Game of Thrones Intro
By mike | May 14, 2012
As some are aware, I’ve taken an immense interest in the Game of Thrones series recently. True to form, HBO has delivered with an excellent immersive television show that leaves me wanting to speed time week to week instead of waiting to view the next installment.
There’s a great write-up and interview on Art of the Title that explores the challenges, thinking, and work that went into the opening sequence of each show. For those not familiar, the show has 90 seconds to introduce you to the world of Westeros and the various locations that episode is going to explore. They slightly tweak this for each episode – those with a sharp eye catch changes and details on each viewing. It’s definitely worth a read and viewing.
Art of the Title – Game of Thrones
Finally, at the end of the article the interviewer is asking Creative Director Angus Wall if he feels pressure to produce great work. His answer is fantastic:
“..in terms of pressure, I think you have to tell yourself that you might fail and you might fail publicly. But you can’t be afraid. You can’t be afraid to start over if you have to start over. At the beginning of every job you’re starting over. You’re facing failure every time you go out. But you can’t live in the place where you’re saying, I better not try this because I might fail. Because then you’re not going to succeed either.”
Topics: Marketing & Tech | No Comments »
House Industries in the House
By robert | May 11, 2012
The hard workin’ crew at AIGA South Carolina has done it again…luring another design star to town to mix it up with the Charleston locals. Join us on Thursday, May 24th for an evening with Rich Roat of House Industries. Shout outs to Amy and Courtney at Stitch for their major role in all this, as well as Jay Fletcher for the killer poster seen below. We’ll gather at the Blue Ion bar/stage…more info and registration HERE. Hope to see you.
Topics: Life, Marketing & Tech | No Comments »
Charleston Beaches Launch
By Chris Simpson | May 10, 2012
If you live in Charleston or have visited our beaches, you know they’re awesome. With 5 unique beach towns, each with their own style and flavor, there’s tons to do if you’re on vacation for a week or just swinging out for an evening to watch the sun set.
However, not everyone knows how awesome our beaches are. And, believe it or not, lots of potential vacationers skip right over Charleston on their way to Myrtle Beach.
So, we recently launched a project with the Charleston CVB to showcase Charleston’s beaches and convince vacationers to trade in the leather shops and high-rise condos of Myrtle Beach for a gentle, crowd-free stroll down any of our wonderful beach towns.
The situation
- We needed to convince potential visitors to choose Charleston over a competing beach vacation trip.
- We also needed to help shore up resort, hotel, and rental bookings during a couple specific times of the year.
The solution
Based on interviews, research, and early planning, we set out to position Charleston as a better beach vacation than competing destinations by:
- Highlighting (and differentiating) our beaches’ unique features & vibe.
- Reminding beach vacation planners that Charleston is world-class destination.
- Emphasizing the quality and selection of lodging.
Secondly, we wanted to generate additional revenue and bookings for our lodging partners by:
- Increasing traffic to partner sites via our own beaches site.
- Increase overall number of visitors during “need seasons.”
Using Google trends and keyword research, we identified the three core lodging areas to focus on, and were also able to pinpoint regional search interest that could later be used in targeted search engine marketing campaigns.
At the center of these marketing efforts would be a new, dedicated site for Charleston’s beaches.
Working from our strategic foundation, we designed and built a site that would deliver on our goals.
1. Highlight and differentiate our beaches’ unique features & vibe.
- New photography (an ongoing effort that will heat up this summer) that is
big, bold, and in your face - The site’s main navigation is focused on each individual beach
- Each beach page has a “vibe” carousel that visitors can flip through, along with events that speak to the different
Carousel highlighting the “vibe” of each beach
2. Remind beach vacation planners that Charleston is world-class destination.
- On nearly every page, we reinforce Charleston’s recent award as the “top city in the US”
- We also highlight the ease of access to downtown from each beach
Highlighting Charleston’s status as a Top City
3. Emphasize the quality and selection of lodging & increase visits to partner sites
- A page dedicated to each lodging segment highlights our partners in each beach area
- Exclusive beach lodging packages are featured prominently in the site navigation
Highlight our key lodging partners
We also wanted to develop the site for multiple devices. Using responsive design and development techniques, the beaches site responds works perfectly across phone, tablet, and desktop devices.
We haven’t stopped now that the site is live. We’re launching a targeted Google Adwords campaign and ramping up our search engine optimization efforts. And the tracking framework we built in allows us to report back to our partners with specific data points on visits and interactions with their brands.
Event Tracking Framework
Hope to see you at the beach in Charleston.
Topics: Our Work | No Comments »
The New Jersey Devils – Off to the Conference Finals
By theodore | May 9, 2012
As some of you may know, I’m a big hockey fan…. and even BIGGER New Jersey Devils fan! No, I’m not from New Jersey (I’m from DC), but I became a fan back in 1993 when I witnessed a Rookie goaltender named Martin Brodeur having a unexpected season bringing the Devils to the brink of their first Stanley Cup appearance. A team that Wayne Gretzky called a “Mickey Mouse Organization,” the New Jersey Devils were managing to silence critics and moved closer and closer to Hockey’s greatest prize — the Stanley Cup. In the conference finals of 1993-94, they faced the New York Rangers, a team that has the same type of clout as the Yankees … big name players, big salaries, perennial contenders, and of course, HUGE egos. No one expected the Devils to win … yet behind this Rookie goaltender, the Devils managed to take it to Game 7 with the Rangers. Mark Messier of the Rangers announced to media that he was “personally guaranteeing a win.” Something that you JUST DON’T DO in sports. Well… the Rangers won…. barely. I watched Brodeur stop a barrage of shots from the Rangers, and only till the 2nd Overtime of Game 7 did the Rangers squeak one through Brodeur. It made me a fan of the underdog.
Fast forward to 2012. I’ve been a major fan of the Devils EVERY year (and turned my old college roommate and Blue Ion co-worker, Craig, into a fan), and the Devils haven’t disappointed. Martin Brodeur in those 21 years ALL as a Devil, has managed to beat EVERY NHL goalie record, surpassing some of the other great goaltenders of the game. He’s won 3 Stanley Cups, 2 Olympic Gold Medals, and about every other award multiple times. Brodeur turned 40 years old on Sunday; the same day as Game 4 of their second-round series against the Philadelphia Flyers. Even Wikipedia’s Featured Article of that day was Martin Brodeur[1]. He pulled out a victory, and in a series that non-fans felt Devils would not stand a chance in, they finished off the Flyers in 5 last night. Of course, this has always been the case in Devil’s history: no respect for a team that continues to prove them wrong[2].
Well, the Devils have looked amazing in the first half of the playoffs so far. If you watched how they controlled EVERY game against the Flyers, it wasn’t ever close. The Devils have a mix of older veterans (like Brodeur, Elias, Sykora), and young talent, and they’ve been exciting to watch. Now, like most hockey players and fans, I have extreme superstitions that are necessary for your team to win[3]. So with that, I won’t let this blog post serve as any premonition or hinderance to them winning the Cup this year. I simply want to show my respect for an amazing player that at age 40, continues to make me excited to sit back and watch… and a team that now has one of the best chances to be raising the Stanley Cup in June.
Footnotes:
[1] Imagine pulling up http://en.wikipedia.com and seeing your profile up there:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Brodeur
[2] ESPN is the worst, including so-called “expert” Scott Burnside. Always counting on the more popular teams to win and never giving Devils credit. See the “expert” picks here: http://espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2012/story/_/id/7853042/experts-picks
[3] I grow out my “playoff beard” … and trim it up between playoff rounds. I have to wear my Brodeur jersey while watching at home. And I have to neatly fold it after the game.
Topics: Theodore's Corner | 3 Comments »
Props to Poppin
By robert | April 27, 2012
If you’re not ordering your officeables from Poppin, you should be. Not only do they have nice merch, but their execution is top notch and quite friendly. Fun packaging, solid writing and ol-fashioned, hand-scribed thank you notes. My only request would be a smaller shipping package…was sized for shoes more than pens.
Topics: Life, Marketing & Tech | No Comments »
She got a Sista?
By josh | April 26, 2012
A little fun commercial for the morning. First person that recognizes one of these New Jersey Bachelors in a comment gets a high five and a frozen banana!
Topics: Misc. | 3 Comments »
Gaillard Performance Hall Foundation
By mike | April 23, 2012
Last Friday marked the launch of the new Gaillard Performance Hall Foundation website. This work is centered largely around the fundraising and construction efforts supporting the new Gaillard Center in downtown Charleston. This first phase gives visitors a taste of the plans for the new Center and helps answer some common questions. Central to this is an integrated blog so that all stakeholders can keep up-to-date with building news and progress. This is truly a transformative step for Charleston to bring a world class performance hall and event space to the area.
There’s already plans for additions in the future related to video testimonials and additional ways to engage the community. Head on over and learn all about the project at gaillardfoundation.org.
Topics: Our Work | No Comments »
AdWords Updates Match Type Behaviors
By Casey Gold | April 18, 2012
Google announced yesterday that they will be rolling out new match type behaviors for both phrase and exact match keywords. Both match types will now include “close variants, including misspellings, singular/plural forms, stemmings, accents and abbreviations”, says Google. Advertisers will still have the option of sticking with the old or switching to new by navigating to the advanced settings under the campaigns tab.
You can read the full post over at the Google Inside AdWords blog.
Topics: Google AdWords | No Comments »
Aaron Draplin Night
By robert | April 11, 2012
This Friday night join AIGA for a rowdy evening with Aaron Draplin. He’s guaranteed to entertain. We’ll gather at Blue Ion HQ…doors open at 6:00 pm and Aaron’s prez should start at 7:00. If you’re a member of AIGA, it’s free. If you’re not (yet), it’s $8 which will help support AIGA and help cover the drinks and munchies. Go HERE for more informations, and please register to help us get a count. Hope to see you here.
Respect to Gil Shuler for the poster.
Topics: Life, Marketing & Tech, Misc. | 1 Comment »
Opportunity Next
By nicola | April 6, 2012
Earlier this week we launched the full site for the Charleston region’s Opportunity Next. The economic development strategy guides our region’s efforts to strengthen the local economy, improve wages and create new jobs.
Far from being bland and corporate feeling, we wanted the site to feel open and inviting. We infused vibrant color and big, bold type into the design, and we broke up longer copy reads into smaller, digestible pieces. The result is a site that’s as colorful and bright as our region’s economic outlook!
Check it out: www.opportunity-next.com.
Topics: Our Work | No Comments »
