Results

Here’s something I touched on in yesterday’s presentation for the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce.  This is the shotcode for Tattoo. It’s cool; wondering why every brand doesn’t utilize it. It’s basically a 2-d barcode you can print on anything. Snap a pix of it with your camera phone, and you’ll be automatically connected to a website on your mobile device (First, you have to download the shotcode app for your phone).  See more about mobile tagging here. And simply point and shoot at the shotcode on your screen, to get more info about Tattoo.

Tattoo’s Buffy is slated as guest speaker at Charlotte Chamber’s SouthWest Chapter Luncheon, Get Out of the Box: Finding your Guerrilla (Marketing). Here’s the deal: “Learn how to unleash your guerrilla (non-traditional marketing) and other creative marketing tactics that your business can use in today’s economy. More than ever you need to get your name out there. Please join us as we learn about new and interesting ways to survive and thrive!”

check it out here.

Our new space at 1920 Abbott Street is starting to feel more like home. We’re almost finished with the flames painted on our main conference room wall, and foyer has made a great parking spot for Rudy’s BSA. Next up: my drums and a bubble-hockey table.

Here’s a good bit of something to stick in your hat today, from Marketing Daily. Corporate blogs are typically not much more than shameless self promotion. Then, of course, there are the ones that are disguised as consumer blogs, designed to sing the praises of a corporation incognito. Then there are the elite brands, like Apple, who don’t even bother with a corporate blog — but there are plenty third-party blogs about them out there. I don’t know about you, but if I ever wanted to know something about a brand, their corporate blog would be the LAST place I’d look. Just sayin’.

It’s official: Tattoo is the new ad agency for UNC Charlotte! We began the RFP process with the University in June, competing against Education Marketing Group, Whitman Insight Strategies, Cross and Associates, The Marketing Box, Cambridge, Castleberry and Associates, Lyerly Agency, HMH, Eric Mower & Associates, Gotham LLC, Bouvier Kelly, A3 and Crown Communications, and Fleishman Hilliard. UNC Charlotte selected Tattoo over the other agencies, based on our superior creative product.

Charlotte Chamber of Commerce Business and Economic Development has enlisted Tattoo for their 2009 advertising/marketing campaign! Tattoo defeated Charlotte agency Wray Ward in a presentation shoot-out for the business. The project kicks off this week!

New wins for Tattoo: Sheetz Convenience Stores 2009 branding effort, and UNC Charlotte agency of record! We are looking for some great AE talent, so send your resumè to j...@tattooprojects.com. On December 1st, we’ll be moving into our new space in Charlotte’s SouthEnd. Stay tuned for photos, and more new work from Tattoo.

A clean, simple logo, with gradients to create depth. A brief, substantive, aspirational tag line. Nike? Apple?  No, Obama.

This election, the marketing of this presidential candidate is remarkable. He’s not running a political campaign– he’s launched a branding campaign. Great branding campaigns are designed to evoke feelings that have virtually no connection to product attributes and specifications.  For example, who really knows what an Intel processor does, but they know the product is superior when there’s “Intel Inside”. Nike’s “Just Do It” doesn’t say a thing about the mechanics of an athlete shoe - instead, it leverages the deep emotional connections people have with sports and athletics. And let’s not overlook the $5 cup of coffee: who really buys Starbucks based on the way the coffee is made?

Alan M. Webber wrote in Fast Company:

The common ground among companies that have built great brands is not just performance. They recognize that consumers live in an emotional world. Emotions drive most, if not all, of our decisions. Not many people sit around and discuss the benefits of encapsulated gas in the mid-sole of a basketball shoe or the advantages of the dynamic-fit system. They will talk about Michael Jordan’s winning shot against Utah the other night — and they’ll experience the dreams and the aspirations and the awe that go with that last-second, game-winning shot.

A brand reaches out with that kind of powerful connecting experience. It’s an emotional connection point that transcends the product. And transcending the product is the brand.

Obama has launched a branding campaign of evangelism. His marketing team has clearly identified an emotional Achilles tendon in the American people, and have grabbed hold. Millions of “Hope” and “Change” placards waving in the air are evidence. (Note: the same kind of branding takes place in every church, on any given Sunday.) Beyond the strategy, the media rocks. Mobile marketing to announce the Vice-President select? That’s less White House, and more Pepsi.

Hats are off to the marketing team behind “that guy”. Who are they? Why are they not on the cover of Ad Age yet? And most importantly, why doesn’t Microsoft hire them instead of Crispin Porter?

Tattoo begins creative duties for First Reliance Bank today, with the first campaign slated to break at the end of October. First Reliance Bank, founded in 1999, is ranked in the top 20 banks in South Carolina based on asset size. The bank has assets of approximately $585 million, and employs over 145 associates. The bank serves the Upstate, Midlands, Piedmont, Low Country, Grand Strand, and Pee Dee regions of South Carolina. The bank has been recognized for its success including being named to the Dave Thomas Foundation’s List of “Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces” and the only company ever to be named to The Top 25 Fastest Growing Companies™ in South Carolina four times including 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006 (SC Chamber/Elliott Davis). In 2006, 2007, and 2008, the bank was also recognized as One of the Best Places to Work in South Carolina by the SC Chamber of Commerce. In June 2007, the bank was added to the Palmetto 25, a list of S.C.’s largest publicly held companies. 

Tattoo is having fun working on some projects with contributor Rich Nadworny, of Digalicious. He’s a Digital Strategist with over 12 years experience in leading online programs. He has helped develop digital strategies for clients including Unicel, Stowe Mountain Resort, Time Warner, Crane & Co., and Sharp Electronics Corporation. Rich has led work that has won Webbys, WebAwards, and Adobe Sites of the Day, among others; his work has also been featured in Communication Arts magazine. He is a member of the International Academy for Visual Artists and judges the W3, WebAwards, Davey, Mobius, and MITX awards. Read some of his musings about the interactive world here.