That big open piece of paper is sitting there like dog doo on your desk.  It’s time to talk to your customers about your company, your ideas and your uber widgets.  What’s your message?  What’s your process?  How to start…

 Ah.  You need a message platform.

A message platform is a format that organizes your thoughts about a campaign, program or project into a logical, at-a-glance concept in a document (or on a napkin, if you like).  The idea is to capture the DNA of the campaign and construct it in a way that everyone can follow.

A good message platform is a living document.  It changes with new ideas, new products and a fast-moving marketplace.  And it drives content for everything from advertising and public relations outreach to trade show presence. (more…)

Steve Wilcox | Post a Comment

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One of our partners in the publishing industry recently told me that with the way the economy has been (and continues to be) everyone has had to find places to cut. “It’s just a fact,” and he went on to say, “the trick is knowing how to cut smartly.” Some organizations have done just that – they’ve identified areas that their customers could do without.  These are the things they could cut without hurting their relationships with their customers. 

It seems during this recession many companies have chosen one of the single worst areas to cut: customer service. For example, my local grocery store, part of a large chain, rarely staffs their customer service desk around the lunch hour. It’s annoying if you want to buy stamps or have to return something. How many lost lottery ticket sales to you figure that represents a day? (more…)

Judson Luke | Post a Comment

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It started with a simple question from Gregg, the creative lead here at the agency.

“You want to do the 300 challenge?”

“What is that, some type of bowling tournament,” I asked. Ah…no.

The 300 challenge, as I soon learned, was anything but bowling. Modeled after the popular movie 300, the challenge is a workout…more of an extreme workout in my opinion…in which you do a series of seven exercises that total 300 repetitions. And the seven exercises are done one after another with no rest. The goal is to see how fast you can get through it. (more…)

Steve Staedler | Post a Comment

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Just a few short months ago I was saying hello, and now it’s time for me to say goodbye and head back to school in the Big Easy. I have really enjoyed my time at LePoidevin Marketing, and am thankful to everyone here for this opportunity.

My goals this summer were to learn more about B2B marketing, receive hands-on experience with researching and writing, and to gain a better understanding as to how I might fit into the field of marketing upon my graduation. (more…)

admin | Post a Comment

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Media training is like milled corn to a rodent, one time at the trough is never enough…or something like that.

The art and science of media training is the healthy respect that comes from knowing that the mic is always hot and that the reporter (or blogger) is not your long-lost buddy from college. It’s about understanding the 24-hour news cycle and knowing how you fit into it. And the focus is on getting as much value out of the media confab as possible. (more…)

Steve Wilcox | Post a Comment

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Hey, good news – I can now add photographer to my list of talents here at the agency.

A few weeks ago I received the latest copy of Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine at work. After thumbing through it I went to the back cover and saw an ad for Rockwell Collins. The ad did its job – it stopped me for sure, not because of the messaging, but rather for the photo of United Nations relief supplies with an Air Force C-130 aircraft in the background.

I think the photo in the ad looks awesome, due to the way the composition and lighting focuses in on the supplies in the foreground and slightly blurs the aircraft behind them…but also because I took it. (more…)

Steve Staedler | Post a Comment

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Ink and relationships – in public relations it doesn’t get much better than that. And one way to get both is by hosting a media tour when, for example, a B2B client is launching a new product.

Most editors like the idea of getting out and meeting with a manufacturer, touring their facility, talking to engineers and seeing the product. The benefit of a media tour to the client is two-fold. First, they’re more likely to receive better coverage. Whereas a simple press release might get a client 100 words and a photo, editors attending a media tour generally write a larger story (400 – 800 words) on the client and their product. That’s because they’ve invested two days of their time attending the tour and need something to show from their investment of time and effort. (more…)

Steve Staedler | Post a Comment

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Here’s the beginning of a multipart tutorial that will culminate in a functional WordPress blog.

Chris Spooner’s post, Creating a Stylish Blog Design Layout in Photoshop, shows how to concept a blog design using Photoshop.

Check back at Line25 for further installments of the tutorial.

Julie Meidam | Post a Comment

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Peter Frampton

What does an aging rock star have to tell us about redefining the brand?  Well, in the case of Peter Frampton, quite a lot.

I recently saw the icon at Milwaukee’s Summerfest, the world’s largest outdoor music festival.  There he was on the banks of Lake Michigan, close-cropped hair, receding hairline – blue jeans and a long-sleeved shirt on an 80-degree night.  The last time we saw Mr. Frampton he was decked out in silk on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, bare-chested and blond locks flowing.  He had more the look of a teeny-bopper idol than a rocker.  And he paid the price in falling record sales, unhappy show goers (water jugs flung at the stage in Chicago; not good with all the electric wiring), few tour opportunities and diminishing capital. (more…)

Steve Wilcox | Post a Comment

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Whether looking to generate leads, drive website traffic or influence sales, direct mail continues to perform for business-to-business (B2B) marketers. According to a June 2010 survey by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), “direct mail and e-mail still top the list for most used media” by those engaged in B2B marketing. 

The survey goes on to report that as many as 67 percent of B2B marketers who responded to the survey utilize direct mail or e-mail in their ongoing marketing efforts. The chart above shows the other media most often used by business marketers. (more…)

Dean LePoidevin | Post a Comment

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