The Blue Clover team is getting more and more excited about our big Get Ready Ready to Live 2 event which happens this Sunday at the University of Texas at Austin.

One of our inspiring and motivational speakers will be Eliza Esquivel, Director of Planning at TBWA\Chiat\Day New York. She’ll tell us all about her research project, inspired by goal #9 of TBWA Global 10×10 Plan: “Give back through a creative social responsibility strategy.”

For the project, TBWA partnered with two other Omnicom agencies, Changing Our World and Flamingo International to conduct quantitative research on social activism.  The research delivers relevant insights about the social media generation and social responsibility.

Eliza initiated the research project after uncovering that there was no considerable quantitative validation of the hows and whys of young adults who engage in social responsibility, and all the existing validations focused primarily on green issues.

The report, “Social Activism 2.0: Young Adults and the Revival of the ‘Social’ in Social Responsibility” provides a tool kit to engage young adults’ in social change.   Eliza will be sharing highlights of the study that are relevant to the converging worlds of technology, marketing and behavioral science.

Recent creative work Eliza is proud of includes: the McDonald’s “Baby” spot, the “Tube Sock” spot for Skittles, and the “Zombie Bus” spot for Starburst.  Other work Eliza is honored to have been part of includes: the Coke Zero “Tongue and Eyeballs” campaign, the third installation of Happiness Factory, the Coke “Bird” Olympics spot, and the “Here I Am” campaign for Nike Women in Europe.

Eliza’s greatest pleasure as a planner has been the opportunity to work on pro bono accounts, including projects for: the National Partnership for a Drug Free America, the Clinton Global Initiative, the Jamie Oliver TED wish, The National Center for Family Literacy and Women Win (European based non-profit that encourages women to play sports as a tool for development in the Middle East and Africa).

Eliza holds an MA in Advertising with an emphasis in Account Planning from the University of Texas at Austin.

You can get more information and buy tickets at EventBrite.com.

We here at Blue Clover want to see you on March 13th in Austin for Get Ready to Live 2! We’re gearing up for a jam-packed day of provocative, seldom discussed thoughts, studies and experiences from leaders in today’s converging worlds of technology, marketing and behavioral science.

It all happens this Sunday from 12:30 to 4 p.m. in the Thompson Conference Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

You’ll have the chance to hear from some great, motivational leaders who are taking the lead in their field, including:

Harlan Beverly – CEO @ Karmaback
Neal M. Burns, Ph.D. – Director, Center for Brand Research @ University of Texas at Austin
Dave Durand - CEO @ Keepio, President @ Forest Giant
Matthew Egan – President @ Image Freedom
Eliza Esquivel - Director of Planning @ TBWA\Chiat\Day
Jason Falls - Principal @ Social Media Explorer
Vicki Flaugher – CEO @ B2BSocialMediaTraining.com
Amber Naslund – VP, Social Strategy @ Radian6
Tim Hayden – CMO @ 44Doors, Partner @ Blue Clover Studios
Chris Heuer - Specialist Leader, Social Media @ Deloitte Consulting
Scott Stratten – President @ Un-Marketing
Jia Zheng – Multicultural Collaborator

You can get more information and buy tickets at EventBrite.com

We’ll see you on Sunday!

And as part of our holiday tradition, here is a little present… click here.

From everyone here at Blue Clover, Happy Mother’s Day!

Post by Cesar Rivera.

In this issue, hyphen tries to outwit users by doubling itself to replace em dash. Hyphen also tries to replace en dash in between dates and times. Meanwhile, en dash places itself between a series of numbers and em dash positions itself in the middle of a sentence to break for a side thought. Confused? You won’t be after this issue of PUNCTUATION.


This is the story of three punctuation marks: em dash (—), en dash (–) and hyphen (-). Em dash enjoys life within a sentence to indicate a pause in thought—unlike its counter parts. It was named so because it is the same length as a lower case “m” within a font. Em dash has many other uses such as:

1. In the middle of a sentence to indicate the speaker has been interrupted:“Dallas played like—” “Spoiled children?” “Exactly.”
2. As an aposiopesis, the rhetorical device by which a sentence is stopped short not because of interruption but because the speaker is too emotional to continue: “When I saw that foul, I was like—,” he huffed, shook his head in frustration and walked away.
3. In front of a person’s name after a quote, if the quote is a separate element from a paragraph:
   “I can’t believe how Dallas played on Monday.”
   —Spurs Fan

Em dash likes to be typed out on Mac by pressing option+shift+hyphen. For PC, press and hold Alt and type 0151. The only thing em dash would change about life is to not be confused with parenthesis ( ), colon (:), ellipsis (…) or double hyphen (––).

En dash also enjoys life but in much different ways. The en dash is most commonly used to indicate a closed range of values, such as those between dates (The pool is open June–August), times (Office hours are from 9 AM–6 PM, M–F) or numbers (Ages 1–3). Like em dash, en dash has just as many uses. It can be used to contrast values or illustrate a relationship between two items or for compound adjectives:

1. The Spurs won the series 4–3
2. Dallas–San Antonio Rivalry
3. Non–San Antonio Basketball teams
4. High-priority–high-pressure games

To type an en dash on a Mac, press option+hyphen. For a PC, press and hold Alt and type 0150. En dash has only one worry, being confused with hyphen.

Hyphen enjoys life most. It is often confused for em and en dashes—it is not a dash. Hyphens are mostly used to break single words into parts, join ordinarily separate words into single words or syllabification, and spelling.

1. pre-existing
2. well-being
3. long-established
4. third- and fourth-quarters
5. “When I saw that foul, I was like—” he huffed, shook his head in frus-
   t ration and walked away.
6. bas-ket-ball (syllabification)
7. F-O-U-L (spelling)

Hyphen would be very happy if both em and en dashes would disappear.

Will ellipsis try to wiggle into em dashes position? Will parenthesis try to get there first? Will hyphen replace en dash for good? Will tilde (~) ever straighten itself out? Find out next time in PUNCTUATION.

Here is what the Blue Clover creative team goes through in order to create effective, engaging pieces of work that reach the heart of the designated audience. What’s your creative process? I would love to hear from you. Enjoy!

1. Indoctrination
It all starts with you. One of the most important steps in the creative process is our kick-off meeting. The main purpose is to set ourselves out for success by getting the necessary background information about your organization and products. We’ll also discuss goals, expectations and measuring tools for ROI. The main objective of this meeting is to walk away with clarity.

2. Creative Brief
This document is a consolidated summary generated from our indoctrination that serves as the guide to the creative team for the project at hand. It describes the most important issues that should be considered in the development of the advertising pieces (the who, why, what, where, and when). It includes a definition and description of the target audience; the rational and emotional appeals to be used; key message points and challenges/obstacles to overcome. The brief also describes the style, approach and tone that should be conveyed in the advertising efforts.

3. Discovery
In this phase, the creative team submerges itself into the project with a 2 step process:

A. Research
From researching general industry trends to market specific product offers (in our category), we try to identify our canvas. Besides the industry analysis, we also research “look and feel” options appropriate for our audience. This process includes steps such as performing a color study, typography evaluation and image research. The purpose is to gather information to help start discovering possibilities.

B. Evaluation
After our due diligence, and once we have all the research information handy we take a step back and look at our opportunities – these can range from messaging and/or art direction to product presentation.

4. Ideation
This is our brainstorming process. After evaluating the findings of our discovery phase, we engage in the creative process of generating and identifying platforms (concepts) to convey our message. The outcome of this process is a compilation of ideas that are appropriate to our audience and can stand out from our competition.

5. Creation
In this phase, we develop our ideas into actual deliverables – ad campaigns, outdoor, etc. Essentially, this is where we bring the ideas to life.

6. Validation
Here is where you get to see all of our hard work. This is an interactive phase, where we present our work and we spend time going back and forward discussing feedback until the product (advertising) has been delivered to your complete satisfaction.

7. Execution
We unleash the lions. Here is where our media strategy takes place and tactical items are implemented.

Andy Ellwood, Biz-Dev for Gowalla, and Texas Governor Rick Perry, checking in to his office via Gowalla.

A few days prior to this diplomatic visit, a New York Times article on location-based advertising deliberated what appears to be a herd of new mobile applications available to users who wish to share their whereabouts in the name of a game, a free beer or meeting up with friends. While the conversation today seems to be centered around the “security risk” or privacy forfeited when using an app like Whrrl to share your location with others, the larger challenge at hand is in convincing retail businesses to embrace this new opportunity to lure ideal audiences through their doors.

Uncovering user habits and routines is a small portion of what is really happening here.  It is human nature to be out and about with like-minded others chasing our passions and pleasures.  The games within location-based applications are very similar to alternative reality games such as scavenger hunts and other prize-laden adventures of chance that motivate us to explore the offline world.  Through new experiences, we learn more together, discuss what we learn and share insight with each other to gain ground on life and our dreams.   And, yes, I consider a beer with a good friend, a new gadget or free bowl of queso as threads in that pursuit.

To compound the success of incentives (such as foursquare’s “Special Nearby” incentive), retailers have a larger opportunity to weave their own games, stories and promotions into the connection made with users of location-based mobile apps. The suspense and the payoff alongside “VIP” recognition or “club” status seems to be the next logical step in converting app users into community or program members. With an increasingly mobile lifestyle, consumers will expect similar treatment and reward in the offline real world as they do in any web-based or paper program.

I’m excited for what is about to happen, the shift in consumer expectations and marketing opportunities. Location-based apps such as foursquare, Gowalla and Whrrl are just the beginning, and there is so much more your brand can do to leverage audience passion through having the ”brand” be playful, suspenseful and downright fun.

Do you see the same opportunity for restaurants, stores and national brands?

Today I was keynote at the Marketing Bootcamp 2010 – an event for small businesses by the South Texas Women’s Business Center. For my presentation called “Branding in the Digital Age. The importance of consistency and adaptability.” I put together this list of branding tips, enjoy:

8 Basic Principles of Brand Development for Small Businesses

1. Define your brand
Why are you in business? What’s unique about you that can transcend?
Develop a meaningful positioning statement and elevator speech.

2. Live it: Get internal buy-in
No branding program can be successful if your own people don’t drink the Kool-Aid.
It starts with you.

3. Be consistent
Consistent experiences build memorable brands. From your collaterals to the personal interactions your audience has with anyone in your organization, the tone and personality should be the same.

4. Stand for something
Don’t be everything to everybody. Be awesome at one thing and stand out from the crowd.
Remember that experts are able to charge more.

5. Learn to evolve
Organizations change. Align and re-align your brand experience to accurately reflect the evolution of your business.

6. Be dependable
One of the most effective practices in brand building is keeping your promises.
Remember the golden rule: Under promise and over deliver.

7. Embrace technology
Having a web site is not good enough, it needs to be intuitive.
Social media has changed the game, organizations need to harness the opportunities that technology brings to building a brand.

8. The audience will determine your brand
The only way to know your brand is through your the eyes of your audience.
Always keep in mind that brands are an ongoing process and require constant nourishment.

For the past twelve-plus years, I have helped a many brand, a friend few and a city or two, to engage audiences through a unique blend of offline event (and retail) promotions with advanced media most of us now label “social” and/or “mobile.”  It is an experience of which I am proud… a pride I bring along with me to this new opportunity with Blue Clover.

Today, I am excited with renewed energy for the challenges and experiences that lie ahead.  As our Chief Strategy Officer, I’ll share responsibility for new business development, brand strategy and to deliver new ideas alongside a powerful team of creatives and technologists to our clients.  Blue Clover is proven as an innovator in providing solutions against the brand and marketing challenges of today’s turbulent conversational world.  Tackling this uncertainty of consumer and communication behavior is a formidable task for this firm, and I am beyond confident in the resources we have across the country and around the globe.

In these first few days that I’ve been on the Blue Clover team, a warm new family and friends have welcomed me.  The possibilities ahead are endless, and the fun appears to be free of boundaries (a “culture” of experience and smiles).  I look forward to getting to know our clients, partners and neighbors in San Antonio and our satellite offices.  I’ll bring a little bit of Austin along for the ride, and I can’t wait to introduce this family to my friends.  I have a few, here and there.

Let’s get to know each other here on the blog, out on Twitter and in real life soon.  Saddle up and get ready to live…into the Wild…Blue Clover!

With so many Ad Ages, Ad Rants, Brandweeks, Mediapost, TalentZoo’s, One Show’s and Creativity’s out there that cover our interest have you ever wondered which sources of information people in our industry enjoy the most when it comes to reading up on what they love to do?

I’ve been asking around the Blue Clover office and have a whole list full of interesting blogs, websites, podcast & email blast that our staff comsumes regularly, no two are the same and all are fun and informative, so listed below in their own words are the favorite blogs of two Blue Clover staff members.

Yep – a blog post about reading other blog post, you’re welcome.

I’ll have more for you next week! In the meantime, please share with us your favorite sources of information & inspiration by leaving a comment below. We would love to hear from you.

Check them out, maybe they will become your favorites too!

Juan our Creative Director follows:

Brand New
http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/
Description: Its sole purpose is to chronicle and provide opinions on corporate and brand identity work, focusing mostly on identity design and a modest amount of packaging.
Topics: identity design and packaging

idsgn
http://www.idsgn.org/
Description: idsgn is a blog about the things designers see and enjoy (or sometimes hate).
Topics: graphic design, branding and typography

Porter, web developer follows:

Web Designer Wall
http://www.webdesignerwall.com/
Description: I often learn some really good web geeky things from the post I read here
Topics: design ideas, web trends, and tutorials

Zen Garden
http://www.csszengarden.com/
Description: Really cool place to see CSS work.
Topics: Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) design

FWA
http://www.thefwa.com/
Description: I go here to get inspired by the best flash websites ever!!!!
Topics: Topics: graphic design, branding and typography

To be continued…

One of the main marketing opportunities many restaurants fail to capitalize on when it comes to customers is having an engaging menu. A menu is a huge opportunity to “work” a captive audience into trying new dishes, desserts, etc.

Great menu design provides an experience, not a laundry list of choices. For example, instead of just listing ingredients, a good menu focuses on flavors and preparation. Placement, photography and descriptions (including pricing) are the three things that can make or break a menu. For instance, in menus where all the prices line up, the customer is more likely to choose an item based on price.

Decisions about what to eat are emotional in nature: “what do I feel like today?” Menus need to be designed with this in mind, so restaurants can take this opportunity to promote certain plates/desserts/drinks that give them more ROI.