We are proud to announce that Neal Advertising has won a Gold Davey this year! Our winning entry is a radio spot produced for smart center Boston called “Smart Driver.”
Archive for the ‘Advertising’ Category
Business and Dating…it’s not what you think
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
Business and Dating
We’ve all experienced dating. Waiting for the phone to ring, sharing your dislikes and likes, having open communication, and just plain manners. Well I bet you’ve never thought dating dilemmas could apply to work situations. Listed below are 5 dating scenarios with solutions that can be used at the work place or even on your next date.
Is my phone on?
After a date has gone really well we wait with anticipation for the next one to take place. We check our phone over and over for any missed calls or text messages. Some may even go as far to call themselves just to make sure their phone is still working. Well, sitting around at your desk waiting for a client to call you back can be the same way. Whether we are waiting approval on an ad or have a question answered, we sit and wait and wait and sometimes wait some more. The best way to handle a non-responsive client is to pick up the phone yourself and call. Yes, we can give them the benefit of the doubt that they are extremely busy and maybe calling you back slip their mind. But when you do call, don’t be afraid to sound pushy or too needy. Take control of the situation and try to make contact with the client. Use all means of communication. If the client doesn’t answer, leave a message and follow up with an email. Persistence by being respectful is the key.
Does this outfit look good on me?
Ladies, you know you ask this and Men, we know you hate to hear it. So what happens when a client shows you their “ensemble” and you just aren’t crazy about it? You must be delicate. Be honest but take their feelings into consideration. Take a piece of what they are presenting you and play up the qualities and say something like “This ad would look really great with what you are saying, especially if we just change the positioning.” This way you aren’t totally neglecting their “taste” but helping to modify it and making it better for them. They can still feel a part of the creative process but you can use your design expertise to make that ad stand out. Ladies, like ads, just love to grab your attention.
Performance failure?
So you’ve had some great dates and now it’s time to invite them back to your place. But what happens when you’ve built this night up in your head and there is performance failure? RELAX! Don’t freak out. Yes it happens to everyone. Here’s how to cope when a clients campaign isn’t performing up to par. Explain what you think happened. Be honest and up front. Lay out all the factors that came into place. Talk it over and try to figure out the next solution. Maybe take the ad campaign a little slower and not try to rush into everything all at once. Before you know it, everything will be performing splendidly.
Go dutch?
You’ve had a great dinner and just finished a bottle of wine and the check arrives. Who grabs it first and do you go halvsies? Money can be a hard topic to discuss so how do you handle it when discussing it with clients? Be up front. The old saying is “time is money and money is time.” The last thing you want to do is spend endless amounts of your valuable time on something that is not going to pay out. The same goes for the client. They are taking an investment into your work and want to see it pay off. They don’t want to pour loads of cash into a project that won’t have them hearing “cha-ching” ringing in their ears. In a business relationship there is always room for negotiating. Don’t be afraid to stick to what you are worth. Be fair and equal and don’t get taken advantage of.
My friend, told your friend, who told me…
Ah gossip. Rumors spread quick and by the time it reaches your ear the story has changed 10 times. What to do? Confront the client. It’s best to hear things directly from the person you deal with. Just calmly discuss the client’s needs with them so you can get all the facts up front. This will give you a better understanding of what direction the client would like to go with their ad or what concerns they may have about the task at hand. It’s always best to have open communication with your client. It gains respect and a great relationship.
Now, go get’m tiger!
Neal Advertising Wins A Hatch!
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
Hatch Award
We’re proud to announce that Neal Advertising received a Bronze Bowl at The Ad Club’s 49th Annual Hatch Awards. What project won this award you ask? This blog! UnderTheBigTopics.com was the only blog to receive an award in the blog category.
The Hatch Awards celebrate excellence in our creative community recognizing the best and brightest advertising agencies in New England.
Congratulations to illustrators Alexis Pacelli and Bryan Woodbury, designer Danielle Pikus, developers Jason Narciso and Jesse Friedman, art director Chad Foster and the rest of the Neal Advertising team!
Paul Rand
Monday, July 20th, 2009
Most of you would not know who I was talking about if I mentioned the name Paul Rand. You would, however, be able to identify the IBM, Westinghouse, ABC and UPS brands by looking at their logos. Paul Rand is responsible for that.
Born In Brooklyn New York 1914, Paul Rand became one of the most well known graphic designers in the field most notably for his logo and corporate identity design. Rand was able not only to produce a quality logo design but he had a great ability to explain the importance his designs would have on branding a company. Graphic designer Louis Danziger says,
“He almost singlehandedly convinced business that design was an effective tool. [. . .] Anyone designing in the 1950s and 1960s owed much to Rand, who largely made it possible for us to work. He more than anyone else made the profession reputable. We went from being commercial artists to being graphic designers largely on his merits.”
Rand’s simple clear cut designs are some of the best and most recognized logos being used today. He said that neither logos nor art need be over the top to be recognized and grab attention. As the says goes..more is less.
UPS just went though a very controversial issue when they changed Paul Rand’s original logo to a more flash and 3D looking logo. Now UPS has a logo that blends in with the crowd. It is a very trendy logo and lacks the creativity that Rand originality put in. What is your opinion about the update?
In the process of paving the way for graphic designer he also helped brands thrive and become more recognized. It is something to think about and appreciate.
Fun with Google Analytics (Part 1 of Alot)
Monday, June 22nd, 2009Web analytics can be defined as the measurement of data relating to an Internet website. This includes the number of visitors, number of pages viewed, how much time the visitor was on your site, etc. We can use this information to examine and improve your website and its content. It is also very important tool to utilize when you are analyzing internet advertising and Search Engine Marketing campaigns.
There are a number of services out there that provide analytics reports of your website. At Neal Advertising, we are partial to Google Analytics for its accurate reporting, ease of use and the amount of available data. Today we’ll take a look at 3 basic metrics.
The total amount of web pages that were viewed on your site in a given time period is referred to as page views. If someone visits your site once, but views 15 different pages, your site just generated 15 page views. When using this to analyze your website, you also need to look carefully at the number of pages you have on your site and the content on each page. You can also delve deeper into this by looking at which individual pages garner the most traffic.
An individual or browser that views your site is measured by a unit called a unique visitor. If an individual visits the site more than once, it is only counted as one unique visitor. This is a great way to measure your websites traffic, giving you an accurate reading on your audience size.
When Google calculates your time on site, they take the total amount of time that each visitor spends on the site before exiting the website. If you view 2 pages for a total of 10 minutes or 20 pages for a total of 10 minutes, your time on site will be the same. Every website is unique and thus, the amount time a visitor spends on your site gets will vary. When analyzing this metric, it is important to look at the number of pages, content of those pages and your ultimate goal or purpose for the website.
As with any web metric, Google Analytics is not 100% accurate, but it is a great tool to measure the effectiveness and stickiness of your website.
Print Is Not Dead
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009
Print is not dead
I hear a lot of people saying that print is dead, and the digital age is taking over. This is something that I disagree with. I am aware that technology is very abundant in advertising, but just because technology has become the new way to advertise doesn’t mean that the art of print design is dying out.
Print design in mainly used in advertising to create products such as posters, billboard, direct mail, magazine ads and much more. What people don’t see is the other side of print design that is needed to make a business run. Business cards are a good example. The design of them is extremely important to a business. That little card that you leave behind is the first impression people get of your company. It gives your company personality and helps support its brand and image.
Let’s take a step back from business cards and think about what is the most important thing for a company to have. A logo. Your company’s logo is what identifies your company. Without it a business is not branded and advertising will not be as beneficial. A logo makes you associate with the brand. That logo will go on anything and everything your company creates throughout print or web.
I am not saying that technology is bad; it is a wonderful tool and I think it has a lot of great benefits. The best way I think of web design and print design, is to see them as two different things. Web design is a new tool to advertise your brand, but the root behind getting web advertisements recognized by consumers goes back to good print design. So while print advertising may be dying, print design itself is not dead.
Developing A Client/Agency Relationship
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
As part of the Account team at a small ad agency, we tend to wear a lot of hats. Whether it is helping out with a creative idea, proof reading, copy writing or analyzing campaign results, our job description is an ever-changing chameleon of advertising duties. But our most important job is the relationship with our clients.
Establishing a rapport with a client and making that client feel comfortable dealing with you is crucial. When you are working with a client, you are the face of the company. You are representing everyone in your office, from the president of the company to the receptionist. Once a solid relationship is established with a client, it must be maintained, which is true for any relationship that hopes to be long-term.
It is sometimes very difficult for the client to realize that we are working with them and have their best interest in mind. It’s not just about putting together a few new ad layouts and spending dollars. Our job goes deeper than that, we want to be a part of the team. We strive to be the marketing arm of our client’s company, helping them every step of the way.
Some key things to remember:
a) Be friendly – when answering the office phone, greeting a client at the office, or working with your client on a daily basis. This will make your client feel comfortable when trying to reach you or anyone else in the office because it is a friendly environment. The client should not feel like they are bothering us or hesitate to pick up the phone. When coming into the office they should feel welcome and at ease.
b) Listen to your client – always hear what the client has to say at first, even if it is negative. Negative news can be hard to handle and hard not to take personally. Remain positive, and stay focused on the task at hand. Listen to the client’s needs and make sure they are met with your own personality thrown into it. A client might not understand all the design factors that come into play so it’s good to be open with your client about new ideas WHILE STILL making sure their needs are met.
c) Be reliable – do what you say you are going to do. Clients will respect and admire a quick turn-around on a project. This is not to say do a rush job, never sacrifice the quality of work to get something done. This means to deliver the project when you say you are going to. Hold true to your deadlines. Make your deadlines accurate. Clients will be impressed if you deliver ahead of time. They will feel important because you are focusing on their project and it’s on the top of your mind to complete. Clients will be assured that you are going to get a project done when you say it will be done. Not only is this good for your client but good for your piece of mind. Get it finished and move onto the next goal at hand.
Remember, you want to develop business relationships that form into life-long partnerships with your clients and both parties will benefit from respectful, friendly interaction.