Vacation as Inspiration!

To us vacation is not just a time to relax it is a time to get inspired and bring those inspirations back home and put them to work!
Here are some great stories from our staff. These vacations inspired them in some way and is part of what makes them as creative as they are!

San Francisco My Long Lost Love by: Cortney Kreer, Designer

My best vacation I've had in recent memory was the long weekend I spent in San Francisco last year. I wanted to visit the city for almost my entire adult life, and when I got there for the first time it felt like I was coming home. Walking up and down the streets of the city and just people watching -- the old hippies, the street punks, the hipsters and the yuppies alike --- was inspiring simply because everyone was so different than the folks I was so used to back East. I heard of the West Coast Mentality but had never really understood it until I saw it and heard it. It was like finding my own voice in another, like meeting family I didn't know I had.

We stayed with a friend in San Rafael, in this quintessential West Coast mid-century modernist ranch house. He took us into the city by ferry and we saw the famous California fog. It looked like frozen ocean waves crashing from the middle of the sky onto the horizon. Later in the weekend we also drove into the city over the Golden Gate Bridge and passed by the mile markers and the suicide phones overlooking the dizzying drop into the Pacific.

Driving through the city, you could smell eucalyptus and ocean water on the air. Heat of the surrounding cars mixed with cool breezes from the bay.

On Saturday night we went out to DNA lounge for "Bootie" which is a mashup show that I follow pretty closely (bootiemashup.com). It was insane to be there finally after listening to the MP3s for however many years. I got to meet DJ Earworm, my all-time favorite mashup dj, and there was a live show where this guy came out dressed as a jelly donut and started rapping over the singing of a Debbie Harry impersonator.

We also got a chance to visit Amoeba Music, which is giant record store in the Haight-Ashbury district. I have loved the artwork on vinyl album covers since I was a child (looking at Queen's News of the World album stands out as my first terrifying memory) so this was a visual feast for me. We spent hours looking through vintage vinyl. I grabbed a copy of Starland Vocal Band's self-titled album for a dollar just because the typography was so cool. I later found out it included "Afternoon Delight" which is hilarious if you've ever seen Anchorman.

In my experience, I've found that things are almost never how I envision they will be. California was the only exception. San Francisco was exactly how I wanted it to be, and in ways it was even better. After the (all too short) weekend I spent there I was convinced that I would live there, and I still am convinced of that. I still think about the overwhelming sights and sounds and people and places and I long to be back there. So if I disappear and you never hear from me again, that's probably where I am.

It is a gorgeous day here in at AMG. We are embracing the warm weather with open arms... this has definitely been a long time coming! We hope you are enjoying your day as well and if not (or even if you are) perhaps this interview with our Creative Director Albert Whitley can help to bring a little more enjoyment to your day! If you are familiar with AM+G’s work that you have definitely seen a lot of Albert’s work. He is currently working on a revamping our capability statement so keep looking back for its premier.

Albert Whitley is an award-winning designer / design director with 10 years of experience in strategic brand design from integrated marketing programs, digital design, print and online advertising, branded experiences, environments, social media, packaging and print applications.

He is driven by equal parts design and business. As a design visionary, Albert's synthesis of the design profession is to be culturally sensitive, inspire, and to connect with meaning. His vast experiences, has allowed him to develop and lead world-class design solutions which impact brand strategy and increase business growth.

He has collaborated alongside with senior executives and creative leaders to create meaningful design solutions for global brands such as Adobe, Amway Global, BMW, Herman Miller, Maybelline New York, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and Tele Atlas. His design contributions have been recognized and awarded by leading design publications, and appeared as a guest critic and panelist in leading discussions on design practice and trends.

Albert graduated from The Art Institute of Atlanta with a degree in Graphic Design. He currently serves on the AIGA Atlanta chapter board for the professional organization for design and The Society of Typographic Aficionado, an organization dedicated to type, typography and related arts.

Did you always want to do advertising?

I can remember in high school having a passion for communication, technology and science. Advertising and design sort of found me. A former high school teacher introduced me to the profession early on and my mom, in her own way, also introduced it to me advertising and design. My mom would always have me create church bulletins, plus my high school classmates always had me make flyers for parties. It was kind of fun, I learned what a printing was early on without even knowing what a printing press really was. Oddly enough I found myself addicted to creating stories, making imagery and playing with my Mac in my free time.

Why did you decide to start your own company?
Coming from a family of entrepreneur’s it has always been ingrained in our mind as kids – my sister and I – to run our own businesses. I have always had a passion for business, the process of operations and the endurance to sustain a healthy client base has always interested me. When I was 20, I started working for my father's company, MED transit, as a part-time driver and would drive patients to their doctor's appointments on a weekly basis. It was nice to make some extra cash for the summer but when I began to understand how my performance as a driver impacted business I knew that I wanted to own my own design studio.

Did you work anywhere before?
I was employed by a leading design agency, Grant Design Collaborative in Canton, GA. I learned a great deal from Mr. Grant and the design team about communication design, brand design and development, print, digital design, showroom design and product design. We wore many hats there. We did not do the traditional role of a designer and I really appreciate the lessons i learned there as a designer.

Favorite part of advertising?
My favorite part about advertising is the ideation and design development process. I enjoy collaborating with others who are willing to bring a viable voice or point of view. It is sort of fun and magical how we as designers can take a blank canvas and employ wonderful works that communicate and inspire.

Least favorite part?
Here are some things that can kill a strong creative idea or the ideation process fast – a bloated creative brief, a client with no vision or doesn't understand what we do, and last millions of revisions. I prefer to develop a strong relationship with clients, streamline the process, and allow creativity to thrive in a healthy environment. It is also equally as important that I have my client's business best interest. The is bottom line is the that if a client wants to be engaged, make sure their message is clear and concise and most importantly generates ROI for their business

Top 10 Dream Clients:

1. Apple
2. Olympics
3. Volkswagon
4. Dior
5. Tate Museum
6. Starbucks
7. Aveda
8. Godiva
9. Unilever
10. Google

As always don’t forget to check out our Facebook and Twitter pages!

We have some really exciting things happening at AM+G Marketing Communication. We have just launched a promotion on our Facebook fan page. We are offering a gift certificate to Starbucks for our 50th fan and a gift card to iTunes for our 100th fan. So invited your friends to be a fan today and maybe they’ll offer you a cut of their winnings!
We are also in the process of taking on some exciting new clients and working on a brand new capabilities statement, Keep checking back here and on our Facebook page for more information! As promised here is another interview from our creative strategist Jane Metcalf:

Did you always want to be in advertising?
No I wanted to be an exotic large game vet. That said I always had a flair for looking at things from a variety of angles and I was designing covers for my adventurous short stories as a kid.

What jobs have you held in the past?
My very first job was a dog walker. It was my first venture into the business world. I had my mom photocopy photos of my dogs and I made a collage with copy written by mom. I had 6 dogs in addition to our 3. So I walked 9 dogs twice a day. I also held jobs as a lifeguard, bike courier, researcher in a neuroscience lab, production artist, graphic designer and art director


What is your favorite part of advertising?
Researching, Conception, Strategizing and Creating

What is your least favorite part?
Prepress in Print

Top 10 dream clients

BMW
Apple
Chalone Vineyards
Sundance Channel
Louis Vuitton
Shaun White
Stowe Resort
X-Games
Chronicle Books

Check back again soon for a interview from Albert Whitley our Creative Director!

Don't forget to Fan us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter

When I joined Facebook I was a freshman in college and the only thing on there were pictures of my friends getting wasted at parties. Now everyone has Facebook. My mom has a Facebook. Instead of drunken pictures she posts statuses that say, “So excited for my daughter Sara to come home this weekend!” It started with parents and then switched over to corporations.

My friend received her acceptance letter to graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh last week. She opened the large envelope, looked at the first page and it said, “Visit our Facebook page!” “Follow us on Twitter!” When she told me this I was completely weirded out. Although I guess I should not have been, just about every person and company out there has a Facebook Site.

From Burberry to Kathy Griffin everyone has a Facebook fan page with hundreds to hundreds of thousands of fans. They are uploading photos, sending links to random websites they like, posting information about appearances, sales, concerts, the list goes on and on.

Social media has allowed companies to relate to their customers like never before. They are now able to show their publics a different side of their company. They can show them that they are not just a company who sells $300 polo shirts, but that they also enjoy talking about themselves excessively. Okay… bad example but a company like AM+G for example posts lots of articles that we find interesting all the time.

Although Facebook is great let’s admit it people are getting lazy. Post more than a sentence, good luck getting anyone to read it.

This brings me to Twitter. Although I can understand how Twitter became such a phenomenon, I really cannot believe it. Twitter caught on like wildfire. It was like one day they announced the launching of the site and the next day it is the most used word of 2009.

I think that Twitter is so popular because it provides a very intimate experience between users. It is like having a conversation with whomever you are “following.” It has given people communication with a company or celebrity that they have never had before.

Who would have known that John Mayer was such a pervert? Or that Kim Kardashian does not know how to spell Pisces (although I probably could have guessed that one). Who says more than 160 characters in a sentence anyway? (To all of those who speak 300- 400; if people paid attention to you before, they probably do not anymore).

Aside from that, Twitter has been huge for larger companies as well. Dell, for example, posts their sales up on Twitter before they go up on their website. If you follow them on Twitter you are at a huge advantage.

I will admit that I joined Twitter a few months ago, but I swear I only did it as a career move (what does it say that I am embarrassed to admit I have a Twitter but not about having a Facebook? I guess I can explore that in another blog, but think about it). The importance of Twitter in the advertising and marketing world has grown in immense proportions. I just have a friend who basically did not get a job because she did not have a Twitter. A year ago having a Facebook was seen as a bad thing, but not it can be the difference between a new job and living on your parents couch.

It is evident that social media is the wave of the future. It is possible that in the future there will be no more advertising, only social media. … Okay probably not but it will affect the market. Advertising will become more competitive and to not have a Facebook, Twitter or whatever they come up with next will mean you may as well not have a company at all.

All of that being said make sure you follow US on Twitter and Facebook!

I have a case of the Mondays. That feeling where my brain is still weekending but work does not stop for a tired brain. Things need to get done. It has taken a lot of fine-tuning but I finally found a way to get passed them, let us know if they work for you!

1. Listen to relaxing music. Although relaxing music may not help for some for me relaxing music helps to clear out my brain. I can close my eyes and remember what my purpose at work is. There are a few songs that always help me. Just to name two Sia- Breathe me and John Lennon- Imagine

2. Get inspired. There are many different ways that I get inspired to do my work. Today we received a copy of communication arts in the mail and it has helped immensely in my Monday inspiration. The article on page 22 “Contemplating White Space” really spoke to me today. The article is about an exhibit done at the Guggenheim in New York called contemplating the void. The author Wendy Richmond has such a beautiful thought that I would like to share with you, “White space is not just about leaving blank spots. One has to establish content and structure in order to be successful in eliciting participation…” I refuse to explain how this helped me to be inspired because I implore you to think about how this can be used to inspire your Monday. (let us know how it did!)

3. Look forward to something. Mondays always seem slow. Maybe that’s because I do less work on Mondays. I find that when I do a lot of work they go by quicker. It is hard to work when all you can think about is how great/ fun/ unproductive your weekend was. Instead of looking back on last weekend look forward to next weekend or an upcoming vacation. I find that having a goal in mind helps me to get through my work quicker.

4. Write out what is on your mind. I keep a pad of paper by my desk and write down everything that is on my mind. Whether it is things that I have to get done that week or month, things that are making me upset or the reasons I do not want to do work, they all go on there. After I have all my thoughts down on paper it is as if I have wiped my slate clean and I am able to get done what needs to get done.

I hope that at least one of these tips helped you! All of us here are doing at least one of these and we are having a productive day! I hope you also come away with a constructive day and just remember tomorrow is Tuesday which means its not Monday J

Don’t forget to become a fan of our Facebook page and to follow us on Twitter.

Check back again soon for another interview!

We are so excited about the changes that are making their through AM+G Marketing and Communications and we want to share them with you! We are currently revamping our website so look around for that! We are also working launching our social media campaign. As a part of this campaign we have just created our Facebook fan page, Click Here to visit and become a fan.

We will also be posting blogs at least once a week. Every week we will highlight one member of our staff and who better to start with than our president and CEO Karen Alston.

Education: I went to Howard University and graduated with a Bachelors of Business Administration in 1993. My major was Finance. The Finance program at Howard University was extremely difficult but in the end it was a great choice for my career. Today I combine left and right brain activities in my day to day duties. I have taken graduate courses at Howard University and Harvard University.

Did You Always Want to do Advertising: No, not at all, I wanted a career on Wall Street with a big yearly bonus! I never thought about Advertising in undergrad however, earlier in my corporate career I got a taste for marketing and advertising. At America Online I fell in love with interactive advertising. When I started AM+G I wanted to market movies and TV shows. To this day New Line Cinema and Weinstein Companies are both brands I would love to work with and collaborate on marketing and branding strategy. I decided to start my own company in 2002. At the urging of my boyfriend at the time. He knew I always wanted to own a business and I come from a family of entrepreneurs; my grandfather owned a business in West Philadelphia for over 30 years, my mom a owner of two businesses one since 1983, my brother a successful photographer www.kwakualston.com and great aunts, uncles, cousins several of whom own businesses. Entrepreneurship is in my blood.

Past Jobs: I started my career at JP Morgan out of college, what a great experience and a amazing company. At JP Morgan I learned the value of hard work and teamwork. After JP Morgan I went to work for MBNA America Bank. At MBNA I learned the value of mentors. I have mentors today that have known me from my early days of my career and their guidance and advice is invaluable. I went to America Online in 1999-- I loved AOL and at AOL grew to have a passion for Advertising and Marketing.

Favorite Part of Advertising: Clients and interacting with people. Taking an idea from conception to reality. It is the greatest feeling to watch something grow from a small idea to completion.

Least Favorite Part of Advertising: Too many snow days in one winter season!

What Sets Your Company Apart? We are a small company and we are proud of our size. Being small allows AM+G to respond quickly to client needs. It allows the principals of the company to interact with clients, to give them the "old fashioned" client service that understands their company, their brand, their customers/members and most importantly why the marketing or advertising campaign has to be successful.

Top 10 Dream Clients:

1. Thompson Hotels- www.thompsonhotels.com

First of all I have a passion for design, all design, architecture, interior design, graphic design but mainly great design. I have been following this brand for year. It was one of the first brands to speak to me as a consumer on the fun on staying in small boutique hotels. Their brand is fun, engaging, stylish, and luxurious. It speaks to a hip, urban, luxury consumer -- who isn't pretentious. I hope to stay in the Hollywood property some day soon. This is my number one dream brand!

2. Wealth TV

I discovered Wealth TV a few months ago, a fairly new company and brand based out of San Diego, CA. Wealth TV is a great channel geared to the rich, successful, and those who want to be rich one day. I love the travel shows, the tour of amazing homes, and the programming speaks to me. I am rooting for this channel and would love to help them grow into a major cable channel powerhouse.

3. New Line Cinema

A cutting edge movie company, a subsidiary of Time Warner, this company distributes films such as The Lord of the Rings and Sex and the City. Years ago when I worked for AOL I spoke to one of the marketing managers. I was so impressed with the methods and strategy's New Line Cinema uses to promote movies. Social marketing is a huge strategy for this company and I would love to work with them on creative interactive ads that grab the attention of different demographics.

4. TED Conferences

5. Wyclef's Yele Haiti Organization

For the tragedy and the joy of spotlighting the good works this organization is doing to improve the lives of Haitian's and an opportunity to showcase good positive stories, images and results.

6. Sarah Palin

An amazing brand -- Sarah Palin has captivated the nation, no matter if you love or hate her she is fascinating and an important part of our culture. A relatively new brand and one that is evolving.

7. McDonald's

Ever since I was a little kid I have wanted to produce and write a McDonald's commercial. Now my favorite commercial is running "Filet of Fish - Talking Fish" for lent and passover. I love this commercial, the creativity and the sheer fun McDonald's has in all of its advertising. The creative team at McDonald's understand what appeals to children, adults and the child in all of us.

8. Air Jordan

9. Turks and Caicos

Travel and tourism have always interested me and here is a destination that has recently aggressively marketed themselves to developers, travel enthusiasts and the overseas marketplace.

10. Beyonce

Check back again soon for more interviews!

It is about time there was a "sea" change in Hollywood. I am so happy to see so many diverse faces, women of color, and men of color in movies, as political pundits, on sitcoms, etc. Maybe soon we can have a minority run a major movie studio. Wouldn't that be amazing!

I am ready for my screen test! Someone contact me soon! :)


Hollywood's Views on Race May Be in for a Change
Q&A: Producer Joe Pichirallo on Marketing Black Films to White Audiences, Box-Office Success and the 'Bradley Effect'
By Claude Brodesser-akner Published: October 30, 2008LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) -- Is there a "Bradley Effect" when it comes to the box office?
'The Secret Life of Bees'For those perhaps not paying close attention to the presidential election, with Sen. Barack Obama ahead in every national poll, political pundits have been feverishly inserting the words "Bradley Effect" into articles and sound bites in an effort to ratchet up the election-eve drama. The expression explains in racial terms the 1982 defeat of Tom Bradley, a black Democrat who was at the time the mayor of Los Angeles, by his white Republican rival, George Deukmejian, in their quest for the governorship of California: The theory goes that despite polls predicting a Bradley win, white voters pulled the lever for Mr. Deukmejian. A quick look at Hollywood's box office results would seem to let some air out of the theory, at least when it comes to how Americans elect to entertain themselves: The success of two new films with largely black casts -- "The Secret Life of Bees" and the thriller "Lakeview Terrace" -- suggests that marketers' conventional wisdom about how race influences purchasing decisions may be in need of re-examination. Having served as a producer on both movies, Joe Pichirallo has gained a firsthand understanding of how Americans consider -- or ignore -- race. Each film has over-performed, with "Lakeview Terrace" cresting $40 million domestically, having opened at No. 1 at the box office last month, and "The Secret Life of Bees" cruising past $20 million, having opened at No. 3. Mr. Pichirallo oversees film for The Gold Co., a production venture headed by talent manager Eric Gold, whose clients include Jim Carrey and Ellen DeGeneres. But before joining The Gold Co., Mr. Pichirallo was head of feature film production and development for Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment. He's also been a senior executive at Fox Searchlight Pictures, where he oversaw "Antwone Fisher," and at Universal's Focus Features, where he supervised both "Hollywoodland" and "Something New." Madison & Vine: Settle this for us: Is there a Bradley Effect at the box office, too? Joe Pichirallo: Let me put it this way: The conventional wisdom of the Hollywood studios is that films that have primarily African-American themes or actors in them are not are not going to do well, because they don't do well overseas. And in the last few years, the rule of thumb is that 60% of box office is actually going to come from outside the U.S. So if you look at even the most successful films that cross over, like "Barbershop," its domestic gross was $70 million, but its foreign box office was, like, $1.2 million. ... So if [black films] get made, you're forced to do them at independent [movie] budget levels, on the theory that you have to make most of your revenue on the domestic side. M&V: How does that affect how we portray black America on the big screen? Mr. Pichirallo: If you're looking at something like "The Secret Life of Bees," on one level if you didn't know the business, you'd say, "Well, here's a best-selling novel. This should be made for the standard Hollywood budgets of $40 million, $50 million, $60 million." But the concern would be that you'll never hit those levels in box office, so you're immediately put into a situation of seeing it made in the $12 million range. M&V: How soon did race enter the making and marketing of "The Secret Life of Bees"? Mr. Pichirallo: You start thinking about it right off the bat. Who are going to be the leads? Are we going to be able to get people with name value to play those leads? ... We also knew we had two things going for us: The book was a best-seller for a very long time, and the book was not perceived as an exclusively African-American book. The underlying material had an existing appeal to a white audience. M&V: And so "Bees" isn't behaving like a typical film with a black cast, is it? Mr. Pichirallo: No. And let me just say something about the second weekend of the film, that shows it's playing both ways: In Los Angeles, at The Grove -- which couldn't be more of a white, upscale, affluent theater -- it out-grossed the Magic Johnson theater, which is the leading African-American theater in Los Angeles. And so that tells you right there that the movie is really playing. Most theaters aimed at predominantly whiter audiences actually held [onto their "Bees" audiences] better in the second weekend than those with African-American audiences. Seattle had just a 12% drop. Those are phenomenal holds for any kind of movie, and give indication that it's reaching a diverse audience. M&V: What can we learn about Americans' racial attitudes from "Lakeview Terrace"? Mr. Pichirallo: We knew we had to walk a fine line, because it's not often that the so-called bad guy in a movie is an African-American. Sam Jackson ultimately is terrorizing this interracial couple who lives next door to him. It's headed toward $40 million because white [audiences] went to see it, and we didn't get any real serious complaints from the African-American audience. They embraced the film and saw the film. The danger would have been that they would say, "You're holding up a negative stereotype." M&V: So if all it takes is some forethought about making a movie that's relatable to everyone, why not make more money by making black films that appeal to white audiences, too? Mr. Pichirallo: [Studios] don't want to restrict their gross, but when they sense that the material is not going to cross over -- and they may often be wrong about this -- they're not going to waste their money chasing an audience that they don't think is coming out. And that's when it gets to be circular: What is the chicken, and what is the egg? Are the audiences not responding because they're not marketing to them and so they're not turning out, or are they right that the audience is not finding it appealing, and so was never coming out? M&V: We've talked about how the box office reveals the racial attitudes of moviegoers, but has the marketing of Sen. Barack Obama as a post-racial candidate changed anything about Hollywood's attitude toward the marketing of black films? Mr. Pichirallo: You're going to see that as we get more sophisticated and evolved as a culture, we're going to have multicultural-themed movies that are going to cross over more. What we're tying to do is break conventional perception that if you have a black-focused story that it's only going to appeal to blacks and therefore you should only market to blacks. M&V: Is the lesson, then, that film ghettos are bad for show business? Mr. Pichirallo: I think we have to work hard from a cultural and social standpoint to break that, but from an economic standpoint it doesn't make any sense, either: You don't want to limit your audience. If you're going to limit your audience, you end up having to do the films for lower budgets, and therefore it gets harder to get those movies made, because some of the bigger actors won't do them. M&V: So, what is the marketing lesson from Obama '08? Mr. Pichirallo: The lesson is, Don't assume past performance dictates future results. Obama has not run as a "black" candidate. The world is changing. Our culture is changing. You have to change with it.

I think this is great for our industry. Advertising and reaching customers is changing very quickly. I made the decision earlier this year to do more interactive work and approach clients who were interested in Web 2.0 options. This article and quote from Steve Seabolt reinforces how quickly our industry is changing. Enjoy!

Karen

Sims Venture Into Outside World Full of Advertising

Latest Version of Most Popular PC Title Will House Dynamic In-Game Ads

By Abbey Klaassen 

Published: October 06, 2008

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- When "The Sims 3" launches in February, the popular video game promises to be more realistic than ever, thanks to improved graphics, better processing power and an increase in ads.

Now playing in 'Sims 3:' 'Iron Man' and 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.'

Yes, an increase in ads. 

Electronic Arts, maker of "Sims 3," is working with IGA to provide dynamic in-game ads -- which can be switched in and out of the game via an internet connection -- to the latest version of what has become the world's most-played PC game. In its first new version in five years, "Sims" players will be able to venture beyond their houses and lots out into Pleasantville, where they can go to the movie theater, the sports arena or the grocery store. It's a more open experience, akin to newer online virtual worlds, although it's still a single-player game. 

'Very organic'
"Advertising is very organic to the 'Sims 3' experience," said Steve Seabolt, VP-global brand development for the Sims label. Movie-theater posters and billboards will host ads, and EA will continue to integrate brands into the gameplay. 

Mr. Seabolt cited an example involving an over-the-counter pain remedy. "Suppose your Sim had a tough day, or the Sim kids are out of control, maybe the Sim worked out -- that could be a moment for that particular pain relief," he said. "And they take that pain relief and feel restored, better rested ... less on edge." 

Sims has previously done integrated deals, which can run into the seven figures, with retailersH&M and Ikea, letting users download branded content into the game. But Mr. Seabolt said H&M wanted to put billboards in the game to promote the fact that users could dress their Sims in the retailer's fashions. IGA now will sell those dynamic ad placements, and EA will sell the integrated ones, but where they can work together, they will. 

Key to dynamic ads
Justin Townsend, CEO of IGA, said the key to dynamic ads is that they have developed standards that can work inside myriad games to create a network that gets advertisers more reach. However, he said, unlike many console games, "Sims" doesn't necessarily need to be bought as part of a network because it has such a broad reach. He said EA expects sales of "Sims 3" to eclipse those of "Sims 2." 

According to Interpret's Gamemeasure, "Sims 2" reached about 16.5 million gamers, half of whom played within the past month. The average "Sims" gamer will spend 1.7 hours with the game per sitting and has spent 47.6 hours with the game in total. 

Jay Krihak, senior partner-group director at MEC Interaction, said "Sims" 1 and "Sims 2" sold enough copies to warrant a look at "Sims 3," but he said the beauty of dynamic in-game ads is that marketers can take the time to see how the game sells in the first few weeks before deciding whether to dive in. What's more, time-consuming custom integrations can be created after the game officially launches. 

Filling in the gaps
"You can solicit feedback from the community and get a sense of what the game's missing and chance that as a marketer you can address that," he said. 

Indeed, advertisers share with game makers a desire to create something that fits within the game. 

"If there's a way to enhance the gaming experience, there could be value for the advertiser," said Amanda Richman, senior VP-director of digital services, MediaVest. She also said in-game advertising could become even more important in a recession because it brings with it an escapist mind-set. "We may be seeing even greater demand in this economy at these times." 

See the below article from Ad Age. As a small firm this trend is SCARY to me. So many clients are adding in house designers to do all aspects of their marketing and communications. I agree we need to position ourselves as "brand experts" we are working on this now in our new marketing collateral. However, I wonder if those same clients are willing to pay the same or MORE for strategy. Our world is changing....

Let Them Sweat Small Stuff and Pay You for Big Ideas

Posted by Tom Martin on 09.30.08 @ 11:56 AM

Tom Martin

It's budget time. And chances are you're sitting in the same meetings I am with a client asking you to do more with less. Over the last 60 days, I've probably sat in half a dozen of these meetings. You might think that would get moderately depressing, but actually it has been inspiring.

In virtually every one of those meetings the client's goal wasn't necessarily to spend less money with our agency, but for the client to receive more value and impact from the dollars it was spending with and through us.

And along the way, two very interesting themes have emerged.

The first is the notion of high-value vs. low-value agency services. Traditionally the AOR relationship included a client using agencies for their high-level strategic, media, public relations, interactive and creative firepower but also for the routine grunt work. This grunt work includes things like resizing print and banner ads or simple (often factual) copy changes. Everyone knows it isn't rocket science and truth be told, the agency adds very little "value" in these transactions, but it was just easier (and sometimes less expensive) to outsource all of this to the client's AOR agency.

But in today's rocky economic world, savvy clients are beginning to re-examine how they work with their agencies. In some cases (retail for instance) clients are seeing that it might actually be cheaper for them to have an entry-level designer on staff to handle the routine. In fact I had this very conversation with a client just a week ago. Yet, rather than be upset that our firm might lose billings, I'm excited. Why? Because he doesn't want to just let the savings drop to his bottom line. He wants to invest some of that savings with us in the utilization of high-level thinking. He wants to open projects designed to solve strategic problems and have our agency's best thinkers assigned to those projects.

In other words, he wants to invest his dollars in the unique agency capabilities that he cannot do himself or afford to bring "in-house" because it would just be too expensive and used too infrequently. Thus, everyone wins. He saves money and gets to hire a resource that can do the routine faster and less expensively than we can and we get to offload the mind-numbing drudgery type work that none of our designers actually like doing anyhow. And the whole thing represents a cost savings for him and is revenue neutral for us because we're redeploying those low value hours to new clients or high value hours for this client.

The second interesting theme is the movement from mass media to micromedia planning. For most of our firm's clients, media spend is the single biggest expenditure in the budget. So it's the first place their bosses look to make cuts. Thus, clients want more efficient media plans that show quantifiable results. Because while their bosses are demanding expense cutting they aren't lowering expectations or goals for the coming year.

Initially, you might find yourself instinctively recoiling at the idea of helping a client decrease their media spend when you think about the loss of income associated with such a drastic move. However, what I'm finding is that here again, clients aren't just dropping all the savings to the bottom line. They're asking us to think about how we can create more efficient and effective marketing outreach programs. We're being given the opportunity to move mass media spend into micromedia channels like online, social marketing and direct outreach or events. Here again, the net net is the client is spending less while getting a more effective plan and the whole thing is revenue neutral for us. Another win-win.

So as you begin to work your way through the upcoming budgeting process with each of your clients, ask yourself what the value versus cost equation of your recommendation/contract looks like and if it isn't the best it can be, fix it -- proactively. You'll do yourself and your client a great service and likely ensure a longer lasting relationship. 

I have been following this story for several months -- since the stories began in the media. I find it hard to believe that in 2008 our top agencies are not more reflective of America. As a small business owner, I know how tough it is to try to "compete" with the big agencies. Small agencies don't stand a chance, but I would be willing to bet, that small agencies are more diverse and bring experiences and opinions different from the large "country club" agencies.........

Enjoy!

Ad Agencies Making Progress on Hiring Minorities, After All
Human Rights Commission: Most Met or Exceeded Pact Goals
By Rupal Parekh Published: September 23, 2008 NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Many people aren't satisfied with Madison Avenue's progress on the diversity front, but Patricia Gatling, head of the New York City Human Rights Commission, today said she is "cautiously optimistic" that ad agencies will ramp up the numbers of minority executives in their ranks.
Patricia Gatling Ms. Gatling was speaking at a public hearing at City Hall called by New York City Councilman and Civil Rights Committee Chairman Larry B. Seabrook. The goal of the hearing was to discuss the progress (and lack thereof, in some cases) of the agencies that two years ago signed a pact to boost minority hiring and set individual goals. As part of her testimony, Ms. Gatling reiterated statistics released this spring that found that five of the 16 ad agencies that signed on have not met all their minority-hiring goals in the first year of their diversity pact with the New York City Commission on Human Rights. However, the remaining agencies either met or exceeded all their 2007 goals. BBDO, DDB behindOf the shops that signed a memorandum of understanding with the commission in 2006 vowing to boost diversity, five did not meet their goals. Four of them were from the country's biggest holding company, Omnicom Group: BBDO, DDB, Merkley & Partners and PHD. The fifth was Publicis Groupe's Kaplan Thaler Group. While it eventually caved and signed the pact with its competitors, Omnicom went its own way at first. It pledged more than $2 million for diversity initiatives, including the establishment of an advertising, media and marketing curriculum at the historically black Medgar Evers College. Weldon H. Latham, a diversity counsel to Omnicom who testified at today's hearing, said the holding company's CEO, John Wren, has firmly communicated to those shops that they must come into compliance by the end of 2008. "We gotta make sure that those numbers get up," Mr. Seabrook told Mr. Latham, recommending that Omnicom appoint an executive solely to monitor the agencies' progress. Those that failed to meet their self-created diversity goals have hired consultants to help them improve their numbers, Ms. Gatling said as part of her testimony. Hiring up 25%Meanwhile, the other agencies that signed the agreement have all met or exceeded their goals, said Ms. Gatling. They are: Havas' Arnold and Euro RSCG; WPP Group's Grey Direct and Grey Interactive, Young & Rubicam and Ogilvy & Mather; and Interpublic Group of Cos.' Avrett Free Ginsberg, Gotham and DraftFCB (counted as two agencies because it was created out of the merger of Draft and FCB Worldwide). The average goal was 18% for minority hiring and the average result was 25%, Ms. Gatling said. In certain cases, the agencies have raised their minority-hiring goals for 2008. For example, Ogilvy this year increased its goals 2%, and is aiming for 18% of its senior management and 35% of all staff to be of color. The hearing garnered a far better turnout compared with those called two years ago, though agency and holding company chiefs were still absent. During Advertising Week 2006, Mr. Seabrook had called hearings decrying minority-owned media outlets' lack of advertising, and nobody turned up. The agencies, Mr. Seabrook said at the time, "ran like chickens with their asses plucked clean." Reviving that metaphor today, Mr. Seabook said, "I'm putting some feathers back on you now," as a means of commending the majority of the agencies for their progress. In addition to an attorney for Omnicom, Interpublic Exec VP-Strategy Philippe Krakowsky and representatives for WPP also testified today about the status of their companies' diversity initiatives, as did executives from Publicis Groupe's Saatchi & Saatchi. Saatchi was also one of two ad agencies that turned up for a public meeting called by the Human Rights Commission about the issue in July. Representatives for Havas or Havas agencies did not testify. Nancy Hill speaksAlso submitting testimony was Nancy Hill, president-CEO of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, who Mr. Seabrook commended on her presence, noting that her predecessor, O. Burtch Drake, had not shown up for hearings in the past. There was strangely no talk of a potential threat of a class action lawsuit against the industry, but Mr. Seabrook promised to stay on top of the issue. "The commission is going to stay on your case and I'm going to stay on the commission's case until we get it done and get it right," Mr. Seabrook said at the conclusion of the hearing.

A nice surprise this week......I was asked to pose in a photo about changes in Prince Georges County. Check out the link on local Bisnow Real Estate.

Enjoy!

Karen

http://www.bisnow.com/washington_dc_commercial_real_estate_news_story.php?p=1502)

This is an interesting turn in the industry. If you look at the hourly rates, you could reason that the "consultants" are making much less than they would in permanent jobs. Sad...and scary times for our industry.

Beware, CMO: A Temp Might Steal Your Post

Economy Stokes Trend Toward Short-Term Hires in Marketing Suite

By Jack Neff

Published: September 08, 2008

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- The hard times facing the marketing industry may be only temporary, but so, it turns out, are a lot of the jobs.

With an increasing number of companies looking to reduce the full-time head counts in their marketing departments, and a glut of experienced baby boomers available to do consulting stints, a growing number of marketers are looking to fill brand-manager, project-leader and even marketing-director positions with short-term employees.

A trend tracker on Indeed, a search engine that scans U.S. job listings throughout the internet, shows a sharp spike since May on listings that include the word "temporary" in ads seeking marketing managers, directors and researchers. The spike punctuates a general uptick in such marketing listings relative to all postings since 2005.

The percentage of online job listings containing the words "temporary," "marketing" and "director" surged roughly 50% between May 1 and July 31, according to Indeed.com, even though the trend line for just "marketing" and "director" remained flat during the period.

"I'm finding a lot more companies now are [using] contract employees and consultants at the higher-level jobs, such as director of marketing and senior brand managers," said Michael Carrillo, president of CPG Jobs, which operates the job site CPGjoblist. He also works as a recruiter.

While the move is clearly aimed at controlling head counts and cutting costs, Mr. Carrillo said he believes demographic factors are at play, such as baby-boomer employees who are downsized out of positions but aren't ready to retire and have valuable experience.

Broad range of marketers
A variety of firms specialize in the burgeoning area, including conventional temporary-service firms such as Kelly Services and Manpower. They're seeing temporary marketing jobs on the rise even as temporary employment overall has declined steadily since early 2007 due to the slowing economy.

The surge appears to be coming from a surprisingly broad array of marketers, as well as old and new media.

An ad last week from Creative Group, a unit of Robert Half International, for an unnamed Southern California beauty marketer seeks a marketing director for a temporary assignment possibly converting to full-time -- and offers someone with eight-plus years of industry experience $50 to $60 an hour.

Apparently the same Southern California beauty marketer seeks to round out the team with a product-development manager at $20 to $30 an hour, a bilingual media planner at $25 to $35 an hour and a "marketing guru" at $43 to $50 an hour. Creative Group stands to be the employer of the outsourced team.

Media companies also appear to be stepping up temporary hires. Among temporary positions advertised online: a sales and marketing coordinator for Time Warner's Health.com; a marketing program manager for EchoStar's Sling Media, marketer of SlingBox; and a site manager whose duties would include marketing of a national portal and social-networking site from Gannett Digital, MomsLikeMe.

"Everybody is looking at head count and ways to reduce it," said Joe Hawley, who helped lead the turnaround of Doctor's Dermatologic Formula for two years before the business was sold to Procter & Gamble Co. last year.

The veteran of Avon Products, Unilever and Liz Claiborne is now working as a consultant with his own firm, Hawley Global Partners. While he's open to another permanent position, he's also plying a series of consulting gigs and believes marketing -- and even general management functions -- increasingly will be outsourced in the way information-technology and human-resources positions have been in recent years.

Most of these marketers aren't contractors directly through the employer, he said, but through third-party firms such as Aquent, which specializes in providing temporary marketing-industry help from its own pool of permanent employees and says it serves 90 of the Fortune 100 corporations.

The downside
"You'll look at a company and not be able to tell who's a contract employee, who's [a permanent employee] from a third-party resource and who's [an employee of] the company," Mr. Hawley said.

Of course, the downside can be quality, said Dave Gallagher, president of Boyden, an Atlanta-based executive-search firm. "Nobody is going to leave their job," he said, "to be a 90-day temp contractor."

But Mr. Hawley said temps aren't always getting worse deals, and some can even be of higher quality.

"I call it rent to buy," he said, adding that many of the positions have permanent potential, sometimes involve equity stakes or involve efforts to bypass corporate salary caps, and can attract people with broader or more current experience than permanent employees. 

Myspace – Not Just for Kids Anymore

Recently Myspace.com has been taking on advertisement campaigns that don’t only target a younger audience. It’s newest brand campaign, Cartier, wants to reach a diverse group of people and feels that myspace.com is the social networking site with the influence to do so. By taking on such big names, myspace is transforming from social site to marketing space.

MySpace Signs Up Glam New Member: Cartier
Global Campaign Challenges Assumptions About Social Networking
By Abbey Klaassen
Published: June 30, 2008

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The latest marketer to target the reaches of MySpace? Cartier.

Cartier, a brand better known for diamond necklaces and $10,000 watches, will advertise its latest collection, Love by Cartier, in a deal which was done out of MySpace's office in France but will span multiple countries.
Love by Cartier
Enlarge

Cartier's deal with MySpace is an endorsement of a global ad market and the appeal of doing one buy that can stretch across multiple geographies.


It's yet another reminder that mainstream Web 2.0 sites have broader audiences than people often assume (last year Neiman Marcus chose YouTube as a place to publicize its 100-year anniversary). It's also an endorsement of a global ad market and the appeal of doing one buy that can stretch across multiple geographies.

It's not just for kids anymore
"There's this misperception in the market about MySpace being a youth site, a site for teens," said Travis Katz, managing director-international operations for MySpace. "But 85% of our audience in the U.S. is over 18, and 40% of all moms in U.S. are on MySpace." He claims that MySpace reaches more people making $100,000-plus than other social-network competitors, such as Facebook and Yahoo 360.

Still, a bigger reason brands are feeling more comfortable with MySpace is that the site has created well-lighted areas around video, music, games and celebrity. Some call it the "portalization" approach. According to people familiar with advertising on the site, cost-per-thousand viewers, or CPM, for integrated campaigns such as Cartier's tends to run in the mid-single digits, around $5.

But Mr. Katz seems more excited that Cartier's is a global deal, and that MySpace is figuring out ways to derive revenue from its international traffic -- 40% of its audience is outside the U.S., he said.

"If you're working with a traditional portal or media company, in each country you have to deal with a separate team, sales force. ... We can take a global message and localize it for each territory," he said. This is not MySpace's first global deal (previous multiterritory deals have included Sony Ericsson, Intel and Nokia), but it is the most far-reaching, with the campaign spanning eight languages.

Free downloads
Cartier's MySpace profile has songs from 12 artists, including Lou Reed and Marion Cotillard, that commemorate the collection. Users can listen to them on MySpace or download them for free at a Cartier mini-site. In the first few days, the profile logged 100,000 views, said MySpace.

Recently, TechCrunch took a look at international social-network users and the strength of the online ad market from which those users hail. It determined that even though MySpace is second to Facebook in worldwide unique visitors, MySpace's visitors were from countries that spend more on online advertisers, thus making MySpace potentially more valuable. Such figures certainly excite MySpace executives. Also exciting? Having good traffic in locales with strong currencies, such as the U.K. and across Europe. For U.S.-based companies at a time when the dollar is weak, that can be doubly nice (literally, in the case of the English pound).

Mr. Katz said that CPMs are much higher in countries such as the U.K. and Japan partly because of that currency strength but also because they have strong online ad markets. But he said even in markets where CPMs are weaker and fewer dollars are devoted to online interaction, the shift to digital is happening. He cites Spain, where online ad spending is growing at 35% a year, though it represented just 4% of total marketing budgets a year ago. MySpace's strongest international markets include Japan, Australia, France, Germany and Canada.

Global spending expected to surge
PricewaterhouseCoopers data estimate that while the U.S. has the largest base, internet ad spending in all other regions will outpace domestic growth over the next five years. Given the small base of international business relative to domestic business, it's not surprising that MySpace's international ad growth is outpacing its domestic ad growth.

Toyota Targets A New Customer - African American Women

In order to boost sale’s, Toyota reaches out to a new demographic of African American women. Creative marketing may be what’s needed to persuade this group. Advertisers must continue to innovate and constantly bring fresh ideas to attract even unlikely consumers.

Toyota: No One's Targeted Black Women Like This
Alternate-Reality Game Challenges Camry's Rep as 'Suburban,' 'Boring'
By Claude Brodesser-Akner
Published: June 09, 2008

LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) -- With companywide sales down 8% this May compared with a year ago, every sale suddenly matters to Toyota Motor Corp. And so the carmaker is launching what it calls an "episodic interactive campaign" to connect with a car-buying audience it has never targeted: professional African-American women.

Toyota's 'If Looks Could Kill' interactive site will target African-American women.

The automaker's Camry has been the best-selling car in America for nine of the past 10 years, but it seems African-American consumers would rather hitch their wagons to just about any other brand.

"Here's this nameplate that's ubiquitous," said Monica Warden, account director for Burrell, Toyota's agency of record or African-American advertising. "But for an African-American woman, it's not even in her consideration set. Our preliminary testing found they think of it as suburban, not urban; as solid but boring. And for this woman, she doesn't see herself as boring."

To shift the car's perception and increase purchase consideration, Toyota and Burrell have turned to the Pasadena, Calif.-based 42 Entertainment, a company that specializes in creating alternate-reality games, including a recent innovative viral campaign for Warner Bros.' forthcoming "Batman: The Dark Knight."

In the game, which makes its debut today, Bianca, a good-looking assistant designer at an urban fashion house, finds herself -- and her new 2009 Camry -- enmeshed in a world of espionage. A $5 million print, radio and online campaign that will run in media primarily consumed by African-American women aims to drive the target demographic to iflookscouldkill.com, a site where "fashion and espionage collide," said Susan Bonds, president of 42 Entertainment.

Espionage, mystery
Naturally, Bianca's unwitting involvement in spy tradecraft will be assisted by Camry's onboard Bluetooth, navigation and push-button ignition system, all features that will be "seamlessly integrated" into the content, Ms. Bonds said.

Why Camry hasn't caught on with African-American women is something of a mystery.

If the demographic simply wasn't buying any midprice sedans, one could to point to U.S. Census Bureau statistics that show that black women are the least likely to marry (in 2001, according to the U.S. Census, 41.9% of black women in America had never been married, in contrast to 20.7% of white women) and also the most likely to divorce. Lacking a double income, they might opt for cheaper wheels.

Or one might look to a November 2007 study by New York University's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy that found that black and Hispanic borrowers were more likely to be steered into subprime loans than others, even adjusting for income, loan size and property location -- indicating they don't have money to buy a car.

But U.S. Census data from 2005 show that black and Asian women with bachelor's degrees earn slightly more than similarly educated white women. And a recent study conducted by Burrell found that black women do buy midprice sedans; they just tend to buy Altimas, Accords and Avengers. Indeed, the Camry was being outsold almost 2-to-1 by Dodge's Avenger among black customers -- a car that suffered from less horsepower and lower fuel mileage than just about every six-cylinder competitor, including the Camry.

Disrupting perceptions
The game developed by 42 Entertainment is designed to target exactly those professional black women between 25 and 40 who earn at least $70,000 a year -- the same group that, Ms.Warden said, had previously written off the car as a suburban yawn.

"They think they know the car, but we're going to disrupt those perceptions," she said. "When you think that someone actually cares enough to make their product relevant to you, it can change your mind."

She added: "No one has ever targeted African-American women like this."