What's your favorite WECO business?

For the past two weeks we at Riggs have done a lot of talking about WECO. It’s more than the building. It’s West Columbia. And while most people’s attention may be focused on what’s happening on the other side of the river, we think we’ve got a pretty hip thing going on in our little neighborhood. So I asked my co-workers, “What’s your favorite WECO business?”

Catherine Doyle
Sun Spirit Yoga and Wellness.  It’s an awesome yoga studio, where I’ve been getting my teacher training and Tzima (the owner) is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met.  Plus she makes lots of cool jewelry, soaps, lotions, oils, tea blends, etc., so there’s always something new to check out.

Kevin Archie
One of my favorite WECO businesses is True BBQ — “Home of the Pretty Lady AND Sexy Lady sauce!”

True BBQ, located at 1237 D Avenue, West Columbia

Will Weatherly
Paul’s Barber Shop. The Aroma. Paul. The Pool Table. The Aroma.

Jenni Brennison (me!)
116 State. It’s a great place to grab an espresso or a glass of wine while sharing small plates with friends.

Ryon Edwards
My favorite would have to be Old Mill Antique Mall, because you just never know what you’ll find in that place.
Runner Up:
Jimmy’s Citgo, because it’s the closest place to get cigs, lottery tickets, energy drinks, beer, gas, breakfast and/or just about anything else you’d ever need.

Nate Puza
New Brookland Tavern. You will see your favorite bands before they are famous, the drinks are cheap, and they have an old-school Mortal Kombat arcade game. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Cathy Monetti
BUG Outfitters. ‘Cause I like to play outside.

Julie Turner
The Original D’s Wings. It has the authentic character chains try to reproduce using interior design. And then there was that one time Billy made me chicken wings wrapped in bacon.

Kevin Smith
It’s not a business, but we have the best view from the Gervais Street Bridge.

You can't see this view from downtown Columbia.

1. L’Oreal Paris Women of Worth

The Women of Worth program sponsored by L’Oreal Paris celebrates everyday women who follow their true passion to make a difference in the world. Each year since 2006, ten women are selected and recognized for their extraordinary community service efforts. L’Oréal Paris makes a $10,000 donation to each of the selected Honorees to support their work. Additionally, one Woman of Worth Honoree and her cause is selected by public vote as the Women of Worth National Honoree, receiving an additional $25,000 donation for her charity of choice.

Social Media Take-Away:

With more than 2 million followers on their primary Facebook page and 21,000+ followers on the Women of Worth official Facebook page, L’Oreal Paris is giving new meaning to their slogan, “Because You’re Worth It.”

2. Secret’s Mean Stinks

Secret thinks that being mean stinks. That’s why they have ganged up for good to help end girl-to-girl bullying. The campaign includes a series of challenges, films, a gallery, tips and tools, and encourages girls to interact with each other online to stand up against bullying together.

Social Media Take-Away:

Mean Stinks integrates visual and multi-media content seamlessly across various digital platforms with fully branded channels on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube. Secret’s official corporate Facebook page with more than 1.6 million followers includes a Mean Stinks tab that hyperlinks to various interactive opportunities within the campaign. Twitter channels are integrated using hashtags such as #gangupforgood and #bluepinky, and visual content is shared through Pinterest while video content is shared through YouTube.

3. Dove Real Beauty Sketches

“Imagine a world where beauty is a source of confidence, not anxiety.” Women are their own worst critics with studies showing only 4% of women consider themselves beautiful. Dove decided to conduct and document a social experiment that proves to women something very important: You are more beautiful than you think.

Social Media Take-Away:

With over 45 million Youtube views, Dove’s commitment to building positive self-esteem has inspired women and girls to reach their full potential far and wide. Dove features a “Social Mission” tab on their Facebook page of more than 14 million followers where they encourage discussion about beauty, confidence and self-esteem. The “Self-Esteem Wall” includes downloadable tools and discussion guides as well as a nomination form to share a story about an unstoppable girl. You can even join the conversation on Twitter by following the hashtag #WeAreBeautiful.

Warren is a forensic engineering and consulting firm that provides technical investigation and analysis of personal injury and property claims in order to uncover the real truth — origin, cause, responsibility and cost of an event — with unmistakable clarity. They believe that every cause leaves a trace and will therefore work tirelessly to get to the bottom of every case. With this in mind, we updated the Warren brand to be as distinctive and straightforward as possible.

The two downward-pointing arrows in the negative space of the Warren “W” further extend the brand promise of getting to the bottom of it. A warm color palette differentiates Warren from competitors — often red, black, and white — while also aligning to the idea that real truth is not always “black and white.” The primary color is yellow-orange because of its bright energetic qualities and its correlation to safety — think school buses, yellow lights, and construction machinery. Warm-toned monochromatic photographs of places and situations where a Warren expert often investigates are shown in pre-disaster states to provide a sense of assurance rather than fear. This extensive identity upgrade is already delivering real results for Warren in new business opportunities and new cases. Among the design deliverables was a full stationery package and a search-friendly website designed in collaboration with friend and one-time Weconian, The Pixellary.

An ad agency creative director, Stefan is the author of a book called, Chasing the Monster Idea. His presentation focused on the seven characteristics of monster ideas. So just exactly what is a monster idea? Here’s his definition:

“The truly monster idea is more than just good; it transcends the boundaries of the problem to solve it so simply and so powerfully that it almost sells itself. It’s the campaign idea that grows on its own, powered by those evangelists who first discover its true value, and it forces everyone else to catch up with it—if they can.”

I’m not going to share his seven characteristics — he shares them in his book. You can download the first chapter free here or get the whole schmere here. Instead, I’ll share my biggest takeaway from his presentation.

In the past, marketers have tended to throw everything inside the kitchen sink and then throw it at a consumer hoping something — anything — might stick. Now we weren’t always quite that ham-fisted. Sometimes we presented them with one unique selling proposition in the form of a creative execution or campaign. Regardless, we told them what we wanted them to know. The goal was to sell them on something.

While we were busy deciding what we wanted them to know, consumers were being rewired. The Product no longer holds weight with them. What does is the other stuff: how that product makes someone feel or the problems it solves. They are not being sold to; they are buyers. Most important of all is the acknowledgement that the marketing universe has shifted into new territory: consumers recognize and often filter out push-style messages.

Stefan’s answer to reach this new breed of consumers is to pique their curiosity and then reward their effort with a good experience.

Marketing with the goal of making people curious? That itself is a monster idea.

Columbia's Papa Jazz Records

While the numbers reflect only a small drop in the larger industry’s bucket, for me, this growing (and they are growing) niche of consumers says a lot about how consumer culture, in general, is changing. Instant gratification and tech-driven convenience isn’t the selling point it used to be. The Great Recession seems to have spawned a desire to have something to show for one’s hard earned dollar. A new generation is falling in love with their record collections.

From the careful removal of the disc from its cover and jacket, to the equally cautious placement of the needle and the satisfying hiss as it moves into the silent grooves between each song, a preference for vinyl is as much about the owner’s tangible experience as it is about the warm, robust tone only a record can produce. Vinyl seems to imprint its grooves upon our memories in a way digital music has yet to achieve. My dad has a story for every album he’s ever bought. Now I can say the same about many of my friends. More importantly, you can’t carry a record around in a pocket-sized device. We invite vinyl into our homes, allow it to take up space, and return to our favorite albums again and again. It’s a long-term, committed relationship.

A new generation is drawn to the tangible experience of vinyl.

 And it’s this thought that brings me back to my first few days as an apprentice at Riggs. Earlier today, I enthusiastically updated the work section of my Facebook. Jokingly I listed my position as “Wannabe Peggy Olson,” in tribute to Mad Men’s plucky copywriter. But as I thought about Record Day, with its own hints of nostalgia filtered through a modern lens, I was reminded that we now live in a world where a snappy slogan touting the features of a well designed product isn’t enough to ensure market success. These days, with so many options and dollars stretched thin, brands that aspire to greatness must first inspire consumer engagement above anything else. Advertising tells people what they should buy. A strong brand strategy guarantees they will never forget why they made that decision. It paves the way for that tangible experience and ignites the initial spark for an enduring relationship. That’s why I wanted to apprentice with Riggs. Anyone can write “effective copy.” Here we strive to write love stories.

Enjoy the season's best from your local farmers — Image picked from Cottle Strawberry Farm

There’s something ultra delicious about picking fresh strawberries in the warm spring sun. They are redder, plumper and oh so very sweeter. My family visits the local farm almost every weekend they’re in season. My four year old, who takes such great care to find the best ones, sneaks a strawberry or two as we carefully pick our way through the rows. They are that irresistible.

As I wander through the field each year, I can’t help but think about this game — the one where mankind and all of his advanced technology cannot outsmart this beautiful recipe of nature, time and weather. Throughout the fall and winter, you can see and taste failure in hard, half-green strawberries forced to ripen as they are shipped across the country (or globe). Strawberries that don’t smell at all like sunshine and sweetness. Imposters.

There was once a time when strawberries could not be found in the off-season and it’s easy to see why. So, more and more, I find myself waiting for the real strawberries. For the next few months, I’ll eat, drink and blend local fresh strawberries into every meal and beverage I can think of.

There’s a short window for one of nature’s greatest gifts. It’s open now at Cottle Strawberry Farm.

A marketing world that once measured budgets in whole dollars now scrutinizes every cent under an electron microscope. Being seen matters. Getting consumer brains to slow down long enough to process why they need to pay attention to you matters.

All the budgetary gnashing adds up to one imperative that even the greatest tactic cannot overcome. Having an effective, sound strategy is today’s marketing imperative. The right strategy answers key questions down the road. Are the (photos, tactics, content or messaging) right on-target or are they off-brand? Should we (reallocate funds, stretch our neck out, pass) on this opportunity?

The right strategy is a both a guideline and roadmap. Without one, you’re certain to wander off course. Even worse? You have nowhere to find your way back to!

How pleased we are to (officially) welcome Catherine Doyle to Riggs Partners!  A protege of RP Inbound Marketing Director Keely Saye, Catherine is an Inbound Marketing Specialist who will work with RP clients on Cross Channel and Inbound programs.

A native of Tulsa, Catherine is a graduate of the University of South Carolina where she served on the executive boards of Zeta Tau Alpha, Mortar Board and Dance Marathon. She also wrote for Garnet & Black, Discover Carolina, InterCom, and served as writer and publisher for The Odyssey.

Bonus? Catherine is working toward certification as a yoga instructor. Needless to say her Zen demeanor graces the WECO in a most elegant—and calming—way.

Welcome, Catherine!

            “Well, uh, yes, I guess I am.”

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it’s really you! I talk to people in India about CreateAthon all the time!”

That is what greeted me within 10 minutes of stepping into an evening reception at the Global Pro Bono Summit, hosted recently by Taproot Foundation. It was a moment that took my breath away, and the start of a 24-hour experience that filled me with the promise of good in the world like never before.

Joining me at the event in NYC was none other than  CreateAthon Chief Evangelical Officer Peyton Rowe. That, in itself, is enough to get me pumped up on the matter of all things pro bono. Then there were our friends from Taproot Foundation, A Billion + Change, and other swell folks from socially minded corporations we’ve come to know. I expected to see these flag-bearers for pro bono, and to once again be inspired by their leadership.

What I encountered was something altogether different.

I was surrounded by people from about a dozen different countries who were part of Taproot’s global fellows program. Then there were “intermediaries,” people throughout the US who lead programs designed to mobilize pro bono efforts in their respective industries and/or communities. Like CreateAthon.

Before we intermediaries were introduced to the global fellows, Taproot Founder and event organizer Aaron Hurst provided some meaningful context to us on why these people had come to New York, and why we had been invited to meet them:

“Understand that most of the people you’ll meet today come from countries in which pro bono is neither encouraged nor tolerated. In some cases, they are not only putting themselves at professional risk for advocating the practice of pro bono, but also personal. They can go to jail for this.

“You’re here to get to know them, encourage them, and connect with them from now on, so they can be prepared to carry out this work when they go home.”

That got our attention.

Then here they came, 22 of the most delightful people I’ve ever met. Between their broken English and my heavy Southern accent, we often had to repeat ourselves or help interpret each other’s sentences. But what transcended that awkward dialogue was the immediate, shared spark of something between us: the belief in pro bono.

There’s so much to say about this experience — perhaps I shall come back here and unpack all of my takeaways — but for now, I hope you’ll be inspired by three things I now know to be true, thanks to this global gathering of good.

Pro bono is going to become an industry, not a nice to do.

We can capitalize on it and make a living giving it scale throughout the world. What some may have once considered a pipe dream is now quickly becoming a force.

People are different. Their hearts are the same.

The power of human connections around a central cause has never been more palpable to me than in the last two weeks. All it takes is one moment, and an extended hand.

The impact of CreateAthon has only just begun.

Our 24-hour marathon model is being noticed in places far from here, not just in India. In France: “We now have a marathon model in place inspired by CreateAthon.”

In the Netherlands: “Oh yes, we’ve heard of you. What a great program!”

In Germany: “We love CreateAthon, and I am going to get you to Berlin to teach us how to do it.”

Where do we go from here? Global fellows, corporate leaders, and intermediaries like us will reassemble for Global Pro Bono Summit II a year from now. In the meantime, we’ll be connecting with each other, one by one, sharing ideas and offering encouragement. We’ll also be working together on a number of initiatives coming out of the summit that will help to move the global pro bono movement forward in the next 12 months.

The last thing I know for sure?

If you have a little idea, it can be big.

Peyton checks in at our mod venue, Steelcase

Telling our stories, one by one

P and T reunite with our global bestie, Armin from BMW Foundation.

Heated debate among the panel of judges for best global pro bono plan

Champion of pro bono and lover of all things CreateAthon: Taproot Foundation founder Aaron Hurst