The Bark Communications Blog

New Desktop Wallpaper: Fore!

RAY — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 15:27:00 +0000

Spring time is almost here, and to celebrate Bark Communications is pleased to announce Bark Inspiration desktop wallpaper #020: "Fore!".

Download the new wallpaper here or visit Bark Inspiration for more wallpapers. As usual, all backgrounds are free of charge and can be used on your computer or mobile device.

Bark Inspiration No. 020
Fore!

Introducing 10 New BarkBuilder Templates!

RAY — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:49:00 +0000

Bark Communications is pleased to announce 10 new templates for BarkBuilder! As usual, all BarkBuilder templates are fully customizable including the ability to change the number of columns, colors, fonts, etc.

Your Superhero:View a Preview

The Right Company:View a Preview

Building Blocks:View a Preview

For Eagle:View a Preview

Our Canvas:View a Preview

Tangled:View a Preview

Building Success:View a Preview

Great Beginnings:View a Preview

Promising Future:View a Preview

Fenced:View a Preview

If you would like to use a simplified version of your home page, edit your template, click the Layout Tab and choose "Hide All Columns (Simplified Home Page)". Resource (Photoshop) files for the new template can be found in the "Download Materials" menu under "Template Resource Files". To change your template at any time, login to your BarkBuilder account and select "Choose My Template".

Note: If you would like to have Bark customize a template specifically for your company, please contact us. We can also assist you with your branding, marketing and communications strategy. View a sample in our portfolio.

Scheduled Maintenance: Monday, February 27

RAY — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:43:00 +0000

Please note that on Monday, February 27th, 2012 between the hours of 1:00am and 6:30am EST, we are going to be upgrading our server infrastructure at some of our facilities, which may result in scheduled downtime.

Please feel free to follow our Twitter account @BarkComm for any updates during that time.

It's a Way of Life (Vol. 3)

RAY — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:42:00 +0000

Continuing along with Bark's "It's a Way of Life" desktop series, we are pleased to announce Bark Inspiration desktop wallpaper #019: "It's A Way of Life (Vol. 3)".

Download the new wallpaper here or visit Bark Inspiration for more wallpapers. As usual, all backgrounds are free of charge and can be used on your computer or mobile device.

Bark Inspiration No. 019
It's A Way of Life (Vol. 3)

Casual Friday - Every Presentation Ever

ANDREW — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 06:21:00 +0000

It's a Way of Life (Vol. 2)

RAY — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:46:00 +0000

Continuing along with Bark's "It's a Way of Life" desktop series, we are pleased to announce Bark Inspiration desktop wallpaper #018: "It's A Way of Life (Vol. 2)".

Download the new wallpaper here or visit Bark Inspiration for more wallpapers. As usual, all backgrounds are free of charge and can be used on your computer or mobile device.

Bark Inspiration No. 018
It's A Way of Life (Vol. 2)

Casual Friday - Social Media Explained

DEREK — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:03:00 +0000

This probably perpetuates a few negative/unfair stereotypes, but it's funny, so...

New Wallpaper: It's a Way of Life

RAY — Mon, 6 Feb 2012 09:52:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce Bark Inspiration desktop wallpaper #017: "It's A Way of Life".

Download the new wallpaper here or visit Bark Inspiration for more wallpapers. As usual, all backgrounds are free of charge and can be used on your computer or mobile device.

Bark Inspiration No. 017
It's A Way of Life

Casual Friday - The Kobe System

ANDREW — Fri, 3 Feb 2012 06:49:00 +0000

Being Truly "Social"

ANDREW — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:50:00 +0000

You may already know this, but late last year, Facebook removed the ability for users to automatically share their blog on their profile using the "Notes" app.

In their words:

"We want you to connect with your fans in the most effective ways possible. That’s why as of September 30th you’ll no longer be able to automatically import posts from your website to your Page notes. The best way to get people to interact with your content is to give them insight into the links you share on your Wall by adding personal comments and responding to feedback from fans."

In taking this step, Facebook is reinforcing the fact that true social media engagement requires a personal touch. Although convenient, automated posting of your blog isn't truly social - it's broadcasting.

It's a lesson that we've been reminded of and we've made some adjustments as a result. We'd encourage you to do the same!

New Desktop Wallpaper: Feeding Cities

RAY — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:43:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce Bark Inspiration desktop wallpaper #016: "Feeding Cities".

Download the new wallpaper here or visit Bark Inspiration for more wallpapers. As usual, all backgrounds are free of charge and can be used on your computer or mobile device.

Bark Inspiration No. 016
Feeding Cities

Casual Friday - Tim Horton's Changed!

ANDREW — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:10:00 +0000

Don't Fall Off the Path

BRIAN — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:22:00 +0000

Just recently, I was in a meeting with one of our more advanced clients in regards to understanding the importance of a clearly defined brand and how applying that understanding to the daily rigors of business makes a significant difference to the company's success.

We were discussing how they distribute their product and how they should communicate to their different audiences. As we were walking down each of these paths, I noticed that the brand was no longer the filter through which we were viewing these problems and potential solutions.

I will expand on the communications issue a bit more to illustrate what I mean.

It is my experience that smaller changes and issues seem to be much easier to put through the brand filter (easy being the key factor). When larger issues such as the use of technology to communicate to your customers comes up, many drop their brand filter and start applying filters from those who have nothing to do with their brand and/or business. They look at Seth Godin and say, “if he is successful at reaching thousands of people via his blog, we will start one two”. They look at CNN and say, “their app is so successful, we need one too”.

This is wrong thinking and probably why working through the problem is so frustrating and unclear. It is imperative that ALL decisions are run through the brand filter. This creates a focused and consistent impression in the minds of your customers while saving valuable effort, time and money in planning and execution.

To finish the story I started above, once we realized this diversion and refocused on the brand, the decision became crystal clear. There was no question what we needed to do.

Consensus.

I’m interested to hear what you think about this. Is your brand leading you to incorporate such strategies or is a strong outside force pushing you into an area your brand has no business being?

Image Editing Made Easy!

CRAIG — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:21:00 +0000

We've found a great and easy-to-use image editing program that I want to share with you today. It's called Picnik.

While it does not possess the versatility of Adobe Photoshop (or even come close to its capabilities), it allows you to make modifications to your images that you can then integrate into your website either as a banner or as an image within the content.

There are no downloads required. Modifications can be made online, right through their interface. You can retrieve your images from Flickr, Facebook, Photobucket, Picasa or your computer.

The service is free. However there is a "Premium" version that offers more options and functionality, which we have not explored, and the costs advertised on the site show $25/year.

Repackaging Ideas

ANDREW — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:40:00 +0000

I saw the following video last week and it reminded me of the fact that often, we try to communicate and drive home a message on the basis of repetition alone. However, while repetition is a critical tool in a communicator's kit, if you're repeating a message that just plain doesn't resonate with the audience, you've got a different problem.

Sometimes, what you have to do is repackage the idea.

Enter the video I referenced and a new way of encouraging people to carve out 30 minutes of exercise a day:

New Desktop Wallpaper: Peace of Mind

RAY — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:09:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce Bark Inspiration desktop wallpaper #015: "Peace of Mind".

Download the new wallpaper here or visit Bark Inspiration for more wallpapers. As usual, all backgrounds are free of charge and can be used on your computer or mobile device.

Bark Inspiration No. 015
Peace of Mind

Casual Friday - A Good Laugh

ANDREW — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:07:00 +0000

New London Lightning Desktop Wallpaper

RAY — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:45:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce a new Bark Inspiration Special Edition desktop wallpaper featuring DeAnthony Bowden, Shawn Daniels and Michael Ray Richardson of the London Lightning basketball team.

Download the new wallpaper here or visit Bark Inspiration for more wallpapers.

Bark Inspiration SE
London Lightning

Embedding Social Media Scripts

CRAIG — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 06:20:00 +0000

Today, I want to share a new customization feature that is available for those who like to go a little deeper and create/maintain some of their own custom code.

One of our users has uniquely embedded the Wibiya Bar which allows their site visitors to easily share the page they are on through Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, Buzz or email with the click of a button.

The bar is customizable so that you can make it fit the look-and-feel of your web design. Check out the customization options here.

To get your own snippet, visit: www.wibiya.com and sign up for the Wibiya Bar.

Please note that since this is a custom script which is supplied by third-party, we cannot guarantee it's ongoing functionality and compatibility with the platform.

Lost Opportunity

ANDREW — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:05:00 +0000

Last week, at the State Of The City address, the new theme song for London, Ontario (our hometown) was revealed by mayor, Joe Fontana. The song is called 'City of Opportunity' and is performed by long-time local celebrity and political pundit, Jim Chapman and his band, the Incontinentals.

You can listen to it here.

In short, the song is awful and quite frankly, it's nothing short of embarrassing to our city.

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of creating a theme song that will rally Londoners and share the greatness of our city with the world - we need those kinds of communication ideas and strategies.

But the execution of the concept doesn't even come close to that passion. In short, the lyrics are a bullet point list of why London is great with very little nuance or beauty to them. Lines like "river runs through it" try to be creative in harkening back to classic American literature, but do so in a clunky and unconvincing manner. The lyrics stop just shy of listing the corporate tax rates as they encourage listeners to "Imagine a factory where none was before. Imagine an office, imagine a store" - lines that feel as though they were pulled directly from a Dr. Seuss book.

The music is uppity and dated and as such, finds no home as it floats in a space between being anthemic or contemplative, where theme songs need to be if they are going to get picked up and bought into.

So, what do good theme songs sound like? Here's a few:

Tony Bennet, singing "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"
Frank Sinatra singing "New York, New York"
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys singing "Empire State of Mind"
Harry Connick Jr. singing "Do You Know What it Means, to Miss New Orleans"

All of these songs, although very different stylistically, serve to accurately and passionately represent the city they reference. Bennet's contemplative and wistful singing of the lyrics make you want to be in San Francisco. Frank Sinatra's powerful voice draws you into just how great New York is as a city. Jay-Z's punchy rap represents the culture of New York in a way that resonates, especially when coupled with the stunning vocals of Alicia Keys. Then there's Harry Connick singing about his home town of New Orleans with deep and heartfelt passion.

Each of those songs tells a story and conveys the love the artist has for the city they are singing about. It's authentic and it's powerful. In contrast, "City of Opportunity" is forced, lacks nuance and doesn't reflect true passion.

As a result, it's a perfect example of where many communications efforts go wrong - great ideas ending in poor execution.

London is a great city that is indeed full of opportunity. We need to be passionate about communicating that in great ways. This, however, is more like an 'opportunity' lost.

Casual Friday - The Power of Words

ANDREW — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 06:49:00 +0000

Marketers: We Aren't All Bad

ANDREW — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:03:00 +0000

The other night, I was at an event with a number of people and the group got to talking about how banks are the most sophisticated marketers out there - but the connotation of the word "sophisticated" in that context wasn't to say that banks had complex or intricate marketing systems, but rather, that they are deceptive and misleading. I kept my mouth shut…at first.

You see, while I wouldn't argue with that connotation when it comes to marketing employed by many such institutions, it's not fair or true of all marketers.

Our job…my job…is to help organizations communicate effectively. If you have a great product or service, you're likely awesome at building that product or offering that service, but you might not be so great at communicating it's value to others, so your great offering gets used by no one - even some who might need it badly but don't know it.

That's where I/we come in. My job is to understand who you are and what you do and then help you communicate that to the world, or for most companies, just the part(s) of the world that would find your offering valuable and that's not dishonest.

Nor is seeking to understand what interests people in a given region and then targeting your communications so as to ensure you have the best chance at being heard. If we're good at inter-personal relationships, we all do that already. If we have something to share with another person, it's important to listen first in order to understand the other person, so that when we speak, we maximize the potential to be understood. That too, is not dishonest.

So as the comments flew about the room the other night, with a playful smile on my face and some faked offence in my voice, I threw out a plea that not all of us marketers were bad news. Everyone had a good chuckle when they realized that one of those "evil marketers" was sitting amongst them and that maybe we aren't all bad.

I'd be fine if we stayed in that place. The comfortable place where we know that like money, marketing is amoral - it's what we do with it that makes it good or bad and not all of us are interested in using it badly.

That's a comfortable place for all of us to be. Especially since, at any given time, one of us marketers might be sitting in the room with you.

Logo Design Process

DEREK — Mon, 9 Jan 2012 16:34:00 +0000

This is a link that I came across about a month ago and saved immediately because of the wealth of information it contained. Now I am passing it along to you hoping that it can be a great help, or at least provide some insight into the process that is involved/required when designing a logo for your brand. I am hoping that it will shed some light on the cost of logo development. Have a look through some of the processes listed and see how some really good brands come to be.

Some of my favorites are:

BountyBev:
A good example of how simplicity rules, and why you should avoid stock logos or logo competitions.

Homespun Chili:
I love seeing all the variations of what doesn't make the cut through the process. This example has some good ones.

Metro Aviation:
This one is a very thorough look at the entire process and how much work went into the final mark.

Sponsr:
I like this one because I love the final mark... also this project included custom typography.

WebMynd:
This is another great mark with a good story... with a twist. The company does not use the final mark anymore and switched to something else. See their site and current mark here. In my opinion, not nearly as good or memorable as the first.

Casual Friday - A Good Way to Start 2012

ANDREW — Fri, 6 Jan 2012 06:40:00 +0000

How To Make A Successful Logo Icon

ANDREW — Thu, 5 Jan 2012 07:12:00 +0000

A few thoughts on logo icons:

You recognize the apple - not because apples are particularly representative of technology, but because Apple brought its brand to it. In fact, so did Bill Gates for a while there.
You recognize the swoosh - not because it inherently makes you think of athletic clothes and footwear, but because of what Nike has brought to it.
You recognize the green mermaid - not because it's a clear reference to coffee beans, but because Starbucks has attached a brand of coffee and service to it.
You recognize the three-sided silver star encompassed in a circle - not because it's the mark of an automobile, but because Mercedes-Benz has attached its brand of luxury vehicles to it.

Your logo doesn't need to be perfect. It doesn't necessarily need to represent all of what you do and even if it does, that message might be lost on your audience.

The success of your logo is found in the brand you attach to it. If it's a brand of great products and great services, then you, your business and your logo will succeed.

Make 2012 a Year of Learning

DEREK — Tue, 3 Jan 2012 13:37:00 +0000

If you find yourself doing design as part of your job but it wasn’t something you thought you would see yourself doing, there is a pretty good chance that you have a lot of additional learning to do. One of the primary tools of all designers is Adobe Photoshop. If you have stepped into that program without any formal education, it can be massively intimidating. I would also guess that you have had to learn on the fly using tutorials you found online or the help files built into Photoshop.

What this post is about is trying a new method of learning, a method that I have used that has worked out well for me over the years of my career. With the intimidating quantity of tools and options in Photoshop, it is important you just get in there and try stuff. Take some time when you are not pressed with a deadline, open a file and just play! Over the course of a month take on menu option from the top and just go through each item underneath and get a sense of what each item does. The key to understanding why you may be intimidated by Photoshop is simply because it is unfamiliar. There is always discomfort or fear with things that are unfamiliar to us. So take the time to make it familiar and you will begin to enjoy it.

Lastly, what is more important than being comfortable with the software, is knowing the software so your work is not limited to what you may or may not know how to do. I know earlier in my career that was one of the things I was guilty of. I would let the course of a design be limited to what I knew I could do. I don’t think that is a very honest way to work and likely it’s not the best thing for the brands you work on either.

So I encourage you to take some time when you’re not under a deadline to learn some new things about Photoshop. Just learn one menu per month and by the end of 2012 you will be well on your way to being self-sufficient.

Here is a timeline to help you on your way:

January: File Menu (Learn about importing, exporting and file/document management)
February: Edit (Learn about some basic editing, transforming objects, fills and strokes)
March: Play and reinforce what you learned in Jan./Feb.
April: Image (Learn about image/canvas resizing, cropping and image adjustment techniques)
May: Layer (Learn about the way to manage layers and apply layer styles and adjustments)
June: Play and reinforce what you learned in Apr./May.
July: Select (Learn about different ways to apply and manipulate selections)
August: Filter (Learn about what all the different filters do)
September: Play and reinforce what you learned in Jun./Aug.
October: Play and reinforce what you learned in Jun./Aug.
November: Analysis & View (Analysis is a small menu, not much there. View is about managing your work area)
December: Window (Contains more workspace management and all the tool panels)

'Tis The Season to Close Up Shop

ANDREW — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 06:00:00 +0000

As in past years, our offices will be closed during the holidays. We will be shutting down at noon today and returning on Tuesday, January 3rd.

We're also going to take our annual break from blogging and so things will be quiet on the blog for the next week and a bit.

If there are any critical issues that arise, we will available by emailing holiday911@barkcommunications.com.

On behalf of the entire Bark Communications team, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We'll leave you with this great Christmas tune by Audrey Assad to set the tone for your holidays.

Introducing 3 New BarkBuilder Templates

RAY — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:45:00 +0000

Just in time for Christmas, we are pleased to announce three new BarkBuilder templates entitled "Photographed", "Hexagon" and "Kid Care".

Click Here to View a Preview

As usual, all BarkBuilder templates are fully customizable including the ability to change the number of columns, colors, fonts, etc. If you would like to use a simplified version of your home page, edit your template, click the Layout Tab and choose "Hide All Columns (Simplified Home Page)". Resource files for the new template can be found in the "Download Materials" menu under "Template Resource Files".

To change your template at any time, login to your BarkBuilder account and select "Choose My Template".

Become A Finisher

ANDREW — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:09:00 +0000

I’m going to risk borrowing today’s blog post topic from another, far more popular blogger. Two days ago, Jon Acuff of ‘Stuff Christians Like’ fame, posted on his blog about the value of being people who finish projects, not just start them. I feel ok with borrowing the topic because it’s actually something I’ve been thinking about quite a lot over the past 12 months.

In recent years, I’ve noticed a trend for many people to categorize themselves as starters (idea generators) and not finishers (plan executors) and I can’t help but wonder if a good chunk of people who say this really are more than just starters but have unwittingly succumbed to a modern culture of Twitter-esque attention spans and loose commitments.

As a culture, we generally struggle to exercise those muscles of discipline that carry us from start to finish on a given project. Even the movements we become involved with on the grounds of our convictions and passions can get stomped out by the cultural equivalent of boardroom boredom.

But the subtlety that I fear has crept in is to label the lack of discipline to carry a plan out to completion as ‘just being a starter’. We apply the label of entrepreneur to that and make it sound like a formal role but we use that term wrongly. Even entrepreneurs will tell you, what follows the ‘starting’ is an incredible amount of work to bring the idea to completion.

Last week, I had the opportunity to sit with a friend from Dallas who is an entrepreneur and as we talked, he shared a revelation that he’s had in recent years about entrepreneurism. He said that at some point in recent years, he realized that you don’t have the next big thing, until you have the next big thing.

Think about that. You don’t have the next big thing, until you have the next big thing. In other words, as a starter, you’ll never have the next big thing. But as a finisher, you might.

So to bring this all back around, I'll close by echoing Jon Acuff’s challenge:

“There are a million things you can finish. Some might take you all year. Some might take you a month. Some might take you 10 minutes, but they’re 10 minutes you’ve feared for your entire life.

What are you going to finish?”

Casual Friday - Cello Wars (Star Wars Parody)

ANDREW — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 06:28:00 +0000

Bark Nominated for Business of the Year!

ANDREW — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:08:00 +0000

We're pretty excited to announce that Bark Communications has been nominated for the 2012 London Chamber of Commerce - Business of the Year award.

Each year, this prestigious awards gala showcases business excellence in our home town of London, Ontario and this year, the nominee list includes names like: Blue-Con Construction, Centennial Windows & Doors, Delta London Armouries Hotel and Tepperman’s.

We're honoured to be considered along with these London companies and look forward to the banquet on March 12, 2012 when the winner will be announced.

Chick-fil-A Leadercast 2012

ANDREW — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 07:06:00 +0000

Micro decisions lead to macro results. On an average day we make 8,746 choices. The choices we make define the leaders we become.

These concepts are the theme for the Chick-fil-A Leadercast this year and once again, our very own Mark Morrison is heavily involved in running the local host site here in London. On Friday, May 4, 2012, many of us will be joining with 400 local business and social sector leaders representing more than 80 organizations to be challenged and to network together.

We're also pretty proud of the fact that the website for the London event is hosted on BarkBuilder!

But don't get me wrong. Leadercast isn't just for us! We'll be joining in with more than 800 other host sites from around the world representing 125,000 leaders who will be engaging together via satellite and social media to take part in this great annual event. With speakers like: John Maxwell, Patrick Lencioni, Tim Tebow, Soledad O'Brien and Andy Stanley, we're looking forward to learning about effective decision-making that leads to great results.

If you're interested in attending or perhaps you want to explore running your own Leadercast Host Site, check out the Chick-fil-A Leadercast website.

Additionally, you can track with Leadercast on Twitter @cfaleadercast or with the London host site @LeadercastLON.

Casual Friday - Public Address

ANDREW — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 06:21:00 +0000

U.S. Thanksgiving!

ANDREW — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 07:09:00 +0000

There are pros and cons to the fact that we Canadians have our Thanksgiving celebrations in October. As opposed to the late November tradition of our American friends, our October Thanksgiving breaks up the time between Labor Day and Christmas very nicely and on a closely related note, it isn't so close to Christmas which is great from the perspective of distributing 'time off' and turkey consumption.

On the con side, there's the reality of watching a nations-worth of people all getting two days off when we're still at our desks. Nevertheless, that's not a complaint. We'll use the time that you all are out of the office effectively and look forward to connecting with you all come Monday!

From our team to each of our American readers and your families, we wish you a most excellent and blessed Thanksgiving!

Casual Friday - Best Car Chase Ever

CRAIG — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 06:37:00 +0000

Coke - A Victim of Their Own Success

ANDREW — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 06:58:00 +0000

My friend recently relayed a story to me that I had to pass along.

As it happened, my friend walked into the local grocery store to do some shopping and upon entering, noticed a "ridiculously large display of Coke in the front entry way".

The thing to note is that all the cans of Coke were white as part of their collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund to save the polar bears.

Generally speaking, it's a great idea. Coke has been using polar bears in it's ads since 1993 and so there's clearly a connection there that they could exploit to join the throngs of other corporations that are engaging in causes to grow positive brand impressions.

But in an effort to brand well, Coke is falling prey to their own brand success.

At the top of the huge grocery store display, there is a neon colored, 8.5 X 11 sheet that reads simply, "This is Coca-Cola".

The color red is so incredibly well branded, that people are walking right by the white cans without even knowing it's Coke. And it's safe to assume it's not just one or two people - it's enough to warrant a makeshift sign to keep the store employees from having to explain it again and again.

That's an amazing story.

We're all about branding and there's simply no arguing the fact that Coke is one of, if not the biggest brand out there. But clearly, being the biggest isn't always easy. Sometimes, it actually introduces a whole set of challenges of it's own.

Lest We Forget

ANDREW — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 07:27:00 +0000

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada and Veteran's Day in the United States. Together with many other nations across the world, we commemorate the sacrifice made to ensure the freedoms that we enjoy today. In the past few years, we've put together a number of inspirational desktops for this day. Following are links to all of them so you can download, share them and hopefully be inspired to spend some time thinking about, and being thankful for, how blessed we are to live in the freedom we do.

Lest we forget.

Radiant Inspiration No. 076
With Love in Our Hearts

Radiant Inspiration No. 075
For Every Life Given

Radiant Inspiration No. 056
Greater Love

Words

ANDREW — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 07:26:00 +0000

When you think of marketing and advertising, do you think of words or do you think of graphic design? I’d bet that most people’s minds would go to the latter. I would dare say that most people in marketing/advertising world subconsciously do the same.

Words are still important of course, we have our catchy taglines and the like, but somehow, on their own, we treat words as ineffective…somehow deficient.

It’s a subtlety that pervades how we advertise. Consider the growing popularity of the infographic. It’s not that they are bad. They most definitely help visual thinkers take information in and there have been some outstanding infographics like the ones on this site. I especially like those infographics because the method of communication is perfect considering the information being communicated. But I can’t help thinking that, given our preset to think 'graphics', we miss opportunities where words, or just one word on it’s own, would be the right method for what you want to communicate.

I’ve been reminded of this recently as I’ve seen words as part of the interior design of people’s homes; either painted on a wall, hung as an accent or as a carving that sits on a mantel.

Words are artful. We string them together to create poetry, songs, blogs and emails. They can be whispered, spoken, shouted and each tone adds meaning. But words have connotations, power and beauty of their own that bear consideration when you are communicating.

"But words are things, and a small drop of ink, falling like dew, upon a thought, produces (that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think."
- Lord Byron

Word.

Adobes Flash Announcement Should Prepare You for the Inevitable

RAY — Wed, 9 Nov 2011 14:33:00 +0000

The recent announcement by Adobe to pull the plug on Flash for mobile devices is something that many of us saw coming. As Adobe continues to jump on the bandwagon of HTML5, the plot is inevitably moving further along to eventually get rid of Flash altogether.

Consider this fact:

According to analysts, based on the current rate of change and adoption, the mobile web will be bigger than desktop Internet use by 2015.

What that means for you:

Take steps now to ensure that your website and content management system does not rely on Flash. It's fine to use Flash (for the time being), but make sure that when someone views your site on a mobile device, you have a good alternative. Sooner than later, Flash will be obsolete.

---

RWT and BarkBuilder do not rely on Flash. In fact, if you use any of our templates that contain rotating Flash banners, we convert them to another language that IS compatible with mobile browsers.

Mike Tompkins - Paradise

ANDREW — Tue, 8 Nov 2011 10:21:00 +0000

Casual Friday - European Debt Crisis Explained?

ANDREW — Fri, 4 Nov 2011 06:51:00 +0000

Lightning Strike!

ANDREW — Thu, 3 Nov 2011 06:13:00 +0000

This is it! A day we've all been waiting for here at the office.

It's the official home opener for the London Lightning tonight.

Many of us plan to be at the game and we're looking forward to cheering on the team. Tip off is 7PM and tickets are still available on the John Labatt Center website, so if you're in the London area, grab a couple seats and come out! Tickets start at $16 for an adult and the quality of the basketball is excellent!

You can check out details about the Lightning on their NBL website and later today, we'll be launching the Lightning Fanzone website. Stay tuned!

Blogging and Twitter Combined

ANDREW — Wed, 2 Nov 2011 14:34:00 +0000

Here's a little tip…tweet your blogs.

We've always had a pretty quiet blog. By that I mean that we've typically not generated a lot of conversation on our blog posts. But we know from getting out and talking to people, that there are a lot of really passionate advocates out there that are silent readers on the blog. For that reason, our measurement of success for the blog has had to do more with readership than conversation.

Knowing that, our hope is that as we work to offer valuable content, we'll see our readership numbers go up. One strategy to help with increasing those numbers was to integrate our blogging with our @thinkradiant Twitter handle. About 8 months ago we started using our Twitter feed to tweet our blogs and have found that the more interactive community on that channel has increased our blog readership.

Last week, I ran a little test on this front. After posting a video interview that Mark did with Tic Long of Youth Specialties, I watched as our numbers over a couple days pushed up slowly and levelled off. Then, a couple days later, I posted a tweet about it using Tic and NYWC's Twitter handles and watched as the viewership on that specific post more than doubled.

This is the power of integrated marketing strategy. Blogging and Twitter are just one example, but it's an example with quick and easily measured results. Something to consider as part of your social media strategy.

Casual Friday - Pendulum Waves

ANDREW — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 07:25:00 +0000

Customer Service - This Shouldn't Surprise You

ANDREW — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 06:46:00 +0000

Following is a mini-article I read on The Globe and Mail website but it was buried in a digest of other stories so I opted to copy it here:

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Customer service counts

Eighty-five per cent of Canadians say they have not completed a business transaction or intended purchase because of bad customer service, according to results from American Express Canada's annual Global Customer Service Barometer.

Nearly seven in 10 (69 per cent) of consumers will spend more with a company, on average 12 per cent, that they believe provides excellent customer service, according to the survey of 1,060 Canadian consumers.

And they'll equally punish bad service: along with the more than five in six who will turn away from a bad customer-service transaction, 49 per cent say a bad service experience has the most effect on their impression of a brand -- more than the 40 per cent who say it can make a good impression. Nine in 10 said that their experience with customer service has an effect either way on their impression of a brand, and more than half would be willing to try a new brand or company to get better service.

A quarter are willing to drive a longer distance and 20 per cent are willing to sacrifice convenience to find great service.

More consumers -- 64 per cent -- are likely to talk to friends about a bad experience than the 52 per cent likely to talk about a good one. And word will spread to more people: an average of 16 friends will hear about bad service versus nine that will hear about good, according to the annual survey conducted in 10 countries.

How can companies respond: Eighty-nine per cent of respondents said they want to resolve customer service issues by speaking with a "real person" on the phone and 80 per cent want face to face. Thirty-eight per cent are interested in online chat or instant messaging, 20 per cent in social networking and 17 per cent in text messaging, all of the online options up from a year ago.

Casual Friday - Tips for a Thief

ANDREW — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 07:16:00 +0000

Blog Action Day (Food) - World Relief Canada

ANDREW — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 06:24:00 +0000

Since 2007, Blog Action Day (#BAD11) has focused bloggers around the world to blog about one important global topic on the same day. Past topics have included water, climate change and poverty. This year’s Blog Action Day coincides with World Food Day and so naturally the 2011 theme is FOOD.

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I’ve been working for Bark Communications for almost 8 years now and in that time I’ve had many opportunities to connect with people in relief organizations. I am always struck by how much there is to learn from people employed in relief work.

That thought inspired the approach to today’s Blog Action Day post on Food as we take this opportunity to talk about the issue of Acute Hunger and highlight the work of World Relief Canada as they play their part in answering the need.

The Problem

The topic of Food isn’t just timely because it’s World Food Day, it’s timely in a bigger context as well, because for the first time in a long time (since Ethiopia in the 80’s), governments around the world have declared a famine, this time in a greater swath of Northeast Africa called the Horn of Africa. Famine is a word that you and I might use quite readily to describe various situations across the world, but governments are more discerning with their application of it because of the ramifications of responsibility (root word being response). You can read this article in Time that came out about a week before the UN declared a famine for more on this.

The reality though, is that, generally speaking, we are not facing a shortage of food across the world. In fact, right now, there’s enough to feed everyone on the planet. The future isn’t necessarily that bright as population increases and arable land decreases, but for now, the problem is an issue of delivery.

Compounding the issue is the fact that people who suffer through acute hunger aren’t worried about the bigger picture of building the infrastructure they need in order to secure tomorrow’s food for themselves. All they have time and effort to think about is where the next meal is coming from. This is the issue of food security, an issue that WRC approaches in its cause-based approach to relief work.

World Relief Canada’s Response

Causes at World Relief range from Human Trafficking to Clean Water to our blog topic of the day, Acute Hunger. Each cause is comprised of various projects, each project being a unique effort towards answering the need of the cause. Here’s one example:

Bangladesh – Koinonia Project

When you’re talking about the problem of Acute Hunger, the problem is many facetted and as such, it takes time to respond to. The Koinonia program in Bangladesh is a 5-year program built on the idea of microfinance and speaks to the unique challenges of the Hunger issue.

The majority of loans in the Koinonia project are for agri-business. The unique highlight of this project though, is that while this project is serving to build infrastructure that will provide a backbone for agriculture to thrive in this area on an ongoing basis, it’s not men who are most involved, it’s women (yet another of the causes that WRC seeks to address).

The reason that women are the primary audience for this project is due to a few reasons:

First off, in Bangladesh, women bear a disproportionate distribution of poverty due to cultural oppression. Women, more than others, face malnutrition, illness, hunger, separation from children, forced early marriage, etc. Coupling that with no seed capital to start a business, they sit idle.

The second reason they are the primary audience, is also a great irony. Not-for-profits who employ microfinance worldwide have consistently found that women run their businesses far better than men and have a very high repayment rate. It has been said that, “If you invest in a woman, you invest in a family. If you invest in a man, you invest in a man.” But it goes beyond family for women because it becomes a community effort.

Women band together to form accountability groups, knowing that if one woman defaults on a loan, others will pay the default. They have a culture of support whereby if someone gets sick, they cover for each other. As a result, they all have to buy into any proposed business models because they will all be responsible for it in the end.

So not only is the microfinance project providing an answer to the need for food security, it is also releasing women from idly starving to death and in some cases, women are beginning to hire men, a cultural coup that we can’t really appreciate in our North American context, but a happy side-effect of the relief work.

That compelling project is just one of the many that WRC has on the go right now.

Our Response

So, with all that detail, the inevitable question is, “What’s our response?"

In talking with Eric Frans, Director of Fund Development at World Relief Canada, I was challenged to think differently about my response. Instead of thinking solely in terms of donating, Eric’s final thoughts were a bit different as he challenged me to think about the fact that it’s not just about writing a check and feeling good about it. Donations are good, and when you donate to World Relief, you also know that through their strategic partnerships, your dollars are being matched and exceeded to the tune of 9 to 1 in many cases.

But the big call to us is to find the cause that we are most passionate about and then run with that by our involvement and support. That will be what changes the world in a ripple effect.

Along the way, it will likely change us too.

Casual Friday - Luck of the Irish

ANDREW — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 13:36:00 +0000

BlackBerry - Is This Good Enough?

ANDREW — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:14:00 +0000

After 3 days of service disruptions world-wide, today, Mike Lazaridis, founder of RIM has posted an apology on YouTube. Is this the right approach? How do you feel about his tone? Does he say the right things?

I'm really interested to hear your thoughts. Here's the video:

Blog Action Day is Coming!

ANDREW — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 06:19:00 +0000

Blog Action Day, the annual online event that encourages bloggers from around the world to blog about one important global topic, is coming this weekend. To coincide with World Food Day on Sunday, October 16th, we'll be posting as part of this global effort to bring attention to the theme of FOOD.

We invite you to join us as we blog about this important topic! All you have to do to be a part is to register your blog at www.blogactionday.org and then prepare and post a blog entry about FOOD on the 16th.

We're looking forward to seeing what you have to say!

Canadian Thanksgiving!

ANDREW — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 06:14:00 +0000

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving and so our offices are closed and we're off enjoying some time with our families and friends. We'll be back at the helm tomorrow. Until then, we wish all our Canadian friends a Happy Thanksgiving!

EdgeFactor Releases "Gnarly Metal"

ANDREW — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:06:00 +0000

Today we want to highlight and congratulate our friends over at EdgeFactor Show on the release of their latest episode called "Gnarly Metal", a look into the manufacturing of a couple of game-changing parts for competitive mountain biking.

Mixed into the fascinating images and conversations with the team at Straightline Components who make the parts, are a series of biking sequences that will absolutely blow your mind. I have no doubts that no matter what industry you are in, you'll be entertained and educated by this video. Enjoy!

And again, congrats to the team at EdgeFactor!

Casual Friday - Wingsuit Madness

ANDREW — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 06:24:00 +0000

Online Socialization

ANDREW — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:17:00 +0000

Typically when I hear people complain about the modern terms like Social Media, I immediately tune out because most often, it feels like they are attempting to sound intelligent simply by being contrarian.

That said, this morning I heard the term challenged again, but the speaker, Jesse Hirsh, had a fairly decent argument for challenging it in that Social Media is too broad of a term seeing as how it can include media such as smoke signals if you really think about it. Of course, each person brings context to the phrase Social Media and typically the things that pop into our heads are the big three: Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

That being the case, I started to wonder if a phrase like Online Socialization was more what people mean when they say Social Media.

I like this distinction because it clarifies the whole concept really well and as a result, could help to clear up the waters as far as what role Facebook, YouTube and Twitter play in effective brand management.

Those who get Online Socialization, or whatever you're going to call it, understand that an effective Social presence is comprised of both online and offline components. At the office, we use Online Socialization primarily in terms of Twitter and our blogs, but we are also out at events. In fact this is convention season for us and so as we ramp up to travel to various conventions and actually get face-to-face with people, we're also ramping up our planning around how we'll use our Online Socialization presence to augment those experiences.

Perhaps adding another phrase to this whole world is only muddying the water, but I'm going to keep chewing on it for a while.

We're at NAMIC!

ANDREW — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:04:00 +0000

To be clear, we're not all at the annual National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies Convention in Indianapolis, but some of us sure are and if you're there too, we'd love to connect! Our team is manning the booth and so if you've got a few minutes, stop by! To help you find us, here's a shot of our booth.

Looking forward to seeing you!

Casual Friday - What Happens Just Before Pigs Fly

ANDREW — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 06:16:00 +0000

We've all heard the old adage: "when pigs fly". Well, this article on CNN outlines what I think could be just one or two steps before we find ourselves looking up at porcine aircraft.

Make a Point Or Make a Difference

ANDREW — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 06:50:00 +0000

"It's much easier to make a point than to make a difference."
- Andy Stanley

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Last week, my friend Joy shared a little anecdote on Facebook.

"… pulled up to the Starbucks drive-thru and as the [barista] asked me what I wanted, I realized I forgot my wallet. 'Oops, sorry... apparently I don't want anything!' He replied, 'You sound like an honest person, can I make what you'd like and you can come back?'"

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There are always two ways you can respond to your customer/donor when they make a mistake. Option 1 is to reinforce the fact that it's their fault and get on with being right for the rest of the day. Option 2 is to accept some risk and extend some understanding, because one day in the future we'll all do something like forget our wallet.

Question is, which one is more likely to get you a life-long advocate?

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Oh, and by the way, when she returned to square up, the Barista's response was: "Oh wow, you came back!"

Now that's ground-breaking - he didn't even expect anything in return.

On My Birthday: Two Lessons and a Request

ANDREW — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 07:22:00 +0000

Today is my 35th birthday, and I've got two lessons and a request that I want to share regarding recent interactions with one of my favourite non-profits, charity: water. Read on and you'll learn about how my birthday ties in...

First off, last week, I received a personal phone call from someone named Hamish at charity: water. He called to thank me for using my birthday last year to help them raise funds during their annual September campaign and he also conveyed a Happy Birthday to me on behalf of the entire team there.
Lesson 1: No matter how many people have donated to you or done business with you, and despite all the reasons that you can think up for why a personal touch is unreasonable, you CAN do it and IT WILL be one of the most powerful things you do. As a small example, quite frankly, I was waffling about whether I wanted to run another campaign this year. But after the phone call, I decided to just get it done and it ended up taking me 15 minutes to set up - yet another key method to ensure people keep on keeping on with your organization - simplicity.

Second, after setting up a campaign, charity: water encourages you to set an example and be the first person to donate, so I did. Within 3 minutes of making my donation, I had a tax receipt in my inbox. Brilliant.
Lesson 2: Think like a customer. You might even find yourself implementing strategies that will provide customers things that they didn't even know they wanted. Never in a million years would I have thought to ask the organizations I donate to for a tax receipt immediately. But wow, when I got it, it completely caught me off guard and entirely ingratiated me to their organization - again.

As my third and final point, I wanted ask a favor.

I learned a lot through these interactions with charity: water, but the bigger picture is that although I love their marketing, I love their purpose and work even more: getting clean water to people who don't have it - something they have already done for more than 2 million people. So would you consider joining me by donating to my campaign? I'm asking for people to donate $35 for my 35th birthday. If you can't part with that much, you can give what you're able to. 100% of your donation will go directly to the work of getting people clean, running water and accountability is a big deal for this organization - all the way down to GPS units on the trucks that they use to show your dollars literally at work in Africa. We'll make real change in lives together.

If you're willing and able, you can contribute here: http://www.mycharitywater.org/andrews35th

We Are INSPIRED!!!

ANDREW — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 06:07:00 +0000

Today I have the pleasure of formally announcing the launch of Bark Inspiration - a place for us to share some of our creative desktops for our clients and some that we have done just for fun.

From time-to-time, our designers get the chance to flex their creative muscles with these desktops and our hope in sharing them is to spark creativity and conversation with all of you as well.

We hope you'll enjoy this new section of our site. Get in touch and let us know if you're feeling inspired!

Labor Day

ANDREW — Mon, 5 Sep 2011 06:49:00 +0000

Well, it's Labor Day today and so naturally, our offices are closed and we're off not laboring. At least that's the plan anyways.

If you're checking in with us today, our suggestion is to not labor along with us and we'll catch up with you tomorrow. If you're needs are pressing, then send an email off to us using our contact form and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

We hope you're having a great long weekend!

Casual Friday - Anthemic Branding!

ANDREW — Fri, 2 Sep 2011 06:23:00 +0000

Supporting Your Supporters

ANDREW — Thu, 1 Sep 2011 06:46:00 +0000

I’m an avid soccer fan - more specifically, I cheer for Manchester United.

Despite more recent rivalries, anyone who knows anything about English football (soccer), will know that one of the most anticipated matches on their calendar is Manchester United vs. Arsenal. Like Manchester, Arsenal has a strong history and some of the best games I’ve ever watched were between these two clubs.

This past weekend's game between these two teams wasn’t one of those though. To be clear, it was a great day to be a United fan as they trounced Arsenal 8-2 (you can watch all the goals here). But although I was happy for my team, I felt bad for Arsenal. A team that has consistently underperformed in the last few years, lost a few of it’s biggest stars, including it’s captain in recent weeks and was understrength due to some injuries took a beating that was humbling to say the least.

The cool thing was that the fans kept chanting, encouraging and hoping for their team to fight back throughout the game.

Since then, it has been announced that 3,000 Arsenal fans who made the trek from London to Manchester to watch the game and cheer for their team, will be awarded tickets to see another Arsenal game.

I mention this because it’s a wonderful example of the concept I introduced yesterday in service-based thinking. The team realized that they did not put up a fight…in other words, they didn’t deliver a product that was worthy of their customers, so they are going to have them back and right the wrong.

In a day and age where teams purchase their players and in so doing, buy their way to championships, I'd much rather cheer for a team that isn't just well supported, but supports it's fans right back.

Kudos to Arsenal. We can all learn a lot from this.

Advertising - Two Options

ANDREW — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 07:35:00 +0000

There are many different strategies you could take in advertising a product or service, but all of them fall under one of two categories: self-promotion or service. The key difference surrounds listening.

Self-promotion is characterized by statements like: “This is my product/service, it’s great, you should buy it”. Service-base-based thinking asks the question: “What does my audience want or need?” and then communicates in light of those responses.

It’s easy to do the former because it’s natural to focus on ourselves. But I’d argue that it’s a small view of advertising.

The alternative, although preferable, is scary. Asking people what they want will not only affect your advertising, it can change the very product or service you are putting out there. It’s a gamble of risk and reward…a very worthwhile one.

Casual Friday - Reflection and Opportunity

ANDREW — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 06:45:00 +0000

It’s been an impactful 7 days.

From a work perspective, there’s been lots on the go here for numerous clients, not the least of which was the announcement of the London Lightning, the city’s new professional basketball team.

But in and amongst that busyness, we were reminded to put our work in context of a bigger world and a bigger reality.

Monday morning, we woke to the news that Jack Layton, head of the official opposition party in the Canadian government had lost his battle with cancer at the age of 61. A charismatic leader and passionate Canadian, Jack’s passing saddened all of us and reminded us of the brevity of life.

The night before, the town of Goderich, Ontario, which is a short drive north of London, was hit by a tornado and sections of that historic and beautiful town on Lake Huron’s shore were decimated, leaving one dead and many homeless. Shortly after, the government of Ontario issued a state of emergency there.

So this week, in light of this weeks events and instead of signing off with our typical fare of a humorous video, we wanted to do what we could to spread the word on how people can help out in Goderich.

Through our friends at The Meeting House, we became aware that Samaritan’s Purse has established a relief effort in Goderich and so today, we want to encourage you check out the relief effort page on their site and consider how you can support their efforts.

For other updates on the status of things in Goderich, check out the town's website at: www.goderich.ca.

Bark Unveils London Lightning Logo

ANDREW — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:40:00 +0000

Today, we’re excited to share with you the brand new London Lightning logo.

The Lightning have recently been unveiled as the new professional basketball franchise for the city of London and we at Bark Communications couldn’t be more pleased to be involved. As the official creative agency/partner for the Lightning, we have been working hard with club management to develop the logo and are now looking forward to carry the new brand mark onto jerseys, signage and various other promotional materials the club will unveil in the coming months.

Our involvement in the project comes down to a shared passion with club management. From day one, the intent of the club management has been to set a precedence of excellence in the league. They are realizing that excellence by establishing a first-class team, with a first-class coach in a first-class facility. Our goal has been and will continue to be to come alongside and help develop first-class marketing and communications that accurately represent that brand.

We welcome you to share in our journey with the Lightning. We’ll be working over the coming days and weeks to provide updates and insights into the organization and the work we’re doing with them.

Until then, we congratulate the London Lightning organization, including owner, Vito Frijia, General Manager, Taylor Brown and coach, Michael Ray Richardson on the launch of the new brand. We’re looking forward to tip-off!

Follow the London Lightning on Twitter @LondonLightning.

Press Conference: Mayor Joe Fontana introduces London Lightning

Interview with Michael Ray Richardson

London Lightning & Bark Communications

Google+

ANDREW — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:18:00 +0000

By now, you've likely heard of Google+, Google's foray into social networking and it's rival to Facebook.

As I talk about it with people, the questions I have heard most are: "What is the difference from Facebook?" and "Why would I choose to use Google+ instead (or as well)?"

With over 25 million visitors, more and more people are gaining the perspective to answer that question and in many cases, the answer that comes out simply tells us that it's not that different. But, there are some unique aspects to Google+ that have been captured in an informal poll by Pete Cashmore, Founder and CEO of Mashable which are worth sharing.

Enjoy his CNN article here!

Casual Friday - Mike Tompkins Update!

ANDREW — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:16:00 +0000

I Dare You

ANDREW — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 07:25:00 +0000

Today, I simply want to issue you a challenge…and the challenge is this:

Give us a reason to feature you.

We love our clients and we have many who are doing wonderful work. Organizations like Pride Seeds, Ontario Mutuals, Mike Tompkins, Dietitians of Canada and Cheminova Canada are just some of the organizations that we have worked with before and are doing work that inspires us and we love to talk about them here on our blog.

So what I want to do today is to encourage you to be one of those organizations that inspires us.

Give us a reason to feature you on our blog. Be excellent in your communications. Make real change happen. Stand out in the crowd. We're watching and we can't wait to help tell your story!

Know Your Market

ANDREW — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 06:43:00 +0000

Do you ever ask yourself if your marketplace is different than others?

I ask because very often, firms try to take cues from other firms who operate in different industries with different audiences and find that just following the leader doesn’t work. Often, they are left wondering where things fell apart and they never consider the fact that what works in one industry, might not work in another industry with a unique culture.

Take, for instance, the Agriculture industry.

As an agency with a number of Agriculture (“Ag”) based clients, we have a significant investment of time and people in that marketplace. The investment is due to the fact that the Ag marketplace is unique and has distinctive characteristics that need to be understood when communicating to people who operate within it.

Probably more than any other market, face-to-face relationship is critical in Agriculture. Although social media and online technology is making inroads into the Ag industry, in most cases, they exist on the periphery of communications and where they are in use, they are used to augment established and well-maintained personal relationships.

Of course, relationship is important everywhere and we talk about that a lot on this blog. However, the Agricultural marketplace is rooted and steeped in a deeper and more personal understanding of community and as a result, the people within understand deeply how relationships are fundamental to commerce.

So how does that play out when communicating about new services and products in the Ag marketplace? Well, if you haven't worked on the relationship either before or during the pitch, your chances of success are minimal. But, when you have proven yourself to be trustworthy (that you deliver on your promise), you not only have extremely loyal customers, but passionate advocates as well…not just someone that appreciates your product, but someone that actually appreciates you.

There’s a person behind every purchase in the Agriculture industry. Approaching Agricultural marketing communications with any other perspective is asking for trouble.

So how does your marketplace differ? What are the unique aspects/characteristics of your audience and how will you speak to them?

We’re all ears (pun intended).

Network Status: All Systems Go!

RAY — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 06:02:00 +0000

It's nights/mornings like this that I'm glad we have our Twitter feed.

At around 5:45pm EST yesterday, our data center (along with a number of others throughout the country) experienced a major network outage. Although our servers were fully operational, tens of thousands of customers were without service.

During this time, users (including us) were unable to access BarkBuilder. Because we weren't able to gain access to our servers (seeing the entire data center network was down), we weren't even able to put up a message on the website or send an email out.

As per our standard procedure, we provided live updates via our Twitter feed:

BarkBuilder: www.twitter.com/BarkComm

We are pleased to report that our Data Center is now back up and running. We apologize for any inconvenience this caused you on your Saturday night / early Sunday morning. Rest assured, we are *always* monitoring our sites and do everything we can to keep things running smoothly.

After a number of very intense hours, we are off to bed. Good night (or Good Morning, depending on how you look at it). :)

PS. If you're not following our Twitter feed, please do! And if you're not on Twitter, simply bookmark the link (listed above), which will always give you live updates.

Casual Friday - 3D Printing

ANDREW — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:59:00 +0000

A Little Discussion Starter

ANDREW — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 06:43:00 +0000

So when you mess with a logo, what happens?

I'd love it if you would take some time and look at this set of altered logos for major brands. What happens in your mind when you see these things? Do they seem/feel 'off' somehow? Are the brands still powerful? Do certain changes jump out at you more than others?

Astrovertisements

ANDREW — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 06:17:00 +0000

Ever heard of Astrovertisements? Well, here's one made by KFC.

And here is a great little article on it with some other amazing samples as well.

Enjoy!

Important Update for Twitter Users

RAY — Mon, 8 Aug 2011 23:14:00 +0000

If you integrate Twitter into your Radiant WebTools website, please read this important bulletin.

Recently, Twitter made a change to the way that they allow products and services (like ours) to integrate live Twitter feeds into your website. Because of this change, a number of users have reported frequent "Twitter service not available" messages.

After a number of days dealing with Twitter (and many hours of coding), we are pleased to report that everything is back up and running again.

That said, due to Twitter's policy changes, we/they now require you to officially authorize Radiant WebTools to use your Twitter account. To do this:

Login to your Radiant WebTools account.
Click on "My Content" (located at the top of the page).
Click on "Edit My Twitter Settings" (in your content list).
Click on the "Authorize" link and follow the steps from Twitter.

Once this is done, everything will be working again.

We've also made some substantial improvements to the way that we get your Twitter feed. In the past, if Twitter ever went down you would receive a message stating that the Twitter service is unavailable. From now on if Twitter goes down, we simply revert to your last known Tweets, making it seamless for those visiting your website.

If you have any questions or have problems authorizing your Twitter account, simply submit a Support ticket and we'd be happy to assist.

Casual Friday - Speak with Authority!

ANDREW — Fri, 5 Aug 2011 08:01:00 +0000

How To Engage - Moleskine

ANDREW — Thu, 4 Aug 2011 15:35:00 +0000

About three weeks ago, I wrote a post called: "A Brand To Watch - Moleskine" which we also tweeted a link to. The next day we learned that the fine folks at Moleskine had learned about our tweet/post and had retweeted to their 12,068 followers.

Fitting. An article about belonging to a brand helped us to become part of their brand community.

Reinforcement that Moleskine is a brand to watch.

A Brand To Watch - Domino's

ANDREW — Wed, 3 Aug 2011 07:45:00 +0000

Domino's Pizza is running an electronic ticker in Times Square, New York that shares in real-time, people's thoughts on the Domino's brand. Good or bad and only filtered for expletives and relevance, the thoughts are shared with the approximately 1.6 million people who pass through Times Square each day.

Bold...and smart.

Smart because Domino's has learned the hard way, that you can try to ignore social media, but you do so at your own risk.

Some of you might remember the major brand hit that Domino's took in 2009 when employees posted a video on YouTube of them doing disgusting things to a pizza that was going out to a customer. Not only did the video take off and turn into a real brand hit for the company, but to make it worse, they really couldn't respond in a meaningful way because they weren't on any social media channels.

Imagine being at a party of 100 people and finding out that at another party with 10,000 people, someone was destroying your reputation. You could jump up and down and shout all you want at your party of 100, but you really aren't in the right place at the right time. That's where Domino's found themselves two years ago.

Fast-forward to today and we see a completely different Domino's. We see an organization that is not only able to respond to brand hits, but is ahead of the curve, asking it's audience what they think of the brand and are transparently sharing it.

Sure, there's a lot of risk in that if you're not willing to change, but there is a lot of wisdom in it if you are. Domino's customers are freely telling them how to be better - how to serve them better and provide them with a product that they want to buy.

Why would you not want that feedback?

Casual Friday - Watch Where You Park

ANDREW — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 07:42:00 +0000

You Need to Watch This

ANDREW — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 07:13:00 +0000

Today, it's our honour to share a campaign by one of our clients - International Justice Mission. I have no doubts that this will impact you.

Piper on Why and How He Tweets

ANDREW — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 06:31:00 +0000

In response to a recent blog post by American musician, John Mayer, John Piper posted on his blog today about why and how he uses Twitter. it's an outstanding read - one I think anyone who is skeptical of social media should read. I love lines like:

"Tweeting is to preaching what the book of Proverbs is to the book of Romans."

"Concise is a worthy goal, and demands the effort of thought."

"I love words. I rarely think of them as efficient, but as precious."

This is a highly recommended read.

Casual Friday - Toronto Zoo (Great Ad)

ANDREW — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 07:23:00 +0000

The Internet of Things

ANDREW — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:38:00 +0000

User Interface Design

ANDREW — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 10:54:00 +0000

This article was sent to me yesterday by our Creative Director, Hugh, and it is excellent.

In fact, it's so good that I would go so far as to say that anyone considering a web design project should read, comprehend and apply the observations contained within. That said, as I read through the document, I was struck by a few things that led to one big conclusion. Here are the things that came to mind:

1. There are quite simply, A LOT of things to consider when designing a user interface.

2. The author hints at it near the end of the article, but in general, this article doesn't really deal with people who have accessibility issues such as visual impairments. So adding to that to the mix adds yet another (deep) layer of complication.

3. The author said it herself, "people are going to ask for things that actually aren't best for them."

Now, putting all those things together I felt affirmed in the knowledge that experience has granted me in knowing that good user interface design/development is an incredibly elusive thing and acheiving perfection in it is likely an unattainable goal.

It's something to consider deeply when engaging in a design project with an internal or external design/development professional. But perhaps even more importantly, on an ongoing basis, measurement of the usability of your site and a commitment of time and money to constantly rework and improve your website is the foundation for success for it.

Server Report - 12:25AM EST

RAY — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 00:25:00 +0000

As noted in our Twitter feed updates, some of our users experienced server issues today. Here is a quick summary report:

- Over the weekend, there were a couple of instances of users that could not get to their websites. We handled a couple of requests through software reboots and monitored the situation carefully.

- Upon evaluation early this morning (5:50am EST), we determined it was necessary to move data off of one server to another.

- In doing so, some users experienced latency issues throughout the day; sometimes even downtime.

- Upon realizing this, we made a major decision to escalate an additional server change (that we had scheduled for later this week).

- At the end of the day, we ended up moving all of our code and databases to 6 new enterprise-class servers, which are exponentially faster than our old ones.

- Earlier this evening, we completed the migration and everything began running smoothly again for most users.

- As of 12:25am, we are still working hard to tie up some loose ends. Everything is running smoothly.

- We will be making a few more updates over the next couple of days to fine-tune everything.

If you have any additional questions or problems, please don't hesitate to login to your account and submit a support ticket.

Have a great night!

Sincerely,
Ray Majoran, CEO

Casual Friday - Left Hanging

ANDREW — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 06:00:00 +0000

A Brand To Watch - Moleskine

ANDREW — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:50:00 +0000

I'll admit it. I'm a sucker for branding.

Recently, I took a one-week vacation to Mexico and in preparing for that trip, I thought to bring a notebook. Part of the purpose of the trip was to get some downtime. To relax. To think. To experience instead of what most of my days look like which is to respond moment-by-moment to a to-do list or the most immediate email/phone message in my inbox.

A few weeks before I left, I stumbled upon a Moleskine. Never heard of it? Here, check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moleskine

In essence, the Moleskine I bought is a notebook rather like any other notebook. Although it has its unique features and is of a higher quality than many other notebook, at base, it has a cover, binding and simple lined pages within on which to write. To be honest, I likely could have acquired a similar notebook for much cheaper, but interest in the Moleskine brand drew me in - and I didn't even know the full breadth of the brand yet.

I noticed after buying it, that it had a pocket inside the cover. Examining the pocket I found the story of Moleskine. A story that explains the beginnings of Moleskine as a beloved travel companion and creative outlet for novelist and travel writer Bruce Chatwin. Chatwin loved the book so much that he would travel from England to Paris to get them. The story goes on to explain that production of this limited access product ended in 1986 and was revived in 1997 in Milan, Italy from where it has become a recognized brand worldwide.

The point of me telling you this is that I'm struck by two things:

The fact that I was willing to pay more for a notebook that had a story attached to it. Many people wouldn't care about this. But many, many people do and it has made a huge difference in sales. This isn't just a notebook; it's bigger than that, it's an extension of a story.
This effective telling of a story has made this into more than just a notebook. When you buy a Moleskine, you become a part of a select group of people and frankly, that makes a lot of people feel pretty good about themselves

I love watching brands like this. I'd encourage you to check them out too. The brand doesn't just stop at quality product with a cool story. There's an online community around this as well; further story telling through a video interview with Chatwin's wife; personalization options; profiles of world-class cities; and much, much more.

Definitely a brand to watch.

Casual Friday - For All You Baseball Fans

ANDREW — Fri, 8 Jul 2011 06:00:00 +0000

Great Insights on Social Media Strategy

ANDREW — Thu, 7 Jul 2011 16:20:00 +0000

This article came across my desk a little while ago and I wanted to share it with you all as we're now starting to come across more-and-more organizations who are looking to establish a social media strategy and presence. Tools like this will undoubtedly help.

Casual Friday - Oh Canada!

ANDREW — Fri, 1 Jul 2011 06:00:00 +0000

Well, today is Canada Day. As such, our offices are closed today. We'll be back at the helm on Monday. Until then, enjoy these comments by one of Canada's most notable celebrities:

Good Process Leads to Good Results

ANDREW — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 06:00:00 +0000

I love this article because it articulates the place we landed at a few years ago. The author is right on and I think it's valuable for anyone who currently is, or could in the future be a client of, a web development firm.

Understand that when you ask for a quote in the most general of terms, it's tantamount to asking someone to provide you with the costs to build you a vehicle without them knowing whether they are building a Ford Fiesta or a Toyota Sequoia.

Furthermore, any firm that gives you a hard quote isn't ready for your business because they are showing a significant lack of experience and foresight in not asking the right questions.

That said, the author was also correct in saying that by enforcing a good process in the sales cycle will undoubtedly cost you clients.

So what we've done to deal with the issue is to develop a hybrid approach in which we provide a ballpark quote at the beginning that is based on some rudimentary fact-finding. We then go on to consult the client to work together and develop a full-fledged requirements definition for the project. Once completed, that definition becomes the basis for a hard quote and the client at that point has the opportunity to continue on, or walk away from the project with the documentation in hand so that they can go and get competitive quotes and be able to do and apples-to-apples comparison.

This solution has gotten a lot of miles on it and we've tweaked it along the way and continue to be thankful for clients who understand it to be the way that we believe best serves them at the end of the day.

Casual Friday - Bear Fight

ANDREW — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Mike Tompkins Featured by Perez Hilton

RAY — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 21:19:00 +0000

For the second time, Mike Tompkins has been featured on Perez Hilton’s website. His latest song, Pretty Young Thing, is a tribute to Michael Jackson on the 2 year anniversary of his death.

You can view Mike’s video on YouTube or visit Perez’s site to watch it there. Also, be sure to visit www.mike-tompkins.com for more news and info!

Images from Perez's website:

Story-Telling

ANDREW — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:26:00 +0000

Two days ago, I shared a video of Scott Harrison, founder of Charity: Water, talking about how to build a brand around stories.

Today, I want to show you what that story-telling looks like. It's real. It's done more by advocates than by charity: water themselves. And it's done really, really well.

I Don't Get It

ANDREW — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:14:00 +0000

Honestly, I don't get this ad:

The copy is probably too small for you to read, so I've blown it up for you here:

This is an ad that's been taken out by Kleenex to, in effect, recapture control of their brand. Evidently, they lost control somewhere along the way and now they want it back.

Thing is, for most people, Kleenex® Brand Tissue is an example of a brand that has so utterly succeeded, that the short-form of their name is used as a synonym for all facial tissue on the market. Ever found yourself adding Kleenex to your grocery list? If so, you're branded :)

So, why fight it? Why take issue with and place advertisting dollars toward this "problem"?

Is it a case of other tissues on the market being subpar and because of the ubiquity of the Kleenex brand, they are now tied to it? Or is it a case of wanting to take control of their brand instead of allowing a generation of witting/unwitting advocates to run with it?

I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

Scott Harrison on Brand-Building

ANDREW — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:42:00 +0000

Multiple Mediums

ANDREW — Thu, 9 Jun 2011 16:59:00 +0000

Did you know that 3 of the Top 10 most-shared YouTube videos in February 2011 were Superbowl ads? These are ads that bridged the gap between different mediums.

Volkswagen's ad, "The Force", started as a YouTube video, was reinforced on television during the Superbowl and then continued to garner hits online after the Superbowl (within 3 days after, it had received 22 million views on YouTube).

It's examples like this that reinforce that strategic use of multiple mediums can be a really good thing for a campaign.

One of the most successful campaigns we've ever done here combined outdoor with online and print to achieve a seamless, reinforced and growing message as the viewer increased their engagement from one medium to the next, eventually leading them to a personal connection.

This is the kind of strategic, campaign-based thinking that we want to steer our clients towards. It's ok to do a one-off website or a print piece that may garner you a momentary increase in exposure. But a complete campaign that is integrated and well-planned does far more to create a brand impression in the minds of your audience than a one-time hit.

Think of this in terms of networking. In going to an industry event, you will touch base with people and perhaps create an initial impression, but unless something unusual happens, that impression will likely just be a first touch to a relationship that you will build over time at other networking events and meetings as you repeatedly run into people.

The same is true in advertising. It is through repeatedly communicating in the right places and resonating with the people that you connect with, that lasting and deep relationships will happen.

Don't Stand Still

ANDREW — Wed, 8 Jun 2011 17:33:00 +0000

Last week, I wrote about goal-setting and part of my post was a quote that challenged you to ask if you really have 10 years of experience or do you have 1 year of experience repeated 10 times? This idea was reinforced in my mind by Mack Brown, coach of the Texas Longhorns football team, when he stated that he doesn't "want to hear a 40-year-old talking about what he did when he was 19".

In thinking about that comment, it strikes me that our past successes can actually be a trap for us. It can lead us into 10 years (or more) of repeated work. We can get caught up in our success and attempt to live in it forever. That's a dangerous way to live - especially in a world that moves and changes as quickly as ours does.

So:

What are you doing to reinvent yourself?

What challenges are you setting for yourself?

What will you learn today?

Casual Friday - Inspiration

ANDREW — Fri, 3 Jun 2011 09:45:00 +0000

Go Canucks!

ANDREW — Thu, 2 Jun 2011 14:45:00 +0000

I read a press release from Ipsos yesterday entitled: "Anticipation Building as Vancouver Canucks Look to Become 'Canada’s Team'".

The opening lines of the release were as follows:

The puck is about to drop for the first game of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals and it appears that most Canadians are cheering for the Vancouver Canucks. In fact, close to two thirds of Canadians (62%) are hoping that the Vancouver Canucks will be the first Canadian team since 1993 to bring the Stanley Cup home.

This struck me as interesting because I know for a fact that many of the people in that group of 62% are actually die hard fans of The Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens or the Ottawa Senators.

However, now that those teams are no longer in contention, people are choosing a new team to cheer for - something else to be a fan of - and they are doing it on the basis of a secondary uniting factor for all of them…they want to cheer for another Canadian team.

It's that passion that we look for when building a brand for a client.

What is it that people rally around? If you can find that out, you have the most powerful tool in your arsenal that you could possibly have. Many organizations get too caught up in worrying about what they are all about and not worrying about what it is that the people they serve want/need. Find those passions within your audience and then execute with excellence in serving them. If you do that, you might find yourself with the better part of a country cheering for you.

Personal Goal Setting

ANDREW — Wed, 1 Jun 2011 13:42:00 +0000

I want to encourage you to read this blog post which came to my attention yesterday and then, once you've read it, carry on to some thoughts below:

Obviously, this post was written from a Christian worldview. That said, I don't think that it's just for Christians. In similar fashion to businesses that have looked to a book like 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu as a manual for effective business and competition in the past, so too, businesses today can learn much from a Christian perspective on work.

Of course, there are varied approaches within Christendom towards work and so this is by no means a representative statement of all Christians worldwide, but I personally tend to espouse beliefs about my professional work that are reflected in this blog post.

Having said all that, here's where I'm going with today's post. I've recently been challenged through a number of influences, to establish goals for myself. One such influence was Catherine Finlayson, Executive Director of the Fanshawe College Foundation at a seminar she gave last week when she asked all the attendees if our professional work experience is less like 10 years of experience and more like 1 year of experience repeated 10 times. By that she means, are we just doing the same things over and over and not growing as a professional? It's a great question.

So I've been thinking a lot about goal-setting ever since, in order to ensure that my future is full of growing and not just repeating.

Enter the blog post above and I feel like the blogger (Douglas Wilson) has really hit the nail on the head with where my head has been at with regards to this challenge of goal-setting. My approach to work is not myopic. My work life impacts my home life and vice versa. I cannot set professional goals that do not line up with my personal goals. In fact, there's a very good chance that my personal/home-based goals may very well trump my professional goals…and I think that's ok.

The trick for me, and perhaps for all of us, is to do our goal-setting in context of priority and a sense that our professional lives are not somehow distinct from the rest of our life.

Separating the two feels rather like what many people like to call a 'Sunday Christian' - the person who attends church in their Sunday best and look the part of the model Christian but at all other times of the week, lead a life that speaks rather counter to that image.

Put differently, one could be a great leader in the marketplace and be a complete disaster as a husband, father, wife or mother.

My goal is to find balance.

To provide.
To lead.
To be generous.
To be respectful.
To work hard.
To be loving.
To be thoughtful.
To be available.

...to do/be all those things in all areas of my life. Any other goals will be informed by that.