Client Showcase—Using Direct Mail to Identify Qualified Leads

When St. Anthony North Hospital in Westminster, Colorado, called on us to get the word out quickly about upcoming classes, we created this colorful, engaging direct mail piece to send to their target market. Working within the corporate graphic standards, we developed a distinctive look for their class schedule, which helps drives qualified leads to key services.

Client Showcase—Pacific EP Invitation

We worked with the Los Angeles-based Pacific Rim Electrophysiology Research Institute, under the direction of internationally renown Koonlawee Nademanee, MD, to create an invitation for an open house promoting this remarkable facility.

Dr. Nademanee has developed an advanced cardiac electrophysiology procedure (EP) that offers new hope and vitality to patients suffering from EP problems. We also developed the logo for the Institute, which has offices on the campus of White Memorial Medical Center in California, as well as in Hawaii and Thailand.

This direct mail piece won a 2010 Silver Award in the 7th Annual Service Industry Advertising Awards.

How well are you prepared to protect your reputation in a crisis?

Bad things can and do happen to good organizations. In fact, issues that may be out of public sight can surface and create severe image-damaging situations at any moment in time. To see if you’re prepared, ask yourself the following:

1. Do you have a crisis management plan?
2. Have you identified which team members you'll trust internally during a high profile event?
3. Are the right decision makers and managers ready to act and make decisions quickly?
4. Do you have a trained spokesperson who can effectively mitigate, manage and present a believable face for your organization when the media calls?
5. Can you activate the right political and regulatory agencies to either be neutral or come to your support?

If you're concerned about your readiness for such a crisis, consider conducting (or hiring an outside firm to do so) an audit to identify your weak points. A good crisis communication plan can not only help preserve your reputation and avoid lawsuits, but help your company survive the financial setbacks these kinds of crises can create.

Client Showcase—Academic Bulletin Covers

Showing real faces is always compelling, especially when they're faces that exude vibrancy and promise. By using existing imagery, we partnered with Walla Walla University to create professional, yet affordable, bulletin covers that invite the reader inside.

Client Showcase—A New Look for an Old Firm

Gresham Savage is the widely recognized leader for business, litigation, real estate, environmental and land use law in Inland Southern California—but their visual image was dated and tired, and failed to reflect the level of excellence seen in their work. We conducted a corporate makeover for this 100-year-old firm and developed a new visual brand identity that gave them a fresh, sophisticated look.

Their new branding package includes not only a new logo and business suite, but supporting pieces like a presentation folder, note cards, mailing labels, templates for news alerts, e-mail signatures, and PowerPoint templates. We also consulted with their web development team to help design the visual appearance of their new website, which now coordinates with the rest of the brand elements. The new look sets the stage for their centennial celebration that occurs this year—ushering in the new decade with dignity.

Client Showcase—Hospice Direct Mail

Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital is raising money for an innovative, home-like facility for hospice patients who are unable to live out their final days at home. This direct mail piece launched their fund-raising campaign for Cottage in the Meadow and revitalized conversations about living every stage of life fully.

The imagery of the piece reflects the idyllic setting of Cottage in the Meadow, inspiring the reader to become a part of something destined to matter deeply to those who need this kind of care.

The Art of Civilized Conversation

This pleasant little book declares itself to be a guide to expressing yourself with style and grace—and that it does. It's a delightful read for those looking to polish their speaking skills and offers practical advice on topics like:

Greetings and introductions
Body language
10 rules of good conversation
Rescuing oneself from conversation blunders
Conversations with all kinds of people
On-line conversations
Graceful apologies
Conversation starters (and stoppers)
Being a gracious hostess

The authors share practical and entertaining advice about finding the right words for any situation—even the most difficult.

This book isn't just for professional communicators, but is a good book for anyone aspiring to be a better conversationalist. Buy it here.

Independence Day

"We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls." —Robert J. McCracken

Client Showcase—Using Testimonials to Promote Your Service

Littleton Adventist Hospital (LAH) wanted a piece to follow up on the successful “Littleton Loves Little Ones” campaign, reminding women why they should have their babies at LAH. To do this, we showcased real moms who chose Littleton. We then listed physicians who delivered at the hospital, and we encouraged recipients to “ask your doctor to take you to Littleton.”

The campaign garnered a Gold Award in the Aster Awards, a Silver Award in the 23rd Annual Healthcare Advertising Awards and a Bronze Leaf Award in the Colorado Healthcare Communicators Gold Leaf Awards. The direct mail piece itself won a Gold Award in the 4th Annual Service Industry Advertising Awards.

Client Showcase—Pacific EP Business Suite

The Los Angeles-based Pacific Rim Electrophysiology Research Institute, under the direction of internationally renown Koonlawee Nademanee, MD, worked with us to developed a new visual brand identity that gave a fresh, sophisticated look to the institute.

This business suite won a 2010 Award of Merit in the 7th Annual Service Industry Advertising Awards.

Outdoor Advertising Offers More Than Traditional Billboards

Considering its cost, its effectiveness and the range of options, outdoor advertising can be an ideal supporting media for your ad campaign. Outdoor advertising can include:

• Junior Posters—These are displays positioned close to street level and targeting pedestrian traffic on secondary arterials in urban areas.
• Poster—Posters are good for new product campaigns, promotions, seasonal and special events.
• Bulletins—The largest standard-sized form of out-of-home advertising, these are found on expressways and primary arteries and offer the benefit of heavy traffic.
• Buses—These gain high exposure with pedestrians and vehicles, and carry your message to where the people are.
• Transit Shelters—These are along busy bus routes, are backlit for night viewing, and are sometimes available where larger media are not permitted.
• Bus Benches—These reach mobile customers and are located at eye-level within bus stops in high traffic area.
• Digital Displays—These are the future of out-of-home advertising. Using an LED technology, these rotate messages every 10-12 seconds, don't involve production fees, and can be put up within hours. Messages can be changed easily, so these can accommodate time-sensitive material well.

With more people spending time on the go, outdoor advertising can be an effective way to build brand awareness.

Source

Client Showcase—Avista Historic Ad

We developed this print ad for Avista Adventist Hospital in Colorado. As it was to run in a publication that featured the 150-year anniversary of Boulder, Colorado, we wanted to give it some historical perspective. Using archival images of the hospital and staff, juxtaposed with modern-day ones, we were able to create the message that although everything is different, nothing has changed.

The Word Doctor—Excise Idle Words

Some words are known for contributing little to a sentence. A good example is "there is." See how excising this improves these sentences:

Before: There is something terrible happening here today!
After: Something terrible is happening!

Losing the dead wood in your writing will make your copy easier to read and punchier.

Marketing Makeover—Will your direct mail piece be read?

Good design can make the difference in whether a reader will pick up your direct mail piece and read it—or not. Here's an example of a direct mail piece from My Postcard Company that could benefit from a Marketing Makeover. Here's what we'd recommend:

• Use fewer, but higher impact, photos. Photographs and images are what draw us into a piece. It's tempting to want to deliver too many messages via too many images, which results in reducing the piece's impact.
• Create contrast. Using dark blue and black together like this is both hard to read and uninteresting visually.
• Make a stronger promise, that speaks to something the reader cares about.
• Avoid vague, cliche' taglines that don't intrigue or connect with the reader.

Because we all suffer from viewer fatigue, we dismiss anything that doesn't immediately catch our eye or speak to our interests. Effective communicators break through this by presenting a message the reader cares about and can grasp with minimal effort.

Send us a piece you'd like critiqued. It might be featured in our next Marketing Makeover.

The Anatomy of a Good Photo

A picture truly depicts more in an instant than a page of copy. That's why we encourage our clients to use the very best photography their budgets will allow. While stock images have their place, it's hard to beat the impact of a custom image, where even seemingly unimportant details are the result of careful thought. Here's just some of the background that went into making this image work for an Emergency Department campaign we developed recently.

• Photographer selection. Photographers each have their own artistic interpretations, abilities and talents. Once you're clear about what you want in the picture, matching that to the right photographer is crucial.

• Setting. Where will the shot be taken? Will it be on location, or in a studio? We opted for a studio shot for this because we could control the environment--and didn't have to interrupt the client's flow of business. We then had to make decisions like what color the walls would be, what kind of and how many chairs would be needed, and what type of props would contribute to the message. We contemplated using three chairs or five, thinking about how that would impact context and visual balance.

• Talent. Should the waiting room be full of people, or show just mother and child? We explored both, but the decision to select mother and child won out because it allowed the reader to focus on the subject without distraction. We wanted the reader to relate to the frustration of waiting, which they can best do when all of their attention is on the person shown. Then, of course, we needed to determine age, gender, and general appearance. How old should the girl be—an infant or a child?

• Wardrobe. What kind of clothes, haircut, accessories, and props would help tell the story? These needed to mirror the demographics of the community where the ad was running.

• Props. Are other props necessary? Magazines on the chairs? A blanket or teddy bear for the child? How big? Old or new? Should we show a purse? And if so, on a chair or in front of a chair?

• Composition. Should the mother be looking off camera, at the child, or into the camera? We tried several, but liked her looking off camera because it depicts restlessness.

Every detail is considered because it contributes to the desired impression. Eight people were involved in the creation of this emergency room image—which makes the job that much more fun. Imagine all that creative talent focused one picture!

I love this part of our work because creating strong images is not only a delightful ceative endeavor, but it also gives the client something unique that they can build a campaign around. In some applications, only a custom shot will do the job. But in every application, using a high quality image can nearly always separate you from the competition.

Client Showcase—Launching a Pain Center That Offers Hope

We've recently worked with Avista Adventist Hospital to launch a pain management program. In developing their new logo, business package and Web site, we used bold, vital colors to promote a fresh look for their brand that suggests hope and optimism—a much-needed message for those suffering from chronic and acute pain. Using the letter D from their name, the icon creates a flower image that evokes vitality and life.

Faster, Farther, Bigger

A week's worth of information found in the New York Times is believed to be more than what a person obtained in his/her entire lifetime in the 18th century. Our ability to send information globally at unprecedented speeds creates a world of opportunities—and challenges. This insightful video highlights the research done by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod and Jeff Brenman on the explosion of connectivity, which has implications for how marketers and communicators do their work.

Client Showcase—Wisdom Cards

We've recently redesigned these Wisdom Cards cards for the Two Worlds Wisdom School, the brainchild of our friends the Kaisers, who are well known for their visioning work with corporations—particularly in healthcare. One of the most talented families I know, they are launching the first of a series of Wisdom Cards as part of their efforts to bring timeless wisdom into the world of business.

You'll be sure to find inspiration just by visiting their site. We found it in our design work with them as we brought together original silk artwork, commissioned by them just for this initiative, and timeless pearls of wisdom—to create cards that can be custom imprinted for corporations or individuals.

Memorial Day

"A nation that does not honor it's heros, will not long endure."

—President Abraham Lincoln

Image Source

Client Showcase—Port of Walla Walla Brochure

The Port of Walla Walla turned to CMBell Company to develop their primary promotional brochure used to attract new businesses to the region. This easy-to-browse, colorful piece featured beautiful images of the area and colorful language—all of which made a compelling case for businesses to relocate in eastern Washington's Walla Walla Valley.

Photo Techniques—Color Options

When selecting images, think about whether the image works best in color or grayscale. Here are some guidelines to help you decide which will serve you best:



Grayscale photographs work best when the image exhibits strong textures. For example, wood grain, battered metal and repeated patterns work well. Grayscale photos appear to be and advantage when there's high tonal contrast. If an image lacks color saturation or color contrast, it might be best to run it in grayscale.



An image will work best in color when strong color contrast exists. Examples of colors that contrast well are blue and orange, light green and red or purple and yellow. A photo with strong color contrast does not always have strong tonal contrast, and thus may look better in color than in grayscale.


Some grayscale photos lack enough texture and contrast to make them visually appealing. In such cases, it is possible to colorize them to bring out more detail.

Client Showcase—I Will Brochure

Los Angeles-based White Memorial Medical Center asked CMBell Company to develop a series of communication tools that show how their team lives the hospital’s mission and values. The piece, which accompanies a companion video, features real employees, physicians and board members talking about how the mission and values affect their work at White Memorial. Anyone who has ever been there will know that this topic isn't just talk at this hospital--it permeates the organization. I credit their leadership team for being able to walk the talk, and inspiring their colleagues to do likewise.

Best Global Brands

Want to know what strong brands know? Interbrand ranks global consumer brands by using metrics like financial data, ability to influence demand at point of purchase, and global reach (privately held brands or those limited to the US are not included).

You can see the top 100 brands for 2009 here.

Ten Ways to Be a Better Conversationalist

Anyone can improve their communication by becoming a better conversationalist. Do you know these ten rules of good conversation?

• Tell the truth
• Don't ramble
• Don't interrupt
• Ask questions and listen to the answers
• Don't take advantage of people
• Don't dwell on appearances
• Don't touch taboo topics
• Disagree in a civilized fashion
• Don't be a bore
• Don't gossip

Source: The Art of Civilized Conversation, by Margaret Shepherd and Sharon Hogan. Buy it here.

When the Answer is "No"

If you're in charge of your organization's image, be very particular about what you say “yes” to. Many marketing departments are buried with internal requests for things that are of marginal importance to the organization. While marketing leaders want to be of service to their internal departments, some requests can keep us from doing what is most important for the organization. Whenever we choose to take one action, we are by default choosing not to do another, simply because of the limitations of our time. This can result in lost opportunity.

In the end, we must ask ourselves what are the most important things we can be doing for our organization given our limited time. Working longer hours is not always the answer; we must all learn to make better choices and work smarter.