Billboards - in a whole new dimension

For most people, seeing billboards around town is nothing new. Extensions above the top of a board? Neat little gimmick, but after a little time those get ignored as well.

The new digital billboards are, admitted, pretty slick. I think there's a lot of potential for those, and that's worth its own conversation with Lamar one of these days (but we'll save that one for another time).

If you're in the Boise area, you may have seen a series of billboards up recently for Paramount. They were a continuation of the [BLANK] is Paramount concept, which in and of itself has been very effective from what I understand.

But these most recent boards were a little different. There was no image of a child swimming or a striking roof line. This time, the visual was coming right off the board.

Literally.

These latest boards added a third dimension, featuring mannequins depicting scenes or activities that one could expect to have happen in Paramount, such as lighting a barbecue or diving into a swimming pool.

The boards were designed by Stoltz Marketing Group in Boise. They're currently out of rotation, but I'm told they'll be going back up again in the near future. Pictures are below.

Technorati tags: outdoor advertising, lamar, paramount, stoltz marketing group

Rockies Award Show

For those of you who may not have received an email about this already, now's the time to RSVP for the Rockies Award Show. The show is Saturday, April 12th at The Big Easy in Boise.

RSVPs should go to Jason Hamilton at Fuel 3 Advertising. I traded emails with Jason yesterday and he mentioned that there's only a couple of tables left, so if you haven't already gotten your name in you need to do so soon.

Technorati tags: rockies award show, the big easy, jason hamilton, fuel 3 advertising

Job Openings at Closed Loop

Closed Loop Marketing & Advertising in Boise is on a hiring spree as of late. In addition to their recent hires, they also have a number of new positions open, including:

Media Buyer: Entry-level Media Buyer to join the media buying team and perform research, media traffic, media buying and other duties as needed.

Account Manager: Experienced Account Manager with a love for the agency business and a strong desire to succeed.

Agency Production / Traffic Manager: Experienced Production/Traffic Manager to manage print, collateral, web and broadcast production.

Copywriter: Concepter / Copywriter with at least three years of experience in multiple mediums, including print, broadcast and interactive.

Art Director: Experienced Art Director with exceptional design and concepting skills. Five years experience preferred, bonus points for web design capabilities.

All job listings courtesy of BoiseHelpWanted.com.

Technorati tags: closed loop marketing & advertising, media buyer job, account manager job, traffic manager job, copywriter job, art director job, boisehelpwanted

Hal Riney

Hal Riney, the man behind the legendary San Francisco agency and campaigns for brands such as Bartles & Jaymes, Saturn, and many many more passed away Monday, March 24th at his home in San Francisco.

Jeff Goodby wrote up an outstanding retrospective on Adweek's website.

Whether you realize it or not, at some point in time in your life/work/career you've probably been influenced by Hal Riney and his work. Even here in Idaho.

Technorati tags: hal riney, bartles & jaymes, saturn, jeff goodby, adweek

Gold Link Media in the news

Our friends over at Gold Link Media got some nice coverage on the front page of the Business section in The Idaho Statesman last Friday. If you haven't yet seen the article, take a few minutes and give it a read.

For those who may not be familiar with them, Gold Link Media was founded by David Fish and Josh Mercaldo, who have known each other since the pre-Wirestone days of Mediaphex.

Technorati tags: gold link media, idaho statesman, david fish, josh mercaldo, wirestone, mediaphex

And now here's another way to get your fix

Every month, the number of visits to the Idaho Ad Agencies website amazes me. Subscriber counts continue to rise, whether that's through feed readers, email subscriptions or whatever other form you choose.

But why stop there. Let's add another option to the list.

In addition to everything else, you can now find the Idaho Ad Agencies blog feed on Twitter. The exact location is twitter.com/idahoadagencies.

Already using Twitter? Great - you know what to do. Never heard of it? Take a few minutes and give it a look. Then, if you feel so inclined, jump on into the pool.

Technorati tags: idaho ad agencies, twitter

New Agency Addition

The latest addition to the list of Agencies in Idaho is Range, out of Coeur d'Alene.

The Coeur d'Alene office of Range (or Range NW) is one of three throughout the country -- the other two offices being in Dallas, TX (Range US) and Seattle, WA (Range West). They've been in business for more than 18 years, according to their website.

Their focus appears to be all about the combination of innovative thinking, and ensuring that the client's business strategy and creative vision is well aligned.

Technorati tags: range, range us, range nw, range west

New Hire at Noot Group

While he's been on the job for several months now, Noot Group in Boise announced that they've hired Lou Perlaky as Vice President of Client Services. Lou was previous Vice President and General Manager at Hanson Inc, and was with Aspen Marketing prior to that.

Congratulations Lou.

Technorati tags: noot group, lou perlaky, hanson inc, aspen marketing

Fair season already

Congratulations to the folks over at Closed Loop Marketing & Advertising. It was announced on the Ada County website last Tuesday that they were awarded the contract again this year for the Western Idaho Fair.

The 2008 Western Idaho Fair is scheduled for August 15 - 24.

Technorati tags: closed loop marketing & advertising, ada county, western idaho fair

REMINDER: Three Courses + Cake

Just a reminder that the Boise Advertising Federation's Three Courses + Cake luncheon is coming up next Thursday, March 27th. If you haven't already RSVP'd, be sure to do so soon.

Based on attendance at the last few luncheons, this should be a packed house once again.

Technorati tags: boise advertising federation, three courses + cake, baf luncheon

New hires at Closed Loop

Closed Loop Marketing & Advertising in Boise has quietly added a couple of new faces:

Amanda McDonald joins the agency as an Account Coordinator. Amanda was previously with Pulte Homes as a Strategic Marketing Analyst.

Eric Leins has also joined Closed Loop, as a Copywriter / Concepter. Eric was previously with DBSI Discovery Real Estate Services (DDRS).

Congratulations to both.

Technorati tags: closed loop marketing & advertising, amanda mcdonald, pulte homes, eric leins, dbsi discovery real estate services, closed loop

Job Opening - Web Analyst

Wirestone in Boise currently has an opening for a Web Analyst. This person will be responsible for generating any number of reports from internal and external data, utilizing and customizing web analytics tools, and a whole slew of other things.

This position requires someone with 1-2 years of experience with web analytics, metrics or online marketing, as well as experience with one or more web analytic tools. Full details about the position can be found here.
(Courtesy of Web Analytics Association)

Technorati tags: wirestone, web analyst job, web analytics association

Bob Hofmann Retires

As much as you might expect me to come up with some sort of snappy headline for this news, there's really no need.

On February 29th, Bob Hofmann retired from Davies Rourke.

Here's the announcement from the Davies Rourke website:

On February 29, after 32 years in the saddle and a good part of that at the helm, Bob Hofmann officially retired from Davies Rourke. Though we’re sorry to see him go, we’re also pleased to be able to watch him ride off into the sunset feeling hale and hearty and looking forward to his new adventures. All of us owe Bob a debt of gratitude for shouldering a ton of responsibilities and setting the course for many positive agency changes over the years.

Bob’s retirement heralds a few other changes: Jeff Nielsen, who has been with the agency for 27 years as an account supervisor and Vice President, assumes the position of President and CEO; Ernie Monroe, creative director, replaces Jeff as agency Vice President. And the rest of the crew is still here and in the trenches. We’re taking care of existing business and looking for new challenges in 2008.

Over the past 32 years, Bob influenced colleagues and clients alike, and served as a teacher, mentor and friend to a number of talented people.

I'm sure Bob is going to enjoy every minute of his retirement. While I never had the opportunity to work with him personally, I know those who have. So, on behalf of them, I'd like to say "thank you" to Bob for everything that he has done for this industry over the years.

Technorati tags: bob hofmann, davies rourke

Anonymous Job Opening - Freelance Graphic Designer

The Boise Craigslist website has an anonymous job listing for a Graphic Designer / Creative. This is listed as a "freelance situation, but could work into a staff position for the right person."

Full details about the job can be found here.

Technorati tags: craigslist, graphic designer job

Burying a persistent rumor

I don't really know exactly how it got started, but there's been a rumor flying around the Treasure Valley for the past week or two (at least) that North by Northwest is leaving Boise. While I was 99% sure that I knew the answer, I went to Lorena Davis at NxNW for the official word. Here's what she had to say:

It is 100% fact that NxNW is NOT (no way, no how) leaving Boise. The exact opposite is true—2007 was a record breaking year. We have grown in personnel, purchased a bunch of new gear, and are now shopping for land to build a new studio.

So, there you have it. Let's move on, shall we?

Technorati tags: north by northwest

New hire and promotions at Oliver Russell

Oliver Russell & Associates has added a new face to the staff, and promoted a couple of others:

Mark Hair joins Oliver Russell their new Interactive Director. Before joining the shop, he was President and founder of BaseCamp Interactive.

Susan Rowe has been promoted to Public Relations Director, where she'll lead and build out the PR team for Oliver Russell.

Evelyn Atchley has also been promoted, in this case to Senior Designer.

Congratulations to all.

Technorati tags: oliver russell, basecamp interactive, mark hair, susan rowe, evelyn atchley

Cleaning Up up North

For those who may have missed it, the Spokane Advertising Federation's ADDY Awards Show was last Friday. And among the entrants were a number of agencies from Northern Idaho.

And, as Rick Thomas from The Coeur d'Alene Press wrote, "Local ad agencies rake in awards."

Boy did they ever.

Here's a quick run-down:

Salty Design Foundry won 17 Silver ADDYs, 5 Gold ADDYs, as well as Judges Choice and Best in Division.
Blue541 won a total of 14 ADDYs, including a Gold in Industry Self Promotion for their interactive Christmas card.
Range won 5 ADDYs, including 1 Gold.

As soon as I can get my hands on the complete list of winners, I'll be sure to share it with the class.

Congratulations to all of the winners.

Technorati tags: spokane advertising federation, addy award show, rick thomas, coeur d'alene press, salty design foundry, blue541, range

Three Courses + Cake - The Boise Ad Fed Luncheon

The March edition of the Boise Advertising Federation's Three Courses + Cake luncheon series is on tap for March 27th.

This month's guest speaker Jeffrey Blish, Partner & Chief Strategy Officer at Deutsch.

As usual, the luncheon is from 11:30 - 1:00, and will once again be in The Linen Building at 1402 W. Grove St. RSVPs should be emailed to John Drake, or call 208-336-7511.

Technorati tags: boise advertising federation, three courses + cake, jeffrey blish, deutsch, linen building, john drake

Changes are in the air

Word over the weekend is that changes are happening, and more may be on the way...

Details to come as they're made available, but in the mean time I can tell you that among those changes may be a new contributor to the Idaho Ad Agencies blog.

Stay tuned.

Technorati tags: idaho ad agencies blog

Off Topic: TechBoise Blogger Meetup

I received this email from Tac at TechBoise yesterday, and thought I'd share it with those who may be interested in attending:

To recap: This Tuesday at the Lush on Main St in downtown Boise TechBoise is sponsoring a 'blog' meet-up. This event is for anyone interested in blogs and blogging. You don't have to have a blog, you don't even have to read blogs (although if you don't and you're on this list I would be very surprised).

The meet-up has been titled "Find Your Cause" for a reason. The goal of TechBoise has always been about connecting people in order to propel the local tech scene and I believe that bloggers are one of the best way to do that.

Details: Perhaps no other forum in the world can lay claim to the heart of American culture quite the way blogging can. State your cause – from music to technology to family, bloggers have found a voice and today's Internet is alive with the latest trends. Come contribute, listen and discover Boise's tech community.

I would highly encourage you to come Tuesday night. Please RSVP on the Planyp.us
site or by responding back to this email. Thanks.

Technorati tags: techboise, blogger meet-up

Job Opening - Flash Developer

Wirestone in Boise has an opening for a Flash Developer, with advanced skills in Flash and Director.

There's a laundry-list of skills that they'll ask candidates to demonstrate, but it looks to be pretty standard fare for this type of position. Full details about the job can be found here.
(Courtesy of Creative Hotlist).

Technorati tags: wirestone, flash developer job, creative hotlist

Job Opening - Project Manager

Salty Design Foundry in Coeur d'Alene has an opening for a Project Manager. This person will be responsible for traffic work, managing projects, overseeing production, etc.

Full details about this position can be found here.
(Courtesy of Creative Hotlist)

UPDATE: The word is that this position has been filled already.

Technorati tags: salty design foundry, project manager job, creative hotlist

Job Opening - Flash/Web Developer

The Studio Corp in Boise has an opening for a Flash / Web Developer, who will be responsible for layout, design, and usability of a given website.

While there are no 'X years of experience' requirements listed in the job description, they are looking for someone who has experience in HTML, MySQL, Flash and Actionscript. Full details about the job can be found here.
(Courtesy of Creative Hotlist)

Technorati tags: the studio corp, flash developer job, web developer job, creative hotlist

Spokane Ad Fed - ADDY Awards Show

While I suspect that those up in Northern Idaho are already well aware of this, the Spokane Advertising Federation's ADDY Awards Show is this Friday, March 7th, at the Bing Crosby Theater in Spokane.

The Spokane Ad Fed includes members from Northern Idaho as well as Eastern Washington.

Technorati tags: spokane advertising federation, addy awards show, bing crosby theater

Once again, I must say 'Thanks'

It seems that the number, and quality of comments have both improved lately, and for that I have to say 'thank you' to all of you who take the time to read and comment on the Idaho Ad Agencies blog.

For example, and for those who may have missed it, take a look at Shadow's comments on the Issues Facing Agencies post from a couple of weeks ago. That comment, and those that followed, are the type of discussion I'd like to see even more of on this site.

There are many others, of course. But, before I let too much more time pass by, I wanted to take the snarky, sarcastic hat off for just a moment to say thanks.

And with that, we now return to our regularly scheduling programming, already in progress...