A few days ago I posted the first of a two-part series on
making the marriage between a client and a creative agency work. The first part
offered a few tips on how to get the most out of your relationship with your
agency and thus maximize the return on your investment.

Today, we continue with the second part of our series by
sharing some thoughts on what you should look for when choosing an agency.
Creative firms exist in all sizes with varied approaches to their craft.
There's definitely one out there that's perfect for you. The following suggestions
make one important assumption: that you're looking for a firm that will be a genuine
partner that can bring valuable ideas to the table. If, by contrast, you are
looking for a production artist that will simply follow your instructions these
suggestions probably won't help much with your decision making.

Vertical Expertise. An agency can do better and more
effective work for you if they have deep experience in your industry as opposed
to a little bit of knowledge of dozens of industries. Your family physician
certainly has broad experience in many areas of medicine, but you wouldn't
select him or her to perform delicate brain surgery. Sometimes you need
specialists. The same holds true with creative agencies.

Strategery (with apologies to Will Ferrell). Look for a
creative firm that is passionate about doing work that is both wildly creative
and strategic at the same time. It's true that creativity sells, but it will
sell more if the agency has done its homework and is targeting the right audience,
is communicating a finely crafted message and is recommending the right media
outlets. Strategic without creative is not any better. You really need both.

Multiple Talents. A well-rounded creative team should
have talent in lots of areas such as concepting, writing, design, photography
and/or photo art direction, research and more. A firm can have these skills on
their paid staff or have access to them through relationships built over years. A
campaign that is nicely designed but poorly written doesn't do justice to your
brand. A one-trick pony usually leaves the audience underwhelmed.

A final thought, do awards matter? Well, yes and no.
Great work wins awards. It's that simple. So a great firm is going to have
plenty of awards that they can rightfully boast about. However, if you ever get
the feeling that your agency is steering you in a certain direction just for
the sake of winning an award instead of focusing on an overall winning strategy, begin
looking for another agency.

In honor of the anniversary of the signing of the
Declaration of Independence and the founding of the United States of America,
I’d like to offer an opinion on one of the many things that makes this country
great.

• When floods, fires, storms and earthquakes strike,
Americans turn out by the hundreds even thousands to fill sandbags, search for
survivors, raise money, give blood, rebuild homes and more. They do this
without payment.

• In every city and town, young people learn patience,
discipline, teamwork and sportsmanship on neighborhood athletic fields because
caring adults coach t-ball, baseball, soccer, lacrosse and every other sport
imaginable. They do this without payment.

• Lovers of the great outdoors armed with shovels, picks
and saws build and maintain trails so that hikers and bikers can enjoy the
wilderness with friends and family. They do this without payment.

• People with carpentry expertise join together with
people who have no building skills to build and renovate homes for
complete strangers who need a little assistance. They do this without
payment.

• It's not limited to individuals either. Companies donate goods and services to those in need. Law firms, CPAs and ad agencies do pro-bono work.

These and countless other acts of generosity and
selflessness too numerous to mention here occur across the United States every single day. When a need
arises and the cause is worthy, Americans will find a way to get any job done. Our greatest natural resource is not found underground or beneath the sea — it’s the American volunteer.

Wherever you are this weekend celebrating the Fourth of
July, pause for a moment to take a look around your community. Chances are good
that a park or trail that you like or someone that you know has benefitted by the volunteer efforts of strangers.
Next time you see an unmet need in your town, consider volunteering to make a difference. It will make you and the community better.

I’m going to veer slightly off subject for today’s blog
post. I’m not writing about branding strategy or tourism or even about life at
a creative firm. Today I want to tell you about an amazing organization that is
making a difference in people’s lives in the Roanoke area – Goodwill Industries
of the Valleys. From its impressive headquarters (aptly referred to as the Jobs
Campus) in Roanoke, VA, it serves people in 31 counties and 14 cities in
central and southwest Virginia.

Most people know Goodwill because of their retail stores
where you can always find a great bargain on gently used stuff or donate
clothing and other merchandise for a nice little tax deduction. But if that’s
all you know about Goodwill, well, you have a lot to learn. In a nutshell,
Goodwill is all about jobs. They provide training to people who need skills to
land a job. They provide career counseling for people who suddenly find themselves
unemployed or facing other challenges. They also provide jobs, not only through
their many retail stores but also through other entrepreneurial pursuits. A
job, Goodwill believes, is a long-term solution to a multitude of problems –
independence, self-esteem, and breaking the cycle of dependency.

A few months ago I had the pleasure of taking a guided tour
of the shiny new Jobs Campus in Roanoke. It’s where a lot of the training and
career counseling take place. It’s also where Goodwill provides jobs for a lot
of people. They contract with businesses that wish to outsource functions like
shipping and fulfillment, light manufacturing, and some “assembly
line” types of projects. Some of these jobs are done exceedingly well by
people with physical or emotional challenges. As I toured the Jobs Campus I was
inspired by how much these workers cared about doing their job to the very best
of their abilities. I was also touched by how many people stopped to say
“hello” to me and my tour guide. We were greeted like friends with a
smile and a handshake. I realized that it’s truly a happy workplace because
everyone in the building from a corporate VP to a disadvantaged youth is
treated with respect. For some people a job means more than a paycheck. It
gives people pride and dignity. More than anything else, Goodwill is in the
business of helping people find dignity.

I have always admired people from all walks of life who
do their job with great enthusiasm. The delivery driver who carries heavy boxes
in from the pouring rain and still manages a smile and a “have a nice
day.” A janitor who cleans up after other people and manages to whistle
while he works. All the way up to white collar executives who are always
looking for ways to improve their organizations. Their attitudes enable
them to do their jobs better. Yes, any job.

I work in a creative business around some wildly creative
people. We have tried to build an environment that nurtures that spirit and
fans the flames of creativity. From the way we schedule projects to the way we
encourage collaboration, we want our entire team to always remain focused on
the development of great ideas. The one thing that creatives (to refer to
themselves, advertising people add an “s” to the adjective to create
a noun) are enthusiastic about is ideas.

Sure, we have to hold staff meetings occasionally. Sometimes we
have to troubleshoot technology issues. We also have to deal
with paperwork, office supplies and other assorted mundane matters like every
other business in America. Thankfully, all those things are fairly minor diversions
and the bulk of our time is dedicated to ideas and creativity. I’m grateful to
be able to spend my days in that kind of environment. Whatever you do, I hope
you’re able to say the same thing about how you spend your days.

In Greek mythology Hermes is the messenger of the gods as well as the patron of boundaries and the travelers who travel across them. How appropriate that two of the three Hermes Creative Awards won by Inprint are for tourism initiatives.

The Hermes Creative Awards is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals. It is an international competition created to recognize creative excellence in traditional and emerging media. This year Inprint entered three items and received three awards — two platinum and one gold. We couldn’t be more proud of our team! Readers of this blog know that Inprint only enters a few awards competitions each year and keeps awards in the proper perspective. (see earlier blog post) We develop great creative work to get results for our clients. In turn, excellent creative work also wins awards.

The 2010 Hermes Award winners are:

Platinum Award for Integrated Campaign for the Upper James River Water Trail Eco-tourism Initiative

Platinum Award for Annual Report for Goodwill Industries of the Valleys

Gold Award for Integrated Campaign for Crossroads to Settlement Heritage Tourism Initiative

The two tourism campaigns are the subjects of case studies on our web site. All three award-winning projects can be seen on our Facebook page.

We’re proud of our entire creative team and we appreciate the wonderful clients who allow us to do such fun and rewarding work.

This news may seem exciting only to geeky marketing people. I admit to being one of those, so I find this news historic and frankly not all that surprising. Last week, Facebook had a weekly lead over Google for total web site traffic according to Hitwise. (More details here).

If you have ever doubted whether social media is a fad or a permanent part of our culture, this should help you decide. Facebook’s growth has been staggering, recently surpassing 400 million users worldwide. Still, that’s only part of the story. Half of those users log in to check messages and updates daily. More than 20 million users become fans of something every day. (More Facebook stats here) While there is plenty of B-to-B marketing potential as well, the Business-to-Consumer reach is truly off the charts. Any business in the B-to-C world that is not already tapping into the power of social media should re-think that position immediately.

The marketing power of social media is undeniable. And Facebook is the 800 lb gorilla at the moment. There is room for debate over the strengths and weaknesses of the other outlets: YouTube, MySpace, Twitter, not to mention the new entrant to the fray Google Buzz. That’s the subject for another blog post, probably many other blog posts. In the meantime, feel free to connect with Inprint’s social media outlets on Facebook and Twitter.