be inspired by this series of new ads by Ogilvy Thailand. The tagline, “Build the Future,” says it all and embodies LEGO’s vision to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow.
Can you believe it’s been 10 years? Launched in 2007 to “reinvent the phone,” the iPhone may have actually understated its goal. The iPhone and smartphones, in general have fundamentally changed our lives – in both positive and negative ways. See what three designers thought about the iPhone when it first launched and how they feel today.
Origami, kirigami and karkuri, oh my! Check out these amazing movable animal puppets by Japanese designer Haruki Nakamura and the surprises in store when they are dropped, pressed or prodded – plus additional links to get creative and DIY.
If you’ve enjoyed OK Go’s catchy tunes and awe inspiring videos, you’ll love this TED talk about their creative process and how they find their great ideas. It’s a fun watch for the videos alone – and it might inspire your next great idea!
Whether you’re headed to the beach or keeping it cool with a staycation indoors, you’ll want to check out these books recommended by leading Chief Marketing Officers and other C-level execs for inspiration and motivation.
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At Relish Marketing, our fusion of creative and strategy unlocks your brand and propels it forward.
Savor your brand. View our client work. Work with us! Contact here.
Life at Relish: How I Work
Here's some insight into how our Creative Director, Michael Palermo, makes the magic happen in and out of the design studio at Relish.
What's your morning routine before you dive into work?
Coffee and music on my way to work. My commute is around 30 minutes long, which gives me time to think and plan the day ahead. After coffee in the car, there is more coffee in the office.
What music do you like to listen to? Or do you prefer silence?
I work best when I have headphones in. It keeps distractions to a minimum and allows me to focus. I listen to everything from jazz to ambient electronic music throughout the day. Spotify is the main reason I get anything done!
What do you like to do on your breaks to reset your brain?
When I need a break, or want to think about a specific project in a different setting, I take a walk around our office complex. We have a great building with green space, which gives me a very relaxing way to change the scenery up.
What are your go-to resources for inspiration?
My main source for creative inspiration is to look through online portfolios. It's the easiest way to sift through the enormous amount of creative content out there. Seeing the great work others are doing is necessary for my daily motivation and inspiration.
What tools do you use to get work done?
Adobe Creative Suite - my main set of design tools
Spotify - music for focus
Behance - creative portfolios and projects for inspiration
Bonus: Get inspired by Michael’s productivity playlist and favorite portfolios
What’s your strategy to get through your tasks each day?
Since I'm extremely visual - large, colorful Post-it Notes are my main tool for staying organized and on top of daily tasks. Since most of my work is done on digital devices, I love being able to physically check off items with analog tools.
What’s your preference for when you work and why?
I do some of my best work at home on the couch with some kind of noise in the background (Netflix or music). I'm able to run ideas by my wife, who is also a designer; that outside perspective can be very helpful.
What do you do at the end of your afternoon to prepare for the next work day?
I check in with my team at the end of every day to make sure there are no loose ends and to mentally prepare myself for my 30-minute commute home.
At Relish Marketing, our fusion of creative and strategy unlocks your brand and propels it forward.
Savor your brand. View our client work. Work with us! Contact here.
Rethinking Your Website? Five Lessons from a Top Online Retailer
Having spent several years in the e-commerce space, I’ve come to appreciate how online retailers live or die by their ability to convert site visits to sales. And who better to learn from when designing (or redesigning) your website than those whose business depends on it?
As a busy working mom of two, I rarely have a lot of free time to shop, for myself or my family, so I do a significant amount of my shopping online. USPS, FedEx and UPS are no strangers to our front porch. And, yes, I admit it, even some of our groceries and household staples are ordered online (thank you, Amazon Prime Now, Instacart and Jet).
That said, my recent experience with Tieks was better than any online shopping experience I’ve ever had. Tieks occupies an unusual space in the upscale, online shoe market, and they get it right when it comes to a well-designed website that lets customers browse and buy easily, with confidence.
Let’s look at five best practices that Tieks executes perfectly and how these same practices can help businesses across virtually any industry.
1. Draw Visitors In and Make It Easy
Tieks has a very simple, clean, creatively designed online storefront. Everything a shopper needs to know is “above the fold,” even when viewing on a small screen. A prominent “Shop Our Boutiek” tab is in the top navigation and another "Shop" button is located within the image, where the eyes can’t help but be drawn. The "Shop" tab persists as you navigate the site and "Shop" buttons are always prominently displayed wherever a visitor may be looking.
The image shown here is part of a scrolling header which showcases Tieks’ top products and messages. Links to log into my account or to raise a question or issue are intuitive and easy to find.
Wait – before you zone out, thinking that your business is so different from Tieks that none of this can apply, there are several things anyone in any business can take away from this design:
- Keep it simple. Take the time to truly define and understand your audience and the reasons they come to your site; then make those areas prominent. Use Google Analytics or another tool to explore what people are doing most on your site, and make sure it’s easy to do those things. You can put everything else in less-prominent areas.
- Invest in imagery. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Invest in powerful imagery to make what you do very clear up front and hold your audience’s attention. Whether it’s your work, your office, your employees or even a metaphor for the results you deliver – pictures often speak louder than words.
- Call to action. Even if your site doesn’t include online checkout, you need at least one clear call to action. What do you want site visitors to do? Contact you to learn more? Visit your physical location? Sign up for your newsletter? Make those actions clear and easy to follow. No one should wonder what they should do next, or their next step may be to leave.
2. Think Mobile
We hit a major milestone last year in October. Did you miss it? For the first time, mobile and tablet devices accounted for 51.3% of worldwide internet usage while only 48.7% came from desktops and laptops. This is huge! If you aren’t catering to mobile users, you’re probably missing out on most of your audience.
Online retailers are already responding to this trend, making their sites highly responsive on mobile devices and building their own mobile apps for consumers. Tieks’ mobile design is very simple, which makes it super easy to shop from a phone. The imagery is consistent, and the call to action remains very clear without scrolling. Tieks knows the limitations of my small screen, so their most prominent menu items are the most common things visitors will need. I can easily narrow in on what I want so I don’t have to scroll past the 55 different colors and fabrics they offer (even though I want to!)
Do you have to do all that to achieve business results in today’s mobile-centric world? Remember those three things that make it easier to engage with your site; in the mobile world, each one of them is especially important. You may need to rethink your main navigational areas, resize or change out images and streamline your content to keep it simple and get rid of clutter. Make your imagery choices count. And remember to keep that call to action where people can see it.
3. Build Trust
To make consumers feel comfortable buying online, retailers need to convey the quality of their products, that payment information is secure, and, most importantly, that if there’s ever a problem, they’ll fix it. Period.
Businesses in non-retail industries can demonstrate trust in other ways. No one tells the story of your trustworthiness better than the people who have trusted you with their business and are happy with the result. Customer quotes, case studies and videos can reinforce your trustworthiness, showing prospects that you know their business and can help solve their problems.
Showcasing your work reinforces that you do what you say you do. And don’t be too modest when you receive recognition and industry awards. Show them off to your audience!
4. Engage Socially
Everybody knows: social media has changed the way we find and connect with our customers. I found Tieks, or I should say, Tieks found me one day as I was perusing my Facebook newsfeed. They wowed me with a beautiful shoe on a day that I felt like treating myself. And their array of colors and patterns were also on Instagram and Pinterest, two highly visual social media platforms.
Whether your product or service comes in a rainbow of colors or not, your brand has a voice and a personality, be it professional, creative, witty or even quirky. That voice needs to be prominent throughout your messaging and your website, and social media is where it can truly shine.
Of course, not all social media channels will be right for every business. Identify which platforms your customers use – as well as where, when and why they use them. At the same time, don’t feel like you have to be everywhere. Focus your attention on the platforms that make sense for your business. After all, nothing says “stale” like a social page that hasn’t been updated in months.
Once you choose your platforms, take a look at which social posts generate the best engagement. Are customers commenting, liking or sharing? If they are, you want more posts like that. And don’t be afraid to invest in advertising. Social media ads can be a low-risk, cost-effective way to expand your audience, test offers and messaging, and get the word out overall. With a modest budget, you can test ideas on the fly – and get more performance data than on other advertising media.
5. Delight with the Unexpected
The best online experiences are the ones that follow site visitors into the real world. Not only did Tieks meet my expectations with their on-time delivery and the quality of their shoes, they also delighted me when I opened the box. Look at what came inside:
The bow around the signature blue box made me feel like I was opening a gift. The attractive, high-quality box itself confirmed that this was a premium brand, which confirmed I’d made a smart investment. The cute blue tote and pouch were unexpected bonuses that also reinforced product features (Tieks are foldable!). Finally, a personal, handwritten thank you card gave me a sense of personal connection to real people.
How does this translate to the business-to-business and professional services fields? I’m a big proponent of items that people will use because you get double the benefit – a nice thank you AND an easy way to promote your brand! Consider what you can deliver above and beyond customer expectations. If you’re an accountant, perhaps your clients’ returns are delivered in a high-quality folder and presented in a way that underscores the time and expertise you put into preparing their taxes. If someone signs up for your newsletter, can you also offer them a valuable thought leadership piece that demonstrates your appreciation, as well as your experience and ability to deliver fresh insights? Even the right, small, post-sale gift can put a little smile on your customer’s face.
The bottom line
Whether you sell products or services, are B2B or B2C, you can learn a lot when you step out of your comfort zone and industry. Find companies that have nothing to do with your own business but are doing something right. Figure out what they are doing and why. Then look at how you can achieve similar results with your own business.
At Relish Marketing, our fusion of creative and strategy unlocks your brand and propels it forward.
Savor your brand. View our client work. Work with us! Contact here.
Links We Savor: Social Media Fails, CVS ExtraCare, #NuggsforCarter & More
Our monthly roundup of the most compelling, click-worthy and inspirational content around the web.
Major brands have experienced some serious flops on social media this year. From the infamous viral United Airlines video to McDonald's hacked Twitter account, companies are learning the painful lesson of what happens when they fail in the public square called social media.
In a competitive retail environment where consumers can find many of CVS’ products via online competitors like Amazon, CVS has implemented a variety of digital strategies -- from lookalike modeling based on product purchases to its app-based prescription reminders. The retailer also is putting people first by targeting individual customers according to their purchase history, via its ExtraCare loyalty program.
Who knew asking for a year's worth of chicken nuggets on Twitter would lead to Ellen DeGeneres’ infamous Oscar selfie tweet losing its top spot as the most retweets ever? #NuggsforCarter, a retweeting campaign started by 16-year-old Carter Wilkerson asking Wendy’s how many retweets would it take get a year’s supply of nuggets (answer - 18 million), ended with Wendy’s settling for just 3.42 million retweets. The brand created an awareness and engagement bonanza just by making one fan’s dream come true.
For those who grew up savoring the marshmallows in their cereal - it may be their lucky day. General Mills, maker of Lucky Charms, will distribute 10,000 “Marshmallow Only” cereal boxes through an online sweepstakes. This initiative stems from a successful 2015 social media campaign when they gave away only 10 of these limited-edition cereal boxes - fans couldn’t get enough.
Delta may become known for creating one of the most watched corporate sponsored Facebook Live streams ever. In the wake of a recent public relations nightmare, this innovative employer branding tactic shows how communicating employee appreciation can improve brand loyalty both internally and externally.
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At Relish Marketing, our fusion of creative and strategy unlocks your brand and propels it forward.
Savor your brand. View our client work. Work with us! Contact here.
Life at Relish: How We Brainstorm
We all love those times when a brilliant idea comes seemingly out of the blue. But the truth is that "lightbulb moments" can be triggered, encouraged and cultivated by effective brainstorming. That requires the right environment, stimulation, facilitation and vibe. But does that environment happen by accident? Or can it be established intentionally? Check out the Relish Team’s responses to the question: "What gets your creative juices flowing?
Pam
- Surfing the web for photos or inspiring quotes and content.
- Coffee. Coffee. Coffee.
- Interesting brainstorming exercises (like building a sandwich of program components).
Teresa
- Turn off email - And just walk away. What a terrible distraction when you need to be creative!
- Take a walk - Get some endorphins going and your creative juices flowing!
- Dance party - like no one's watching. ;)
Ryan
- Visual Stimulation (creative design).
- Audible Stimulation (entrancing music).
- Liquid Stimulation (beer).
CJ
- Work on a different creative project for a little while - creative energy from one area can re-energize the others.
- A walk, run or bike ride -- restarting the body helps restart the brain.
- My "Brain Bran" deck of creative prompt cards - they're wacky, but they almost always crack open new ideas.
Paul
- High-energy music.
- Design magazines.
- Collaborating with others.
Michael
- Sketching. Sketching.
- Reviewing other designer's work online.
- Watching movies, going to museums -- anything visual and unrelated to work -- can be both relaxing and inspiring.
Kat
- Solo reflection on a project --- sketching objects, words or ideas.
- Going on different design platforms, look at portfolio pieces and get inspired by their look and feel.
- Talking to others to bounce ideas off one another.
Mia
- A good documentary. I find inspiration in real stories of all kind.
- Wine.
- Mind mapping.
Taronda
- Other creatives - I enjoy being in a room of creatives having a discussion.
- Driving - I can always count on my mind to think of things randomly during my time alone in the car.
- Traveling - Seeing new places sparks new ideas in me.
Sydney
- Good music.
- Strong coffee.
- Reading, watching or listening to something hilarious.
Iris
- Creative prompts that require me to make something.
- "Talks" hosted by TED or Google - the more obscure the topic the better.
- Filling a notebook with free writing and doodling while outside barefoot.
At Relish Marketing, our fusion of creative and strategy unlocks your brand and propels it forward.
Savor your brand. View our client work. Work with us! Contact here.
Album Cover Review: Album Art Lives On
Some say that album art is outdated, a thing of the past. While people once waited in line to buy CDs, we can now download music much more easily from the comfort of our own computers. However, I challenge that notion. I argue that album cover art is alive and well. It is moving with the times, evolving. Now, successful artists view visuals as a way to brand themselves.
When you purchase music online, your decisions are even more rapid than in the store. Usually, you know what you are looking for, and if you are on the hunt for new music, your click-through rate is very speedy. The copious and overwhelming amount of well-produced music that is available makes it impossible to peruse everything that’s out there, so artists need a way to get your attention. Brilliant album artwork is a great way to do this.
According to an anonymous local musician, “Choosing a concept [for your album art] is a balance between making a connection visually with the music and adding another layer of meaning to the music… Really good album art leads to a relationship between two different concepts.”
An album cover can say a lot and create a strong visual brand identity for an artist. Here are some great examples of this.
Vintage - Recently, I’ve seen a lot of artists using vintage photographs as album artwork. It’s visually appealing and lends itself to really rich story telling.
Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, m.A.A.d City
Top Dawg Entertainment
2012
Taylor Swift - 1989
Big Machine Records
2014
Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
Asthmatic Kitty Records
2015
Simple - Minimalism is definitely trendy. It can be humorous, down-to-earth or force you to look long and hard at the text and consider it deeply.
Death Cab for Cutie - The Photo Album
Barsuk Records
2001
Lorde - Pure Heroine
Universal Music, New Zealand
2013
The Black Keys - Brothers
Nonesuch Records Inc.
2010
Dense - Talk about attention to detail. These grab your attention and keep you looking.
Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
Jagjaguwar
2011
Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant
Sub Pop
2008
Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
RCA
2009
Painterly - Aesthetically pleasing and a bit whimsical.
Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
XL Recordings
2016
Grouplove - Never Trust a Happy Song
Canvasback, Atlantic Records
2011
Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days
Sub Pop
2004
Collage - This is an intricate and interesting way to make an impact.
Young the Giant - Young the Giant
Roadrunner Records
2010
The Wombats - Glitterbug
14th Floor Records, Warner Bros. Records
2015
Hozier - Hozier
Rubyworks, Island Records, Columbia Records
2014
References:
Why Cover Art is More Important than Ever
10 Tips for Designing Album Art in the Digital Age
Images from artists' websites:
Project Spotlight: A Logo Refresh for Relish
A Logo Refresh for Relish
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Just because a logo design is aesthetically appealing, doesn’t mean it’s practical or easy to use. The original Relish logo, bold with bright colors, block typography and spherical accents, turned out to be difficult to replicate across multiple media and platforms. The time had come for an update.
A new logo would need to render seamlessly between print and web assets. It would have to be able to be modified to suit any destination format: presentations, email signatures, sales sheets, webpages, etc. Relish developed its new logo, following the same process we use when we provide brand redesign services to our clients.
Solution
The logo redesign involved standardizing the color palette from several colors to just one, which made the logo more production friendly. The typography changed from Diavlo to Trend Sans, which made the logo more readable and legible, especially in smaller sizes and digital applications.
Results
Today, we have a simpler, cleaner logo with branding guidelines that enable a variety of forms depending on where and how it is used. With this new look, we at Relish continue to be intentional, be sensational and savor our brand.
Project Services - BRAND | DESIGN | MARKETING | CONTENT
At Relish Marketing, our fusion of creative and strategy unlocks your brand and propels it forward. Savor your brand.
View our brand development client work.
Five Elements of an Amazing Social Media Campaign
We're at a point now at which everyone's on social media - so it has to be part of your integrated marketing efforts. But it's not enough to just be on social media. We've identified five key elements - and tips for capitalizing on each one - to help you get the most from your social presence:
1. A PLAN
Where do you start when launching a social media campaign? With your target audience? Sure, but you must begin with a plan consisting of who, what, when, where and how. Include an editorial calendar that lists WHO is responsible for each aspect of the campaign and the frequency of WHEN you will post content with campaign start and end dates. WHAT goals you are trying to accomplish, and HOW you plan to address those (including your budget) should be at the forefront of this plan. The purpose of the campaign is to meet or exceed your objectives, whether that is to increase product sales, promote a new product, or generate more engagement. Don’t forget to include WHERE you will post to ensure you are promoting across your various social channels.
Tip: A social media scheduler can be used to post on various social media platforms to save time and simplify your social media campaign.
2. CONTENT
Next, develop compelling content with a message that engages your target audience. Your content should be tailored to your audience and for the social media platforms you’ll be using. You don’t necessarily need different content for each platform, but it should vary slightly depending on the social channel. On Twitter, you can only use 140 characters, but you have more space on Facebook (although you should avoid writing a short novella to get your point across).
Tip: Learning the purpose behind each social media platform helps you develop content specifically for each.
3. VISUALS
What’s a message without a visual? A perk of social media is that it allows people to SEE what you are communicating as well as read it. Add videos or photos to your content to capture your audience’s attention. Give them something to talk about. Visuals should be modified to suit the platform they are posted on.
Tip: Creating images with your audience and brand in mind is an effective way to drive high level engagement.
4. BRANDING
An important question to ask yourself while crafting a social media campaign: “Is this campaign consistent with our company’s brand?” The answer should be yes every time. A social media campaign is an extension of your marketing strategy. And your marketing should always be cohesive with your brand. Every image and piece of content should be a direct representation of your company. The thoughts you want people to remember about your social media campaign should be the same as what you want them to think of in regards to your brand.
Tip: Crafting a campaign consistent with your brand will build and expand your brand’s identity.
5. ASSESSMENT
Before launching your social media campaign, put tools in place to measure the outcome. Metrics will show if and how you met your goals. The results of your campaign can be used to address areas of improvement for future promotions.
Tip: Several tools double as a platform to run your unique social media campaign and collect campaign performance data.
At Relish Marketing, our fusion of creative and strategy unlocks your brand and propels it forward. Savor your brand. View our online client work. Work with us! Contact here.
Links We Savor: Burger King's Prank, Google Doodles, Video Ad Hacks & More
Our monthly roundup of the most compelling, click-worthy and inspirational content from around the web.
Burger King pulled off the ultimate digital ad stunt with a 15-second ad that activates Google Home's voice recognition software to start reading the ingredients of Burger's King trademark product when the commercial's actor says "Ok Google. What is the Whopper burger?" Although Google shut it down, this prank ad is an example of clever video content sparking a conversation — literally.
AutoDraw, a super fun interactive doodle converter created by Google, creates clip art out of your handmade doodles. What's a better way to market your brand than to make an innovative piece of free software that delights your audience?
Leveraging users' geo data, advertisers can now track what stores Snapchat users visit and target them with sponsored geo filters. The Snap to Store tool has already proven helpful to restaurants like Wendy’s – 42,000 people visited its restaurants within seven days of seeing one of their sandwich geo filters.
Mattel partnered with the twin sister YouTube stars, Brooklyn and Bailey McKnight, to promote its first annual DC Kids Super Hero Month. The campaign encourages young people to volunteer and help their communities. The trend of brands working with digital influencers to push social responsibility initiatives continues and grows with millennials’ increased expectation that the brands they love participate in social activism.
These are some amazing insights into the best ways to optimize video ads. One hack emphasizes how to keep an eye on video ad metrics, because ad fraud is such a rampant problem. Understanding and requiring thorough reporting data is critical to ensuring an efficient ad spend.
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At Relish Marketing, our fusion of creative and strategy unlocks your brand and propels it forward. Savor your brand. View our client work. Work with us! Contact here.
Content Kings: The Difference Between Owned, Paid and Earned Media
Content is king — and there are three types of media content that deserve the royal treatment when it comes to executing an effective digital marketing strategy.
Owned Media
Your website, social media and email are all channels where you publish content that you own and control. Your owned media should represent and extend your brand. When it resonates with your target audience, it will drive traffic to your brand's various digital properties. The more compelling your owned media content, the higher the possibility of converting your leads and ultimately earning an ROI for your marketing efforts.
Who does it best? Redbull
The company behind the energy drink that everyone craves is legendary for transforming into a media behemoth that serves its extreme sports-obsessed fans innovative and engaging tailor-made content.
Paid Media
Reaching your audience beyond your owned channels sometimes requires spending some cash. Display, social media and affiliate advertising enable your brand to reach its audience wherever they are on the web. If your target audience reads the Wall Street Journal every day, consider running display ads on their website. If your target customer loves posting foodie pics on Instagram, create shareable sponsored content. The unique aspects of your brand, customer acquisition flow and conversion objectives will determine the type of paid media you should use.
Who does it best? Ikea
The Swedish retailer created an ingenious Google Adwords campaign "Retail Therapy" which included custom landing pages with featured products (i.e. a double desk separated by a cubby wall) that matched common search queries like: "My partner annoys me."
Earned Media
What are people saying about your business? Whether it's press mentions, customer reviews, fan demonstrations or audience shares; earned media is generated by your audience, media publishers, other organizations or the public at large. It's the conversation happening about your business that's largely driven by your combined owned and paid media marketing efforts.
Who does it best? Buzzfeed
The site infamously known for creating the most buzz and click-worthy content on the web, has hit social media gold with Tasty, its food brand that has captured the attention of more than 84 million Facebook users who share their short, delightful and mouthwatering instructional recipe videos.
By maintaining synergy across all types of media, your brand generates repeated analyses followed by optimization of how your audience engages with it — a cyclical tactic that will last the lifetime of your business.
Relish this post? Check back next Monday for more thought leadership insights!
At Relish Marketing, our fusion of creative and strategy unlocks your brand and propels it forward. Savor your brand. View our client work. Work with us! Contact here.