March, 2009

Uncategorized — 2 Comments
26
Mar 09

FreeRice.com

This morning I found my 10 year old son, Cameron, eating his Cheerios in front of a laptop. I’m usually a little sensitive about my kids eating around the laptop, especially when milk is involved, but I was shocked to see him playing a math multiplication game. I asked him what he was doing and he told me, as he pointed to a rice bowl on the screen, that he was helping feed people who are hungry. Intrigued, I sat down and watched him for a couple minutes. Every time he got a question right a little more rice was added to the bowl. FreeRice.com was the website he was on. I did some research after he left for school. For every right answer, FreeRice.com donates 10 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program. It doesn’t sound like much but just yesterday alone they donated 71,701,720 grains of rice, enough to feed almost 4,000 people a full days supply of food. The ironic thing is that I’ve tried getting Cameron interested in on-line math games that blow up aliens or sink pirate ships and he’s never been interested. Here’s a video that explains how it works.

-James

freerice2 FreeRice.com

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Free Advice — 1 Comment
26
Mar 09

Every Document is a Marketing Tool

Every scrap of paper that leaves your business is performing a marketing function. Many businesses, large and small, overlook this simple idea.

You send invoices, fax covers, memo, notes, requests and all other manner of “non-marketing” related correspondence to – you guessed it – your clients, referral sources, and prospects.

It’s a pretty simple thing to:
• make sure these documents also conform to the image you project in your marketing materials; and
• make them sell a little.

There’s no harm in introducing a new product or service in every communication, regardless of how mundane:
• put your company story on the back of work orders;
• list all of your products and services on fax covers;
• insert a coupon for a special offering in your statements;
• put two business cards in your thank you notes.

Many small businesses make the mistake of assuming that an existing client knows all about everything you offer. No, they probably know about the one thing they buy from you. Continue to subtly educate at all times. It’s this attention to detail that, over time, adds to the collective marketing momentum your business needs.

- Ed

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News — 1 Comment
25
Mar 09

The New MAD

I go to New York City at least once a year to visit my family. I don’t tour around too much because I spent many years living there. Mostly I hang with my sister and catch up with the family and in the process I weave my way through the various neighborhood and shops. Next visit though, I plan to check out the new Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) at 2 Columbus Circle. It just opened in September 2008. Formerly the American Craft Museum (chock full of folk art, which I love) it was located across the street from The Museum of Modern Art — quite the contrast. 

MAD still has folk art (part of  the permanent collection, Permanently MAD), but has expanded to include a gorgeous collection of design. The biggest buzz, however, is the building itself. It has been transformed. I can’t tell you how many times I walked past the original “lollipop” structure. Check out the before and after shots. If you’re really interested, there’s a NY Times video clip on how the architects made the leap.

—Martha

2cc after21 The New MAD

2 Columbus Circle Before. Note the "lollipop" motif at ground level.

2ccafter 197x300 The New MAD

2 Columbus Circle After

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News — 7 Comments
19
Mar 09

It’s Alive!

Launching this new website is almost like waking up on January 1st, or graduating high-school. There’s so much possibility ahead of us, the future is wide-open and it’s all tremendously exciting!

So without getting too emotional, the Team at GCI would like to extend our warmest of welcomes to you!

Everyone on the Team will be contributing to this blog and we hope it serves as a place of inspiration for our visitors, and an open forum to discuss everything advertising. Maybe we’ll even discuss a couple things that aren’t (like who keeps hogging all the coffee mate creamer)!

We invite you to join in the discussion by leaving comments and feedback for us on our posts and getting in touch with us via the contact page.

We look forward to our future, and hope you will be a part of it!

–Paul

cheers Its Alive!

Cheers!

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Uncategorized — 5 Comments
18
Mar 09

Simplicity

I love the idea of selling an idea as simply as possible. This Volvo ad is a great example. The image piques the viewer’s interest and then the payoff is very clear with the logo. The tagline under it is simply an extra at that point to enhance the benefit. This works because Volvo has done such a great job, always positioning themselves clearly as one thing, ‘Safe,’ anything else they say falls second. Something to consider when deciding how much should go into messaging.

volvo safety pin Simplicity

This ad for Volvo was produced in Japan, but it’s easy to understand anywhere.

 

 

-Jenny

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News — 1 Comment
16
Mar 09

Hard Rock – Rockin’ Interactive

I was checking out some other blogs and followed a trail from what I thought was a cool print ad for the Hard Rock Cafe to what is indisputably an awesome interactive website demoed here on the creating firm, Duncan Channon’s youtube channel. Prepare to drop your jaw at how much work went into this thing, it’s truly incredible.

hardrock1 300x169 Hard Rock Rockin Interactive

-Jenny

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Current Projects — 1 Comment
12
Mar 09

Some Days Are Almost Too Much Fun

 

gci team Some Days Are Almost Too Much Fun

Designer/Director Martha Guilfoyle, Photographer Paul Thomas, and Videographer James Waugh hard at work.

 

The Team was in audio/visual mode yesterday, working on a motorcycle safety program that will go statewide. Oh sure, we can take a lot of credit for all the effort that went into coordinating four motorcycle officers, five motorcycle riders and great locations. But what really sealed the deal on the day was glorious sunshine and blue skies a mere two days after snow.

Of course, when you mix burly bikers clad in leather on tricked out machines with two city police officers and two State Troopers on their motorcycles, you’re bound to attract an audience. It was heartening to talk with the public and hear nothing but positive comments. More than a few looked a bit perplexed to see cops and bikers laughing and getting along. Isn’t it fun to break people out of their stereotypical comfort zones?

One man said several times in a three-minute conversation how valuable he thought the motorcycle safety training he took had been to him. He was sure it had saved his life over years of riding in traffic. He said his young son loves motorcycles, too, and when he is old enough, he’ll have to go through the training before ever riding on the road. We need more parents like that.

What a fantastic day — sunshine, a great client, excellent “actors” and The Team working seamlessly doing good work for the public good. What’s not to like about that?

- Ed

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Free Advice — 1 Comment
6
Mar 09

Market Research Shortcut

Looking for how to reach your target customers, but don’t have the resources to find or conduct market research surveys? Here’s a suggestion for source information that someone’s already collected for you.

Use management tools to get into their heads. Search the web or go to any bookstore and you’ll find all kinds of scholarly tomes on how to manage people in certain age groups or generations. These share something in common with market research — they go into great detail about what that generation thinks about, what they like, how they interact with others, what they do to get what they want.

Managers who are not part of that generation (usually older) use this information to reach them in their own language, on their own terms. The net goal for the manager is to make their employees understand the value to them of doing what the manager wants.

Now substitute “advertiser” and “customers.” The net goal for the advertiser is to make their customers understand the value to them of doing what the advertiser wants. Hmmmm … sounds just like marketing, doesn’t it?

– Ed

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