think different(ly)

October 11, 2011  by Ben Hopfer

This week the world lost a visionary with the death of Steve Jobs. And while he may be gone, the legacy that he left behind in his wake is immense. The technology and entertainment innovations that he ushered in will continue to impact our everyday lives for years to come.

To say that someone revolutionized an industry would be quite a feat in itself, but to lead revolutions in four industries is simply incredible. Steve’s genius was in redefining the relationship people have with technology, making it more organic, approachable, and entirely personalized.

He didn’t invent the computer, but he made it personal with the Macintosh and later revolutionized them again with the iMac. He didn’t invent the mp3 player, but he made them intuitive with the iPod. He didn’t create the first computer-generated, animated film, but through Pixar he gave them heart and soul. He didn’t develop the first online music store, he made it seamless and accessible with iTunes. He didn’t create the first smartphone, he broke the mold with the iPhone and created an entire business around mobile applications. He didn’t make the first tablet computer, but with the iPad he brought them to the mass market and shattered notions of how we consume media and information.

Steve Jobs was someone who didn’t settle for good enough, he made those around him push the limits of design and innovation, and in doing so fundamentally changed the world. And while he’ll be missed, the creative energy, drive, and business sense he had will serve as a blueprint for many more creative people to come. At RHDG, Steve’s legacy and influence isn’t just evident though the numerous Mac computers in our studio, it’s almost more importantly, left its mark on the way we at RHDG regard our creative work and the standards of excellence we set for ourselves.

Posted in Advertising, Design, Marketing, Social Media

It’s Time to Cultivate Ideas Together via Social Media

August 30, 2011  by David Libby

Social media is the democratization of ideas. Is that right? It must be. I saw it written on the Internet. Truth is, there is no truth. “The medium is the message,” famed communications theorist Marshall McLuhan wrote. And, with social media, how information and ideas are perceived and presented on social media platforms are how we learn to digest the thoughts and brands of others.

There is no finer truth than how a first impression is a lasting impression. We used to scoff at those who warned us that “you never get a second chance to make a first impression,” but as our lives become more cluttered with information, we will have less patience, time, and interest in taking new ideas, causes, and products to heart.

We will be saved by technology. No doubt. I will not have to pay attention to the world of healthcare to know that one day when I get old and sick, there will be a cure or some medicine to help pull me through what millions have died from centuries ago.

The point is that, while the medium may still be the message, the message has changed. Ideas are no longer singular. They are a community. They move. They influence masses of people in smaller increments of time—one post on a social network is not a static event, but the possible start of a conversation, a flow of thought, the cultivation of ideas.

Communication is not a revolution it is an evolution. What matters most in today’s crowded world of posts, email, texts, faxes, and phone calls are not the conversations that cross those wires, but the objectives they strive to meet. With so much talk happening one would think that we have solved all of the world’s problems by now.

Unfortunately not so – social media has only taught us how different we actually are; and to truly have democratization, cultivation, and communication, we must have common goals. It isn’t good enough for an organization or company to simply levy itself on a financial goal and plot its course. The institution must truly have a real connection with its target audiences and speak to the people.

My Starbucks Idea is such. It combines the goal of the “guest,” and the goal of the Company. Both are intrigued by what each has to offer the other. And, by giving up one’s time, the Company and customer are rewarded. This is not a new idea.

The gift of former President Ronald Reagan—regardless of whichever side of the political fence you sit on—is that he had both parties in mind while in office. He had the ears of the Republicans and Democrats. He was so well liked by foreign dignitaries it was once said that when former Soviet Statesman Mikhail Gorbachev was asked why he decided to listen to President Reagan and tear down the wall Gorbachev said, “I just like the guy.”

Classic advertisers may still argue that through imagery, language, and tone, mountains can be moved to influence the masses. Yes, but where are we moving those mountains to, for what purpose, and for whom? As the world becomes more localized through mobile technology, we need to get back to the basics.

An old marketing map will need to be remade. The graphic will be a horizontal bar with each party at an opposite end. As each side draws closer to the other, the color scheme will blend and both will be in agreement on how they see what they can offer one other—to achieve the same goals.

The brand consumer is as powerful as the brand. We know this. There are just too many of us now who have stories of challenging a brand or organization to keep its word, follow through on a business practice, or recall a product. We’re not changing the world. We’re asking the world to pay attention to us, the people who run it.

At the end of the day, we are all consumers—consumers of food, information, news, family, life, love, and more. We can use technology to divide us or bring us together. We can help the public and private sector work together to affect change. We can take one idea and make it better, together. We can pretend to use social media to democratize ideas or challenge one another on social media channels to cultivate our dreams and set common goals toward a better future.

To quote Abraham Lincoln, “A house divided itself cannot stand.” The time to cultivate ideas is now. The next time you sit down to write a post for a social media channel, think about where the story has been, and who can help you take it where you both want it to be.

Posted in Social Media

Carmageddon and Celebrities on Twitter

July 26, 2011  by Nahren Khizeran

Last weekend when the 405 freeway in Los Angeles was closed for four days due to roadwork, sparking fear of an impending “carmageddon”—a traffic jam so bad that large portions of LA would be frozen for hours in gridlock, LA County government officials took a clever communications approach to prevent the situation from happening.

The Los Angeles Police Department strategized a fast and efficient way to create awareness of the situation by asking LA celebrities on Twitter to tweet about the freeway shutdown. I was impressed by their out-of-the-box approach of using celebrities to release information quickly as I am, shamelessly, a big celebrity follower myself! Some of my favorite celebrities on Twitter with legions of followers include Lady Gaga with 11.3 million twitter followers, Kim Kardashian with 8 million and Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore with over 10 million. Some memorable celebrity tweets from carmageddon include:

–Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) “Stay away from the 405 Fwy the weekend of July 16 & 17, it will be closed btwn the 10 Fwy and 101 Fwy North & South!”

– Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) “LAPD askd me 2tweet: 405fwy btwn 10 & 101 will b closed July16-17. In xchange I would like a free pass on that stoplight tickt IT WAS YELLOW.”

–Ryan Seacrest @RyanSeacrest Wait, what!? There’s stuff to do in LA that doesn’t require a car? #nobodywalksinla http://on.fb.me/qeAOPF #carmageddon

Because celebrities often have Twitter audiences that are religiously tuned in to their everyday lives they have the ability to significantly influence online discussion. These celebrities helped spread awareness exponentially more than traditional media alone could do. As a member of RHDG’s communications department and an avid user of social media, I think this was a great example of the synergies between new and traditional media. Tapping into influential online conversation leaders is vital in not only raising awareness but also in giving your cause credibility and importance.

Posted in Public Relations, Social Media

The Value of Ideas

June 21, 2011  by Mike Schutz

Everyone has ideas, but only some of those ideas are truly great ideas. At RHDG’s core, great ideas are what we have to offer. The result of the ideas or the tangible printed piece, website or video is simply the execution of the ideas. It’s easier to quantify the time spent designing a website, print ad, or even a work of art, but it is much harder to place value on the big idea that came before the actual execution began.  Nurturing and perfecting that big idea happens before the results of that idea are actually seen (as a billboard, bus shelter, web ad, etc).

The concept or the idea behind an ad could have occurred in a flash of genius (in the shower, perhaps) or it could have taken 5 days, but a great idea that is used by a company to motivate its target audience to act is valuable and that value is often times difficult to quantify in the eyes of the client or consumer.

There is the famous story of an art student who was paid $35 to create the Nike swoosh logo—a logo that has grossed billions! One would have to ask what the true value of that logo is. It was reported that many years later the art student was compensated additionally with Nike stock worth an undetermined amount (hopefully more than $35!).

There is also another story attributed to a few artists including Monet but no one can be sure who it actually was. The story goes that Monet was approached by an art buyer interested in purchasing one of his paintings and when asked how much the painting cost, Monet threw out a figure that shocked the man. He balked at Monet, “How do you come up with such a high price for your swirls of paint?” Monet simply replied, “Sir, I do not place a value on my work based upon the amount of paint on the canvas or the amount of time required to place the paint on the canvas, but rather I place a value on my work based upon a lifetime of experience.”

The upshot to all of this is that big ideas are the most valuable thing in the marketing, advertising and design world. So, the next time you look at that swoosh logo on your shoes, or Target’s circle logo and think ‘I could have done that’ – remember, you didn’t. And although it might look like a $35 logo, what these companies really paid for was ‘a lifetime of experience’ and creative genius.

Posted in Advertising, Design, Marketing

Name That Voice

May 26, 2011  by Nik Yokomizo

Have you ever heard an ad on the radio or TV and wondered, “I know that voice from somewhere,” but just can’t place it?  You may not recognize it right away, but you just know you’ve heard that voice before! Today a lot of celebrities are doing voice-overs for some of our favorite TV and radio spots and you probably didn’t even know it!

James Earl Jones, Sean Connery, Sam Elliott, Gilbert Godfried and Antonio Banderas are just a few of the recognizable voices you may have heard on some of these popular commercials. Many Hollywood actors doing voice-overs are raking in thousands of dollars from ad work. One of America’s most famous actresses, Julia Roberts, was reportedly paid over seven figures for her AOL spot, up from her regular $15,000–$20,000 fee for ad work!  A nice payday for sitting in front of a microphone for a couple of hours, don’t you think?

One interesting thing about this is that many actors are endorsing products that you wouldn’t even think to associate them with. For example, Kevin Spacey and Richard Dreyfuss are promoting Honda cars, Gene Hackman is doing the voice-overs for Lowe’s, Jeff Bridges is the voice behind Hyundai and Antonio Banderas is hawking Nasonex! I would like to think that these influential and respected actors are associating themselves with these products because they believe in them and not just because they’re getting paid to, but these partnerships are sometimes so out there that I have a hard time believing so.

Although it would be cool, the likelihood of Jeff Bridges pulling up in a Hyundai to the Tron: Legacy red carpet premiere if he wasn’t being paid to promote Hyundai is close to zilch. What about the chances of seeing Gene Hackman doing a little Sunday afternoon shopping at Lowe’s or Queen Latifah stopping in at your local Pizza Hut?  Nada. There are, however, commercial relationships that seem credible. I could actually believe that John Hamm from Mad Men would drive a Mercedes-Benz, that John Goodman does snack on Dunkin Doughnuts from time-to-time and I’m sure Morgan Freeman does pull out his VISA card to make purchases.

While I don’t personally base my purchases off of celebrity voice-overs, I do like trying to figure out which celebrity is behind the voices companies use to endorse their products.  You can even turn it into a little game you can play with friends. So, next time you’re sitting there watching TV or listening to the radio and you hear a recognizable voice and you just can’t put a finger on it or wouldn’t believe it, you’re probably right – those actors aren’t only talking, they’re laughing straight to the bank.

Posted in Advertising