KJA Mind Finds

Wow! This is awesome!

June 16, 2011

Here’s some good news: A recent study by the University of Pennsylvania delved into the archives of the NY Times and found that “positive content is more viral than negative content.” So, even in this world riddled with headlines about tsunamis, earthquakes, protests, fuel prices and yes, political misbehavior – we still prefer to spread positive news and information. Aren’t you glad to hear that?

Need more proof? Let’s turn to Facebook – where “Like” is the goal for much of what’s posted. The social media giant recently looked into major news sites with a presence there and found that “provocative” or “passionate” stories generate two to three times the engagement of other stories. Similarly, the Penn study noted that the trigger for sharing seems to be about emotional arousal more than anything. Content you can imagine someone emailing with either “Awesome!” or “WTH?!” in the subject line gets spread.

From a marketing and branding perspective, this further emphasizes the importance of unique, engaging stories, content and experiences. Awe-inspiring. Something that connects with your audience so much they’ll share with their social network.

How can you change what you’re doing to make it “Awesome!”?

Tags: branding, marketing
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KJA clears a path to advertisers

May 13, 2011

So we decided to have a little fun while trying to explain exactly what it is we do… in less than a minute. Whew.

Tags: advertising, fun stuff, kja crew, video
Posted in Recent Waves | 2 Comments »

Super Size or Dollar Menu

May 3, 2011

Consider how this might apply to your business.

“Super-size it!” gets me extra (necessary?) stuff for just a fraction more money. How many times have you nodded your head when asked “Would like a large for a quarter more?” or “Would you like to super-size that for $.59?” A small collection of inconsequential pennies for MORE! I win! Right?

The Dollar Menu brings the seemingly out of reach within reach. Smaller portions, sure. But did you really need 64 ounces of soda and xx-large fries to begin witht? These thrifty value options strip away the excess and deliver just enough – at a comfortable price.

Both of these work on the idea of perceived value. One’s perceived as “a deal” and the other “a steal.”

Some might argue Apple did the same thing with the iPad. It’s not a computer. But it’s more than a netbook. They took away something unnecessary (the keyboard, large storage space) and upped the cool factor by expanding their popular touch screen platform. This sort of convergence and shifting of priorities addressed consumer’s desire to access the internet and email on something more than their smart phone but less than a full blown laptop. The price falls in between the two original devices.

So – what product or service offerings (and their prices) can you shift to better serve the needs of your customers? What can be mixed and matched, or trimmed, or enhanced?

A perceived value change in your menu may keep your customers coming back again and again.

Tags: business
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It’s a noisy multitasking media world

April 26, 2011

Watch the Saint’s game and post to Facebook.

IM with friends, check email and shop online.

Surf the web, listen to the radio, ride down the highway.

Place an Amazon order on a conference call.

Pay bills from the car pool line.

It’s rare that we DO just one thing at a time anymore, much less see or hear one thing. Consumers are inundated with more content than ever before – mostly by choice. (We can put down the phone and turn off the iPad at anytime.)

This isn’t news. It’s simply where society finds itself… knowingly aware of it or not.

For a marketer, this means 1 thing:
To cut through the noise you have to engage, not advertise.

Your message has to compete – not just with other brands and their messages – but with all the content and media a consumer encounters throughout their day. This doesn’t mean simply making an ad that gets the most attention on the page. Your message has to be a worthwhile thing. It must CONNECT with and MATTER to a person who has endless other choices.

Because when you matter, they choose you over the other noise.

How are you engaging and connecting with your audience?

Tags: branding, communication, marketing
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Do you prepare?

April 19, 2011

“Chance favors the prepared mind.” ~ Louis Pasteur

Michelle Corley : KJA Designer & Thinker

I have a friend who’s a firefighter…a job whose very nature requires the ability to properly react to a crisis situation. My job hardly equals it in danger and intensity. Let’s face it, a client may completely shred the work I do – but nothing goes tragically haywire because of it. That said – for both jobs, preparation results in success or failure. I dare say the same holds true for your line of work.

As a fire fighter – training fills the time between calls. Think physical fitness, rescue techniques and a whole slew of things that remind me why I’ve only recently learned to use “fire” and “career” in the same sentence. They’re exposed to various scenarios and situations, tested in different ways to build intuitive reactions. Because of this preparation, they grow more certain of their skills, confident in their abilities and able to remain calm in chaos.

Can you think of a better way to use “down” time? What know-how could you be nurturing? Surely there’s a skill set that’s grown rusty or worse, lounges around untapped. Consider “down” time as an opportunity to build momentum. Plan your next step. Be better.

Yes, idle time is good – resting and recharging can’t be overrated. But in a few tics of the clock, idle can cool to complacent, and the tepid devil of complacency leads you easily to lazy. Once you’ve nestled into lazy – game over. Your sluggish, cob-webby reactions stand little chance in the heat of a crisis.

Tags: business, creativity, management
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Hats off to the city

April 15, 2011

We’ve said it before – branding happens at every point of contact. Good or bad… every time someone comes into contact with your brand, you make an impression.

The city of Alexandria understands this, especially as it applies to street-level surroundings. So, they’ve given the Alexandria Arts District a much needed face lift. This six block section of 3rd Street, between Jackson and Lee, is a state-designated area creating a tax-exempt zone for original art purchases. This core downtown area now boasts brick inlaid intersections and sidewalks, lovely iron benches and vintage-inspired lamp posts decorated with large hanging baskets and colorful banners.

When KJA was tapped to create this rotating series of banners, we knew they needed to be visually energetic. We feel the energy and ‘pop’ of these designs reflect the area’s spirit and the impression city leadership wants to make on visitors.

We’re proud to be involved in the city’s work in this area. But more than that, we’re impressed with their understanding of the importance of impressions. We applaud their efforts to put such a warm, welcoming shine on this vital area of the city.

Now – take a cue from the city. Look around with new eyes. What can you polish and highlight to make a better impression?

Tags: branding, design
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Interactive TV changes the channel

April 12, 2011

Ever heard of interactive TV? We’re not talking about channel surfing or yelling at the guys in black and white stripes during the ball game. It’s more along the lines of on-demand. As a TV hungry population, we’ve grown to love our DVR, on-demand episodes and streaming movies. (It’s all SO much easier than the blinking clock on that VCR.)

Advertisers take note: Now there are ways for you to interact and exchange information with viewers too.

Currently Comcast offers a number of ways to connect companies with their television audience. Two of these – Telescoping and Request for Information – work to create deeper, more efficient engagements with potential customers.

Telescoping gives viewers the opportunity for instant in-depth information. A small box overlays at the bottom of a :30 or :60 commercial, asking, for example, “Would you like to view a Subaru test drive?” With the press of a remote button, the viewer is directly linked to branded on-demand content, in this case, a Subaru test drive. Not only does it expand the amount of information available at the consumer’s finger tips, it’s easily tracked. Comcast provides information daily on how many times the video was viewed and how many minutes of it were watched.

The Request for Information (RFI) uses the same basic tool – a box overlaid at the bottom of a standard commercial. This interactive prompt allows viewers to accept coupons, enter sweepstakes, take advantage of product offers, or request more information by pressing a remote button. By choosing to participate, viewers agree to share contact information with the advertiser. This means better efficiency with marketing materials – only those requesting materials receive them.

TV viewing is moving from a single channel, passive experience to two-way channel, interactive one, much like the web evolved with Web 2.0. In fact, Manish Bhatia, President of Advanced Digital Services at The Nielson Company compares it to the web. “A lot of what exists on the internet today, is what is looking to be available on the television screen 3 to 5 years from now.”

How much could your advertising efforts improve with interaction? Are you taking advantage of that interaction on the web?

Tags: advertising, marketing, technology
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A signature shares so much

March 29, 2011

In The Original Social Network we talked about the staying power of email. You get email daily. You send it daily. In fact, you probably hit the send button more times before lunch than you care to admit.

Every outgoing message contains a branding opportunity. Your email signature provides another point of connection with your recipient. Easily point them to your website, blog or other social networking presence. Plus, including your logo reinforces your brand even more.

Things to keep in mind:

Keep it short. Don’t force people to wade through a paragraph of information. (Ask yourself: Do they really NEED a physical address, mailing address, alternate emails, 3rd phone number and 4 titles?)
Keep it simple. Rein in the urge to go overboard on fonts and colors. Try separating information with pipes ( | ) or colons ( : ) to keep it on a single line. (i.e. phone 318/445-5966 : fax 318/442-5991) Clean and readable – that’s your goal.
Keep it relevant. Everyone doesn’t need the same bits of information. Pass along only what’s needed. Create multiple signature options if necessary.
Keep the logo properly sized. If you include a logo, keep its size in proportion to the email. It doesn’t need to be billboard-size. And don’t indulge in graphic overload.
Keep the HTML to a minimum. You never know how someone’s email will look on their machine or smart phone. Email can wreak havoc on HTML. When in doubt, refer to rule #2: Keep it simple.

The beauty of email signatures – most email software lets you set up signatures and then use them automatically, or choose the one you’d like to include. This means no retyping or having to worry about it with every email. It simply becomes part of your message when you hit send.

What does your email signature look like? Does it expand on the ways people can connect with you? As ever, the comment section belongs to you.

Tags: branding, email
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Unnecessary or mandatory?

March 9, 2011

The ad agency is the in diabolic center of the “create-on-demand” universe.

Here’s a snapshot.

We have designers who’ve paid their dues (and tuition – from some fancy college).
We have clients who want a magical solution – RIGHT NOW – and they have a signed check.

What more could anyone want – right? And then an hour later – or tomorrow – or whenever, there’s another client with a different dilemma. And another signed check. And so it goes. Hour after hour. Day after day. Year after year – if you make it that far.

This shaky business model relies on the premise that the reservoirs “creative types” draw from time and again – perpetually replenish – automatically.

Ain’t so.

In fact, that whole mentality fuels the fast track to quick burn out, desperation and business implosion.

But there’s hope: creative reserves can be replenished.

One of our favorite podcasters, Todd Henry, of Accidental Creative, drills the concept of “Unnecessary Creative” into the heads of his listeners. The idea is quite simple, but absolutely mandatory for creative professionals who take their job performance and future seriously.

Here’s how it works…
For the “create-on-demand” professionals to continually perform at consistently high levels, we must choose to engage in creative endeavours OUTSIDE the 8–5 framework. This nourishes the creative soul and replenishes those continually tapped reserves. In other words, those “extra-curricular” activities creative professionals naturally gravitate toward, actually help us perform better when we’re “on the clock.”

And at a glance, those activities might appear completely unrelated to “day job” functions – but the exercise still works. From involvement in local theater, choir or dance, to master-gardening or furniture building, to welding, sewing or pottery and all points in between – the list is limited only by a person’s imagination. These endeavors allow us to flex and strengthen creative muscles that might get overlooked during the regular work day.

Todd’s title “Unnecessary Creative” refers to the stuff that falls outside official job descriptions and daily paycheck-earning requirements. The reality is, these activities significantly impact how we perform our “create-on-demand” jobs – day after day. Certainly, making time for unnecessary creative efforts requires commitment and concentrated effort. But our experience taught us there’s actually nothing unnecessary about it.

Tags: creativity, design, kja crew
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Change agents

February 13, 2011

For most people, ‘change’ is unsettling. An annoyance. Even scary. With the explosive growth in knowledge and advances in technology, change for most people is no longer an option. Even so, many feel threatened by it.

At KJA, we’ve always viewed ‘change’ differently than most. We believe ‘change’ creates new opportunities. Fresh starts. Better solutions. Opportunities to assess, regroup and do things better, smarter, more effectively.

In fact, for decades KJA has been viewed as a ‘change agent.’ Clients don’t come to us because they want things to continue on the same course, but rather because they realize a new one is needed – and we are the team to bring the desired change they’re after.

To us, change also connotes LIFE. And WELLNESS. And GROWTH. We simply embrace change and that outlook has, over time, become part of our identity (brand).

Looking back over the past 12-16 months reveals plenty of changes at KJA. One of the most exciting is a change in ownership. In early 2010, respected and seasoned marketing and strategy professional Bob Munson purchased KJA. With his contagious energy and varied skill set, Bob continues leading our team into multiple new ventures.

With Bob’s arrival came the need for changes to our office space. (Again, OPPORTUNITY!) So after some free-form creative exploration, we landed on a solution that accomplished the space objectives — but also ramped up the cool factor of the environment in which we live, breath and work. After a bit of patience (power tool noise, sawdust, paint fumes), we now enjoy the manifestation of… (you guessed it) more change.

One of the most recent and obvious changes to our space grabs your eye as you walk in the front door. Strategically situated front & center in our reception area rests an impressive work of art by local artist, Mark Rabalais. Mark’s expressive style, along with the scale of his work, fit perfectly with KJA’s unconventional organization. We believe his art perfectly mirrors the creative core of our team and our ‘all-out-commitment’ to excellence.

Change is the only constant. Without it – there’s no life, no movement, no progress. So take the next “change” opportunity, embrace it and look for the potential it holds… and don’t be surprised at the good fortune you discover.