Successful kickstart for MIND ZONE

Last November, I received a request from my friend Christopher Cowen, who is VP of original programming for Herzog & Company, asking me to consider taking-part in a Kickstarter for his latest documentary film project. He wrote:

“The film is called MIND ZONE: THERAPISTS BEHIND THE FRONT LINES and it’s the story of the U.S. Army Combat Stress Control Units that are going behind enemy lines and trying to help soldiers deal with life in a forward position, and the horrors of war which they attempt to cope with on a daily basis. Some supporters believe these therapists might help ebb the effects of PTSD, and some critics believe we are weakening soldiers’ fortitude and putting them even more in harm’s way.”

As you can see if you look here, the film was able to meet its fundraising objectives through Kickstarter. Congratulations to Christopher, producer, director and clinical psychologist Jan Haaken, and everyone involved, and “break a leg” in moving forward on this important project you can also check out at www.mindzonemovie.com.

2012 ReCourses New Business Summit

On January 25-27, I had the pleasure of joining nearly 100 other professionals representing dozens of creative services firms in Nashville to attend the 2012 ReCourses New Business Summit (NBS). Hosted by ReCourses principal David C. Baker, and Blair Enns of Win Without Pitching, the event’s subtitle reads, “Using Your Positioning for More Reward, Impact, Control, and Fun.”

When it was all over, I asked many of my fellow attendees to provide two words that best describe their takeaways from the event, and the word cloud embedded above reflects their input. For anyone who has not spoken with me or others about our remarkable experiences at the summit, this provides quick insight into its powerful impact.For a bit more background, Read more

Sharing Secrets: Public Relations Expertise

The publishers of Brand Republic, the UK’s leading online destination for people working in the advertising, marketing, media and communications industries, offer an editorial on their website entitled “What’s the secret of a long ‘marriage’?” In that, Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO chief executive Farah Ramzan Golant offers these wise words: “The key to long-term client relationships is constant reinvigoration…. You should constantly be looking at how you can do things differently, keep freshening the account teams and stay ahead of the game.” As a PR practitioner providing ongoing, dedicated counsel to a small roster of clients, I firmly believe in these vows, and back in December, I participated in an enlightening webinar hosted by Vocus and presented by PR industry thoughtleader Deirdre Breakenridge, who is the author of “PR 2.0” and “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations.” Entitled “Eight Techniques of the New PR Champion,” the knowledge and insights Deirdre shared really blew me away. Read more

Ewasko: Days and Lights

Tommy and I are very proud to announce that our book “Ewasko: Days and Lights” — which was nominated for Blurb’s “People’s Choice Award” — is now available as an instant ebook download for Apple iBooks (iPad/iPhone).

We’re also very psyched to announce the release of the first wave of high-quality art prints and photographic products of images featured in “Ewasko: Days and Lights.” By visiting RKDfind Ewasko Gallery you can now order prints with mounting and framing services from Mpix Lab and Photobox, and specialty gifts and photo products from vendors such as IYP Photo Products and fotoflot.

If you have any questions on orders, please call me at 1.828.264.8898. Thank you very much for your interest in this project — we hope you enjoy these images and we look forward to hearing from you any time.

eBay’s give-a-toy stores

Starting last Friday and for the next month, shoppers in New York City and San Francisco can use their mobile phones to purchase toys for children in need at two new interactive storefronts presented by eBay and Toys for Tots. The initiative conceived and produced by advertising agency Venables Bell & Partners features interactive displays created by international production company and design studio Brand New School (BNS) and its School of Interactive Media.

As reported by TheInspirationRoom.com, all web-connected shoppers can experience the Give-A-Toy Store and make donations online by visiting www.eBay.com/GiveAToyStore and www.Facebook.com/eBay.

Business and brand strategy alignment

For his recent post on BNET entitled “The Death of Branding and the Scam of Storytelling,” ghostwriter and author Jeff Haden reached out to the illustrious David C. Baker, whom I have written about before. David is the head of ReCourses, which provides consulting services and educational events for marketing firms. In Jeff’s story, David says a lot about branding and storytelling, including this.

“Alignment is simply telling the truth: To your customers, to your employees, and to yourself. When you do that everything else falls into place. Then your brand makes sense and the stories you tell support your brand — because your brand is you.”

Personally, I have long admired the dedication of my clients at global creative agency ATTIK focusing in on these critical areas of business. I believe their work for Perkins+Will featured above is a solid example of David’s ideas at work. I hope he agrees with me.

To learn more, Read more

“Brand New Conference” coming to SF on 16 Sept

The Brand New Conference is a one-day event focusing on the practice of corporate and brand identity, organized and hosted by UnderConsideration co-founders Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit. A direct extension of UnderConsideration’s immensely popular Brand New blog, the conference will feature eight sessions offering a broad range of points of view from these prominent speakers.

Jonathan Notaro, Brand New School
Paddy Harrington, Bruce Mau Design
Ben Barry and Everett Katigbak, Facebook
Vince Frost, Frost*
Brad Copeland, Iconologic
Claudia Boggio and Alfredo Burga, Infinito
Christopher Simmons, Mine™
Marina Willter, Wolff Olins

The Brand New Conference will gather brand and identity designers and aficionados at the Marines Memorial Theater next Friday, September 16. Those who can’t attend in-person are invited to enjoy the live webcast and other event videos.

Advertising Age’s 2011 Women to Watch

Advertising Age recently published its fifteenth annual Women to Watch Special Report. Then, on August 10, Ad Age partnered with Advertising Women of New York and sponsors Meredith and WeTV, at an August 10 event at New York’s Waldorf Astoria honoring the prestigious class of 2011, which includes Nicola Mendelsohn, who apprears in the video I’ve embedded here entitled “Keep Experimenting.”

Congratulations to each of you on this great accomplishment, and on all your other impressive achievements so far in life: You are inspiring a lot of people!

Read more

Engaging and tracking

Linda Ong’s Advertising Age article last week suggested this: “Drop the Words ‘Relevance’ and ‘Authenticity’ From Your Marketing Lexicon; Culture Is What You Should Be Focusing On.” While I feel that most people probably need to do a better job of tuning into all of those areas, Linda makes many fine points for executive marketers, and I also really appreciate this comment from Denise Lee Yohn:

customer experience + culture = brand

relevant, authentic (and i would add differentiated) customer experience + strong culture = great brand

For businesses and business professionals, the proliferation of trackable communications occurring in real time is monumental, and most likely, moving forward, tracking, measuring and reacting to it will be essential to your success. Here’s a short list of social media monitoring services you may find helpful. To learn more about these and many others, please visit this meticulously organized Social Media Monitoring Solutions Wiki created by Ken Burbary and Adam Cohen.

Adobe SiteCatalyst
Alterian.com
BuzzLogic.com
Cymfony.com
Facebook Search
Google Blog Search
HootSuite.com
Nielsen Buzzmetrics
Radian6.com
Tinker.com
Topsy.com
Trackur.com
Trendrr.com
Trucast.net
Twazzup.com
Twitter Search