Campfires and Campaigns

This past Canada Day I did what most Canadians do on long weekends—I went camping. My wife and I packed our little car with as much gear as humanly possible and hit the road, no cell phones, no e-mail, no Facebook or any other form of communications that really didn’t exist twenty years ago but now we feel lost without. We spent four days disconnected from everything outside of fishing, campfires and marshmallows. When I arrived back in the office on Monday it dawned on me that we have been away more weekends than we have stayed at home since the summer holidays began. Also that this is not uncommon for most fellow Yukoners during the summer months of endless daylight.

So from a communications perspective, how do we continue to reach our audiences and deliver messages during these tough summer months? and what opportunities are we missing out on?

The first thing I noticed is that each time I return from a camping weekend, I empty my mailbox and go through my Friday mail much more carefully than normal, reading each piece of direct ad mail. I think this is because after staring at campfires for three days, I have become accustomed to mindless activities. That being said, I am suggesting that with the right message or product, timed appropriately, direct mail can still have a place during our summer months.

Summer also means people like to slow down, at home and at work. Slowing down can translate into more time for reading. Therefore target audiences of company blogs, followers of newsletters and even those on Twitter have more time for reading. During the summer months you can really reconnect with an audience or build on already developed relationships by spicing things up and staying consistent with online written communications.

Companies and organizations tend to slow down as well during the summer or at least tend to be a little more laid back. Now is the time to engage stakeholders or partners in preparation for any fall communications you have coming. This could be in the form of short discussions or events and functions designed to entice stakeholders to attend.

One cannot forget that when delivering any type of message from your company, your own staff are your biggest ambassadors for your brand. The summer months present a perfect opportunity to work on internal communications. Strengthen your brand from within so that everyone in your company or organization is speaking the same language and delivering your message better than you could yourself.

These are just some ideas that go through my head while trying to master that perfect s’more. Maybe you have some thoughts or strategies that work for you during the summer months?

vuvuzelas in every corner of the planet

I wanted to write about branding World Cup Soccer, but I got overwhelmed with all the possibilities. So rather than analyze one, here's a couple of very different levels of marketing associated with an epic international event.

How do you attach your brand to an event?

Nike's "Write the Future" campaign demonstrates how soccer legends are made on a global audience, and gives people a chance to write the headlines for their predicted legendary players.

Here's a 3-minute ad worth watching. My favourite moments are when a row of newborns all get named after a soccer-legends, and when the fancy footwork of another player becomes a global dance-move, with a split second ode to Facebook as the "like" category escalates into the millions.  

So you want one of the buzzing horns?

You can buy one on the official merchandise website. Apparently they are as loud as chain saws (I'm thinking bear-deterrent) but if you try to use one as a weapon it will break into three pieces.  

How do you touch the world and every corner of the planet?

It's part of FIFA's brand mission. Here's a breakdown of their brand promise and approach behind the organization and their inspiring proposition: "For the Game. For the World."  

How do you Brand a country?

South Africa has an international marketing council to develop a marketing and communication strategy that promotes South Africa – "Alive with Possibility."  

Brand G20

A brand is not only the raison d'être of an organization; it's also the public's perception it. This perception is often independent of what the organization would like it to be. It's moulded by a lot of factors, and in some cases, the media plays a big part.

You can probably see where I'm going with this.

Last night watching the news I saw footage from at least six different cameras of one measly police car burning in Toronto's city centre. There was a brief scene of the suited leaders smiling and waving goodbye while the CBC reporter announced that the Summit recognized the need to "continue stimulating economic growth". That 15 seconds was followed by more reporting on the bad-apple rioters.

So what is the public left with after the G20 weekend? "Brand G20: Burnt police cars for economic growth":  a perception constructed by CBC. As a member of society affected by the debates at this conference, I'm feeling pretty confused. What is the G20 Brand? What could my perception have been? What other ways can the G20 brand identity reach the public.

Applied Arts awards announced

In further industry news, the Applied Arts have announced the 2010 Photography and Illustration Design Awards.

Check out the Photography and Illustration award sections. 

Rewarding Awards

The best reward for doing a social marketing campaign is seeing behaviour change in response. After launching our "Don't be sick” campaign, we were thrilled every time we saw a Yukoner sneeze into their elbow. Equally thrilling and fantastic is winning the Design Edge Regional Design Awards for the same campaign in two categories: advertising design – print, and advertising design – outdoor.

Remember last winter living with the threat of H1N1 and the unending variety of colds and flus? Working with our client, Health and Social Services, we developed a practical and non-threatening strategy to encourage Yukoners to take action to protect themselves. Our concept consisted of pairing a simple directive (Don't be sick) with a sickly but lovable character who communicated what not to do during cold and flu season, while consistently presenting 3 simple steps (wash your hands, sneeze into your elbow, clean shared surfaces) as an antidote to the spread of colds and flus. Did it work? We have two awards that say so, and we still see Yukoners sneezing into their elbows.

Aasman was also a finalist in the logo category for an identity design for the Old Log Church Museum.

The Design Edge contest received nearly 500 entries from across Canada, and a total of 142 finalists were chosen. Of these finalists, 58 winners were chosen. View the gallery of finalists and winners.