For Charlotte advertising agencies, marketing gurus, and designers wanting to brush up on their graphic design knowledge, look no further than Graphic Design, Referenced by Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit. This visual and informational guide covers the most commonly referenced terms, historical moments, landmark projects, and influential practitioners in the field of graphic design. With more than 2,000 design projects illustrating more than 400 entries, it provides an intense overview of the varied elements that make up the graphic design profession.
Not a book nerd? You can get the design scoop and further inspiration from one of the authors himself! Armin Vit is coming to Charlotte on January 28th as part of AIGA Charlotte's Talk About Lecture Series to share with our members his process, learnings, experiences and latest work. The event is open to the public and the design team from birdsong gregory will be in attendance. Hope to see you there!
Add this item to the "are you serious" folder of consumer promotions. This week's Advertising Age highlights how White Castle is offering a reservations-only romantic rendezvous for Valentine's Day.
The chain is marketing a "steamy," "candlelit dinner" of 10 sliders, two 21-ounce sodas and French fries for $10.49, "leaving plenty of room in the budget for flowers, candy and entertainment." Staff will also upload a photo of your "romantic rendezvous" to the White Castle website. The restaurants will also be decked out in "theme" décor
In a statement, Jamie Richardson, White Castle VP-corporate relations, said the Valentine's program has been a "huge hit because a lot of our loyal customers -- fondly known as 'Cravers' -- either met in a White Castle Restaurant or have other enjoyable memories they like to celebrate here.
Indeed last year, White Castle hosted nearly 4,000 couples at 157 locations (the chain has 419). The Louisville, Ky., market even played host to a wedding. Their cake was in the shape of a slider. As a market, Louisville led the pack. Participating restaurants hosted 423 couples and had 110 groups on the waiting list.
The Silver Carp has become a big issue here in the US. These fish were originally brought over to the United States to help control algae growth in wastewater treatment facilities but escaped into the wild pretty quickly. These fish grow and reproduce rapidly and have taken over many bodies of water and they frequently starve other species by eating all of the plankton in the water. Not only that, they tend to jump out of the water when disturbed presently a pretty nasty safety issue for people travelling in open boats or on tubes. While I've never experienced it, I can't imagine anything much worse than a high velocity fish to the face.
How does this have anything to do with Shopper Marketing, POS Design or anything else we do here? Well instead of trying to poison the fish or block their movement- they're going to eat them! Described as a taste combining Scallops and Crab Meat, the goal is to get people to like, and subsequently eat more of, this fish. That means there will be naming (Silver fin is what they are calling it), point of sale displays, advertising and all the other good stuff that comes along with selling a new product. When the fate of a body of water is resting on how well a product is recieved, the message and the method become even more important.
We applaud the novel (private) approach to a big problem. Speaking of which- anyone in Charlotte want to start selling those pesky Cankerworms as snacks? Anyone?
There's a funny article in the most recent issue of AdAge Magazine suggesting that advertising agencies are willing to do just about anything to promote their client's brands. It seems that the Dallas Cowboys can't find a naming-rights sponsor for the team's gleaming new stadium -- but the city of Irving, Texas, found one to blow up the old facility.
Kraft Foods is marketing the demolition of Texas Stadium later this spring in a promotion it intends to call the "Cheddar Explosion," tied in with its Kraft Macaroni & Cheese product. The company entered into negotiations with the Irving City Council last month, and the council last week agreed to a $150,000 deal to have Kraft sponsor the implosion. The money will be evenly split -- Kraft will pay the city $75,000 in cash to be distributed by charities selected by the city, and the company will also provide $75,000 worth of its products for other local charities.
With all the historic buildings that Charlotte seems to bulldoze these days, you'd think birdsong gregory should be able to attach one of our clients to an event. Maybe a Bloom Boom?
Popup shops used to be the domain of seasonal stores selling cheap costumes or tacky holiday gifts but the ever changing world of retail and shopper marketing has turned that on it’s head. Popup shops (where a company takes over an unused space for only a few weeks or months and then closes) have now been used by companies all over the world. Cheap chic retail king Target opened up popup shops for their collaborations with both Steve McQueen and Anna Sui. Likewise, eBay opened it's own popup shop showing off some of the things you could find on the site.
These shops are great for testing a new area or launching a new product but their real strength lies in creating buzz around a brand. Giving a consumer an amazing shoppping experience along with a smart product is the ultimate way to earn loyalty and trust. So if you think your brand or product could benefit from a well designed and executed pop up shop, I know a Charlotte Advertising Agency that would be a perfect fit!
As any good graphic designer knows, the look of a typeface can determine how readers perceive a word or phrase, a brand, or a company. And to fully understand how type works to communicate a marketing message, it helps to know the history of printed characters.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, American and European type foundries – where type was designed and cast for commercial and industrial use – churned out thousands of eccentrically decorative typefaces and typographic ornaments, most of it bought by printers.
Back then advertising was a burgeoning industry, and the more outlandish display styles were conceived in equal measure to attract the public’s eye and to distinguish one merchant from the next.
TYPE: A Visual History of Typefaces and Graphic Styles, Volume I, 1628-1900 is a new TASCHEN collection of exquisitely reproduced pages from an array of lusciously printed vintage foundry specimen books that were used to promote type fonts to commercial printers. Many quirky specimens in this compilation predate the mid-1800s, but most were produced in the second half of the 19th century, when fierce competition among foundries fostered an abundance of smartly designed and ludicrously gaudy faces.
From this week's Advertising Age: In an effort to build buzz in select urban markets this holiday season, Target plans to unveil three pop-up stores modeled after a fast-food joint.
Target to Go stores will be open in New York, Washington and San Francisco (hmmm no Charlotte, NC?) from Dec. 11-13 and will stock 50 popular gift items that shoppers will order by number.
"The design is reflective of where guests are at now," said Shawn Gensch, VP-marketing at Target. "They're time starved, so this is a quick experience that gives them great products at great, wallet-friendly prices."
The shops are meant to attract attention in urban markets where Target doesn't have a significant presence, said Mr. Gensch, adding that the success of the stores will be measured based on traffic levels, sales and buzz.
Stay abreast of the latest trends in advertising and marketing by subscribing to our blog. And to learn more about how birdsong gregory can help you with social media, branding, advertising and marketing, visit our web site.
For over forty years, the JFG Coffee billboard has graced the Charlotte skyline, advertising the New Orleans' coffee company's signature beans. Featuring large white letters against a blue background with the company's tagline "the best part of the meal" in an elegant cursive script across the bottom, this window into graphic design and advertising sensibilities of an earlier era was located next to Interstate 277 just south of the Panthers stadium. Let's hope it finds a new home soon.
Here's the link to the story in our local birdcage liner, the Charlotte Observer.
Last week I represented birdsong gregory as part of the Charlotte Chapter of AIGA (the professional association for design) team at charity pumpkin carving competition, GUTS.
Charlotte graphic design firms, web design firms and advertising agencies came together to raise money for the Levine Children's Hospital while enjoying festive candy, spooky music, and a little light-hearted competition. Thirty-three participants turned out from the creative Charlotte community to sculpt some truly amazing pumpkin creations in the name of this worthy cause!
Advertisers watch out ... at least if your products are sold in San Francisco. A recent story from the Examiner details how San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera sent a scathing letter to Kellogg Co. for claiming that Cocoa Krispies and other of its “sugar-laden” breakfast cereals will help boost children’s immunity to illnesses.
In the letter sent to the company’s president and CEO, Herrera expressed “serious concerns” about the large font printed on the Cocoa Krispies cereal box that reads, “Now Helps Support Your Child’s Immunity.”
The city attorney says that is likely false advertising, a potential violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law. He has asked Kellogg’s to prove its child immunity claims within 30 days. If the company fails to respond within that time, the City Attorney will “seek an immediate termination or modification of the advertising claim,” the letter said.
The claim is also printed on the Rice Krispies, Frosted Krispies and Jumbo Krispies cereal boxes. The products began appearing on shelves in San Francisco stores in recent months, Herrera noted.
I'm not sure how many parents are scooping up Cocoa Krispies for their health benefits, but this case does highlight the scrutiny that all advertising agencies and their clients can expect when making controversial claims for their products.
Stay in tune with the latest headlines from the worlds of advertising and design by subscribing to our blog feed. birdsong gregory is an innovative Charlotte advertising agency providing creative branding and marketing services to clients throughout North Carolina.
Timed with Microsoft's new Windows software launch, Apple has begun to air a series of pretty creative videos poking fun at the failures of Windows past. This advertising strategy seems to be working. Mac sales are well ahead of the pace of PCs and from a branding perspective, the Apple logo has become synonymous with innovation. At birdsong gregory our clients may not include Apple (yet) but our advertising strategies and branding initiatives are helping Charlotte and North Carolina companies prosper.
It was a a good look at the history of the American advertising industry and some of the more memorable campaigns and creative minds of the the last several decades. Unfortunately, the filmmakers presented a rather one-dimensional story about big advertising that focused on the the handful of men and women who have had tremendous commercial success shilling their clients' products. Regrettably, there was no mention of the environmental, psychological, and societal impact of our modern globalized consumption-based corporate hegemony.
Here's a gem of insight from legendary ad man Hal Riney: "The frightening and most difficult thing about being what somebody calls a "creative person" is you have absolutley no idea where any of your thoughts come from really. And especially if you have no idea where they will come from tomorrow"
Sustainability is an issue on top of many creative minds but it can be a complicated topic to tackle. To ease the process and give designers a distilled framework to work from AIGA, the professional association for design, unveiled The Living Principles for Design at the Make/Think Design Conference in Memphis last week.
The Principles, developed by AIGA Center for Sustainable Design, build on a framework of environmental protection, social equity, economic health and culture — giving clarity to integrated sustainability and making it accessable, relevant and actionable. This is a great resource for Charlotte graphic design and advertising agencies that are looking for ways to incorporate sustainability into their professional practices.
Here's a picture of my newest daughter, Charlotte (born October 5th) as she rests on the chest of my four year old, Emma - as she watches SpongeBob Squarepants on Nickelodeon. Shameless bragging from Dad? Perhaps. But the picture also reminds me of the challenges we face everyday at birdsong gregory, as we multitask in the development of advertising and marketing communications for our Charlotte and North Carolina clients. It does take a rare breed of individual to thrive in this kind of environment. And our team fits that bill.
Interesting article from the New York Times about how increased advertising spending on blogs, Facebook and Twitter has caused the FTC to require that endorsers disclose payments in cash or in kind from companies whose products they endorse. This demonstrates how important these "testing grounds" for advertising are becoming. In 2007 spending on consumer-generated and social media sites reached $1.01 billion. Stay informed on the latest news by keeping in touch with birdsong gregory advertising, Charlotte, NC
Texting may lack the sizzle of other advertising forms, but response rates suggest it may be more effective as Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium recently discovered from its summer test campaigns. To herd visitors to its new Fantasea aquatic show, Shedd Aquarium put a couple of direct-response tactics to the test to see if consumers preferred SMS or web-based calls to action.
At the end of 30-second spots that aired on Chicago’s NBC, ABC and Fox affiliates, the aquarium announced a contest with prizes that included a hotel stay and VIP seats for the Fantasea premiere. The commercials were identical across the networks except for the calls to action: All the ads directed viewers to a website to register for the contest, except one spot, which gave viewers an additional mobile option to enter the contest by sending a text message to a special code.
The SMS call to action generated 325% more entries than the web-based call-to-action, making up 52% of the total entries, though it ran in only 25% of the ads. Want to learn more? Contact Jim Cusson at 704-332-2299 or visit the web site of our Charlotte advertising agency.
Although technically still in the food business, supermarkets now find themselves increasingly looking at their operations from the perspective of a media company. Why? Because sixty percent of all in-store purchases are unplanned, according to James Maskulka, associate professor of marketing at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. This means our snacky impulse purchases can be influenced by a variety of in-store marketing communications: everything from coupons and end-of-aisle displays to digital cart screens and networked kiosks. Even better, a grocer's in-store marketing efforts can be accurately measured for ROI and efficacy, unlike traditional print advertising or TV spots.
To find out more about how our Charlotte, NC branding agency can help your company bring harmony and results to today's increasingly competitive retail environment, please call Jim Cusson at 704.332.2299.
I had the opportunity to attend Charlotte’s first Social Fresh conference. birdsong gregory was one of several Charlotte advertising agencies who gathered with corporations large and small to hear practitioners in the field of social media share success stories and offer advice for companies who want to utilize social media to contribute to their bottom lines. The biggest takeaway? Having a thoughtful and calculated strategy is the most important indicator of success. What’s your plan for social media? How does it fit into your larger marketing and advertising strategy? Want to tackle it together? Give me a call at 704-332-2299 and let’s talk.
Would have to be the spots featuring the credit-healing powers of Reverend Rob and Apple Auto Sales. I'm not sure what Charlotte agency is responsible for this classic (-ly bad) advertising, but it's been a fixture of late night local programming for more than a decade now.
Have you always wanted to know the difference between a pictogram and an ideogram? Or where America's first advertising agency opened its doors? (FYI: it was Philadelphia in 1841). Then check out www.designhistory.org. This wonderfully illustrated site begins with the origin of symbols and type before moving through the various cultural movements (Bauhaus, Arts and Crafts, etc.) that influenced and eventually evolved into the modern digital state of design and advertising.
Here at birdsong gregory, the graphic designers and branding gurus at our Charlotte ad agency are always looking for ways to sharpen their craft and deepen their knowledge of this creative, mercurial industry. So to that end, this site is a helpful collection of facts, faces, and inspiration.
Eat the one you're with! That’s the plan for the 
From this week's Advertising Age: In an effort to build buzz in select urban markets this holiday season, Target plans to unveil three pop-up stores modeled after a fast-food joint. 
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