Until the Digital Age, type design was a specialized occupation. Digitization opened up typography to new generations of visual designers that relied on computers to hone their skills – ultimately removing the art from the craft. If you are a designer here at Meridian, it’s probably been brought to your attention that the consensus from the older generation is that our designs often lack typographic clarity – and he’s probably right. Years ago I was trained by the Jedi-Type masters Ben Day, Rob Carter and Phil Meggs. I’m thinking that we all should revisit the manual.

If you aren’t sure where you are in your skill-set. The quizzes below might help you determine where you stand…

KernType

Your mission is simple: achieve pleasant and readable text by distributing the space between letters. Typographers call this activity kerning. Your solution will be compared to typographer’s solution, and you will be given a score depending on how close you nailed it.
http://type.method.ac/

Cheese or Font?

If you’re a designer that loves food, are familiar with fancy Font names, and harbor a quiet love for the finest artisanal fromage – this quiz should be a no-brainer. For the rest of us, let’s just say there’s a LOT of cheese in the world.
http://cheeseorfont.com/

For the interactive department, it was like seeing a celebrity. The excited chatter came when we spotted the Google Street View car while driving this week. If we didn’t have to return to work from our lunch outing, the plan would have been to follow it. Yes, and we would have checked Google Street View to see our blurred passenger faces. We’re geeks like that. But the reality is, none of us really knew how they worked their 360 degrees of magic. We did some research, so we thought we’d share:

• Google Street View launched in 2007.
• The mapping service depicts cities across the United States and in 29 other countries from ground level.
• On every street photographed, the user can scroll 360 degrees as well as up and down.
• The towering rooftop instrument houses 15 lenses looking in all directions.
• Once photos are taken, they are fed into a computer that blurs faces and license plates that would otherwise be recognizable.
• Technicians stitch photos into 360-degree views available in Google Maps.
• Processing these new images takes several months.
• Areas not accessible by car, like pedestrian areas, narrow streets, alleys and ski resorts, are sometimes covered by Google Trikes (tricycles) or snowmobiles.
• If you don’t want your house to be shown, you can just click on the “Report a problem” on the bottom left-hand side of the Street View image, submit a request, and they’ll blur the image.

So people of Virginia Beach please make us look good. Cut your grass, dress appropriately and look happy. There is no hiding from the Google Street View car.

Looking back just a decade ago, it may be hard to imagine what it was like taking a trip without having several social media outlets handy, making sure your vacation goes off without a hitch. However, it isn’t too hard to explain why the multibillion-dollar travel industry seems to be ahead of the curve when it comes to implementing social media into their current business models. It all boils down to communication with the customer, and once a dialogue is created, customer loyalty increases. A good way to initially get customers involved in your social media presence is to offer discounts and freebies only available through social media channels. The USA Today article Travel industry uses Facebook and Twitter to Reach Customers points out, “A key goal of staking a claim in the social media space is to build a base of devoted followers who will keep coming back.”

Carl Howe, director of a telecommunication market research firm is also quoted in the article saying, “Most travel organizations are actually looking for more than a transaction. They’re looking for loyalty, and that means a long-term engagement.”

So what exactly do I mean by a dialogue between the business and the traveler? What does Howe mean by a long-term engagement rather than a simple transaction? Think of it this way, every time you interact with a part of the travel industry through a social medium or vice versa, a conversation is taking place to better help you and other travelers with similar interests. Being a part of the conversation by giving feedback or participating in an exclusive deal through social media can lead to very loyal consumer followings. It all may seem a little abstract as of now, so let’s look at a few real world examples that demonstrate how social media can function and foster relationships in the travel industry between big companies and individuals.

• Facebook- Southwest Airlines keeps a regularly updated Facebook page to keep travelers updated on flight delays, cancellations etc. Staffers monitor the page full-time to answer all queries from customers about everything from baggage to weather conditions. Delta’s Facebook page actually allows clientele to purchase plane tickets directly at the “virtual ticket window”. Finally, Air Tran engages the 18-24 demographic through their “Air Tran U Creeper” contest. Air Tran U allows students to fly standby on Air Tran at discounted prices. The contest flashes photos submitted by student flyers users at midnight. If a student spots their picture and is the first to call the airline, they get a prize.
• Twitter- Hyatt Hotels & Resorts uses Twitter as a “virtual concierge” for their guests. If guests tweet them with questions or concerns, Hyatt guarantees a response within one hour. Interactions between the Hyatt Twitter feed and guests range from patrons alerting the hotel they will be late to check-in, driving directions to the location and inquiries about good restaurants in the area. Hyatt’s Twitter has grown to 12,000 followers in under 2 years.
• YouTube- Hilton uses their YouTube channel to emphasize their different Caribbean locations. Each Hilton hotel in the Caribbean region is very unique, and virtual tours and video advertisements are available on the channel for customers to watch while booking their vacation.
• Loopt/Poynt- Loopt and Poynt are both new social mapping mediums that are most commonly used on mobile phones. GPS allows them to direct users to hotels, dining and the best gas price wherever they are. Simply type in the zip code of where you are and you have instant access and directions to all attractions and amenities. Virgin America uses Loopt to step-up their dialogue with customers through promotions such as “Loopt Star”, which randomly gives Loopt users a location where they can get a deal. For example, patrons were eligible for two free tickets to cancun if they “checked in” at a Los Angeles taco truck stand. Only users of the application knew about the deal, and were, therefore, rewarded for being loyal followers of Virgin America’s social media portals. The “taco truck” promotion proved an advertising success with Virgin America reporting their 5th highest-grossing sales day of the year.
• Blogging- the travel industry also finds great advertising potential in influential bloggers. Many travel sights seek bloggers to “sing their praises” to the vacation community. Country Inn & Suites offered a unique deal for the opening of their 500th hotel in College Station, Texas. Families were offered seven free nights in Country Inn & Suites hotels if they agreed to put a Country Inn bumper sticker on their car, drive to College Station and blog about it. Bloggers had to stay in a different state each night of their journey and write about their stay in each location.
• Open Table/4 Square/Facebook Places- these social mediums, mainly used by restaurants, help to increase customer loyalty by offering deals to those who “check in” to a certain venue. Once checked in, a coupon for “free drinks” or “1/2 off an app” may be offered. This helps to promote business during off hours and spread the word about local restaurant specials. Open Table also allows those looking to make reservations a simple way to book their table online.

Photo Credit: “Wild Junket”

We recently got back from Louisville, KY where we interviewed several independent business owners and attended the Green Industry Expo to promote the importance of this movement! After interviewing business owners and hearing them talk about their struggles and successes, we are even more inspired than ever. It is heartwarming to hear the passion and devotion in their voices as they talk about their business, what they have had to overcome and the sacrifices they make every day. Be sure to check out our YouTube page where we will be posting these video interviews! We also got to meet and talk with many individuals that attended the Green Industry Expo, where we received very positive feedback and registered over 175 businesses as a result of it! Be sure to visit our website at www.IndependentWeStand.org to show your support by registering your business or taking the pledge to shop local!

KFC wants to penetrate college campuses with its “Double Down” campaign but they are getting down and dirty by paying young coeds to wear it across the back of their sweatpants. It’s bad enough we are subjected to rear ends emblazoned with terms like juicy and sexy, now we have to deal with this. I sure hope they are very selective with the “talent” that wears the sweats because most of the women I have seen wearing sweats with catch phrases on the back of their pants really shouldn’t be trying to attract ANY attention to that portion of their body.

What’s next — T-shirts emblazoned with “tender” or “crispy”? At the end of the day, KFC will end up being on the butt end of the joke. Would Colonel Sanders approve?

JT

Meridian Group’s public relations team seeks a motivated team player with a flair for communications for the spring 2011 semester. Responsibilities may include: assisting public relations team with day-to-day account projects, monitoring trends, editing and writing press releases, media relations activities, developing editorial calendars, conducting basic research and contribute to brainstorming sessions. Opportunity to learn about public relations, advertising and interactive disciplines and attend professional development seminars. Internship is unpaid but can be used for school credit.

Applicant qualifications should include:

• Excellent communications skills, writing ability and computer skills a MUST.
• Prior internship experience preferred, but not required.
• Understanding of AP style a plus.
• Must be available 15-20 hours per week during the spring semester

Click here for more information and how to apply

At Meridian Group, we spend a lot of time reviewing our work. We painstakingly proofread every sentence of every e-mail, every press release, every line of all our ad copy. Heck, we even call each and every phone number we print, just to make sure it’s working properly.

This is why everyone should start taking the same pride we do:

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/10/chad_ochocincos_cereal_box_fea.html

We’re sure whoever is responsible for the slip feels terrible, but we’ve started noticing that minor proofing errors seem to be happening more and more often. Seen any particularly awful lately? Share them here.

Meridian Group’s travel and leisure team seeks a motivated team player for an account coordinator internship. Responsibilities may include: assisting the client team with day-to-day account projects, monitoring trends, editing, writing/content development, presentation building, quantitative and qualitative client research, conducting and contributing to brainstorming sessions, in-depth ROI analysis and reporting, along with day-to-day administrative duties. Opportunity to learn about marketing, advertising and interactive disciplines and attend professional development seminars. Internship is unpaid but can be used for school credit.

Applicant qualifications should include:

• Excellent communications skills, writing ability and computer skills a MUST.
• Knowledge of social media preferred, but not required.
• Prior internship experience preferred, but not required.
• Must be available 15-20 hours per week during the semester.

Please contact us for more information on internships.
No phone calls please.

For the past eight years I have hosted a barbecue cooking competition at my home for all of our employees. There are a lot of components of the competition including the development of a logo and T-Shirt design each year, how the teams are structured and even the categories which are unique each year. All in all the annual investment is approximately $3,000 including category and grand prize awards, production of T-shirts, food, a keg of beer and everyone’s favorite; the margarita machine.

So, why do we host this annual event and what is the true value to the agency and our employees? We are in a creative business that is very competitive and requires a great deal of teamwork. Everything about this event supports our core values as a company while allowing everyone to let their hair down a little.

CREATIVITY: This is not your run of the mill BBQ competition that you might see on Food Network. People use every creative cell in their body to win, place or show. Not everyone is a culinary genius so they use online resources to come up with something unique. Others really do have the talent and expertise to create unique and crowd pleasing dishes that people would pay good money to experience. At yesterday’s event the judges commented that if local restaurants served this level of cuisine they would never have to write a negative review. Who would think that these amateur chefs would create items like baby back ribs that were dry rubbed then finished off by tossing them in a buffalo sauce or scallop and bacon lollipops, tofu sliders and brussel sprouts with bacon and  cranberries. And how many people do you know that would stay up half the night infusing vodka with fresh bacon. These are all perfect examples of creativity and passion, the same talents we need to succeed in the marketing world.

COMPETITION: I often get negative feedback from some members of the agency that nine out of ten of our recreational events involve some sort of competition. Guess what? This is our life. If we want to succeed and keep moving the needle we must be prepared to compete at the highest level. That doesn’t mean we can’t have fun. Competition is fun if you put your heart and soul into it. For this year’s Q, I was told that some people didn’t like to present their dishes to the judges so we had the judges visit each station, which was fine but I feel like we compromised to a certain degree. It was kind of like doing a new business presentation and asking the prospect to come to us or e-mailing concepts instead of presenting them in person. We also take the competition to a new level by inviting some of the most respected food industry professionals in the area to judge. Lorraine Eaton and Judy Crowling from Virginian Pilot, Patrick Evans-Hylton from HR Monthly, Debi Gray from Johnson & Wales, Sam and Cindy McGann, Jennie Capps from CBWC, Yiannis and John Milleson. Every year the judges are blown away by the quality of the event and promise to steal or “borrow” a few nuggets to share with the world.

TEAMWORK: If you are going to take home any money from the Q, you better work as a team. We do not reveal the teams or the categories until late afternoon the day before the event. Each team is comprised of people from teams that they don’t necessarily work with every day. They have less than 24 hours to develop a menu, determine responsibilities and action plans and to execute the dishes in a four hour period the day of the event. Some people prefer to work in a vacuum but over my 30 years in this business they never reach the top unless they know how to play in the sandbox. This is typically the result at the Q as well.

So, call it what you will – an excuse not to work, a blatant waste of company money, a good excuse to imbibe in the middle of the afternoon. I call it an exercise in life that will help us be a better agency.

We will post many of the recipes and photos from this year’s event on Monday.

JT

A new business book by author, Patrick Lencioni, “Getting Naked; A business fable about shedding the three fears that sabotage client loyalty“, is one of the most inspiring as well as entertaining books I have read over the past year. I guess the primary reason the book has inspired me is because it is based on the same basic philosophy that has always driven the agency’s growth – WHY? Unfortunately, the past two years of economic turmoil has made it difficult to be true to ourselves and our principles.

Mr. Lencioni weaves a story around two consulting firms; one that has grown quite successfully through an aggressive sales approach and the other, although smaller, has much more satisfied clients, happier employees and higher margins. The three fears that the author outlines are:
- The fear of losing business
- The fear of being embarrassed
- The fear of feeling inferior

In this world of inter-office politics, power struggles and cheese protecting, this book is a quick lesson in transparency and just might inspire a few to cut the BS and get down to what’s best for the client.