Author Archive

How To Manage Multiple Campaigns Without Breaking A Sweat

December 11th, 2011

In a creative agency, every week is a busy week–and then there are weeks where it seems like every client is running three campaigns and time-management skills are stretched to the the limit. Don’t tell clients ‘no’ because a workload seems overwhelming or impossible. At Beyond Traditional, we are strong believers of ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way.’ Here are three best practices we use to expertly handle the needs of our clientele.

Be A Masterful Multi-tasker

Here at Beyond Traditional, we aren’t strangers when it comes to tackling several campaigns at once. Prioritization and day-by-day planning have helped us stay on top of multi-campaign workloads. We optimize our performance by taking on the most pressing projects first so we are able to address unscheduled wants, needs and fire drills without added stress.

Hope For The Best, Plan For The Worst

Disciplined organization and communication are key when it comes to executing multiple campaigns. For each event/campaign, we recommend organizing all event plans/schedules/routes/maps/contact numbers and background information into folders for each team member. As plans are updated and changed, it’s essential to make sure everyone on the team has the same information.

Think ahead to what the next steps are beyond what’s right in front of you. Planning improves actuation and leads to accomplished goals and bolstered metrics of success. Even the smallest of oversights can mean a disaster for a campaign–which is why it is important to have Plans B, C and D ready for activation in case Plan A hits the fan.

Trust Your Team

Even though you’d like to be in the middle of all the action, at some point you need to accept that you cannot be in 20 places at once. Trying to micromanage every single event will only lead to high blood pressure, lack of employee confidence and a soured reputation for your business. Loosen the reigns, take a deep breath and prepare yourself to handle the occasional curve ball, knowing you have a solid support system to back you up and be decision-makers when you aren’t available. Empower your teammates to be accountable leaders and instill that you are all working together toward a common goal.

Finally, never be afraid to take on new challenges and push yourself and your business to strive for higher goals. You can’t be the best without working to get better every day.

Beyond Traditional Glams It Up At Glitter Gala

December 6th, 2011

Last month, the Beyond Traditional team supported Seattle Goodwill‘s Fourth Annual Glitter Gala for the fourth straight year. The food was spectacular, the fashions were fantastic and the entire team was dressed to the nines, not that we don’t look extremely fashionable on a daily basis.

The Gala included a silent auction of designer and rare items donated to Seattle Goodwill and featured a runway show of couture gowns designed by students from the Art Institute of Seattle. The student fashion show is one of our favorite segments of the annual event–it’s a great way for us to draw inspiration and devise potential campaigns for fashion giants like Kenneth Cole and Hugo Boss.

All of the items up for auction were dazzling–while our president, Chris Schuler, and his wife walked away with an avant-garde glass cowboy boot vase, we’re still kicking ourselves for not bidding on the antique popcorn maker–it would have been a great addition to our conference room!

Mission Possible: Cavalier Campaigns Leave Lasting Impressions

December 1st, 2011

How do you encourage out-of-towners to travel and spend their money in your city? If you want people to come to your town, you have to think outside of the box and entice them by first bringing a little bit of your city to them:

If you’re trying to invite people in Cleveland to come to New Orleans, why not unleash beignet-wielding brand ambassadors and jazz quartets out onto the streets of Ohio? If you want Portlanders to fly down south and shop in up-and-coming, chic Atlanta boutiques, why not launch a runway show of Georgia’s hottest fashions in the middle of PDX’s hippest neighborhood, the Pearl District?

It’s that type of different thinking that led to our partnership with premier local advertising agency, Copacino + Fujikado. As a part of a joint venture, Beyond Traditional helped build and launch a mobile ‘snow globe’ for Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau to encourage people to spend the holidays in Seattle. Over the course of six weeks, the snow globe made stops in Seattle, Wash., Spokane, Wash., Portland, Ore. and Vancouver, B.C.

The results? At the Rogers Santa Parade in Vancouver, B.C., the Seattle snow globe vehicle was a show-stopper. At Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland, tens of thousands of Portlanders were convinced that a trip to the Emerald City for the holidays should be on their Christmas lists.

When it comes to promoting tourism, don’t shy away from brazen, guerrilla advertising techniques, don’t be afraid to explore uncharted territory –that boldness could allow your client to become the star attraction of another city’s holiday parade!

Rethinking Sports Sponsorships: Beyond Traditional’s Top 3 Activation Tips

November 21st, 2011

It’s no secret that becoming a sponsor of a professional sport can get your client or business’ name in front of tens of thousands of fans. But if you’re considering a simple in-stadium banner, think again. No longer are companies content with passive forms of advertising that, in a cluttered stadium, often get overlooked. The most innovative brands are instead turning to on-site activations to connect and captivate their audience.

AdWeek reports that brands are spending $1-3 on activations for every dollar spent on sponsorships, treating the sponsorship as, “the price of entry—then the activation takes over to make the investment effective.”

So what makes an on-site experience successful? Here are three smart tactics to generate the most impact:

1. Make A Statement: There are dozens of brands competing for attention around a stadium, negotiating prime position and standing out is key. An alluring, colorful set with visible interactive pieces (photo walls, games, large flat screens, branded tents, large show pieces, etc.) will demand attention. For Jack’s Munchie Mobile, the first mobile restaurant from Jack in the Box, we negotiate corner lots for more space and increased visibility, and use supersized branded flags, an LED digital menuboard to draw in crowds.

2. Make It Fun: Remember, fans are there to have fun with their friends and families above all else. Chasing people with a clipboard is no one’s idea of a good time. Instead, create an interactive game that is accessible by all to give your experience life. Crowds will form to watch participants, and lines will draw attention from faraway fans. For Qdoba’s sponsorship of the 2011 World Series Championship-winning St. Louis Cardinals, we created the Pitch N’ Win Challenge, allowing participants to pitch a branded baseball into the Cardinal’s catcher’s mitt for a chance to win the ultimate game day experience including a player meet and greet. They also instantly took home a Qdoba card loaded with free food just for playing.

3. Create a Memory: Participants are more likely to remember the experience they just had if their takeaway is personalized. Instead of just distributing free swag, provide them with a customized fan photo that they can take home. Even better, allow it to be easily sharable through their social networks. For Qdoba, we snapped photos of fans and instantly framed them with a custom baseball frame and uploaded them to Facebook so fans could instantly view and share their photos on their smart phones during the game.

Innovating The Ordinary

November 10th, 2011

Each day, the average American will see around 1,500 advertisements–but how many of those do they actually take notice of? One? Two? So how do you stick out, be bold, get noticed?

When it comes to making a statement and reaching out to your consumer, quality, creativity, unexpectedness and innovation will set your brand apart. No matter what the medium, be it tangible, interactive or digital –movement will make your ad, and ad dollar, count and be noticed.

Take crossing the street. Instead of placing a flyer on the light pole–why not advertise on the crosswalk? Take an everyday object and redefine it. Instead of being just a crosswalk, maybe it’s a piano keyboard playing the latest CD offerings for Sony.

The world is a canvas–keep an open mind and push a few boundaries; you’ll find opportunities for creative and memorable advertising campaigns are limited only by our imagination.