A Winning Idea

Yesterday, Maude Hunter’s Pub posted a single Lottery ticket on their Facebook page and announced that they would share their winnings with everyone that ‘liked’ the post.

With a 50 million dollar pot on the line, the stakes are high – no pun intended. In less than 24 hours, the post has garnered 1,351 likes and 40 comments. For those keeping score, that’s about $37,000 for each person. You’ll have to hurry though if you want to get in on the action – the  numbers are drawn today at 6pm.

But, if we can stop planning out our future fortunes and refrain from pre-selecting our favorite friends for just one second, we can talk about what a brilliant social marketing tactic this is.  Many people wonder how Facebook ‘decides’ what to display on your news feed. Well, we know from social media speaker Jay Baer , it’s not random. There is actually an algorithm that dictates whose posts you see. The probability your activity will show up on someone’s page is based on 3 things:

1. Your affinity with the other party as a whole

Are you in pictures together? Do you have mutual friends? Are you posting on each other’s wall?

2. Your previous action with similar content

Have you liked, tagged, or commented previously on similar content?

3. Time

How long ago was the content created?

Hence, the more you like a brand’s page and like/comment on their posts, the more you’ll start to see their content flow through your news feed. From a marketing perspective, this is the winning ticket. It’s why you see brands transfixed on getting likes.

I’ve written before that a blanket plea for likes just doesn’t cut it anymore. So, it’s refreshing to see some out-of-the-box thinking and content that actually warrants a click.  It’s not the first time too that Jaryd Zinkewich from Maude’s has impressed us with his marketing savvy. Check out the Pint for a Pic post.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to see a man about buying a pony.

Photo Credit: Jay Baer

Tags: social media, Jay Baer, Maude Hunters Pub, Facebook news feed algorithm, facebook marketing, Lotto max

Into The Wild

This time last year I was preparing to finish my last year of design school. While most days were spent worrying about project deadlines and final presentations, I also remember being clouded by thoughts regarding what I was to do once I was forced to leave this comfy nest called art school. Where will I work? How will I get there? Where do I start?

A year later, now three weeks into my role as Art Director, I thought I’d look back at what I’ve learned since then and see if I can’t share it with the next crop of students. Having just gone into the wild – here are a few tips that worked for me and a few more I didn’t get the chance to try.

DIRECTION

Often times people would say to me “Victoria is so small that all the good design jobs are taken”. The way I see it, the smaller the town the easier it should be to stand out amongst the crowd. So before you decide to pack up and move to that neighbouring metropolis, remember: you have to ability to make a mark in your small town, too. Find out exactly what your dream job is and make it your goal. Stay optimistic and keep focused. The unfortunate reality is that as time passes your competition will slowly drop out of the race. If you manage to outlast you’ll start to move up the ladder.

GET OUT THERE

Don’t sit idle between dropping off resumes. Do something to get your work noticed. Start a design blog and post local content, re-design your school newsletter and offer to maintain it, pitch your designs to companies you admire. Take a chance and don’t be afraid to be shot down. Sure you could get rejected, and at first you probably will – but if you’re lucky you might at least gain a pro’s insight regarding your work. While these ideas might not get you paid, they’re all are great steps towards growing your portfolio with real world experience.

NETWORK

Don’t stress this one. Networking will come naturally, if you’re here reading this blog then you’re already doing it. Because most jobs aren’t advertised, networking can be your best bet to get your foot in the door. Consider a student membership to the Graphic Designers of Canada. Your local chapter has dozens of social events each year. Why not start by volunteering to check coats or take tickets at an event? These events are meant to be fun, so relax. Nobody’s there to interview you, try to have fun and enjoy yourself. Your personality should be on show, not your portfolio.

NAVIGATE

Get to know any potential employers in your area. Navigate your way through the company, introduce yourself to the staff, find out what the mood around the office is like. Now the fun part - don’t just tell potential employers that you’re creative, show them!  Go a step further by customizing a package based on what you’ve learned. Put aside the typical resume. Try a website, video or DVD portfolio.

RESOURCES

Now is the perfect time to start seeking out internships, scholarships and awards. Internships are your best bet for work right now, it’s how mostly all designers start.

Check Applied Arts, Communication Arts and Adobe for student awards. They’re a great way to get regional and even worldwide recognition for your work. Another benefit of the GDC is that they’ll do much of the work for you. A student membership gives you access to up-to-date job/internship postings, scholarships and awards info.

Get yourself a website to showcase your work but keep it simple, and remember when it comes to a portfolio it’s always quality over quantity. Be sure to replace old pieces with new ones as your skills progress. And if your web skills aren’t up to snuff yet, there’s plenty of easy-to-use portfolio sites out there. Try Behance , Carbon Made or Cargo Collective.

SOCIAL MEDIA

You’d be surprised what opportunities that might arise from Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. There’s no reason why you wouldn’t want to access all three. Each one is different, so learn which to use for particular content. They’re a great way to engage with people, and give them a reason to follow you. Share unique content specific to you: your opinions, your portfolio pieces, and discussions that you’re taking part in.

Thanks for reading, I hope that helps. I’ve included my icon pack for download if you’d like them for personal use. For now you can get to know us @YourCopeland. We love students.

Tags: ad agency, advice, Free Icons, graphic design, Graphic Designers Canada, students, Victoria

Are you sacrificing your best ideas to the RFP beast?

When ad agencies pitch for new pieces of business, they are often asked to provide what we call “spec work”, in other words speculative strategic thinking and creative ideation. Only once in my career have I seen a client offer to pay for this work as part of their agency search process. We are asked to do it for free. And fair enough, agencies are willing to do it.

This continues to be standard practice. It’s not just work you are giving away, it’s often your best work. If you’re serious about winning the business, you put your best minds on the job and you work your tail off even more than usual because it’s a competition against other agencies.

This takes you away from the business of servicing your existing clients to the best of your ability, a most unfortunate side-effect.

It also ties up your teams, plays havoc with their personal lives and costs the agency a small fortune. I have been involved in a speculative pitch that cost our agency $30,000.

Pitches of this nature are becoming more competitive all the time as the marketing world continues to fragment and specialized agencies pop up, leading businesses to engage multiple companies rather than keep it all with one shop. So the potential value of the business win is diminished. Last year we learned we had competed against 30 other companies from across Canada for a piece of work.

Some businesses even have their minds made up before the pitch, but the RFP (Request for Proposal) bid process is often corporate compliance.  Agencies can go at it with the most sincere intentions of winning pitches that have already been decided before the RFP drops.

Is it sweet when you win? Yes of course. It forces you to raise the level of your game as a business to be competitive in these pitches – that’s a good thing.

Still, Copeland has stopped responding to RFPs that  require speculative work. We want to reserve our best ideas for paying clients. We think every agency should do likewise, but all it would take is one hungry agency to break ranks and the whole show hits the fan again.

Corporate marketing departments aren’t the only fans of free work, as you will see in this brilliant Craigslist ad shared with me by Frank Ricketts of Dymarx in Halifax.

Funniest thing I’ve read in ages! Really, it’s time to stop feeding this beast.

Tags: King Kong, Request for Proposals, Spec work for business pitches

A Wikid Awareness Campaign

Just now, as I was deep into writing a strategy document, I googled for an expanded definition of a concept I was working through. As a source I typically value for overarching conceptual ideas, I immediately clicked on Wikipedia. I was abruptly re-directed to the following page:

It’s somber, eerie and in complete contrast to the gleaming white, information packed page I was expecting.  So of course, I began to read…

Wikipedia is on a 24 hour blackout to raise awareness of two bills, SOPA and PIPA, said to infringe “free expression while harming the Internet”. Regardless if you are in favour of or opposed to the bills, you have to stand back for one second and applaud the exceptional execution of this awareness campaign.

It’s a textbook implementation of what’s required for an awareness campaign set to go viral.

Strong Visual Impact

The mourning colours and the full page blowout instantly grabbed my attention and set a somber tone. No small banner message here to be easily overlooked.

Personal Relevance

Because of the blackout, I was personally affected by the cause. It’s easy to feel removed from the situation and indifferently change the channel or stop reading when you hear stories on the radio or other news outlets. But, I needed to use Wikipedia, and now I can’t! – better get to the bottom of this…

Informative

… easy. One click takes you to the Wikipedia information page (does anyone else find this a little humorous?). 13 short and direct answers later you are caught up on the issue. Have more time and want to read more? Wikipedia makes that easy too with a list of related links.

Actionable

Very clearly, it’s stated what action Wikipedia would like you to take: “we encouraging you to share your views with your representatives, and with each other on social media”. And then with a handy  representative look-up tool, they make it easy for you to take action.

Shareable

Arguably one of the most important components of making a campaign go viral, Wikipedia conveniently put hot links on their blackout page that automatically load your favourite social media profile with a supportive message. Within seconds and with very little effort, a consistent message, dictated by Wikipedia, is  spread through your social network.

Effectiveness

You’ll notice that the first content on the info page highlights the success of the campaign: 10,000 Wikipedia comments, 7,200 articles, 90 million unique visits to the blackout page, 5 million representative look-ups. It’s not a coincidence that this is the first section. People like to be part of a movement that’s working; it’s empowering. Speak to the heart then to the brain.

On the heals of the much scrutinized occupy movement, (why the occupy movement didn’t work) it’s refreshing to see such a substantial campaign which has a clear message executed to perfection. Today, let the W stand for WOW.

Tags: Awareness Campaign, free expression, January 18th 2012, PIPA, SOPA, viral, Wikipedia, Wikipedia Blackout

Today we are all Canadians

An island can be a stubbornly independent place, particularly when it’s at the far western reaches of a vast country, with a unique culture, topography and climate.

There are times when Vancouver Island – and Victoria in particular – doesn’t feel particularly Canadian. Especially when your mates in Whitehorse or St. John or Ottawa are griping about the winter.

We lose sight of the bigger community as we bask in 8 degree Januarys and stroll about the still-green parks in our shorts.

However this is not a post about winter, but about identity. Today we joined the rest of the country.

It's not Whitehorse, but it's cold enough. Nice winter coat Jodie.

See? Copeland IS a Canadian ad agency.

A big snow storm has proved to be the great equalizer. The schools are closed. The snow ploughs are hitting the main arteries. Vendors and home owners are hastening to their sidewalks with the shovels they haven’t used since 2010.

For a time we are Canadians again. The Canada of hockey and Tim Hortons and socks bunching up in the bottoms of your snowboots.

Here’s to the old red & white.

Particularly the white.

Tags: National identity, snow storm in Victoria BC