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- May 2013 (9)
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- May 23, 2013
What if Pitching was Playing?
Confession: I love pitching.
I love bringing a big bold idea to the table, knowing it can change the game for a client and bring us that killer deal.
A ton of thought and preparation goes into it and, for me, there are few things in life as exciting.
Sitting in the lobby of the prospective client, my mouth goes dry, I see our slides in my mind’s eye and I can barely talk to my team members as we wait. (And wait.) Then, into the boardroom we go: projector, laptops, notebooks and business cards in hand. High on adrenaline and JJ Bean americanos, we proudly present our agency, team, process and concept.
It’s the ultimate performance art. However, as much as I love pitching, it’s not perfect. And I suspect that you––our prospective client––know it too.
Some say the traditional approach to awarding creative services is fatally flawed. Can we, as agencies, fairly communicate our story, articulate our distinct process and demonstrate our problem solving approach in a 60-minute monologue?
Maybe we’ll razzle-dazzle you with design mockups for...
- May 10, 2013
Humans First: Finding focus in the digital world
What's the one thing to watch in digital marketing right now?
That's the question answered by seven of Vancouver's savviest strategists at BCAMA's Digital Agency Panel on May 8, 2013.
Following a Pecha Kucha format (20 slides, set to auto-advance every 20 seconds), each speaker had 6 minutes and 40 seconds, to tell us the single most important thing they need to know in the world of web.
Along with a panel of smartypants from TAXI, Invoke Media, Burnkit, Engine Digital, Noise Digital and Graphically Speaking and moderator Steven Cox, our own Kevan Gilbert brought his usual warmth and wit to a super insightful presentation.
The one thing he thinks we need to watch for in digital: FOCUS.
Watch it here!
[personal side note: Kevan knocked everyone's socks off. He was, hands down, the highlight of the evening, and this is well worth your 6.6 minutes]
...
- May 6, 2013
The Heart of Strategy
There is this mysterious, soft, intuitive, abstract part of strategy work that is hard to label and name. The part where a company or person manages to totally rock at something, and still retain this natural air of self-awareness and humility while doing it.
That’s what strategy wants to bottle.
I’d call that “heart.”
Think of a company like Pixar:
They are clearly successful, but they embody their success with such honesty and class that it just feels like they all must be doing what they love. (Granted, that’s an outside perspective; secretly inside the animators’ complex it could be a world of lagging software and corporate hell.)
I see this aspect of “heart” in friends I most admire—people who have managed to bring their whole selves to the game. People who can succeed (or fail), but not at the expense of those around them. People who are busy being happy and doing what they love, not waiting for happiness to happen after they achieve something.
How do you...
- April 29, 2013
The Living Web: Content Strategy for Thriving Spaces
How do we build web places that actually meet human needs?
If you've been reading our blog at all in the last year you know that it starts with solid content strategy. But what does that really mean? and what does it look like practically?
At the end of 2012 our all-star Content Strategist Kevan Gilbert hit the road visiting our friends at other agencies to show them how we build spaces that truly thrive on the web.
His talk was such a hit, he was invited all over the place—visiting clients, partners, competitors, and professional associations—to explain the huge potential of the Living Web. Now a condensed version is available for everyone!
In 5 and half minutes Kevan debunks some content strategy myths and gives you some basic tools to create a healthy thriving home on the web.
You can hear Kevan in person on May 8 at BCAMA's annual Digital Agency Panel. Tix are nearly sold out so snap...
- April 26, 2013
Threat-level Strategy
Quick! Your wife will perish as a flaming asteroid collides with her VW bug on an overpass in the city. You have 10 seconds to speak with her. What will you say?
or,
Chill. Your wife is on the couch. You have all night to speak with her—three or four hours, at least. If you don’t chat tonight, you can probably talk to her tomorrow, that’s fine. No rush. What will you say to her? (I mean, only if you want; you can always just keep Facebooking.)
The presence of a threat makes our communication a little more focused, doesn’t it? The lack of threat makes things more, well, meandering. In life and in business, you might feel like you have the cushion of time. Stripping away that luxury is a helpful technique for good strategic thinking.
The decisions we make now influence what type of relationships and businesses we end up building. Under threat, the things we value become crystal clear.
Now apply this approach to your online strategy. If you frame your daily decision-making for web marketing initiatives with the business you want to grow into, those decisions will have true focus.
You may not be under...
- April 24, 2013
The urgent call of Cloud Thinking
The future belongs to businesses that orient themselves toward the Cloud.
Most of us have an idea of what the cloud is. We think of implementing a web-based CRM (like BASE or Salesforce) or filesharing through Dropbox or Google Drive.
But businesses that will lead in the future are ones that apply Cloud thinking to every aspect of their organization—not just their business processes, but their actual businesses as a whole.
Let’s look at some real world examples:
Compare large-scale electronics retailers: the big box centres of last decade—even discount sellers—have been left behind by the agile, online, same-day delivery platforms that have a Cloud business model (you know who...
- April 15, 2013
Top 5 Resources for Higher Ed Web
A couple weeks ago I shared some of our favourite online resources for digital news and strategy insights.
Because we do a lot of work in higher education, some of our most frequented resources are focused on strategy for college and university websites.
Here there are:
This is a live weekly webshow that focuses on the role of digital and social media in marketing higher ed. It offers a look at who’s innovating online and fresh approaches for recruitment, retention and engagement.
A relevant source for anyone in web, marketing and PR for higher ed.
Really useful blog focused on creating, collecting and managing content for college and university...
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