Color Psychology—Blue is the Color of Calm and Constancy

"Blue very profoundly develops the element of calm." —Vasily Kandinsky

Maybe there's a reason that blue is the #1 choice for corporate branding and identity, as many hope to cash in on the intrinsic belief that blue represents constancy, quality and achievement. It's also safe, secure and calming—and universally liked.

Blue often brings to mind the serenity of a clear, cloudless sky, a calm sea and a feeling of familiarity. 

Blue became the color of respected honors, like the blue ribbon of quality and skill.  It is also a popular color that is safe—and less controversial than some others.

They're probably out there, but we've rarely met a male executive who didn't like blue.

• Light Blue: calm, quiet, patient, peaceful, cool, water, clean
• Sky Blue: calming, cool, heavenly, constant true, tranquil, trusting, serene, expansive, open
• Bright Blue: electric, energy, brisk, vibrant, flags, stirring, impressive, aquatic, exhilarating
• Periwinkle: genial, lively, sprightly, convivial, cordial
• Deep Blue: credible, authoritative, basic, conservative, classic, strong, reliable, traditional, uniforms, service, nautical, loyal, confident, professional, introspective (can also be seen as aloof, distant, melancholy)

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Mayo Clinic Leads the Way with Social Media Marketing

Ed Bennet, author of the Web site Found in Cache: Social Media resources for health care professionals from Ed Bennet, advises health care organizations not to get into social media because you think you’re going to get more patients, but because you’re helping be responsive (not responsible) to people reaching out looking for answers.

The Mayo Clinic, a front-runner for using social media in the health care industry, uses it in a variety of ways:

Facebook:

• Patient questions and comments are monitored and responded to by their experts
• Video contests
• Informational videos on various topics
• Patient testimonies
• Automatic blog posts
• Visit the Mayo Clinic's Facebook Page

Blogs:

• newsblog.mayoclinic.org—Features news updates from the Mayo Clinic
• sharing.mayoclinic.org—Features stories from patients, family, friends, and staff of the Mayo clinic

Twitter:

• Tweets about health tips, news updates and patient stories
• See their Twitter page

YouTube:

• Videos feature physicians, patient stories and news stories
• Visit their YouTube Channel

Independent Colleges of Washington Uses Animation to Tell Their Story

Washington's private colleges are a cause we love to support because of the way they change lives and help our state's citizens.

About 40,000 students attend these ten schools—yet the schools receive less than 2% of the state higher education budget. This saves the state more than $330 million per year in operating subsidies—while increasing choice for those attending college. Contrary to what many think, these schools serve an economically diverse student body, providing quality education to students from all demographics and income backgrounds.

We developed this animation for them to help them bring their story to life—and reinforce their key brand messages using a medium that works well on the Web and with social media.

Marketers Continue to Increase Use of Video

Onemarketmedia.com reports that video will be ubiquitous on the Web—and is a top priority for marketers.  Here’s what they say:

According to a survey by Marketing Sherpa, for the second year in a row video marketing is the top priority for marketers surveyed, ahead of SEO, PPC, social media, email marketing and all other online marketing tactics. Turnhere has also released a study in the fall which revealed the same results —“When asked to rank various online marketing priorities for 2010, video was ranked as the top priority.”

In a recent post conference interview Jeremey Allaire, CEO of Brightcove, summarized the outlook for Web-based video this way:

“Video will become as ubiquitous as text on the web.... What weʼve seen happening over the last year is this incredible growth in the number of organizations and corporations, of all types, of all industries, of all sectors of societies, embracing video to enhance what they are doing on the web.”

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Color Shift and New Design Directions Characterize 2011 Logo Trends

Like fashion, design trends are dynamic. Logolounge.com lists these trends in their 2011 report on logo trends:

• Soft gradients 

•  Monoline

• Series Logos

• Brown and grey are being seen more frequently as replacements for the neutral black.

• Loopys

For the full report, click here.

Sometimes change is an improvement, and sometimes it's a step backwards. Which of these trends do you think work best?

Happy 4th of July!

Here are some fun facts about the 4th of July from the U.S. census bureau. Now when you light those firecrackers or raise that flag, you'll know where it most likely came from (you guessed it, China).

2.5 million

In July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation.

309.6 million

The nation's estimated population on July 4, 2010.

$3.0 million

In 2009, the dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags. The vast majority of this amount ($2.5 million) was for U.S. flags made in China.

$920,277

Dollar value of U.S. flags exported in 2009. Mexico was the leading customer, purchasing $333,882 worth.

$209 million

The value of fireworks imported from China in 2009, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imported ($217 million). U.S. exports of fireworks, by comparison, came to just $42.9 million in 2009, with the United Arab Emirates purchasing more than any other country ($14.5 million).

About 1 in 3

The odds that your side dish of baked beans originated from North Dakota, which produced 34 percent of the nation's dry, edible beans in 2009. Another popular Fourth of July side dish is corn on the cob. Florida, California, Georgia, Washington and New York together accounted for 66 percent of the fresh market sweet corn produced nationally in 2009.

31

Number of places nationwide with "liberty" in their name. The most populous one as of July 1, 2008, is Liberty, Mo. (30,568). Iowa, with four, has more of these places than any other state: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty.

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Corporate Image Must Reflect Reality

It's our business to help other businesses with their corporate image. But our work only builds upon what the company already is. In some cases, a company has more to offer than its customers recognize—and that's when a strategically developed communication plan can really help grow the business. Upon occasion, a company wishes to position itself as something more than it is.

While communication can drive corporate culture, there must be parity between what a company wishes to convey—and what they really are. Successful companies know that they must put sustained effort into both to retain the trust of their clients and sustain a thriving business.

Communications Can Restore Sense of Purpose and Meaning to the Workforce

How can we recognize our volunteers? That was the question posed by St. Anthony North Hospital as they prepared to launch their 40-year anniversary campaign.

We assembled this simple animation pairing words and photos to respond to their request, and love the magical qualities represented by these compelling still images. Hiring one of our partner photographers in Colorado, we commissioned her to tell a visual story that captures the generous spirit of these volunteers. Within a week, we had pulled this together, designing it in a way that allows it to be used not only for the anniversary, but for recruiting and recognizing volunteers in the future.

Communicators build culture by the words and images they use—by the stories they tell. This is one of the areas I find most rewarding in our work. It's easy to focus on new products, services and programs, because of their news value. But we all need to remember how important it is to take time to reinforce behaviors that are essential to your corporate culture.

Here are ways to use an animation like this:

• Post it on your Web site
• Post it on your You Tube site
• Show it in orientation, or during the recruiting process
• Show it at events
• Post it on Facebook and other social media sites
• Show it on in-house monitors or TV channels
• Distribute links to it via email

We often find that reminding people of the deeper reasons they chose their profession pays off in significant ways for companies—restoring a bit of soul to the corporate world.

What kind of culture-building communications have you seen lately that worked?

Color Psychology—The Hidden Meanings in Purple

The most magical and intriguing color, purple pairs meditative blue with explosive red. It is a complex color and not often appreciated by left brained, analytical thinkers. Purple is often a great alternate when either blue or red seem an obvious choice.

Purple is often an acquired taste, like many of the flowers and foods that bear it's hue. In ancient times, only the very wealthy could afford to buy purple garments, as the dyes were extracted from tiny mollusks and it took about 336,000 of the tiny snails to yield one ounce of dye. Thus purple became the color of kings, queens, nobles and wealthy, powerful patrons. The color also took on certain mystical, heavenly, transcendental or spiritual properties.

• Lavender: romantic, nostalgic, fanciful, lightweight, lightly scented, playful
• Mauve: wistful, sentimental, thoughtful, feminine
• Amethyst: curative, protective, peace of mind
• Blue Purples: contemplative, meditative, spiritual, soul-searching, intuitive, mysterious, enchanting
• Red Purples: sensual, thrilling, intensely exciting, dramatic, creative, witty, expressive
• Deep Purples: visionary, rich, royal, prestigious, subduing, distant, introspective (aloof)

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7 Ways to Get Your Message Out Without Costly Media Buys

Using video in your marketing strategy is no longer a luxury—in many cases, it’s now considered an essential part of any messaging strategy.

Once you’ve developed the video, make sure you’re maximizing your investment by taking advantage of the many free distribution methods.

1. Company Web site. Increase traffic and interaction by including video on your Web page.
2. Company lobbies. Many companies are using HD video screens in high traffic areas, making it an ideal place for key messages.
3. Mobile. Mobile is the media of the future, so repurposing video with mobile in mind can be a great idea for the right message.
4. Post on your company Facebook page.
5. Share it with your circle of influence by posting it on other social media sites, like Linked In.
6. Post on your company You Tube channel.  If you don’t have one, now’s the time to set it up.
7. Send an email link. Depending on the message, this can go to employees (remember, they’re a sales force too), stakeholders, donors, board members, volunteers and customers.

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Client Showcase—Tips on Conveying a High Tech Image

When Littleton Adventist Hospital installed one of the first 13-second Stat Scanners in the country, they asked us to incorporate this message into a series of ads that helped position their emergency center as high tech. By mixing a re-enactment with a brief description of how the equipment benefits their patients, the ad depicts how the hospital is leading the way in bringing innovative technologies to the community.

It's not always easy to convey a "high tech" message in health care. Here are some tips:

1. Don't include visuals that are unsettling for consumers. By and large, people don't want to see themselves in typical health care settings—having procedures done, blood drawn, surgery or tests.

2. If you are promoting technology, make sure to make the prevailing message one of how it benefits the consumers. Most people don't want to hear about the bells and whistles of a new piece of technology, but are interested in what it can do for their condition or disease.

3. Engage the power of story. Real stories or possible scenarios, told in language people can understand, are almost always effective.

Health care organizations sometimes err on the side of conveying too much technical information, or too much of the softer side. Either one has its risk. We recommend balancing these messages, and making sure that you look at them from an "outside" perspective.

Do you see examples of hospitals that are positioned as high or low tech? High or low "touch"?

Consumers Look for Video Content on Web Sites

Visitors to Web sites are now looking for video content first. Smart businesses can no longer ignore video as part of their marketing and communication strategy. A report on comscore.com states that 174 million US internet users watched online video content in March of 2011—for an average of 14.8 hours per viewer.

The use of video often increases your marketing results. Here are some facts from slingshotseo.com:

1. Video increases engagement, causing visitors to stay longer on your site—and making them more likely to buy.
2. 65 percent of visitors will watch a video to completion—compared with only 10 percent who will read an entire Web site.
3. 12 percent of users coming from a video are ready to buy—compared to only 1 percent for text-only users.

You Tube is the second largest search engine next to Google, and last year alone You Tube reportedly exceeded 2 billion views per day.

Are you where people are looking for you?

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Good Photos Are a Marketer's Secret Weapon

Photos say things words cannot.

In the examples here, the photos say professional or unprofessional, friendly or distant, engaged or posed. We see far too many bad pictures in general—photos that actually detract from the kind of message the organization is trying to convey.

Why is this? Well, often it's a matter of vision. Marketers who understand the power of a good photo budget for a professionally-taken collection with which to work. In the same way that hiring the right architect can make all the difference in a first impression for your building, hiring the right photographer can make all the difference in a first impression for your company.

Anyone can take a photo, but it takes a skilled professional to make a photo tell a compelling story—and do it in a way that reflects handsomely on your organization. The black and white photos below were taken for our client St. Anthony North Hospital by one of our partner photographers (we have a small group of hand-picked, top-drawer photographers in the markets where we regularly do work).

Some believe that professional photography is too expensive, but we say that amateur photography actually costs the organization too much in terms of image.

There are ways to get the most from your photography budget, and we'll talk more about that in a future post. But professional photography is an absolute necessity for any organization attentive to their public image.

So now let's hear from you. Based on the pictures below, what kind of impressions do have about the organizations represented?

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Client Showcase—North Ridge Medical Practice Steps Ahead of the Competition in their Promotion

This new campaign for North Ridge Medical Practice in Colorado combined direct mail with a mini-animation ad—
allowing for targeted advertising and putting them ahead of their competition by having a more Web-friendly, social media-friendly promotion. The presence of the mini-animation ad also delivers information in a format that consumers are showing preference for.

Physicians who can deliver strong, targeted messages using contemporary media will likely experience immediate growth in their practice if the message is right and the market has pent-up demand. You can see how they've used this on their  Web site—and how it not only brings the Web page to life but reinforces their key brand messages.

Have you seen other physician practices breaking out of the print ad-only approach to promotion?

Have you heard about Facebook's EdgeRank?

Have you noticed how only certain people's posts show up in your news feed? This is because Facebook uses something called EdgeRank to determine which status updates you will see in your top news feed. In order to do this, Facebook has developed an algorithm which takes into account affinity, weight and time decay.

• Affinity is determined by your interaction with another user or page. The more you view their page or content, the higher your affinity score will be for them.
• Weight is calculated by the ways you interact with other pages or users. For example, commenting on a picture will have a higher weight than simply liking it.
• Time is probably the easiest to understand, and simply means that the older a post, the lower a score it will have.

If you want to test your EdgeRank score, EdgeRankChecker.com  has developed an algorithm which allows you to do so. This score is closely related to how visible your status updates are on your fans' pages.

If you get a poor score, here are  some ways to improve it.

• Try to focus on posting content that encourages interaction such as photos, videos,  links or questions.  
• Ask for feedback from users. Encourage people to comment and to like your entries.
• Pose questions to your readers.
• Be a frequent user. The more you share, the higher your chance of interaction will be.

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Seven Ways to Use Video to Improve Your Marketing

The demand for receiving content by video continues to explode, making it by necessity an important part of your marketing mix. Video can be used in many ways for communicating the same things as traditional media has been used for, but its ability to convey through images, sound and motion makes it higher impact.

Here are some of the ways you can consider using video:

1. Communicate key messages. Putting a face to key company messages makes it more personal and memorable, and because it can be made available any time, any place, over time it allows you to reach a broader audience than live presentations can.
2. Recognize top employees or volunteers. Nothing inspires like hearing the story of another person who is passionate about his or her work. This kind of message helps to build a culture of excellence—reinforcing behaviors that fulfill your company’s goals.
3. Share news. When announcing a new product or service, video should be part of your roll-out campaign.
4. Offer testimonials. Feature clients talking about your brand to bring added credibility to your message.
5. Show—vs. tell. When you want to teach, use video. An ideal medium for orientation and training, it’s the next best thing to being there in person.
6. Go viral. Not every video is a candidate for going viral, but one that has entertainment value is more likely to do so. More and more companies are couching subtle product messages in viral-style videos to promote this kind of distribution.
7. Repurpose ads. By all means, make sure you’re posting TV ads—in addition to buying air time for them. It’s also possible to create a kinetic motion production (type animation) that restates a print ad—but adds the elements of sound and motion.
8. Communicate internally. Video can capture the soul of an organization, and fuel its core mission.

Once you’ve developed your video, make sure you’re maximizing your investment by taking advantage of every distribution method (many of which are free).

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On Writing Well—Don't Make 'em Work For It

Readers are impatient, and don’t want to invest their precious time in a message that doesn’t concern them. Good writers know they’ll have one shot to get the reader’s attention, so copy should pass the “drive-by” test. If, in the space of a three-second glance, one cannot tell what your offer is, don’t expect your reader to stay longer to figure it out.

The challenge, of course, is that you can’t say everything in the headline, or even the first sentence. And it’s easy to assume too much about the reader. When in doubt, ask someone unfamiliar with your topic to read the copy and stop when they’ve decided they’re no long interested. Or ask them to read only the headline and tell them what they think the ad will be about.

You might be surprised at what you learn.

Three Things Your Competitors Don't Want You to Know about Video

Adding video to your online marketing campaign can significantly improve your results. Here are some facts from onemarketmedia.com. 

Better ROI

In a study by Eyeblaster of online advertising campaigns, video increased dwell rate on ads by 20% and dwell time by 100%. Another study by Dynamic Logic also indicated significant improvements in brand favorability, aided brand awareness and purchase intent of rich media ads with video compared to traditional static display ads.

Higher engagement

Video is the best way to keep visitors to your site engaged and the best way to engage people with your brand. Time-on-page and time-on-site numbers increase when you add video. Images, podcasts, polls, charts and graphics are all great but nothing engages a website visitor more effectively than video. There are hundreds of blog posts and articles like this one where Patrick Moran explains how his sales team improved their close rates by 20% and online registrations by over 25% using web based video.

SEO

Type in ʻVideoʼ and ʻSEOʼ in Google and you will discover many articles explaining how video can improve your SEO results. With the launch of Universal Search from Google, you should expect to see more and more video results occupying the search engine results that are served up by Google. That means Google is prioritizing video in itʼs search algorithm. Not only will video help promote your products and services online it can also help those products and services get found online.

Smart businesses are responding to video with a resounding yes! Check to see if your competitors are doing the same.

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Sweat the Details and Get a Proof

Your creative project is finished, and now it's time to send it to the vendor for printing or production. But never assume that once it is out the door it doesn't need your attention anymore.

On the contrary, mistakes often occur in production. Here's an example of a recent problem we navigated.

The project below was for a mall display (featured last week on our blog).  As always, we include a printed proof along with the design files, so the production team can see how it should render—and this can often save mistakes in the final stages of a project.

Even then, it isn't uncommon for something to go wrong—which is why we insist on seeing proofs.  In this case, we went through three proofs before getting it right.

In the first, the outside vendor producing the actual display introduced those odd shadows around and across the bottom of the icon where there should have been a drop shadow instead. In the second, they corrected this problem but introduced a new one—the registration was off causing the type to appear blurred. We sent it back with instructions and finally got it resolved in the third round.

Sweating the details at every stage of the project is the only way to ensure that you receive the quality of work your firm aspires to.

Attempt 1: Drop shadow didn't print correctly

Attempt 2: Registration was slightly off resulting in blurred type

Spine Billboard Wins Gold Aster Award

We just learned that the successful “Get your back back. In Walla Walla.” outdoor board we developed with Providence St. Mary Medical Center Regional Spine Center has received a Gold Award from the Aster Awards Competition which honors excellence in medical marketing.

The Aster Awards, one of the largest national competitions of its kind, received approximately 3,000 entries from the United States, Canada and South America.  Participant’s entries competed against similar-sized organizations in their category.

Gold Awards reflect a score that ranks the creative work in the top 5% of entries submitted. Judging criteria includes creativity, layout and design, functionality, message effectiveness, production quality and overall appeal.

Here are a few of the distinctive attributes of this billboard that contribute to its success:

• Short, seven-word headline works with image to create instant understanding that this is an ad for relief of back pain.
• Alliteration in the headline makes it memorable.
• Use of the city’s name connects with local readers, and makes it clear to regional readers that the service is in Walla Walla.
• Vivid colors tie in with the center’s corporate colors, but are also vibrant and suggest health.

Twitter Proves Ideal for Crises Communication

Twitter is proving itself more useful than founder Jack Dorsey ever could have anticipated.

After the earthquake in Japan, when local phone networks became overloaded, people turned to Twitter—and other social media sites—for their communication.

Twitter Japan used their page to send out helpful information to their followers in both English and Japanese, including several general hashtags for people to use (for those that are new to Twitter, hashtags allow people to easily search tweets for keywords that are proceeded by the # symbol). These tags for the Japanese earthquake included:

•   #Jishin—general earthquake information

•   #J_j_helpme—requests for rescue or other aid

•   #Hinan—evacuation information

On March 12, the most common hashtag—general earthquake information—was mentioned almost 400,000 times in tweets.

In the revolution in Tunisia, Twitter was also responsible for sending out warnings to people, for organizing protests and for making calls for help. Below are some of the tweets sent out during the revolution.

Then there is also the original Twitter story of James Karl Buck, a graduate student who was covering the protests in Egypt and was arrested. His one-word tweet "arrested" was sent to his Twitter followers and within moments they were working on getting him out of jail.

These stories hint at the power social media sites like Twitter and Facebook have—in the right application.

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Hospital Anniversary Campaign Uses Video to Tell the Story

We produced a series of mini-videos for St. Anthony North Hospital's 40-Year Anniversary campaign—all of which are posted on their Web site, their You Tube channel and their Facebook pages. Each of the personal interviews tells a piece of their story—what the hospital means to its community, its distinctive mission and its vision for the future.

Quality videos are getting more cost-effective to produce. This, coupled with the the pervasive consumer  appetite for video, should make it a part of any significant campaign.

What are your reactions to this campaign? Do you think St. Anthony North's message was effectively communicated to the community? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.

Hospital Anniversary Campaign—Entertain, Celebrate and Communicate with Video

We departed from the more serious style of the anniversary campaign interviews (which will post next Monday) to produce something fun that showcases the hospital employees, who were happily cooperative with some of our creative directing. We loved being able to capture the wonderful spirit of the people at St. Anthony Hospital North, and think this video not only does that, but can help generate internal enthusiasm for this celebration.

Whenever a production can be entertaining, it increases its chance of being distributed virally. While this one will be posted on their web site, You Tube channel and Facebook page, we hope viewers will also send their friends links to the video.

Check back next week for the final installment of this campaign: testimonial videos featuring the leaders of St. Anthony North.

Hospital Anniversary Campaign—Outdoor Advertising

This week we're following the launch of a hospital anniversary campaign for our client, St. Anthony North Hospital in North Metro Denver. Today we're featuring their outdoor elements. Outdoor advertising is a good supporting media, and although it can't tell the full story, it can reinforce the key messages. Creatively speaking, it is the hardest to develop because the message must be so short in order to be read quickly.

See how the transit and outdoor ads above support the hospital's broader messages for their 40-year anniversary campaign.

Check back tomorrow to view the entertaining employee video for this campaign, and see how to engage your own workforce in your organization's strategic messages.

Hospital Anniversary Campaign Incorporates Kinetic Typography

Kinetic typography is a new way of telling your story. It’s essentially a mini-ad that can be used in a variety of ways. Here’s how St. Anthony Hospital North used it as part of their 40-year anniversary campaign:

• Posted on their You Tube Channel
• Posting it on Facebook
• Posting it on their hospital Web site
• Sending links virally—to employees, physicians, donors and key stakeholders

Click the links below to see some of our other kinetic typography projects:

• Dimensions Pain Management 
• Independent Colleges of Washington

And check out some of the other ways that companies are using animation: 

• Good Magazine Infographics 
• (Starbucks)Red Campaign 
• Starbucks Tribute Days 

Check back tomorrow to see our outdoor advertising solutions for this campaign.