AngusGastle.com

Edmonton Events

Angus Gastle — Fri, 18 May 2012 21:06:14 +0000

In the global event attraction marketplace, Edmonton is competing against cities like London and New York; a tall order to be sure. But through intelligent experience design and a great client/agency relationship, we were dead set on success.

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Edmonton Events

Angus Gastle — Fri, 18 May 2012 21:00:08 +0000

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

On the global stage, Edmonton is a pretty small fish. Especially when it comes to international sport attraction, where Edmonton could easily be competing against cities like London or Vancouver; both are Olympic host cities and have larger economies. The depth of the global talent pool and the amount of resources some cities put towards their event attraction strategies means that a city like Edmonton needs to be especially thoughtful when investing in opportunities.

In the sports business, it all comes down to two things: can you handle an event of this size and can you insure that it will be financially successful. Like everything else, it’s all about the money.

INSIGHT

For the annual SportAccord conference in Quebec City, our approach was to embrace our small (booth) footprint and create a truly unique experience that would draw people away from the ‘big guys’ and truly consider what Edmonton has to offer. The classic Ambush, as it were.

Our aim was to be the best booth at the event, period. To accomplish this, we paired ground breaking table design with a dead simple user experience and a great supporting cast of imagery and messaging. A winning combination, as it turned out.

CREATIVE STRATEGY

First things first: we needed a brand to tie everything together. Since Edmonton’s events division didn’t really have an existing look and feel or message, we set out to create one. After several collaborative rounds of brainstorming with our amazing clients, we landed on ‘Make History. Edmonton Events.’ Both a bold statement for the future and a reference to Edmonton’s experience with hosting history making events. Next we determined a photographical style and kept it simple with large visuals and simple type. Putting the package together, the table is clearly the star of the show but with great supporting visuals that give you the sense that Edmonton is serious about hosting world class events.

RESULTS

Partnering with such great clients made this an early success. Currently, buzz is building in advance of the conference and the table is now a feature attraction at the event; outpacing the impact of the ‘big guys’ by leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, the event attraction business is measured in years instead of months so it remains to be seen how many large events are attracted to Edmonton due to this experience. But having fundamentally changed the city’s approach to external publicity is enough for now.

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How Creativity Works

Angus Gastle — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:00:20 +0000

How to write

Angus Gastle — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:53:54 +0000

David Ogilvy sent the memo below to his staff in 1982.

The better you write, the higher you go in Ogilvy & Mather.

People who think well, write well.

Woolly minded people write woolly memos, woolly letters and woolly speeches.

Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well. Here are 10 hints:

1. Read the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing. Read it three times.

2. Write the way you talk. Naturally.

3. Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.

4. Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass.

5. Never write more than two pages on any subject.

6. Check your quotations.

7. Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning — and then edit it.

8. If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.

9. Before you send your letter or your memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do.

10. If you want ACTION, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want.

David

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What motivates us?

Angus Gastle — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:12:24 +0000

Brilliant little video on what really motivates people. When I think back, I can see examples of these motivators working in my life even though I didn’t realize it. Will be a great tool as I continue to grow.

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Productivity Alberta

Angus Gastle — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 23:37:53 +0000

In 2010, the Government of Alberta initiated a study into the productivity of Albertans compared to the rest of Canada. It turns out that Alberta is the least productive province in the entire country.

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Alberta College of Paramedics

Angus Gastle — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:44:32 +0000

Under the new Health Professions Act, Alberta’s Paramedics are set to be recognized as true professionals; on par with doctors and nurses. The college approached us to rebrand and take charge of their future.

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OEM Remanufacturing

Angus Gastle — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:20:14 +0000

OEM is a heavy equipment remanufacturer for Finning CAT here in Edmonton. Their challenge to us was to figure out a way to engage the employee population in their new Vision 2016 initiative and secure their future for years to come.

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WorkWild

Angus Gastle — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:19:30 +0000

The Alberta Forest Products Association came to us with a challenge, find a way to make forestry relevant to Alberta’s young people again. Our approach: embrace what makes forestry different, the ability to truly work wild.

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OEM Remanufacturing

Angus Gastle — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:46:22 +0000

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

OEM Remanufacturing remanufactures heavy equipment parts for Finning CAT in Alberta. They deal with everything from massive mining truck engines through to wheels and suspensions. And all of it is huge. However, as they’ve grown and evolved over the past 7 years, they have had trouble uniting their workforce. A workforce that, admittedly, has a high churn rate due to the draw of the oil sector in Fort McMurray. Our challenge was to unite all the employees of OEM under a new 5 year vision that would lead to improved performance for the company and an improvement in the processes that directly effect those on the factory floor. It is an exciting time to be at OEM, and we wanted to share that excitement with all 700 OEM-ers more publicly.

It’s easy to get lost in the commotion on the shop floor at OEM, and forget that you’re part of something larger. We wanted to empower the employees to take charge and believe that their actions can directly impact the company in a meaningful way.

INSIGHT

Everyone in the heavy equipment industry makes a play on the ‘big-ness’ of their industry. “Join the Big Leagues” and “We do BIG” were common phrases in that sector. The problem with big is that it is hard to quantify, especially when talking about creating a truck that is 100x larger than a person. Our approach was to make ‘BIG’ real for the employees at OEM. Take the high level corporate strategy and put it right on the shop floor, where people can understand it.

We needed to take OEM’s Vision 2016 strategy and make it engaging for their employees. To do this, we simplified it to its essence and placed it right on the shop floor, where it’s relevant to the men and woman who really make all the difference.

CREATIVE STRATEGY

Playing off the big theme, we created a series of 3D rendered statements and photoshopped them onto photos taken on the shop floor at OEM. We tried to make these elements as visually interesting and ‘deep’ as we could so that people really had to look at them and engage with them in order to appreciate the message. From there, these ‘core images’ were then incorporated into everything we did: e-blasts, posters, memos and messages from the CEO.

RESULTS

The WE ARE OEM campaign officially launched in February of 2012 and has been widely accepted within OEM’s organization. It remains to be seen where this relationship takes us but we have high hopes for OEM’s future.

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