by Miriam Hara | Jun 2, 2011 | Business Success
You must be flexible.
Adaptability is key if you want to stay on top.
Get bent. Yes! When you are creating the next big thing, it is important to be open to change. Creative environments are all about give and take, and if you can’t roll and mold, your creative will fall flat. Like we say at 3H, brand is living and your process is what creates it. If your vision is rigid, your focus will be narrow and finished creative output will reflect that. Flexibility in advertising is a must.
Feedback is important for resonance. You need your marketing plan to reflect your audience as intimately as possible. If a focus group comes back with results that are completely different to what you had hoped, it may be costly to redirect the ship but the rewards in the end – understanding your market – will pay back in the long run.
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by Miriam Hara | Mar 17, 2011 | Business Success
Can you believe that the most amazing day of the year is here? At least for me.
Happy Birthday to ME!
I love birthdays and I have the birthday–cake-hat and goofy glasses to prove it. Some of us shy away from birthdays, but then how would they get cake? Never mind all the other fabulous side effects like; experience, expertise and knowing how to exhale!
I’ve heard people talking about “being in the present” as a catch phrase or goal, but I try to live it as core belief. Focusing on today creates a fresh and creative place for me to recognize the fantastic potential of each project. It’s why I won’t shy away from combining classical marketing tactics with social media and interactive technologies. From this Blog to my twittering Tomato Tips, I couldn’t be more excited about all the doors that social media has opened for my clients… and me.
This year more than ever I’ve found my creativity and energy thrust into overdrive and I’m developing incredible things. You see, I’m celebrating a half century today {Happy Birthday to me!} and looking back at all the wonderful memories and projects I’ve shared with all of you has me thoroughly excited to see what’s coming up in the next… stay tuned.
by Miriam Hara | Feb 9, 2011 | Business Success
Experiential marketing is all about two things: 1) involvement and 2) engagement. This can be a great transition phase for a brand campaign that has run its course. Brand is a living thing, propelled by a living market, and getting the audience involved in your brand campaign is a sure-fire way of holding their attention. Create a deeper dialogue with your consumers.
(Click to see video) Image provided courtesy of the Edmonton Journal, under the creative commons license.
In 2009, James Ready beer ran a consumer-oriented campaign by asking its drinkers “How can James Ready Help You”? The company ended up paying for a wedding in Windsor Ontario, complete with a James Ready beer bottle cake and a stocked bar. Not only did the entire event serve as one large advertisement for the company, it gave James Ready humanity and a good name – advertisements subtly infiltrating the thank you speeches and photographs.
Marketing Magazine also reported a new experiential effort by Lays Chips to enhance their Canadian consumers’ relationship with their brand and to speak to their national identity. “Chip trips” initiated last year, helps Canadians discover Canada by organizing national trip discounts that Lays buyers are exclusively privy to. The product infiltrates the life and experiences of its consumers, ultimately impacting them positively and earning their commitment.
The best way to reach out is to engage. This can be done by any company large or small, independent of product, industry, or service, and the dialogue between crowd and client is getting more and more personal and invested.
mph
by Miriam Hara | Jan 5, 2011 | Business Success
It’s back to business, but business, as we know it, has changed. We need to adapt to stay competitive and embrace change to be in the know … and ultimately on the go!
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by Miriam Hara | Dec 22, 2010 | Business Success
As the holidays are upon us, I look back in gratitude for the past year, and in this spirit wish you and yours a beautiful holiday season filled with joy and all good things. (more…)
by Miriam Hara | Jun 7, 2010 | Advertising, Business Success, Creative
Advertising 101: Deadlines don’t change at the last minute, so why wait till the day of delivery to state that to clients? It always surprises me to hear a certain timbre of frustration in clients’ voices when speaking about this topic in reference to their agencies. How complicated can this be? Our business is based on creativity and deadlines. Advertising 101 is all about meeting both of these requirements is what solidifies sound working partnerships and relationships.
Photo by @mikepick available under a creative commons license
The philosophy at my agency has always been to be transparent with our clients. If we are brought into a project and briefed with a set deadline that we feel we cannot meet based on our quality standard and the mandate, we will say so right there. That’s exercising Advertising 101 for relationship building. Nothing is worse than accepting a project and not respecting the time commitment, and in fact, letting down your client. That is setting up your team for failure. At times it hasn’t been easy, but with our process efficiencies, knowledge and talent, we can proudly say we have never missed a deadline in over 20 years… and that really means that we have never failed our clients.
