Do You Have a Killed Idea?

Steve Hall, Publisher of AdRants and co-founder of MarketingVOX, together with the folks at Blurb, are looking for the best of what never saw the light of day: the Killed Ideas.

From the Killed Ideas website:

We want ideas that could have changed the face of advertising, elevated a client’s brand to new heights, or won a webby – but instead ended up on the cutting room floor. TV campaigns, microsites, print goodness, viral – you name it, we want it. Whether it’s traditional or cutting-edge, we’re looking to show the best ideas to an audience who appreciate a killer campaign when they see it.

They've been accepting submissions for just over a month, but have extended their deadline until Tuesday, April 7th.

So if you've done some outstanding work that just never made it out the door, submit it at Killed Ideas and see how it stacks up against the rest. And of course, you can also follow Killed Ideas on Twitter.

Idaho Business Review's Idaho Women of the Year

Congratulations to the recipients of the 2009 Idaho Business Review's Idaho Women of the Year honors.

As always, the 50 women selected are all incredibly talented in their own right. This year's honorees include a couple of familiar names in the marketing world, such as:

• Holly Sue Kerns, Kerns Brand Marketing
• Lynda Friesz-Martin, Lynda Friesz Public Relations

Congratulations to both, and all of this year's honorees.

One Memorable Avocado

Nation's Restaurant News recently recognized work produced by Stoltz Marketing Group for Simplot Food Group. The piece, a print ad for Simplot's avocado products, was named the highest performing ad for 2008.

The magazine’s ADinsite™ study surveyed readers on twenty ads for recall, believability and both short- and long-term interest in the product advertised. The Simplot ad outperformed efforts by recognizable brands including Heinz, The Beef Council, Idaho Potato Commission, Butterball and Tyson.

Congratulations to everyone involved.

MMG's Work for University of Idaho Awarded

Marketing Media Group's Legacy of Leading campaign for the University of Idaho was recognized recently by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. The agency, along with the University, received two Gold Medal CASE Awards at this year's CASE District VIII Conference, held February 18 - 20 in Seattle.

Specifically, MMG and U of I were honored in the Video and Multimedia category (Advertising Spots and Public Service Announcements) for their 60-second television spot titled, “I am more than the University of Idaho,” and also in the Web Site category (Web Site Special Feature) for the university’s innovative degree finder.

North by Northwest handled production of the television, and c308 Marketing developed the website.

The 60-second spot was primarily used at recruiting and alumni events and was part of a television campaign that featured three other 30-second commercials that ran in the Boise and Spokane markets. The Degree Finder Web Site is an addition to the university’s revamped Web Site and features a user-friendly method of matching prospective students’ interests with multiple degree options.



Congratulations to MMG, University of Idaho, and everyone else involved in this campaign. If you'd like to learn more about how it all came to be, MMG also has a Case Study of the entire process available on their website.

Technorati tags: marketing media group, mmg, university of idaho, uofi, council for advancement and support of education, case awards, north by northwest, c308 marketing

Blue541 Work Hits Communication Arts

Recently, Blue541's work for The Resort Boat Shop in Coeur d'Alene was featured on the Communication Arts website.

From the Communication Arts feature:

When local ad agency BLUE541 launched a newsprint ad campaign, it seemed fitting to illustrate the fine art aspect of boat-building. With inspirational imagery, and copy to match, the ad touches an emotional chord for the faithful devotees who eat, sleep and breathe for wood boats and water.

Congratulations to the folks up at Blue541 for the recognition.

Technorati tags: blue541, the resort boat shop, communication arts

Communication Arts Coverage for Local Work

Oliver Russell's work on the Hitchcock Building in downtown Boise is currently featured on the Communication Arts website.



The building, home of The Record Exchange, the Neurolux and The Edge, previously had a mural of assorted Alfred Hitchcock movies through the years, but now features a design based entirely on The Birds.

The mural was designed by Toby Robin, with direction from Russ Stoddard, and Fred Choate painting the mural on the building itself.

And of course there's the obligatory promotional item that comes along with this sort of news: Customers who visit The Record Exchange today (November 14th) and mention that they saw the building mural on the Communication Arts website will receive 20% off their purchase.

Technorati tags: oliver russell, hitchcock building, communication arts, record exchange, neurolux, the edge, alfred hitchcock, the birds, toby robin, russ stoddard, fred choate

Recognition for Peppershock Media Productions

Peppershock Media Productions will be recognized, along with a number of other local businesses, by the Better Business Bureau and KeyBank during the 2008 Integrity Counts! Celebration.

More on the Integrity Counts! program from the BBB website:

Integrity Counts! is a recognition program established by the Board of Directors of the Better Business Bureau, serving Southwest Idaho and Eastern Oregon, to honor local firms whose business operation and related activities demonstrate a commitment to integrity and ethical business practices.

Congratulations to Peppershock, and all of this year's honorees.

Technorati tags: peppershock media productions, better business bureau, keybank, 2008 integrity counts celebration

Salty Design Foundry Featured in HOW Magazine

Salty Design Foundry, based in Coeur d'Alene, recently announced that two of their designs were recently published in the HOW Magazine Self Promotion Design Annual, on bookstore shelves now.

The two designs, the Gravity Anarchy catalog and the Long Story Short Coffee business card, can be found on page 67 of the Self Promotion Design Annual.

As the folks at Salty mentioned on their blog, "it isn't often that you see work from this area recognized at this level. The fight for good design continues."

Congratulations to everyone at Salty who was involved. Keep up the good work.

Technorati tags: salty design foundry, how magazine

Giving Back - The United Way

For the past several months, a group of folks from several different agencies and the local creative industry in the Treasure Valley have been working to make the United Way of Treasure Valley's latest campaign a success.

The end result: an integrated campaign that features a four-minute video, three television spots, newspaper ads, a microsite (HelpTheMostPeople.com), radio, online ads, collateral materials and more. This effort will benefit the United Way Community Campaign, which, in turn, allows the United Way to help over 30 local charities with funding each year, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Idaho Foodbank, Girl Scouts, and more.

This work was done entirely on a pro-bono basis, and those involved sacrificed a great deal of time -- often their personal time, before or after business hours -- to make it happen. At the very least, they deserve some recognition for their efforts. In no particular order, the group involved includes:

David Cook, Stoltz Marketing Group
Paul Carew, Carew Co.
Dave Sloyer, Wirestone
Kristy Weyrich, W Design
Doug Gneiting, Stoltz Marketing Group
Lorena Davis & Crew, North by Northwest
Todd Meier Photography
Robbin Gibson, Drake Cooper
Snake River Technology

The campaign is also benefiting from media donations from The Idaho Statesman, Journal Broadcast Group, and companies such as Citi, who donated funds toward the media buy.

David Cook provides even more detail about this project on the Stoltz Marketing Group website, if you'd like to read about it further.

At the end of the day, however, the goal is to drive as many donations to the United Way as possible. If you can donate, please do. If you'd like to learn more about the how's and why's of the United Way, take a look here.

UPDATE:
Here are PDFs of the print ads -
Print #1 - Time and Money
Print #2 - $10 a Week
Print #3 - $19 a Week

Technorati tags: united way of treasure valley, big brothers big sisters, idaho foodbank, girl scouts, stoltz marketing group, carew co, wirestone, w design, north by northwest, todd meier photography, drake cooper, snake river technology, idaho statesman, journal broadcast group, citi, david cook, paul carew, dave sloyer, kristy weyrich, doug gneiting, lorena davis, todd meier, robbin gibson

Accolades and Updates for W Design

As those who have been regular readers for a while might recall, about a year ago I made mention of W Design, which was founded by Kristy Weyrich, who was previously with Oliver Russell & Associates.

In her own words, "after about a hundred years" the website is live, and can be seen at wdesignboise.com.

Also, the W Design business card has been featured in Rockport Publishing's Best of Business Card Design 8.

Well done Kristy.

Technorati tags: w design, kristy weyrich, oliver russell, rockport publishing, best of business card design

Peppershock Wins in i48

The folks over at Peppershock Media Productions were involved in the i48 Film Festival, and were recognized for their work with an award for Best Use of Dialogue in the Open category.

Their film, titled Death Grip With A Vengeance, is available on YouTube, along with several other films that have been submitted to i48 over the years.

Congratulations to Rhea, Drew, and everyone else who was involved.

Technorati tags: peppershock media productions, i48 film festival, death grip with a vengeance, youtube

Congratulations to Cassie Hoots

Who is Cassie Hoots, you ask? Well, she's a student at Atlas Elementary School in Hayden Idaho.

She's also a finalist in the Doodle 4 Google competition. More specifically, her drawing is the finalist from Region 9, in the K-3 category. You can view her drawing, as well as all of the other finalists, on the Doodle 4 Google Vote page.

The goal of the competition was to doodle around the theme "What if...?" There were over 16,000 entries from across the country, including Cassie's.

The winning drawing will be used as a replacement for the standard logo on the Google homepage on May 22, 2008.

Creativity starts early. Nurture it whenever/whenever/however possible.

Technorati tags: cassie hoots, atlas elementary school, hayden idaho, doodle 4 google, google

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

Always nice to see client success

And in this case, a tip of the hat goes to the folks over at Stoltz Marketing Group.

Peter O'Neill, Chairman of O'Neill Enterprises, will be receiving the 2007 Real Estate Award from the Idaho Chapter of the March of Dimes, "in honor of his involvement in the real estate industry and community." The award will be presented at a breakfast on December 4th. Additional details about the event can be found on the Idaho Business Review's website.

O'Neill Enterprises has been around since 1979, and Stoltz Marketing Group has done work on their behalf for many years.

Now, those of you who attended the most recent BAF luncheon will remember Pat Doody's comments that no agency deserves more than 50% of the credit for a client's success, or more than 50% of the blame for a client's failure. The same principal applies here, however I think everyone who has worked for Stoltz over the years on assorted O'Neill-related projects deserves a pat on the back.

Technorati tags: stoltz marketing group, peter o'neill, o'neill enterprises, march of dimes, idaho business review, boise advertising federation, pat doody