amg's blog

This is your favorite creative agency at its finest. We’re too pathetic to excel at real sports, so we do this to feel good about ourselves. Don’t worry, we finished working on your ads, Web sites, image brochures, etc. before our Office Olympics.

Oh, quick word of clarification: AMG’s Office Olympics differ from Dunder Miflin’s Office Olympics in the fact that ours isn’t on TV. But it should be. Really.

As Americans, we hold dear the American Dream. Part of our dream is business ownership – the right and opportunity to own a business of our very own. The fancy term for that is “entrepreneurial spirit.” Small businesses have been part of the financial backbone of our country and are still very much needed.  

An example of a successful American small business is Lowe’s. Lowe’s Hardware store was founded in 1921 by L.S. Lowe in North Wilkesboro, a small foothills town in western North Carolina and a neighboring town from where I grew up. From this single store, Mr. Lowe was dedicated to serving his community and neighbors with the best prices possible on much needed, every-day items.  Through the daily hard work of the Lowe family and 20 years of small successes, Lowe’s went public in 1961 and grew to be the company they are today – the second largest home improvement store in the world. That’s the power of and the motivation for the American small businesses.

This classic example of success lived out the meaning of owning and operating a small business versus simply owning a small business.  Do you know the difference? I can own a sail boat but not know how to sail it. I can own a classic 5-speed Ferrari but not know how to drive it. I’m not sure about you, but I want to sail and drive; it’s part of my DNA. Successful small (or large) businesses are sailed/driven – not docked or garaged. They operate under the careful direction of a skilled operator who may or may not have any ownership. Let’s face it, owning and operating a small business is not for the weak. It takes an unbelievable amount of time, sweat, energy, passion, resources and even tears. 

Playing to Win the Game

As a marketing firm, business strategist and advertising agency, we love small businesses. If we are retained early, we can help set the dreams, visions and goals as well action-plans for your business. The single most important advice we can give any business is these few words:  “Out of sight, out of mind, out of business.” Employing an advertising agency to handle the bulk of your marketing and advertising needs can be vital to your success.

I’ve personally been a small business owner and operator. I recall the time when my business coach and mentor convinced me to delegate. I admit I was a bit scared. After all, I birthed the business – it was my idea, my vision, my passion, it was my baby – and how, oh how, could I trust someone, anyone, with my business? As I began to find trustworthy associates to fill key roles in my business, the business started to grow and become healthy. It was not easy, but it worked. When I partnered with a marketing firm and shared with them my dream, vision, difficulties and frustrations, I felt relieved and encouraged – finally I didn’t have to do it alone. It’s like being part of a baseball team: no one person can beat a team of nine. It requires a skilled player in each position with one collective focus: playing to win the game.

If your business does not concentrate on business growth through deliberate, skillful marketing and advertising, your business will not succeed. We find that serving as the marketing partner for small businesses can be fun, encouraging, exciting and even exasperating. Before you hire a marketing/advertising agency to be your partner, do your homework and research.  Speak with their past and current clients. Know intimately the desires and objectives you have for your business. Create a budget and hold those funds aside for this purpose only. If you stop your marketing and advertising efforts you can fall victim to “out of sight, out of mind, out of business.” Realize that your marketing and advertising partner knows and understands your target customer audience. They are marketing to them – their likes, their desires and their needs – not yours. You are not the customer or target; you are the business.  Trust your marketing/advertising partner. After all, you hired them. Be involved but not controlling. Embrace their ideas by knowing they understand who you are, who your customer is and where you want to go. Give your partner a defined budget and let them go to work. They succeed when they help you succeed.

You’re a small business owner/operator with the desire of serving and helping people. If all goes very well, your small business may become a big business with substantial rewards. Seek out a marketing/advertising partner and start a powerful, successful relationship.

I say, I say, this is gonna cause more confusion than a mouse in a burlesque show!

In our 21^st century, Twitter-fied world, we’re so hyped up on communication it’s as if we’re swimming through two layers of air. If fish are oblivious to water, then humans are oblivious to air and (quickly becoming) oblivious to the constant barrage of communication we produce.

For those of you who follow the NBA, you know that the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard was suspended for Game 6 in the Magic’s first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers. How did he spend his night off? By Tweeting. Here are the highlights:

“did yalllllllll seeeeeeee thatttttttt”

“With the left. Yeaaaaa polish hammer” (when teammate Marcin Gortat threw down a dunk)

“man im soo proud man. yall have no clue. we gonna be on the plane doin the pool palace lol”

This is just one of millions of Tweeting examples. Everyone from Al Gore to Coldplay to the NFL have Twitter accounts. You can even follow Barack Obama’s teleprompter.

Then there’s Facebook. Every business known to mankind has a Facebook fan page. Heck, even God has a fan page on Facebook (and people actually post “prayers” on the wall…yeah, that’s not weird). And, of course, Facebook enables you to be the kind of gossip that puts Perez Hilton to shame.  Everything going on in your friends’ lives – from pictures of last night’s kegger to their current emotional instability – is right there for you to peruse and comment on.

Aside from the social network sites, there are actual Web sites. Tostitos has the NOLAF viral Web site. JC Penney’s did the “Beware of the Doghouse” online campaign. Heinz lets you “Talk to the Plant” in its Interactive Ketchup Growing Experiment.

Hang on a sec. Just got a Tweet update on my cell phone…Oooh! Guy Berryman of Coldplay just woke up. Good morning, Guy!

Feeling saturated yet? We are bombarded like atoms with communication.  

Two things here. First, the way communication style is changing before our eyes. I love how Bill Simmons, ESPN columnist and blogger, describes this change:

The more interesting angle for me is how Twitter and Facebook reflect where our writing is going thanks to the Internet. In 15 years, writing went from “reflecting on what happened and putting together some coherent thoughts” to “reflecting on what happened as quickly as possible” to “reflecting on what’s happening as it’s happening” to “here are my half-baked thoughts about absolutely anything and I’m not even going to attempt to entertain you,” or as I like to call it, Twitter/Facebook Syndrome. Do my friends REALLY CARE if I send out an update, “Bill is flying on an airplane finishing a mailbag right now?” (Which is true, by the way.) I just don’t think they would. I certainly wouldn’t. That’s why I refuse to use Twitter.

And don’t forget character limits! Twitter only gives you 140 characters to work with, which is a problem if you are right now in the middle of, say, “Applying Boudrillard’s simulacra/simulacrum to the social networking sites in an attempt to identify the generation of models of the hyperreal in our digital ‘desert of the real’.”

That’s 25 characters too many for a Twitter feed. Dwindling attention spans – especially in those born after 1990 – pose mind-boggling challenges to marketers, educators and regular individuals alike (especially parents of teens). “Quality, not quantity” used to mean that less is more, but in quality’s favor. Now, less is more in quantity’s favor: the less you say and the shorter you say it, the better. Punctuation and complete sentences be damned, just tell me in as little time as possible so I can skip to the next song on my iPod.

Secondly, and I believe more importantly, is the question of: Where do we go from here? Didn’t the “gotta have it” stage of social networking sites and viral Web campaigns hit its peak a few years ago? Obviously there are stragglers to the marketing possibilities of these technologies. And there is still unbelievable potential in these mediums, just as there is still huge marketing potential in radio advertisements, and they’ve been commonplace for decades now.  But if Katie Couric is Tweeting, and if God has a fan page on Facebook, I think we’ve passed the point of novelty and have arrived at commonplace.

Right? I mean, if “everyone is doing it,” then what comes next? And what do we as marketers need to do to push the envelope? You have a Facebook page? Am I supposed to be impressed or something? Your rock band is on myspace? Congratulations, welcome to earth. You have a Web-only commercial running on YouTube? It’s about time.

These technologies have invoked a lot of interaction, as is the goal when companies use them for marketing purposes. Yet there is a limitation to the amount of genuine communication with a lot of these tools. Take the Tweet from Coldplay: Guy Berryman told all of the band’s followers that he just got up. Now unless Coldplay, for some unknown reason, decides to follow me, they will have no idea what’s going on in my life. Rude. Sure, I can do an “@” comment and say, “Good morning!” like thousands of other people who have no lives, but is Guy Berryman going to reply to my salutation? As if. It’s a one-way communication model. And even if you like talking to a tomato plant (the Heinz campaign), Twitter feeds, fan pages and viral Web campaigns are decidedly one-sided.

When you couple an avalanche of constant communication with an often blocked-off communication cycle, the customers (and even your friends) might start to look elsewhere for recognition and interaction. Remember how the fish is oblivious to water, and we are oblivious to air? We are now oblivious to all of this “interaction,” and we will only begin to notice it once the next big thing comes along. Which is kind of like air: we only notice it when it’s not there.

So what comes next? Will there be a return to more a stripped-down, “earthy” approach to marketing and communication? Will the continual evolution of the Internet produce even shorter communication patterns, possibly reaching the point where it reduces our lexicon to a purely image-driven system, like the ancient Egyptians? I think it’s safe to say, though, that whatever comes next won’t be like Monty Python – something completely different and unexpected. It will be something familiar but enhanced; recognizable but revolutionized. As Marshall McLuhan said, “We drive into the future using only our rear view mirror.”

The next marketing paradigm shift is for us to decide. We’ve come this far, and we need to start asking (and answering) the question of what comes next. We owe it to our clients; we owe it to humanity.

Let’s get this out in the open right off the bat: designers can’t design without clients. That being said, there is a long-standing debate in the design community about how to view and interact with clients. One side operates under the notion that we as designers are the experts in this field and, as such, it is preposterous to have our “masterpieces” questioned by the client. How dare they, right? The other side, however, believes in that old adage that ”the customer is always right” and are able to put aside their ego (and often better judgment) to please the client.

As a designer it is easy to fall into the first line of thought. In a perfect world all of your clients would know what they want and have some technical/design knowledge. Instead you often have to deal with people who understandably don’t know why you need and eps file of their corporate logo versus a tiny jpeg. Admittedly, this is not their fault, but it can get frustrating. Many designers are offended when clients have the audacity to tell them how the piece should look, and what elements of the design should go where. Of course there is the always dreaded “can you make my logo bigger” request. Thanks to modern science, we now know that the bigger your logo is the more product you will sell. Pfff. In all seriousness though, every decision a designer makes in regards to the layout and size of objects is done for a reason and with careful consideration. Contrary to many people’s beliefs, there is some “science” behind what we do.

Clients come to designers because they can’t do what we do and we are considered experts in our field, right? Then why question so much of what we do? When you take your car to a mechanic because it won’t start and he tells you it’s because you need a new alternator, do you say, “No, lets replace the radiator instead”? No, you don’t, because he is the expert and that is why you brought your car to him in the first place. It is okay, however, to have questions and concerns and those should be addressed by the mechanic (or designer in this case).

All cynicism aside, many of these things are worst-case scenarios and not all clients are difficult to work with. Because this is our area of expertise many designers unfortunately have an elitist attitude and their egos have built up to the point that they believe they have the right to decide what good design is and therefore should not be questioned. Despite what we would like to believe, good design is subjective, and opinions vary even amongst so-called experts in the field.

On the other hand, there are those who feel that design is strictly a business and should be handled as such. The purpose of most graphic design is to produce a specific result (sell product, raise awareness, etc.). Therefore, the end justifies the means, so to speak, so who cares what the piece looks like or how it got there as long as it produced results. Those who whole heartedly subscribe to this school of thought are often fine with being a production designer, allowing the client to design the piece while they simply put it together. More often than not, though, it is the client perpetrating this scenario; they feel that they are paying for a service so it’s okay to micro-manage the project. It is unlikely that this method is ever going to produce impressive, let alone groundbreaking, innovative work. There are going to be times when a client’s idea is so unbelievably bad that nothing a designer does can save the piece. Garbage in, garbage out. However, I think this can separate really good designers from the rest of the pack If you can take a client’s bad idea and turn it into something great that you are both proud of, that’s something special.

Successful design and fruitful partnerships, I believe, result in a combination of the two ideologies. First of all, it is a partnership. Both parties have the same goals: if the clients’ campaign is successful, the design firm is successful. Heads together, not head-to-head. When a strong relationship is built, trust emerges and designers are given more latitude in future projects. Try to pick your battles. As a designer you need to learn about your client’s personalities. Everyone is different, some need to have control over the project, and some want you to tell them what to do. So, designers out there, it is okay to bend a bit. Don’t completely check your ego at the door but realize that not everyone is going be awestruck by your sheer “brilliance”. At the same time, you do not want to become a spineless production designer who gives no thought to your designs, has no convictions and will do anything for a buck.  Talk with the client, figure out their goals and design what you want in order to meet their goals, and then sell them on why they should proceed with your idea. Explain the piece to them in a way that they can understand because often they do not understand the visual rhetoric with which designers speak.  If you design the piece how you want it to look (keeping in mind the client’s goals) then it should be an exceptional piece. It is much easier to sell great than to sell ordinary.

I am being asked to write a blog and my only recollection of that word is from years ago. We knew a family that had a daughter who had a very rare form of cancer. I believe to this day with this diary of sorts…a blog….and advanced medical procedures, she is alive and in good health today. Her blog was very personal and helped all of us that were concerned about her to follow along on the day to day stuff. What amazed me the most was her sense of humor as she was going through horrific procedures and many trials and tribulations.

So about me. I love almost everything about my life and realize that I am pretty responsible for almost all of it. The rest is getting easier to let go of and being proactive seems to be the way to go. I think that this aging thing is all about learning and just getting better. Doing more for others and one’s self.  Taking time to smell the roses, so to speak. I have been blessed with a wonderful husband and friend.  We have a great daughter, Colleen, who is an unbelievable mom to our three grandchildren. Her husband Terry is the best dad and a wonderful cook and we enjoy his culinary skills quite often. 

Our son Mike lives in Breckenridge and has a logging business. He is trying, one tree at a time, to eliminate those beetles that are doing a number on our beautiful forests. He is such an adventure guy and a great athlete. We just try to listen to the stories and not to worry too much. 

Our Grandchildren Morgan, Mason and Max are such joys in our lives and being with them is the best.  We are able to get together as a whole family many times a year and love being with each other, which is a gift all by itself.

Christmas is truly wonderful as we all enjoy cooking together, playing games and doing what counts most: spending time with one another. This year our gift to each other is a trip to California on spring break where we will just relax and enjoy family and friends.

I love working with our talented folks at AMG and continue to be amazed at their creativity. We finally have a team that is working together at the highest level and we are so proud of them. I love my role here and of course try not to be “the Mom.”

My efforts in community involvement are of upmost importance and continue to be a big part of my life. Working out, walking, Yoga and reading are what I do when I have time. The picture albums are next and of course, always organizing.

We recently added a new member to our family on Bill’s birthday. A Golden Retriever, Kellie, that just melts our hearts. God made them cute for a reason! Our life without a dog was not quite complete, and Kellie has filled that void 110 percent.

What is a blog, really?

That is a question I am asking myself now that it is my turn in the AMG Creative writing rotation.  Let me start by telling you a little about myself. My name is Terry Fine and I play the role of VP Business Development. Being a small agency, that only describes one aspect of my daily activities, but I digress.

I am now 41 and have had the privilege of living during a period of phenomenal technological transformation. Many of you out there recall what an evolution of communication took place when the fax machine was introduced.  Curly thermal transfer paper and all, this device provided a revolutionary way to quickly transport documents.  So, is a blog a revolutionary way to transport thought? One could argue the point, but let’s save that for another day.

What I really want to blog about today is what I view as a possible negative side effect of technology. What might that be, you ask?  How about the lack of social (not to mention spelling) skills being developed in our youth.  Today’s kids would rather send text messages than pick up the phone. You probably have all seen the commercial where the family is sitting around the table texting each other. Sad.

We are developing a nation of kids that lack the ability to have meaningful, face-to-face conversation. Non-verbal communication in the form of gestures, posture and facial expression can make up a large part of the message. A classic study done by UCLA’s Albert Mehrabian in 1971 indicated that up to 93 percent of communication effectiveness (certainly not this high of a percentage all the time or in every context) is determined by nonverbal cues. This is completely lost in certain technologies. I fear that the next generation will not know what it is like to engage in meaningful conversation and enjoy the type of connection that emanates from that.

I do not come to these conclusions lightly, as I am the father to three kids, 8, 11 and 14. I see it first hand with my oldest child. She would rather text than pick up the phone and talk to her friends. Perhaps you have been the recipient or know someone who has received the text or e-mail message that contained statements that you know the sender would have never spoken in a face-to-face situation.

Perhaps I am just missing the point, as my daughter will say. While technology is a wonderful thing and has many positive impacts on our daily lives, let us not forget the importance of a good ol’, sit down face-to-face conversation.

The importance of verbal communication is not limited to our personal lives, either. It takes on added significance in the business world. When was the last time you picked up the phone to thank your customer for their business? Give it a try. Not only will your customer appreciate it, but it will help you connect with your client and develop a stronger business relationship that would be, quite frankly, unachievable via text messaging or e-mail. 

So, if you would like to enjoy a good old fashioned, face-to-face conversation over a hot cup of coffee, please feel free to stop by. Of course, I will probably be on the phone, but you can text your buddies while you are waiting!  

So, what do you get when you add a middle- aged mom of two teenagers to an office full of high energy twenty-somethings?  

Apparently,  you get a mandate to write an inspirational blog, although I am still waiting to discover why anyone would want to read or write one.   My thought is that we are raising an entire generation of young people with entirely too much time on their hands, who love a public forum where they can whine and probably complain that their parents are to blame for all of their life problems.  But, I digress.

Thankfully, I am the mom of two fantastic boys, ages 13 and 17, who  were more than happy to assist in my hour of need.  Connor’s (13) immediate response was to tell the story of how we ended up in Fort Collins, the best family town we have been blessed to inhabit.  Having targeted Colorado since 1993, our family ventured to Fort Collins in March 2008 for a week- long vacation/reconnaissance mission to check out the area, public schools, CSU for our rising senior, and recreational opportunities.  Of course, we were blown away by the fantastic schools, perfect climate, super friendly people and abundance of healthy outdoor activities available.  The family vote at the end of the week was unanimous – we were moving to Fort Collins, and we needed to get here by mid August to establish residency for CSU next year.  So, we said goodbye to our friends, the beach and abundant palm trees of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and drove 2,000 miles to start our new lives in Fort Collins. 

Cody (17) had a slightly different take on this blog opportunity. Suffering from a serious case of senioritis at Fossil Ridge High School,  Cody’s world revolves around next year, when he will head to Colorado State University and all things independent of life at home.  He would like me to take this opportunity to proclaim CSU’s superiority over CU, and to say that life in Fort Collins is approximately a thousand times better than on tiny Hilton Head Island.

That’s it for today…from all of the Hollifields -  Cheers!

Let’s get this straight: I’m a designer, not a writer. What you are about to read (or not if you value your time) is my first blog entry…ever. Now if you are curious as to how a graphic designer (one who uses a computer daily) has never “blogged” before, let me tell you. If you aren’t curios, tough. I am going to tell you anyway. I am probably the least computer savvy graphic designer ever. I know how to use my computer as well or better than the average person and have an ever-expanding knowledge of the programs that I use to create my designs. But, as I see it, the computer is a tool of my trade I don’t really care to know how it works, as long as it does, and I don’t want to spend all of my free time on it. Does a plumber go home at night after a long day of work and hang out with his or her (yes, women can be plumbers, too) pipe wrench, maybe practice toilet installations? How should I know? I am guessing not, though. There are probably other things he or she would rather do. Well, that’s how I feel after spending 8-10 hours in front of a computer at work when I get home: I am not anxious to jump back on one. So, no, I have never “blogged”, and at the time of this writing still don’t have a desire to.

Blogging is for writers, and too often whiners. I have absolutely no desire to be a writer or public crybaby for that matter. Besides, I have things to do… in the real world…with actual people.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I admire talented writers and revel in their ability to entertain or inform using merely a creative arrangement of words. People who make a living writing probably should create and maintain a blog of their own; people who just want to stand up on their little soapbox for a while should not. Nobody cares. The stereotypical “blogger” that I picture in my head is… oh, 37 in his (yes, his, sorry ladies) mother’s basement, lights off, Doritos stained fingers furiously typing insightful quips about the society in which they have never actually participated. I’m just sayin’. I realize this is not every blogger and probably actually only makes up a small (73) percentage of bloggers. There are actually some very talented writers out there using blogs very effectively to springboard their writing careers or as a supplement to their printed works. But blogs are not only for writers and super witty computer nerds.

Blogs can also be very effective in the business world. When a company uses a blog as part of their Web site it can become an invaluable marketing tool for them. One of the ways a blog can be beneficial is that it keeps a Web site current and relevant, helping to maintain a higher ranking position when a potential customer does a Web search for companies within a specific industry. Blogs can do wonders for existing customers as well. They build brand loyalty and stronger client relationships because a customer can interact directly with people inside the company. Blogs also provide a great platform to share information and knowledge, thus potentially creating a better-informed consumer. Blogs can also help the credibility of an organization by showcasing some of the talent and expertise contained within. Lastly, although there are certainly more advantages to a business maintaining a blog, it provides a positive way for a business to gain feedback about their products or services, whether good or bad, directly from the consumer.

There are also some pitfalls to starting and maintaining a blog, mainly the maintaining part. The majority of blogs are abandoned within 30 days of their inception. Starting a blog is very easy but maintaining it takes a lot of time and energy. A company must take steps to ensure that it is kept up to date and not left unattended. An unattended blog allows your message to become lost and allows people with too much time on their hands to spread their message no matter if it is relevant to your company or not.

So blog get your message out there, be careful and diligent in maintaining your blog, but don’t spend too much time in front of that computer. There is an entire world out there that should be experienced.