Unless you’ve known someone for a long time, the words “trust me” probably throw up a massive red flag. There are very few people who inspire trust right out of the gate and there are even fewer brands who can receive consumer trust without earning it through tireless efforts. The more obviously a company tries to earn your trust, the less likely they are to earn it. Of course, just like a relationship requires trust to keep it healthy, so does the consumer relationship – especially now that more and more people are completing the entire purchase cycle online, without ever seeing a person. Even Uber and Airbnb all began requiring consumers to place a high level of trust in their effectiveness as a business. Even new businesses need to be able to build some goodwill with potential clients and there are some pretty easy ways of building that bridge. […]
Going Off The Rails In a Creative Agency
“You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there’s still going ot be somebody who hates peaches.” – Dita Von Teese Not everybody is going to get along, just like every relationship is not going to be a perfect fit. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work out very well in the professional world, where you have to get along with a dozen different personalities at any given moment. In creative agencies, we are just that, creatives. The unspoken side of creative agencies is working with the clients. Whether there are client facing project managers in your firm or not, at some point in time we are all interacting with clients and no matter how hard we try, at some point in time we are all likely to have a client relationship go sideways on us. Just because a client relationship has gone a little off the rails doesn’t mean […]
Menu Designs That Stand Out
Our creative agency has been in the business of graphic design for a minute or two now and we have gotten to a really fun place where some of the hottest bars and restaurants come to us to create unique and “on brand” menus. It is a really cool experience, being able to design the most looked at marketing material in a fresh local joint. How many times have you been to your neighbourhood bar and thought how bland their menus are and how many spelling mistakes are running through the whole thing? (Or is that just us?) Overall, the best restaurant groups know that the details matter and they are looking to have those pieces all work together beautifully. Those kinds of layouts are where we shine! Our graphic design team has created really special menus for the most talked about local establishments, which means we have learned some […]
But, Can You Make My Website Pop?
We’ve been in the business of building websites for nearly ten years now. A little like Goldilocks, we have developed websites for small, medium, and large multinational companies. It doesn’t matter what you do, what industry you are in or what the size of your business is, in the end, everyone seems to have similar questions about getting a website created. Lucky for you, we have gathered the top 5 questions people ask us and are here to answer your deep, dark, burning questions you have about web design and development. How Long Will It Take? For obvious reasons, this is probably our most frequently asked question. Most potential clients want to know when they can launch their website so that they can plan marketing around it and drive views to their fancy new website. Alternatively, many people come to us because they would like a website developed to coincide […]
Weaving Your Brand Story
Delighting audiences with your brand story seems like a fairy tale that is only possible for top companies with million-dollar marketing budgets. Sure, you’re unlikely to be hiring McG to direct your videos or buying massive Superbowl ads anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean you can’t tell your brilliant brand story in other ways and on other mediums. Some of the world’s “master memorizers” (aka people who are really good at remembering things) have said that weaving details into stories in their minds will help them to recall even the smallest detail. It has been repeatedly proven that stories help people remember important details and can dramatically increase brand recognition. That being said, there is an art to brand storytelling. Problems Every great story starts with a problem. From Grimm’s fairytales to Nike ads, there will always be a problem that the protagonist will face. Your clients have a problem […]
Building a Successful Marketing Strategy
From building a brand to developing a website or creating a campaign, behind all truly successful marketing endeavour is a well thought out strategy and plan. Think of any creative communications project, boiled down it is all about making a series of decisions. With a solid strategy in place, you can be confident when making those decisions instead of just throwing spaghetti at a wall and hope that something sticks. Objective / Subjective Not all plans are created equally, depending on the situation and the person creating them. Strategic plans in the marketing world can look like a highly researched, incredibly analytical spreadsheet based almost entirely on numbers and outcomes. On the flip side, a creative strategy can also be more subjective and be centred around events, culture, and market trends. In our industry, one is not necessarily better than the other because they are both valuable and have a […]
Cuteness Lives In Web Design
We’ve all been there in a meeting with a potential new client and they say something like: “I want my website to be kind of, you know, cute.” While most of us want to make a website that is cool, cutting edge or outside of the box, sometimes a company or brand demands an overall “cute” appeal. It could be a clothing line for kids or a makeup line targeting teens, either way, adorable is not usually the preferred go-to for us web designers. What is cute anyway? Yes, it is a fairly subjective adjective, but It’s pretty universally accepted that is adorable, charming, sweet fun design. It is a website that would make you smile and feel a little warm and fuzzy on the inside. What elements make up a cute website? This is also subjective; however, there are a few commonalities or similar threads you can follow through […]