I'm excited and proud to have been invited by the kind folks at the far-eastern end of our state to present at the AIGA Knoxville "Sustainability Speaks: The Living Principles + Practice" on Dec. 8.

Along with evangelizing the AIGA's "Living Principles" to my colleagues, I will be sharing the story of how Perdue Creative came to specialize in the areas of sustainability, corporate social responsibility and cause marketing, and — more importantly — how we all as communication design professionals can be SustainABLE.

Presented by Mohawk Fine Papers along with Hart Graphics, the event will be held at the Knoxville Museum of Art Auditorium, Dec. 8 at 6:00 p.m., with refreshments provided at 5:30 p.m. and sponsored by the Maryville College Environmental Studies Program.

75% of the proceeds will be donated to Community Shares of East Tennessee, a social change organization in Knoxville, connected to member groups focusing on poverty, health care, violence, education and environmental sustainability in East Tennessee.

Visit knoxville.aiga.org for more information and to register online.

You've heard that a tree grows in Brooklyn. Well, "Print Grows Trees" — the campaign designed by Perdue Creative to help preserve America's forests — has branched out to New York City's fabled Times Square. And we couldn't be prouder.

Developed for the Education Fund of Printing & Graphics Association Mid-Atlantic (PGAMA), “Print Grows Trees” connects consumers to the private landowners who control almost 60% of America’s woodlands. Age, demographics and financial pressures are causing these landowners to sell or transfer land at an alarming rate, and an average of 4,000 acres of forest is being converted to development daily. “Print Grows Trees” dispels the misconception that by using less paper, trees are saved. Facts show that using paper actually gives landowners the financial incentive to keep America’s woodlands safe from development and managed in a sustainable manner to contribute important ecosystem benefits such as water management, wildlife habitat and carbon sequestration.

For facts about America’s forests and the paper and printing industry, along with a personal account from Jo Pierce, who owns 2,000 acres of private woodlands in Maine, visit printgrowstrees.org.

Beyond simply reporting the incremental improvements in its reduced environmental footprint, Verso Paper Corp. wanted their 2010 Sustainability Report to convey the passionate way in which their employees support the company's sustainability efforts — financially, socially, as well as environmentally.

"At the heart of all we do..." became the over-arching theme used to encompass the abundance of anecdotes, updates, charts and data, which serve to tell the story of Verso's continuous sustainability efforts. Interspersed throughout the report are photographs with accompanying quotes from Verso employees, customers and environmental and community partners. Together, these testimonies put a softer, human touch on a report that is nonetheless filled with rock-solid facts and figures.

As with previous Verso sustainability reports, the 2010 report employs a printing technique that takes advantage of the tactical nature of paper. The cover features a globe made up of myriad laser die-cut symbols representing Verso's far-ranging sustainability concerns. At the center of these symbols is that of a heart through which is seen a brilliant green photographic image of nature on the inside preface page.

For more about Verso's commitment to "sustaining our planet, our business and our people," to download a PDF or to request a printed copy of the 2010 report, visit the Verso sustainability website.

In a thought-provoking post, Sustainable Life Media blogger John Friedman writes about the importance of your social media presence and how each of us is judged — for better or for worse — by the tweets, posts and photos we choose to share online.

"A few choice words can define you," Friedman says, and reminds us how easily information — positive or negative — can be shared these days. And how difficult it is to take back something you share online but later regret. (Just ask former congressman Anthony Weiner.)

So, if it's true that "you are what you tweet"...what are you? What few choice words define you?

Now there's a cool new tool that will show you. Tweet Topic Explorer lets you see the topics you (or any other Twitterer) mention most frequently in your tweets. And what's really cool is that Tweet Topic Explorer displays your topics in word bubbles grouped in cloud-like clusters and sized based on the number of times each word is used. (Adjunct words such as the, an, etc. are conveniently ignored.)

Here is the infographic based on our own Twitter account, @PerdueCreative:

It's not surprising to see words like marketing, social, media, blog, video, YouTube and Twitter, since that's the business we're in. But it's nice to see words like green, love, life and help bubbling up to define us as well.

Pretty neat, huh? Test drive Tweet Topic Explorer yourself, and see what words are defining you. And if you'd like a little help coming up with better words, better ways to use words, or a better social media plan,  use your words to contact us here or on Twitter @PerdueCreative. We'd love to help define you.

Can a brand awareness campaign go beyond simply getting a brand name "out there" and actually make people happy? It can when the campaign focuses on the product benefits that make life easier for the people who use it.

Invented by Hewlett Packard as a paper enhancing technology, and brought to market by International Paper, ColorLok Technology brought smiles to visitors at Paperworld, the international trade fair in Frankfurt, when the two companies announced diffusion of the ColorLok brand to leading paper manufacturers around the world. Paperworld visitors were greeted at all turns by posters, bus signs and banners featuring happy, smiling people who have discovered the unique and superior qualities of paper made with ColorLok Technology.

To support adoption of the ColorLok brand by these new paper manufacturers, Perdue Creative developed a comprehensive set of Brand Usage Guidelines, Messaging Guidelines, an outward-facing website as well as a password-protected brand usage site.

Titled "The Key to Happiness," the campaign and branding system reminded adopters of the ColorLok brand of their role in making people happy—ColorLok Technology's ultimate benefit.

With both economic and environmental pressures on the industry, Verso Paper Corp. has a bright future not in spite of being a paper company but because it is a paper company. So it is fitting that we told this incredible story via bright and colorful infographics substantiating Verso as "Renew. Able." with hard-hitting, easy-to-read facts and data in the company's 2010 annual report to shareholders.

With renewable products manufactured from renewable natural resources using renewable energy, Verso readily lives up to the "Renew. Able." promise. Its size and singular corporate focus make Verso able to be agile, adaptable and innovative in order to renew themselves as needed. Furthermore, Verso's use of combined heat and power (CHP) to generate electricity using on-site opportunity fuels, or biomass (byproducts of the paper-making process that would otherwise end up as waste) places Verso in the unique position of producing renewable green energy in addition to its strong portfolio of paper products.

We present Verso's exciting story of renewability four infographic spreads, displaying the company as "Market. Able." with positive signs pointing to the rise and continued strength of Verso's key customer segments, "Expand. Able." with a product pipeline radiating from its core coated web papers to future agricultural and advanced biofuel products now in R&D, "Reduce. Able" showing the company's nimble ability to increase operational efficiency through continuous improvement initiatives, and "Transform. Able." as they move from a paper company to a producer of paper and green power.

For the full report and infographics, download the Verso 2010 Annual Report PDF (2 MB).

A few years ago, in discussing the merit and appropriateness of a branding concept we were presenting, a client said something that has stayed with me since: "It doesn't have to be a big idea, it just has to be the right idea." He couldn't have been more, well, right. And that client's astute observation is even truer today than it was back then.

In these economic times, it's important to work not only harder, but smarter. That's why we offer "Right. Smart. Communications." Because it's more critical than ever that your marketing communications dollars are spent wisely.

You've probably heard the famous quotation from turn-of-the-century marketing pioneer John Wanamaker: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half." Well, that might have been acceptable then, but not in this century. That makes advertising sound like throwing a bunch of mud against the wall and hoping some of it will stick. And, frankly, these days that's a luxury advertisers can't afford.

It's true that marketing remains more art than science. After all, it's about peering inside people's minds and discerning what words and images will attract their attention and inspire them to action. And, at Perdue Creative, we use three things to help ensure the desired results:

Analysis. Authenticity. Alignment.

We gain as much insight as possible — about you, your organization, your product or service; about your customer or prospect; about the market and environment in which the customer experience occurs. We craft messages that are authentic — real, honest and uncontrived — based on a truth you can live up to and that resonates with your audience. And we align those messages with your business objectives, corporate culture,  brand positioning and target market to further maximize your chances for success.

We call what we do "right smart communications" because, first and foremost, we begin with the "right" message — one that not only defines who you are, but also who you aspire to be. Then we craft "smart" deliverables — designed to accentuate the message, reach your target audience and elicit a response.

So, whether you're in need of brand awareness, cause marketing, an updated website or a sustainability report, don't ask, "What's the big idea?" Ask this instead: Is it right? Is it smart?

Two very different cause marketing videos created by Perdue Creative were honored in the 32nd Annual Telly Awards. "How do you agape?" an online video for Agape Child & Family Services won a Bronze Telly in the Social Responsibility category, and "Go Paper. Grow Trees." for International Paper took the Bronze Telly in the Green/Eco-Friendly category.

As an online video component to our brand awareness campaign for Agape Child & Family Services, this video was based on unrehearsed, man-on-the-street interviews, asking random people on the streets of downtown Memphis the same question..."How do you agape?"

The animated video "Go paper. Grow trees." is an integral part of a cause marketing campaign developed for International Paper to give consumers the facts on how using paper products makes a direct contribution to the health of trees and forests.

PepsiCo announced this week it has developed the world's first PET plastic bottle made entirely from plant-based, fully renewable resources, enabling the company to manufacture a beverage container with a significantly reduced carbon footprint.

It's enough to make this loyal Coca-cola lover switch to Pepsi!

Read the full PepsiCo press release.

"Print Grows Trees", developed for the Printing & Graphics Association Mid-Atlantic in Washington, DC, received  the gold ADDY for illustration and four silver ADDYs in the logo, poster, transit ad and campaign categories.

The video component of the "Go paper. Grow trees." campaign, produced for International Paper, received the silver ADDY for industry self-promotion, interactive media category.

"Print Grows Trees" is a cause marketing campaign developed on behalf of the printing industry to challenge the widely-held belief that by using less paper, trees will be saved, and shows that print on paper actually helps to grow trees.

"Go paper. Grow trees." is a similar campaign developed to give consumers—from middle-school age and older—the facts on how using paper products makes a direct contribution to the health of trees and forests.

You're invited to be inspired by Bill Strickland, self-made CEO, social architect, visionary, author of "Make the Impossible Possible" and featured in the documentary "Waiting for Superman" at the Third Annual HopeWorks Breakfast. Coming to Memphis, Saturday, March 5 at 8:30 a.m. Purchase your tickets online today!

We are excited and honored to be helping nonprofit client HopeWorks promote their third annual fundraiser breakfast, "A Morning of Hope with Bill Strickland" on Saturday, March 5, 8:30 a.m., at the Woodland Hills Event Center in Cordova, Tenn. We're especially excited because this year's keynote, Bill Strickland, is a dynamic speaker with a story and resume too lengthy to recite here.

Rising out of the inner-city Pittsburgh neighborhood of Manchester, Strickland — inspired by a high school art teacher and a potter's wheel — created an after-school program called the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, which now serves nearly 4,000 youth each year and has led to the Manchester Bidwell Corporation, providing market-driven career education for disadvantaged kids and adults through partnerships with leading local industries.

Strickland is recognized nationally as a visionary leader who authentically delivers educational and cultural opportunities to students and adults within an organizational culture that fosters innovation, creativity, responsibility and integrity. Throughout his distinguished career, Strickland has been honored with numerous prestigious awards for his contributions to the arts and the community, including the coveted MacArthur "Genius" Award. He was recently tapped to serve on President Barack Obama's new Council for Community Solutions, a group of 25 who the President describes as "impressive men and women (who) have dedicated their lives and careers to civic engagement and social innovation."

Strickland is also the author or "Make the Impossible Possible: One Man's Crusade to Inspire Others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary", which includes his story of how a kid from Pittsburgh's ghetto would go on to lecture at Harvard and serve on the National Endowment of the Arts board. Fast Company magazine's Alan M. Webber calls the book, "Passionate. Inspirational. Hopeful. Optimistic. Powerful. Compelling....the cure to what ails this country."

Most recently, Strickland is featured in the documentary  "Waiting for Superman" directed by Academy Award-winner Davis Guggenheim (for "An Inconvenient Truth"). The film shows the challenges of the American education system and suggests that partnerships between the public, community and organizations like Manchester Bidwell Corporation can yield outstanding results.

Because of Strickland's success and inspiring stories of helping disadvantaged students and adults, it's no surprise to see him interviewed for the documentary. And a perfect match for promoting the message of hope, hard work and self-reliance intrinsic in the HopeWorks personal career development program.

For more information, download the brochure or purchase your tickets online today.

As with any successful direct marketing, our year-end mailing for nonprofit client Agape Child & Family Services came down to four essential elements:

1. The Offer. Helping children in need. Who can resist? Especially when you support the claim with facts such as Agape’s proven track record for making an impact in our community.

2. The Creative. Graphics that attract the reader and support a crafted message that tells your brand story concisely and with precise positioning.

3. The Mailing List. A good, up-to-date and finely tuned list, targeting only the specific demographics you’re trying to reach.

4. The Timing. We rushed the Agape mailing to get it in mailboxes in early December at the beginning of the gift-giving holiday season and in advance of year-end tax deduction deadlines. You don’t want your message arriving in the midst of seasonal chaos or competing with similar messages from competing marketers.

The results? As compared to the one-page director’s letter Agape produced in-house each year, our direct mail increased the number of individual donors 91% — nearly double the number of donors from the year before. The dollar amount of gifts was more than triple that of the previous year — a whopping 329% increase. And while many of those donations were from individuals who had given to Agape at some time in the past, 27% came from new donors, representing the start of new and ongoing relationships.

The old adage, “You’ve got to spend money to make money.” is as true for nonprofits as it is for profit-seeking businesses. Yes, Agape nearly doubled the cost of the annual year-end letter they normally produced themselves. But the pay-off has been tremendous. By our measurements of the results so far gathered, Agape netted a healthy 153% return on their direct marketing investment. Agape’s director of finance says, “There were probably many more that gave in response to the letter, they just didn’t send their gift back with the response card.”

Furthermore, because the direct mail expounded on Agape’s new brand positioning, “How Memphis says love”, recipients have a fuller understanding and awareness of Agape and a deeper appreciation of the brand. And that’s something you can’t measure in dollars and cents.

On the streets of downtown Memphis, we asked random people representing a broad spectrum of our city the same question..."How do you agape?" 

This is the video component to our brand awareness campaign for Agape Child & Family Services, a Christ-centered ministry dedicated to providing children and families with healthy homes.

Poverty, homelessness, poor education, teenage pregnancy, infant mortality — these are some of the daunting problems facing the city of Memphis, putting a whole community at risk. But what can be done to conquer such seemingly insurmountable tasks? Perhaps the answer is love. But not just any love. A form of love the ancient Greeks called agape, the love of God for mankind.

For more than 40 years, Agape Child & Family Services has quietly provided children and families with healthy homes in Memphis and the Mid-South through adoption, foster care, community restoration, homeless services, mentoring, maternity services and counseling, serving a total of 18,000 individuals in 2010. With a goal of increasing the number served annually to 50,000 by 2015, Agape sought help from Perdue Creative to launch its first-ever brand awareness campaign. 

"We've always been excited about the work we do at Agape," say David Jordan, Agape executive director, "and when we recently began to focus on our two key areas of adoption and community restoration, it was the perfect time to communicate our focus to the public, to let them know who Agape is and how they can get involved."

"How does Memphis say love?" is a multi-media campaign built on the organization's name, its proper pronunciation and its Classical Greek origins as a word for "the highest form of love." Digital billboards broadcast the brand to the wide audience of passersby along the I-240 loop, I-40 corridor and Germantown Parkway. Banner ads on the Commercial Appeal website and local users of Facebook direct online readers to the Agape website. And a direct marketing piece timed with the Christmas holiday season and year-end giving expounded on the Agape story while making a direct appeal for donations and volunteers. 

An online video,"How do you agape?", is planned for launch at the first of the year, followed by television spots on select cable channels and programs in mid-January.  

We applaud Agape for their desire to boldly expand their efforts and for realizing that accomplishing this goal means expanding their circle of influence. We are thrilled and blessed to work with them in showing Memphis and the Mid-South how to say, and show, love to children and families in need.

This week marks the launch of our awareness campaign for International Paper, entitled "Go Paper. Grow Trees.", which gives consumers the facts on how using paper products makes a direct contribution to the health of trees and forests.

"Go Paper. Grow Trees." was created to connect readers to the challenges private landowners face in growing and maintaining healthy forests. Promoted in online banner ads, a print magazine ad and via ground-roots spreading of the word with an email signature graphic and social media such as YouTube and Facebook, the campaign is centered around an interactive website that provides numerous forestry facts and dispels many myths, while offering multimedia tools, including a "Go Paper. Grow Trees." video.

“By providing a clearer understanding of who owns the forests and the challenges these landowners face, ‘Go Paper. Grow Trees.’ is intended to correct misinformation and provide a realistic perspective on the role that paper products play in keeping our forests healthy and growing,” added Shanahan. “Consumers continue to be environmentally conscious in the choices they make, so it’s important they base their decisions on facts. The facts are paper is a completely sustainable, renewable, recyclable and biodegradable resource—and using paper can actually lead to a healthier forest ecosystem and the demand for and growth of more trees.”

For more information on the awareness campaign, visit GoPaperGrowTrees.com.

Heartlight 2010, the annual fundraiser for Agape Child & Family Services, was held at AutoZone Park Oct. 23, with a cause marketing campaign that helped make the event a huge success. More than 500 attended the baseball-themed evening of Memphis musical acts, powerfully stirring video presentations and guest appearances from both Memphis Mayor A C Wharton and Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell. The event raised $327,500 in support of Agape.

Billed as the "Home Field Advantage", Heartlight 2010 was a celebration of Agape's work on behalf of children and families in need in the community, and enabled attendees to see first-hand how Agape served nearly 30,000 children and adults each year with adoption and foster care services, tutoring, counseling, community development, and its Families in Transition program, which places pregnant homeless women into transitional housing.

“It was an amazing night, and we are so proud of the good work Agape has accomplished in Memphis this last year,” said Marka Bennett, Agape board member and chair of Heartlight. “Our greatest wish is that the stories told at this year’s event will bring hope and inspire others to want to do great things in our community.”

Read more about Heartlight 2010 on the Agape website. And, view the campaign that helped set the stage for an amazing night.

How do you...

Create a cohesive brand for the new entity formed by the merger of two multi-billion dollar businesses?

Marry that new identity with the existing brand of the parent corporation?

Develop a rallying cry that pulls every team member on board with renewed excitement?

Differentiate the business from competitors in a crowded marketplace?

Be a leader rather than saying, "We're a leader"?

Be creative rather than saying, "We're creative"?

And make it "all about the customer" with a promise that can be delivered?

It was a tall order, but with the new brand identity for IP Display & Retail Packaging, we built a brand platform that answers every one of these demands.

Specific goals. Publicly stated, self-imposed deadlines. Real change.

Hat's off to KFC!

What is your company doing to reduce, reuse or renew? What are you doing that people can rejoice about?

World.edu is an international source of information and opportunities, providing and promoting skills, jobs, technologies, products and ideas that have a positive impact on the environment, economy and quality of life. It is owned and operated by World Education Network, a family owned and run business located in Queensland, Australia, creating and developing education resources for the general public since 1990.

Suzanna's first post, "No More Mr. Nice Green?", addresses an apparent trend in green marketing she refers to as the "ball peen hammer" tactic.

I'm pleased as punch to see Suzanna on this new global soapbox, and I look forward to more of her usual thought-provoking posts.

File this under "What Were They Thinking?" And view it with discretion: This video promoting the UK's 10:10 environmental campaign shows children and adults blown to bloody bits. Entitled No Pressure, the film features X-Files' Gillian Anderson and English footballer Peter Crouch with soundtrack music by Radiohead, and was intended to encourage viewers to take personal action in reducing their carbon footprints.

Rank this up there with Audi's "Green Police" Super Bowl ad as one of the most misguided attempts at green marketing in recent history.

Our planet is in peril, and the last thing we need is more polarizing—and politicizing—of this critical issue. We need rational discussion, personal commitment and radical change. But those who believe climate change is a bunch of left-wing lunacy and even apathetic people sitting on the fence are not going to be swayed by messages like this. In fact, it reinforces the notion that climate change is nothing more than scare tactics propagandizing Big Government/Big Brother mind control.

You can't mandate morality. And that's what this is about after all, isn't it? A moral issue. Are your choices and actions causing harm? Will you put the welfare of others above your own? Will you leave the planet a better place than you found it?

This week at Graph Expo in Chicago, Positively Print recognized our "Print Grows Trees" campaign with an "Exemplary Award". Created for the Printing & Graphics Association Mid-Atlantic (PGAMA), "Print Grows Trees" is a website and media campaign challenging the widely-held belief that by using less paper, trees will be saved, and shows that print on paper actually helps to grow trees.

Positively Print recognizes companies involved in the print production process that market the value and effectiveness of printed products. Nominated candidates are evaluated on originality and perceived effectiveness in delivering the message of print as an integral—and effective—component of today's integrated marketing campaigns.

"The purpose of the Positively Print program was...to share examples of creative and effective print advocacy campaigns with the entire graphic communications industry," said Ralph Nappi, president of GASC. "We want to demonstrate to companies involved in print that advocating for print can be done and help carry a powerful message that will benefit the entire industry."

"Print Grows Trees" was cited as "an example of how much a single entity can do to support—and promote—print."

Other recipients of the Positively Print "Exemplary Award" were Xerox Corp. for its television campaign advocating print, and a collective effort by five major magazine publishers—Conde Nast, Hearst Magazines, Meredith Corp., Time Inc. and Wenner Media—to promote the vitality of magazines as a media.

Recognized with the Positively Print "Distinction Award" were Hewlett-Packard and individual print advocate Warren Werbitt, founder of Pazazz Printing in Montreal.

For more about Positively Print, visit positivelyprint.org.

Oh, I hope our clients don't read this...

14 ways organizations commit "ideacide".

I am excited to report that Suzanna has been invited to join the newly formed Women’s Group of the American Forest Foundation.

Formed earlier this year, this group has pledged to help bring awareness to the AFF’s mission: to ensure the future of America’s forests for current and future generations. The U.S. is losing 1.5 million acres of forestland each year, and we need to save these forests by helping the public understand, value and support the social, economic and environmental benefits they bring to our communities, our nation and our world.

Suzanna, who makes her home in Holly Springs National Forest, has long been a proponent of our forests and has become increasingly concerned as fragmentation, development, insects, invasive plants, wildfires and other dangers encroach upon these keepers of our delicate ecology that provide us all with clean air, water, shade, beauty and retreat.

“I am thrilled to be invited into this arena,” she says. “It will give me an opportunity to help spread the word to women across America, who hold the key to education, influence and action.”

"As a forest dweller myself, I see firsthand the threats to our precious woodlands. I am surrounded by both publicly and privately owned forests, and the rate of fragmentation is alarming. It’s time for me to contribute to the cause in a more direct way, and I am truly honored to be a part of this effort.”

And today, we're applauding our own Suzanna Phelps-Fredette on being invited to join the American Forest Foundation Women's Group. (See my earlier post.) Congratulations, Suzanna. We applaud you!

Who do you applaud today? Comment below and let us know.

"...What separates (entrepreneurs) from others is their abject lack of cynicism. Their willingness to be vulnerable. Their love."

Great blog post by Dan Pallotta on Harvard Business Review.

It's so exciting to see thoughts like this "coming into the mainstream consciousness" as one commenter put it.

Read it and let me know what you think.

“Marketing executives need to generate cash to fuel growth-oriented programs … and they can do this by boosting the efficiency of their marketing people, processes and technologies—the things that are foundational to “running the business” of marketing … Inefficient business processes have been cited as one of the main impediments to better marketing performance.” Accenture, Onward and Up: How Marketers Are Refocusing the Front Office for Growth

I’ve noticed a trend since the economy tanked that is born from good intentions of making ever-shrinking marketing dollars go farther, and that trend is “let’s just git er done and not over analyze this or run it past too many people internally.” Oops. The law of diminishing returns just kicked into action. 

That “analyzing” part you may be tempted to skip is a key component of any successful – and cost-effective – project. Would you tell your builder to just start hammering boards together and we’ll see where we end up? No. And you sure wouldn’t start building without your significant other’s input. (They might not really want a man cave.)

The value of “analysis” is that you start with a comprehensive, results-oriented strategy / project scope / statement of intent – whatever you want to call it – that’s based on input by the appropriate internal stakeholders and on what your customers really want in the new economy. “We need a marketing brochure” is not a strategy, objective or intent. It’s a tactical “building” decision you’ve already made without the aid of an architect, contractor, set of blueprints or even something scribbled on a napkin in a bar.

You need a brochure. Okay. Why a brochure? For whom? With what takeaway? What call to action? What type of distribution? Any supporting materials? Who’s supposed to use this? How will they use it? WILL they use it? How will it benefit your customers? How will it increase sales, attract new business or help retain current customers? All pertinent questions nobody “has the budget” to ask any more.

As for not getting internal input – well, trust me, you’ll get their input when you’ve got the first draft done, and since you didn’t ask them in the first place, you’re going to get design and copywriting by committee from that point forward. Result? A mess of a marketing piece with no voice, no message, no branding, no objective and ultimately, no value to you or your customers. Your boss is going to complain that you spent a whole lot of money on nothing. You’re going to blame the agency. Nobody learns anything that can be applied to the next project. What’s the lesson? Garbage in. Garbage out.

Haste truly does make waste. Sustainable business practices include streamlining marketing processes so that they are more efficient. Start with a plan that is strategy driven, results oriented and organizationally integrated. Tactics should follow strategy, not drive it. “Git er done” marketing projects end up costing more money than those with a buttoned-up strategy. It’s better to do your homework. Then the professionals – the “architects and builders” – can responsibly advise you on the best way to go about achieving a tangible, quantifiable return on your marketing investment. The extra effort on your part up front will save time, money, frustration, and quite possibly, your job.

This marks the beginning of a little personal exercise I plan to undertake in which I catalog a thought or phrase that inspires me. I hope you will find something of worth in this weekly ritual called "Thursday Thoughts".