Merry Christmas

I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
- Edward Everett Hale

It's been a great year for Idea Design and I thank all of you, whoever you are for reading and your comments and well wishes.

Early in the new year I will be relaunching my site - and I can't wait to get it live. Here is a sneak peek for you:
The blog will be moving to my site once I get it live.
I have to send a massive thanks to Kim McMullen of Flipside creative for her brilliant work on this as well as to Paul Koehler who is making quick work of all the coding.

The tag line says it all.

Inspire us today.

And I have been inspired by a lot of people and a lot of great charities this year and for that, I am truly blessed and thankful.

I wish you and yours a very happy holiday and Merry Christmas and will see you in the new year.

Thanks for reading.
John

My two cents: WSIB ads

I'm sure by now most of you have seen some of the print or tv ads for WSIB. There has been a lot of chatter about them being too over the top and gratuitous. And, in my opinion they are. BUT, sometimes you need to be over the top to make a point - with an exclamation! Secondly, in this day in age, we all know how bombarded people are with messaging... sometimes, in order to cut through, you need to go there.

It's sad to say that we, as marketers, need to go this far to make a point and get it remembered. But I deem these ads EFFECTIVE and APPROPRIATE. They have people taking notice and talking about it - and that's what a good campaign does. (Yes, hopefully it raises money and lowers workplace accidents too in this case - time will tell on those ones.)

Also my colleague Kim McMullen passed me a link for some other over the top and gratuitous PSAs - deemed the 5 Most Disturbing PSA's of All Time by Esquire. For all thoughts and commentary on the following ads, just check out the link.

WORKPLACE SAFETY


HUMAN TRAFFICKING

I Am Elena
Uploaded by ViaMedia

ANTI-SMOKING


GUN CONTROL


SAFE SEX

The importance of research

I was flipping through my Costco magazine and saw this ad:
What struck me were all the logos across the bottom. It's not often where you get to see so many similar charities in one place, but to me, the one thing that stood out were the five charities that used a bear in their logo. And similar looking logos/bears they are.

Yes, I know bears are the top visual cliché when representing children... I know. I also know that when I'm developing a new logo for a charity or organization, I not only spend a ton of time getting to understand what they do but also seeing how similar charities choose to represent themselves.

Currently I am working on a logo for an umbrella organization called Access Waterloo Region. Their site and mission will reflect their dedication to helping and providing information to people with disabilities. So what's the top visual cliché to represent people with disabilities?

Yes, gold star for you - a person in a wheelchair.

Like a former creative director told me, "I don't care if you use the obvious cliché... It's a cliché for a reason. But - find a new way to twist it or spin it to make it different."

So I will be providing a couple of options with the wheelchair but hopefully doing it in a unique way. And how do I know if it is unique? I try to look up as many charities as I can that help people with disabilities and see how they've done it. And I do the complete opposite. And I also go outside of that and find other ways to design the logo where I don't need to use a wheelchair.

So, yes teddy bears work. Just find a new way to do it. Or use bunnies. And/or chicks. And/or baby ducks. (Thanks to Steve Thomas for showing me that one!)

If you or the designer/agency you've hired decide to use the most obvious visual cliché for a logo, ad or whatever... make sure they've done their homework and spent a little time doing research - otherwise - you end up with something that is no different than all the others who didn't take the time.

Be appropriate

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we must, as communicators, at all times - be appropriate. I know I've said it before but time and time again, I see work, creative, ideas, statements and so on - that is not appropriate for the audience or the subject matter. Recently I was almost guilty of the same crime.

I was developing a package for a local hospital who wanted to use funds to increase the size of the ward where they treat children who have cancer. I was trying to be clever graphically with type and making it look nice. But - duh - I was overlooking RULE #1 as a designer - let the message BE the message - just make it clear. Here are a few of the BAD ones...




So, lucky these weren't approved. I did what I should have done in the first place - which is read the copy. And as I got half way through, practically in tears, I realized that I overlooked my OWN RULE. I was not being appropriate.

So after developing a more appropriate tagline, I wanted to give it a bit of visual ompf as well. Here is the final.


Its easy to get caught up in making it "look nice" and "using all the colours" and making sure that we "stick to our brand" - but you know what - the only thing we really should be worrying about is making the creative appropriate to the audience and to the subject matter. Donors respond more to the your message than your (or my) fancy design.

Don't believe me? Then test it!

BONUS: I'm getting this for all of my clients this Christmas. Make My Logo Bigger cream!

Good things coming

Thanks for coming by. I apologize for the lack of updates but have been busy working on great things. One of which, is this blog and my web site. I have one of the most talent writers and designers in the country helping me with a complete overhaul of the site - which, in the coming weeks - I will share some of the development with you.

For those of you who are attending AFP Congress this week in Toronto, have a great time!

Walking the walk... again...

I know I recently wrote about the importance of brand and making sure every person in your organization lives, breathes and eats it... but I was reminded of how effective a brand can be when that happens.
I flew to Vancouver last week with West Jet... the no frills carrier... and yes, the seats may be cheap but the service is not.
You've maybe seen the commercials, where the stewardess totally saves the business guy by bringing his presentation, which he forgot on the flight, to his meeting, and she set up the projector, and made copies, and she...
The schtick is that all employees of West Jet are owners and that's why they care. Even the guy in front of me, when getting on the plane, made a comment to the stewardess about how happy he was to be flying with the friendliest people in the sky...
And they were. When we stopped in Calgary, the pilot came out of the cockpit, chatted with a few of us who were still on the plane. He said he was going to Starbucks and asked if any of us wanted a coffee... The pilot!
When we were taxiing towards takeoff, I glanced out my window and watched the people who loaded the luggage, fueled the jet and the signal guy - stand and wave at us as we went by them - and they kept waving until we were well past...
These people really care! They really want you to come back and fly with them again.

Can you imagine if you and your charity (or business) could deliver a similar experience to your donors (or customers)? It's not impossible, but it certainly takes a lot of work. I think when people experience a brand like West Jet, they keep coming back for more.

I, for one, will fly with them as often as I can...

White Space

As a designer, I am a massive fan of white space. It can take a boring layout and make it interesting, especially if you have no images at your disposal or, an image just wouldn't make sense.

Without images, you have just two elements to work with. Black type and white paper. If you merely fill the page with type - it blends into a large field of gray. And it's visually boring.

You can pull in the reader but widening the margins and giving the mass of type some shape. And shape is what we are after.
Here is another example. A leaflet sized list of Patrons. No images, all type. Set in Times New Roman. It's pretty much filled out the way you would type it out. Visually this page is totally flat.

So let's add some white space to the leaflet and see what happens.


So now we have shape, we now have visual interest.


We now have a piece that begs to be looked at and read. We made the head bigger and body a little smaller and set it in a classic face (Adobe Garamond). The actualy text block is smaller but contains the same amount of information. Also by adding a neutral gray as the background, we make it a little easier on the eyes (as opposed to black on white).

Here is another way of setting it up. By turning the page we can add even more content and create a new type of shape.

Also, the stair step shape visually places your eye right into the top left corner...

Yes, sometimes we are at the mercy of content... But either cut copy or add more pages... without any visual interest (using white space alone or white space and images) your mail, brochure, newsletter will not get read and your message will not be heard.
Thanks to Before and After magazine for the inspiration.

Controlling the experience

I just got back from Chicago, where on top of doing a little shopping and relaxing, I got to enjoy some amazing architecture.
We visited the Robie House, a home built back in 1910 by Frank Lloyd Wright. This is the first home I've visited designed by Wright and – what an experience.
It was, as we were told, one of Wright's favourite homes built in the Prairie style.



Wright was notorious for his attention to detail and controlling how a person may experience one of his homes. He was even quoted as saying if he could design the dresses of the ladies who may live in the home, he would do so in a style to suit it.
He designed the built-in shelves, furniture, windows, light fixtures, chose the paint on the walls – everything – to ensure that the way a person experienced the house – was exactly the way he intended.


Do you think your company or charity is like that? That every experience or touch point a consumer or donor has with you is consistent and designed right down to the tiniest detail?

Should it be?

Does it make your customer or donor feel like a witness to something special but not a part of it?

Surprise!!!

This weekend I was reading a Q&A with Andy Nulman from Airborne Entertainment (Montreal) who writes about "Pow!" marketing moments in his blog. The Q&A was published in the Sept 24th issue of Marketing  - for those who are inclined to see the whole article.

The question is "What is surprise marketing?"

The answer is "People are basically bored and immune to most marketing. There's so much sameness. So surprise marketing really is "How do we cut through that clutter?" It is that event, the effect, the moment that basically just shocks the system... It hits you to that point where your eyes widen, your mouth turns into an "O" and you say "Wow, I never expected this." And what happens, first of all, is it cuts through all the clutter and number two, it generates word of mouth: "God, you've got to see this, it's incredible, you're not going to believe what these guys did."

I'm saying "Of course!"

You could change his answer by inserting 'donors' instead of 'people'. I have recently talked with a number of colleagues on the agency side and on the charity side and we all realize - donors are getting bored. We are not surprising anyone. We've become complacent with the norm. We just to need to make our realistic target which is the same as last year and the year before.

We need to snap out of it. The first charities that have the cahones to forget about achieving the usual - and try doing something that will snap their donors heads in attention will be rewarded. No doubt. But I'm afraid it will take a lot of convincing and a lot of people willing to take a risk for that reward for it to happen.

Thoughts?

7 surprising facts about direct-response fundraising: Thank you Donor Power Blog

This falls into the "Passing along great information" category.

From the September 5th, Donor Power Blog posting:

7 surprising facts about direct-response fundraising:

1. Blank carrier envelopes usually out-perform envelopes with teasers.
2. Longer letters perform better. Usually. There are exceptions.
3. The most-read part of a fundraising letter is the P.S.
4. Typos improve response. I can't prove this, but it seems to be true.
5. Mail recipients spend more time looking at the back of the envelope than the front.
6. Religious people give more to non-religious causes than non-religious people. Religious people give more to everything.
7. The most powerful predictor that a donor will give is the recency of her previous gift.

Here's my two cents on these 7:
1. I think I've stated before how far too often, adding a teaser does absolutely nothing to entice the donor to open the envelope. If you can come up with a tagline that is appropriate and tells the donor that there is something inside that they really need to see/read - go for it.
2. Longer letters often do better - it's true. Most often if it is a prospect piece. You need space to do more selling to that new donor, keep it focused on your mission. I've seen it tested - and again in prospecting tends to beat short letters. But I would bet if you were mailing a Renewal 3 mailing and it was 6 pages - a short one, 1 pager, would beat the pants off it.
3. The P.S. is your first/last chance to make that donor give - so reiterate the importance of the mailing and why you need their support.
4. Typo's: I've never heard of this... would love to know if anyone has ever had the guts to test this. I, for one, can't imagine trying to convince a charity that typos in their letter is ok...
5. I have always thought - if you have 2 sides to an envelope then you have 2 sides to convince the donor to open it. But back to point 1 - sometimes an "official" looking envelope with just a logo and return address or just a return address can do better for the mailing.
6. Sounds like common sense this one.
7. There are people in our sector who can tell you if there is such a thing as mailing someone too much or too often. But I think, if you have a need and you can express that need for a gift, then mail your donors. Do not mail for the sake of mailing. And I hate to say it - there are far too many charities mailing for the sake of mailing.

BACK TO YOU: I need your feedback. What are some topics you would like to see addressed here? Please send any comments you may have to jlepp@ideadesign.ca or post them here! Thanks.

This one's for YOU

Yes - you.
Can I remind you of something?
It's not all about you.
You need to make it about them - the donor.
Yes, you do good things and yes, you may have worked very hard to do those good things - but you would be nothing with them.
I mention this because as obvious as it seems, it is often forgotten.
Looking through a stack of mail I see:
"Newsletter enclosed."
"Camp is good medicine!" (Camp Trillium)
"Special gift enclosed!"
"Providing friendship, understanding and support"

It's an easy fix. Involve the donor.
"Your important newsletter is inside"
"You can let kids be kids again." (Camp Trillium)
"A special gift for you is enclosed."
And so on.

And this goes for the whole of the package. Keep your donor involved. Always.
Without them, there would be no "you".
_______
From a recent Letters to the Editor
"I am a senior and would like to tell people in charge of collecting donations that I don't want to receive any more free gifts.
I have hundreds of labels with my name and address on them, and won't be able to use them all.
I have sent in my donations with the message, "Do not send me any more free gifts," but they keep on coming, and I don't want my donations spent on postage, etc.
Please, just send me my receipt and I'll donate again next year. I live in a seniors' building and I'm not the only one complaining about wasting our donations."

You donor has spoken.
I know what you are saying - 'address labels work' - but you need to find ways to not alienate those they don't work for.

Teasers vs no Teasers

Last week, I got my daily e-news from Donor Power blog. The subject was "To tease or not to tease". I won't totally re-iterate the findings (based on Mal Warwick's own research) but the bottom line is - test it. OR if you don't want to test it - ask your self this: Is it appropriate?

From my side of the desk, too often, I see teasers added for the sake of adding a teaser. There have been many packages where I have been asked to add a teaser and I would be willing to bet it hindered the response - made it seem to (excuse the expression) junk-maily...

Of course, I asked to test it - but as we know - often there isn't the budget to do so.

Get out of the habit of adding a teaser for the sake of doing it. Trust your gut - if you have a great line that you know will make people want to tear open the package - use it, but if not - don't.

Do you wonder if your donors ever feel this way?

Designing a logo

Nothing is more frustrating for me, as a graphic designer, to have to design a one colour or two colour piece (like direct mail, like an ad) for a charity using their brand *new* logo!!!!

Yes, having a new logo for your organization or part of your brand is a very exciting time. It's a fresh start and maybe brings you up to date and contemporary.
BUT, there are a few things, to remember when looking at a new logo.

If I need to design a one colour or two colour piece and all I have is a beautiful looking logo that is 4 colours (cmyk), then I'm going to have a bit of an issue.
If all I have is a beautiful looking logo that IS two colours (two spot colours), but uses a soft teal and light gray I am also going to have an issue.

Time and time again, I see these new logos developed and the colours are not suitable to one or two colour applications. The problem?

Having an logo with 2 soft colours, and being limited to 2 colours, makes any type (which should be set in black or a dominant colour) very hard or impossible - to read... Any image you may want to use, especially if you want to use one of the PMS colours from the logo - will also look washed out and hard to reproduce.

Here is what I do:
I design the logo in black. If it works well in black, then adding colour will be the easy part.
I then design a 2 spot colour version. And, I always make sure one of those 2 colours is a dark colour. (Think, blue, dark green, deep red, black, etc).
I may also design a 4 colour logo based on the break down of the PMS colours.
I then make sure my contact at the organization has every version, in every format, as well as fonts of the *new* logo.
The bottom line is: Do not design a logo for a charity using soft colours (like yellow, teal, grey, etc) unless is is complimenting a strong colour first.

UPDATE: A few weeks ago I wrote about the food bank situation in Hamilton - which I am happy to say has improved significantly. I also linked my thoughts to The Poverty Project page at the Spectator. Shortly after, I did notice that the ad had been revised to:
It is great to see a bolder call to action. The need is clearly outlined and easy to read.
Criticisms: Why not an image of Hamiltonian child? And why not bigger? The shot isn't bad but and great eye contact is everything... so use it!

UPDATE TWO: CNIB Comedy Gala: For those of you picked option 1:

You were correct! Personally, I knew it was the "safest" option... but maybe feel a little disappointed that one of the more visually interesting ones, was not chosen. Also, we have completed all the final tweaks and changes to the poster and some of the messaging that I felt were not adding to the Gala was added back in, but sometimes, what's not important to me is important to the client. Here is the final poster:

CNIB Gala: Part 2: Time to present

Once I sat down and tried to figure some visual ways to present comedy (which beyond microphones, empty stages and laughing masks - there aren't many) I had to figure out what was important, in terms of content, and what wasn't. With something like a poster, that may be hung up public space, keep in mind, you have mere seconds to make an impression and get your message across. This is no time for all the information about your event, or your product, or whatever... the basics - the most important information only. And from a visual point of view - again - simple. One big visual is better than 10 small ones.

So here are the four options that went to the client for presentation:




Again, these are the final 4 options that I presented to the client (I'll show what didn't make it another time).

I wanted the idea of "comedy" to really come through and felt, just before I needed to present them, I hadn't really accomplished that.

I picked the brain of ubr-creative Kim McMullen for a quick brainstorm to see what we could do to make them just a bit better.

I had already designed the option 2 - "talking mouth" Mary Walsh, but didn't feel like it was working, but with the addition of the right kind of copy, and typeset properly, it started to work for me.

Option 3 was my attempt for big and clean design. Nothing getting in the way of the messaging.
Option 4 had started out as another big and clean design poster - but tried to liven it up with a bit of scratching, sketching around the mic. Kim suggested I go all the way - it was a comedy show after all. Show - I got to totally deface Mary Walsh. I have to admit, I did think to myself "I can't do this to Mary can I?"

But I did. It was appropriate and added that touch of whimsy that was really missing.

Next time: What the client choose and the options that didn't see the light of day. Any predictions? Let me know what you think the client choose.

My Two Cents: Food Bank ad

In Hamilton, Ontario, they are having a massive problem.
It's summer time and people are out, having fun, going to cottages, building decks, swimming, bbq'ing.
Also, it's summer time, and some other people are deciding between electricity or food for their children, bus fare to work or food for their children, rent or food for their children. It almost every city center across this country of ours, there exists food banks of all kinds to help these families that are having to make some very hard choices.
I worked with Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto for a few years on their direct mail. It was always the same - Thanksgiving and Christmas mailings always did well. Summer mailings did not.
In Hamilton, food banks are having to close their doors. Not enough food and not enough cash. So what happens to these people who, unfortunately, rely on the food banks to help feed their families?
My wife and I were watching the news last week. At the top of the news was the story about the crisis. 4 minutes long. Really well done and sad. Tara has moved closer to the TV, pen and paper, writing down the things they need-getting her credit card from her wallet.
And then - they moved to their next story.
"Where the "f" is the call to action???" she cried, and then clasping her hand over her mouth when she realized she was in the presence of our small, impressionable children.
There was no phone number, no web site, no way to give and therefore, a complete and utter waste of air time.
The Hamilton Spectator actually posted an ad in it's paper on Saturday.
Clever idea. Very poor execution. At least there is a call to action - in barely there 10 pt type. When you view the ad in the context of the page:

Yes - that's it there at the bottom of the page - the white block does help it get noticed - but - for crying out loud - at least make the contact info stand out.
This sort of thing frustrates me - almost makes me lie awake at night.
If you are a charity and you get any free ad space or air time, get your story heard and then SHOUT your contact info - let the donors help. If you make it hard for people, then you may not get the help you need.
If you want tp help, you can read a little more about it here or call 905.526.3221.

Factors that make or break your direct mail campaign

I've been reading one of the 'fundraising bibles' called Achieving Excellence in Fund Raising. It covers everything from Philosophy to Ethics, Sources and Methods. A book that should probably be on the bed stand of every fundraiser.

The prolific Mal Warwick, in Chapter 19, covers the ins and outs of Direct Mail. In a section called "Factors That Make The Most Difference In A Direct Mail Campaign", he states that you (you being a fundraiser at your charity) are responsible for HALF the response to your direct mail. Your charity's track record, the power of your message, the quality and visability of your organization's leadership, publicity and the ties of your work to issues of broad public concern are all your responsibility.

The other half, according to Mal, breaks down like this:
List Selection - 25%
The "offer" - 10%
Copywriting - 5%
Format - 5%
Design - 5%
and lastly,
Timing - which Mal states, is terribly hard to put a fixed value on but - can make a big difference in your mailing.

As a designer - I'm comfortable with 5% - I would love to think that the way I wrap the font around some pretty graphic, or my witty use of the colour magenta makes a mailing double or triple its expected targets - but let's face facts - it doesn't. It was part of the success or failure, but not wholly responsible for either.

I'll make you a promise. I'll remember that the next time I work on a direct mail pack for you - if you do too. If you concentrate on the things that REALLY matter, like your messaging, I'll concentrate on making sure it comes through as CLEAR as possible.

I promise.

Case Study: CNIB Gala - Part One

Idea Design was asked by Patti Johnstone, from CNIB Hamilton to help design the look and feel for the 6th Annual Gala to be held in January.
In the coming months, I will share the process of this job.
We got together Friday to discuss the job and look at our timelines. We have to present a few options to te Board by the end of July so there isn't a lot of time to mess about.
In the past it has be called the "CNIB Magic Dot Gala". This year's theme is Comedy Night featuring Mary Walsh and Samba dancers, the recommended colours are pink and black.
You can see already we are in a bit of trouble. If the theme is comedy, let the theme be comedy. Why is it called "CNIB Magic Dot Gala"? Why pink and black? CNIB's colours are green and dark green. Does the image of Mary Walsh say "comedy"? I'm not sure. Leslie Neilson - yes... Mary Walsh? I don't think so. Samba dancers? What does that have to do with comedy?
Let's communicate one thing. Right?
We need to design 24x36 posters (mostly used at the event-which is good to know), an 8.5x11 mini poster which will be mailed, faxed and inserted here and there - this will be the primary ticket seller - so it needs to cover a lot information. There will also be tickets and ads that need to be put together.
Next steps will be to simplify the message, from a visual and written point of view and develop a few theme concepts.
Stay tuned.

FREE Test Idea

First off, Happy Canada Day and Happy 4th of July for my American friends.

Today's post shall be short and sweet. Here is a quick, FREE idea for a test for those of you who design, write or produce direct mail.

On your coupon, almost all contain a line that reads something like "Please turn over to give monthly..." or something like that. We tested setting it in a handwriting font verses using a font we were using everywhere else.

The handwriting version won. Speaking with a few others who tested it found the same result.

I would love to hear about your tests - especially the unusual ones - if you have any you would like to share, please pass it along.

Finally - please feel free to comment on any post, any time. I want this to be more of a forum for anyone who might be interested in adding their voice to the discussion. So please add your voice and thoughts.

John

The big melting pot

When did charities get afraid of standing out?

I used to work at a pharmaceutical agency in Toronto. My creative director, Gord Schwab, said to me, not long after I started, "We do not do 'smiley, happy people' ads". And we never did. Yes, occasionally the clients would come and say, "...but we want a smiling, older couple, looking happy because our product helped them...". Back then, the only advertising you could do was direct to doctors - they were the audience. We needed to show them how the drug/product worked and how they helped people by prescribing it. No "smiley, happy people" ads. They won tons of awards and sold a lot of product for their clients.

I read about another re-branding for a high profile charity. In this case, it's the United Way of Greater Toronto.

You'll remember some of the older creative that was done for United Way:




And now:

In the June 11, 2007 issue of Marketing Magazine, the article discussing the re-brand reads, "In the past, the UWGT had pulled on heart strings by showing troubled people and stressing the need for financial contributions... Now the focus is on prevention and the positive impact of the United Way's work..."

How and where does the donor fit into this? Where is the "me" or the "you"? It doesn't need to be all death and destruction, but the donor needs to be involved and see how they help. It's these sorts of visual concepts that get noticed. I think that's why the old ads and visuals worked so well.

And by the way, when did 'pulling on heartstrings' become a bad thing?

A few years ago, I was working on creative for a international organization - the concept was - by joining this monthly giving program, you were helping immediately, and all the time, everywhere... I had developed a conceptual image of "the donor" reaching out with a spoon and feeding a hungry child who was sitting in his mothers lap...
It's a little rough, but it shows the donor helping now. It shows how being a part of this program, you are make a difference immediately.

Sure, you could show a bunch of happy kids eating or playing... but what do you think is stronger?

As the demographics of this country change, so does they way we need to communicate. If it's all "smiley, happy people" ads or brochures - what will make you different from the next charity?

SIDE NOTE: In the paper this weekend was a fantastic article about a site called Kiva.org. This is - in a sense - fundraising in the 21st Century and a great idea that could be applied to many charities today. In a nutshell "Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you've sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back." You get to pick the business and how much you loan - and make an amazing difference.

Now that's a fantastic idea.

Gone fishin'...

Thanks for the visit - we/me is off fishing today but will return next week with a look at the big melting pot that charities keep jumping into... Have a great week.

Summertime

Summer is a tough time to be mailing people. People are busy out in their gardens, visiting with friends, enjoying the weather. But the mail must not stop right? You still need people's attention and donations - of course. Any your mail plan, provided by your agency if you have one, says you have a mailing and IT MUST drop June 30!!!

Here are a few words of advice. Do not mail a plain white, #10 envelope and package. That's it.

90% (that's my guessimation) of the organizations with a piece of mail that's landing in the mailboxes of donors all across Canada are mailing plain white, #10 envelope packages. You need to stand out! You need to compete!

Please consider - mailing a envelope that's bigger or smaller than a #10! Make it blue, green or pink! You can print a colour all over or maybe use a colour stock.

When Jane Sample opens her mailbox, guess what will get her attention, and likely get it opened?

Just a few words of advice.

Also: On Friday I took part in the Big Bike Ride for Heart and Stroke as part of a team for Fluid Media and Banko Photography from Hamilton. If you ever get a chance to ride on one of these big bikes - make sure you do! It is quite easy and a lot of fun. The Heart and Stroke folks did a fantastic job at getting everyone ready to ride and getting their message heard! Here are a few pictures from the event (Thanks to Sandra Mulder from Banko Photographic).

Your "Brand".

I'm not a branding expert. I can be upfront about that. But I do understand a bit about what a "brand" is and how it is a part of your business or charity.

Food for thought:
"We persist in seeing a "brand" as the "external image" of a company, or of a product or service. Instead, we must learn that branding goes straight to the heart (and comes straight from the heart) of an enterprise. Bottom Line: Effective branding is far more internal than external." - Tom Peters Essentials, "Design"

Consider this: Is the Apple brand this:
or this:
I would argue that Steve Jobs is a bigger part of the Apple brand than the logo.

Recently I was talking to a client and I expressed my extreme pleasure at having them as a client. I have dealt with seven out of eight people from this organization separately - and they all were polite, enthusiastic, helpful, creative, knowledgeable and driven. It shows in the work that they do and the relationships they form with their clients and suppliers. I told the client that it's obvious that every single person in their organization not only understands their "brand" but lives and breaths it.

One more example before I get to the point: Old Navy - yes, the singing, dancing commercials with a lot of happy people, young and old - sporting some funky, colourful clothes - and the music always gets the toes tapping. You see the ads in the newspaper and there are bold splashes of colour, great prices, happy people - you walk into the store, great music, colour explosions here and there, happy salespeople eager to help... that's the "Old Navy" brand.

So here is my point. In the last decade, almost every charity I have worked with has climbed aboard the "branding wagon" - for many reasons. My problem is that so many charities don't actually understand what a "brand" is.

Things like your logo, the fonts you use in your materials, colours you use - all of those things - support your brand and identify you to you donor or customer - but they are not your brand. Just a piece of it.

I read recently 'Every time you hum a television commercial jingle, decide to test a new flavor of toothpaste, or pay more than average for a cup of coffee, you, as a consumer, are revealing a relationship with a product or company that today’s savvy companies spend great amounts of time and money to develop. This relationship, measured in emotional investment, is forged by a company or product’s strategic identity — or what’s commonly referred to as its brand.
Every time a stakeholder (a customer, an employee or a client) “touches” your product, workplace or services, he or she engages in a scripted and meaningful part of the overall story of your brand.' (taken from rtkl.com)

And please note: it doesn't say anything about your font.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know.
John

My Two Cents: Agencies and Pro-Bono Work

Flipping through the current Marketing Magazine, there is an article by Anthony Taaffe, Associate Creative Director at Extreme Group, an ad agency from Halifax. The article is called "Piloting Pro Bono". It's always interesting to read about another ad agency who is out to help save the world by doing cutting edge creative. In this case, Taaffe discusses how some of his paying clients feel slighted when they compare the work they get, verses the creative solutions that their pro bono clients get. His point is that all clients get the same 'great creative'. Fine.

Here's my complaint. The "creative" that some agencies come up with - often isn't appropriate (I've talked about that before), or, is completely out of brand or character for the charity in question and often has ZERO worth as a fundraising device. Here is the ad that Extreme came up with for Halifax's Food Bank.
The visual as you can see is a bowl full of money.
The headline reads "It Takes More Than Food To Feed The Hungry."
Yes. That's true. Great. So now what? - So nothing, I continue to flip through my magazine or paper.

Oh hold on! Maybe I'm supposed to GIVE something - let's see, where are my glasses? Right. There does seem to be a suggestion to maybe give generously. Oh - and there is even a phone number - that's handy.

Taaffe writes "Pro bono work usually comes with the promise of a great creative opportunity. A pro bono job can provide the type of challenge that may be lacking in your everyday work, a unique opportunity to flex one's creative muscles." He goes on to say "You never ignore any client's needs and objectives, but with pro bono work, it is totally appropriate to insist on creative latitude as a prerequisite."

Really?

I thought the whole idea of working with charities is to help raise money and make a difference. I can be a bit of an idealist at times - but, it is not time to 'flex my creative muscle' - it's time to raise money.

ASK for a donation and then TELL them how to give it.

Marketing is also running a poll - I was interested to see where it stands currently. I understand that a lot of back patting can go on here - I've had charities tell me - 'Sorry but our agency of record (insert name of big name agency), is doing that work for us'. And I've heard the agencies say 'Look at this amazing ad we did for (insert charity of choice). Can you believe we got away with this? And isn't it clever?'

I would suggest that if you work at an agency or a charity to download a copy of "Why Bad Ads Happen to Good Causes" by Andy Goodman.

I know that sometimes that an ad or poster for a charity is to "increase awareness" and that's fine so long as the awareness is about the cause, not the charity. It's not you, the charity or you the agency, it's about who or what you are helping. That being said there is a great quote in Andy Goodman's piece.

Attention, Not Just Awareness
"You can throw oodles of information into a person's awareness. The problem is that everybody is doing it. Awareness is vague, general information, and doesn't by itself catalyse any action. Attention is targeted and specific. It gets people moving. In a simple analogy, awareness is the target and attention is the bull's-eye."
Thomas Davenport & John Beck, The Attention Economy

Let's get people moving.

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3....

I know, you probably hear it all the time but I don't see charities trying it enough anymore. I know money is tight but you should constantly be testing something to see what your donors respond to and what they don't respond to.

Testing is most common with direct mail but take a cue from the corporate world - you can test anything in any media - but for now, let's take a look at direct mail.

If you have a control prospect package (which basically means it is a mailer you use annually, twice a year, etc) that consistently performs for you - you should be trying to make it better and beat it every time you mail. Here are some suggestions (and the list can be endless) - some more costly than others:

Outsides:
1. Try adding/removing/changing the tag line.
2. Using a picture vs not using a picture.
3. 4 colour vs 2 colour.
4. A different size envelope vs. the one you are currently using.
5. A differnet stock colour.
6. A first class stamp.

Insides:
1. Adding a lift note or insert vs no lift note or insert.
2. A longer/shorter letter.
3. Colours
4. Pictures
5. COPY!
6. Letter signers.

Again, once you start to think about it - it is easy to come up with some testable ideas.

That being said - there are two things you need to keep in mind. And these are also forgotten in the heat of testing...

Test one thing. Sorry, I know you've got all these great ideas, but it is the only way you'll be able to say "This test made a difference/no difference".

And - don't test things that will unlikely to change your response rate - remember - you are trying to raise money so only test things that hopefully will make more people respond and - give more money.

Agree? Disagree? Other thoughts?
John

P.S. I am hoping in the future to feature some guest bloggers so keep an eye out for that. If you have any recommendations or would like to be a guest blogger, please let me know!

BONUS: MY TWO CENTS
Recently, I travelled to Paris for a little bit of R&R. While at the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, I came across this headstone:
Talk about standing out! Talk about great use of white space! It reminds me, when you step outside the norm - the result can be amazing and inspiring!

Creative Checklist

A few years ago, I got to sit in a session hosted by Derek Humphries from the UK firm THINK Consulting. If you are into creative, and you get a chance, Derek is one of the guys you need to hear speak. His colleage Tony Elischer, is also fantastic.

As part of the session - Derek passed us a checklist of things you should look at before you release your dm/brochure/etc into the world.

1. Is it on brief? (Does the solution suit the original problem formed in the creative brief?)
2. Is it factually accurate?
3. Is it clear who we are talking to?
4. Is it clear what we are asking?
5. Have you explained why?
6. Does it sound important?
7. Is the point made simply?
8. Is the response device (for the donor) simple and easy?
9. Are we doing something that has never been done before?
10. AND MOST IMPORTANT - Does it sing?

Upon the advice of one of my readers - THE NAKED IDEA will become a weekly blog to be published every Monday starting today.

Questions? Comments? Let me know.
John

My Two Cents: Direct Mail in Canada

One word: Boring.

I hate to generalize, but most of the direct mail produced in Canada today - is boring. And it would not be surprising to hear your donors are bored of it too.

I hear from charities all the time "Our donors are conservative, they like it like this and we don't mess with it." More often, it is the charity (or people working there) that like it like that and don't want to rock the donor boat. And I appreciate that - dollars are getting harder and harder to come by - but you may find by shaking things up a little - good things may happen.

Every few weeks when my mother-in-law comes for a visit she brings a big envelope or small box - chock full of direct mail from all over the country. She is "Jane Donor" - fits the description perfectly. 99% of what she brings me are #10 outer envelopes, white stock, with a window, with the logo in the top left corner and the return address on the back flap, a white#9 Business Reply Envelope, with Canada Post art (with maybe a "Thank you!" in the top left corner) and a 8.5" x 14" letter/coupon.

99%.

So I recycle those. I look at the one or two that do something different. Anything!

Look at this way - if you arrange the furniture in your living room and don't touch a thing for a year or two - someone could move a picture frame to the other side of the room - and you would instantly know that something was different - it's not a whole new room - but it is different and you do notice. Direct mail is about getting noticed - standing out...

If you or your agency is producing the same mailing over and over - please move some furniture!

Agree? Disagree? Let me know by sending me your comments.
John

Case Study 2: Therapeutic Recreation Ontario

Late last year, I was asked by Joanne Brohman at Therapeutic Recreation Ontario to re-design their logo. They had been working with a web design company called i4 to update their site and wanted to bring their logo in up to date as well.

I was excited by the project because I had been in discussions with Joanne and TRO for some time about a redesign and I could finally get to work.
Looking at their old logo - I liked the idea of using the trillium - which helped symbolize where TRO operates but the logo itself provided no clues as to what TRO does and who it helps. The type face and colour were quite dated as well.
The hardest part for me, as it is with most logos, is - how do I represent "visually" what an organization does? It doesn't need to be literal, or - what I like to call - 'smash you over the head' obvious - but it needs to provide some clues to the viewer.
I believe this is probably more important in the charity sector then the commercial sector.
My one concern was I was moving forward without a written creative brief from the client but after some back and forth emails, it was time to proceed.
So - where to begin? Research. I spent time understanding who TRO helps, how they help them and trying to find some visual ideas that I could use to communicate that. I then brainstormed on paper - words and visual ideas.

With most logos, when I finally sit down at my computer, I start looking at fonts/typefaces. All fonts communicate. Some are funny, feminine, angry, powerful, delicate, historical, etc. I wanted: Contemporary, slightly playful, soft edges (more feminine) and sans serif. If I could find a font that communicated those things for me - then I was in good shape when it came to the rest of the logo. I then find fonts that I think will fit the bill and typeset the name of the organization and see what works with the name and what doesn't.
The next step for me is to chose a few of the samples that seem to be working for me and start to add some of my visual clues in. I liked the idea of the trillium and I wanted to give TRO a possible solution that kept that but I also wanted to explore another avenue. I wanted to use hands as well - I felt that hands could represent a lot of different things: healing, togetherness, community... So after trying a number of options, I presented these three logo concepts to the TRO:
After some review, the Joanne wanted to add the tag line as well before she took it to her board.
I always design logo concepts in black and white. Again, because every element can add or detract from another - colour is usually the biggest distraction. If I can get a logo working in black and white, then it should really shine once I start adding colour onto it. As well, with charities, so often we are designing with 1 colour or 2 colours so the black really needs to work.

So after board review, it was felt that we were off the mark. The hands weren't working for them. I believe the feeling was that it didn't address the "recreation" aspect of TRO. So - back to the drawing board.

The lesson here is the importance of a clear creative brief - which should be kept brief (more on that another time). A well written creative brief that both parties sign off on keeps the focus on the end product.

I went back to their site and some of the other Therapeutic Recreation sites that exist. What I failed to realize the first time through was it was 'therapy through recreation'. That was key. Once I got my head around that - both the client and I agreed to move forward with that creative direction - I came up with these:
The ball easily covered the recreation aspect and I loved how it gave the logo some life and movement. I do believe the feedback was unanimous. The first option just had everything going for it and wasn't too quirky or fussy. Now if I could just find a way to fit in that trillium...

Above is the final logo and below, intergrated within the new web page that created by i4:

The new site and logo are to go live sometime this year and I think that TRO now has a more up-to-date and contemporary identity.

More or less of this sort of thing? Any other comments? Please let me know!
John