Rachel: For all those creative folks who appreciate Apple’s incredible product packaging, watch this video about how closely Apple considers every detail:

Willem: BIGGEST TEAHUPOO EVER!
The great surfer Kelly Slater said “witnessing this was a draining feeling being terrified for other people’s lives all day long, it’s life or death. Letting go of that rope one time can change your life and not many people will ever experience that in their life.”

BIGGEST TEAHUPOO EVER from UnFuzzy on Vimeo.

Gary G: Spike likes The Royal Room in Columbia City, especially when the Polyrhythmics are rockin’ the house. Check ‘em out on YouTube:

Kristen: Get your DNA as art!

Natasha: Adding some color to your house makes it beautiful and more unique . Check out these “Amazingly Colorful Homes“! These are my favorite ones located in Riomaggiore, Italy:

Willem: The Creators Project
A global network dedicated to the celebration of creativity, culture and technology. At a time in the history of the arts where digital technology has revolutionized distribution, democratized access, and re-imagined the scope and scale with which an artist can create a vision and reach an audience, The Creators Project is a new kind of arts and culture channel for a new kind of world.

Rachel: This is a great, clever use of video to show the amazing slender style of LG’s newest TV.

Christian: This is a really cool video on the surprising truth about what motivates us. Very creative in how to make a normal presentation really engaging!

Natasha: The finalists are in for the Doritos commercial that will air during the Super Bowl this year! Check out the five hilarious videos. This one was not a finalist but it was still funny!

John:

Tiffany:
My Spike Like this week is …….HAND TURKEYS!!!! ‘Nough said!

Kristen: This year, I’ll be sparing a turkey and eating Turk’y instead!

Rachel: Are you looking for a change from that same old pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving? Try this delicious Apple Spice Cake instead!

Natasha: Side dishes are my favorite foods at Thanksgiving, and my favorite one to make has always been yams with marshmallows on top! I remember making designs with the marshmallows on top of the casserole dish as a little kid, it was my favorite part (and of course being allowed to eat marshmallows during dinner time was also a plus)!

Sharan: My favorite part about Thanksgiving is watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade!

Chris: There are many things to be thankful for this holiday season…one of which is the fact that I get to work with an amazing group of extremely talented people at Hodgson/Meyers! Happy Thanksgiving spikesters!

Willem: A business card is somewhat neglected but can be an important and crucial element of establishing a strong business identity no matter in what business you are into.

Natasha: Season 8 of Grey’s Anatomy started yesterday!!! Yessss!!!

Kristen: Cats + Cell phones = Cute

Tiffany: Love, love, love the marketing folks and Ben & Jerry’s! Looking forward to Ben and Jerry’s new flavor.

Charlie: Very cool animated alphabet.

Check it out in this classy little video.

Gary G: Spike likes the Metolius and Umpqua Rivers in Central Oregon, where every vista seems like a scene from the movie, “A River Runs Through It.”

“Based on our years of research in this space, we’ve determined that the quality of the creative is four times more important than the characteristics of the media plan in generating sales,” said Jeff Cox, executive vice president of comScore ARS. “In fact, creative is the single most important factor and accounts for over half the changes in a brand’s sales over time. Getting the creative right is absolutely essential, and yet its importance so often gets minimized in the process of developing an ad campaign. Now is the time for advertisers using digital, as well as more traditional media, to get serious about optimizing their creative on the front end so they don’t get a rude awakening when the ads don’t work and they are left wondering what went wrong.”

Cox also added,

“Though often overlooked, getting the creative strategy right from the start is essential if an advertiser wants its creative execution to actually perform. Doing so will improve the likelihood of achieving a successful campaign that will generate increased sales. A sub-par upfront strategy is a virtual guarantee that the execution is destined for failure.”

The importance of ad quality and a strong creative strategy is something that we here at Hodgson/Meyers have known for some time and one of the reasons why the campaigns we create for our clients enjoy such success.

Even in mediums such as direct mail where pundits loudly proclaim the medium as “dead” Hodgson/Meyers campaigns have successfully met and even exceeded our clients advertising goals. Take, for example, the direct mail campaign called “Fat Cat” that we created for WindStream Communications, one of the nations top providers of phone, high-speed Internet and digital TV services. The “Fat Cat” direct mail campaign ended up pulling in 55% more responses for WindStream than their average direct mail pieces. Proof that direct mail is not dead, but a very effective medium when done right with quality creative.

When Creative Director and Owner Tim Hodgson was asked about the role of quality creative in B2B advertising campaigns he had this to say;

“It may seem superfluous for an ad agency to say that the creative in a campaign is important. That’s like an auto dealer saying, ‘You know, the engine is really important in this car you’re buying.’ But consider the majority of the ‘creative’ that we consumers are bombarded with daily. Makes a person wonder how many agencies actually believe this.

It’s a hard thing to do, i.e. cut through our frenetic audio/visual environment and be seen, heard and, most important, remembered. Really hard. One could argue that just pounding your message relentlessly will work regardless of the creative. (Some cheesy mattress store jingles come to mind.)

And it’s even harder in the B2B space.

It’s one thing to proclaim “Coke tastes good” and show young people jumping around on the beach in an ad. It’s quite another to wrestle with the intricate issues that large and small businesses face and present clear solutions concerning complex products and services. B2B creative must be compelling enough to encourage action and move customers along in the sales process. Motivating business customers takes a thorough understanding of their pain points, as well as insightful creative that drives them to act (think of it as the “engine” in that car mentioned above).”

Tim makes an excellent point about the difference in creative between a B2B product and a consumer based one. B2B often has a more intricate and complex story to tell and the ability to tell that story in a compelling manner often comes down to the creative both from a visual and a copy perspective.

These days, many B2B companies are looking to cut corners and slash advertising budgets but it is clear from the data that when quality creative is sacrificed for lower budgets, it is the return on investment that is affected most. As our clients can attest, it pays to pay for quality creative. Especially when it comes to B2B advertising.

By now you’ve seen all the frenzy surrounding the failed rebrand of the Gap logo. Last week on its web page, the company quietly replaced its iconic blue square logo of 20 years with a fairly generic and uninspiring-looking replacement. The new logo and brand launch were derailed almost immediately after being introduced. Backlash and criticism on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites seemed to catch Gap by surprise. On its own Facebook page, Gap acknowledged this fact and tried to spin it into an opportunity to harness the passion of its customers via a “crowd-sourcing project” to design a new (new) logo:

“Thanks for everyone’s input on the new logo! We’ve had the same logo for 20+ years, and this is just one of the things we’re changing. We know this logo created a lot of buzz and we’re thrilled to see passionate debates unfolding! So much so we’re asking you to share your designs. We love our version, but we’d like to… see other ideas. Stay tuned for details in the next few days on this crowd sourcing project.”

After overwhelming negative feedback about the change, and the reactionary crowd-sourcing idea, Gap ditched its plans and returned to its old version faster than you can say “New Coke”. Read the official press release here.

The big question is this: are the marketing minds at Gap really that out of touch with their customers and the basic rules of branding? Or did they just pull off an unprecedented PR stunt? It’s certainly plausible, however ill conceived. They did manage to make their brand buzz-worthy right before the holiday shopping season and connect with their customer base like never before. But if it was a stunt, at what cost did all this free publicity come? Tricking your loyal customer base ala Joaquin Phoenix can’t be a good idea. On the other hand, changing an established brand icon with apparently little to no involvement with your audience upfront isn’t too smart either. In any case, Gap ends up looking foolish when it’s all said and done.

These are my thoughts. What are yours?

Fluke Corporation is the world leader in the manufacture, distribution and service of electronic test tools and software. Since its founding in 1948, Fluke has achieved the number one or number two position in every market in which it competes.

A wholly owned subsidiary of Danaher Corporation, Fluke is a multi-national corporation headquartered in Everett, Washington, USA. Manufacturing centers are located in the USA, the UK, Asia and The Netherlands. Sales and service subsidiaries are located in Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Australia. Fluke Corporation has authorized distributor and manufacturer representative channels in more than 100 countries and employs approximately 2,400.

Quite naturally, they chose a pileated woodpecker. Working as true partners, Meyers suggested the pileated woody and Hodgson chose the spokesbird’s name—Spike, for his striking red crest. Spike’s loud hammering and colorful appearance inspired H/M’s rallying cry for its clients: Make noise. Get noticed.

Now, after adorning business cards, letterhead, company walls and more, Spike finally has his name up in lights. Well, his image and the agency’s name anyway. Recently, H/M hoisted a large sign to note its Kirkland, Washington headquarters. Agency e-pro master (and noted birdwatcher) Willem Buys braved rain, wind and cold to photographically document the event.

The result? 900 images condensed into a 21-second video complete with music showing the installation in all its (abbreviated) glory. Typically, the pileated woodpecker can be found in forested areas with deciduous trees. However, for one rockin’ bird, a brick façade will do just fine.

As part of a pro bono effort for ClimbOn—an organization that provides job opportunities for homeless youth—the H/M team re-energized the brand. Included in the project were a new logo, color palette, position line, business stationery and Web page.ClimbOn works with YouthCare to create partnerships with the Northwest business community to provide career counseling and exploration, job referrals and placements to help homeless young adults move toward self-sufficiency. To sum up ClimbOn’s mission, Hodgson/Meyers developed the position line: Jobs for youth. Hope for life. By interlocking the words “Climb” and “On,” H/M created a logo that suggests partnership and advancement.

Said ClimbOn’s Director of Youth Services, Bill Northey, “We couldn’t be happier with the materials—and the thinking—that Hodgson/Meyers provided. Their work has captured what ClimbOn is about, and has provided inspiration for all involved with the program.”

We beg to differ, Bill. It’s ClimbOn that provided the inspiration for H/M. And continues to provide hope for the homeless youth of our area.