Beer. A rather rambunctious group of BeeGees headed over to our favorite cheese purveyor, Taste, last night for an education in the pairing of beer and cheese. A couple of times a year, Taste partners with the owners of O’Brien’s (I think an outing there needs to happen soon) and puts together interesting combinations that elicit either gasps of joy or that little pinched up yuck-I-didn’t-like-that look. We experienced both. Since I’m posting first, I’ll tell you what I liked: Unibroue La Fin du Monde - what a delicious, easy Belgian beer. That was served with Peppadew stuffed with herb chevre. If you are looking for a perfect little app that looks cute and tastes great - this is it. Rumor has it, it’s going to be included in the upcoming food issue of Riviera mag. Another unusual Belgian beer was the Maredsous 8 - loved it. The overall cheese winners of the night at our table were the goudas. Tasty, indeed.

It’s very simple. CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and black. These are ink (pigment) colors. When they are all mixed together they create black (subtractive color model). CMYK relates to printing. RGB stands for red, green and blue. These are colors of light. When all 3 colors are mixed together they create white (additive color model). RGB color is used to display images on television, computers and theatrical lighting.

Lisa Haneberg who writes the blog Management Craft has a great post today about the Butterfly Effect. The timing is perfect because this morning our team did some future visioning work with our terrific leadership coach, Simon Vetter.In the piece, she talks about the effects of small actions that can have big results. About how conversations are like invisible relay races. And about sharing goals and intentions. I’m a big believer in being clear about what you want and that the clearer you are about your intentions in your work, personal life, etc. the more likely you are to achieve your goals. Each time we do the visioning exercise with Simon, my vision of BG’s future gets a little clearer. Try it for yourself. I used to drive around a particular neighborhood when I first moved to SD and I envisioned myself living there. Now I do. This stuff is powerful and worth spending some time exploring.

The San Diego Zoo is one of our town’s real heritage brands. They have invested many years and millions of dollars to create a recognizable brand that is known all over the world. A few years back the Zoo’s board decided that it was time to do an agency review and perhaps freshen up the advertising. They selected an out of town firm which didn’t go down too well with local firms that offer plenty of talent. Ouch.That firm kicked off their first campaign with this ad  which was a complete departure from its 20 year investment. Some people liked it, some didn’t.  Now they have launched a new campaign and I am concerned. This campaign has absolutely nothing to do with the first campaign and once again nothing to do with the brand’s heritage. So what I see is that they are creating new campaigns because they are funny or clever and they are not really building any kind of brand positioning.  The Zoo should be building its brand for the long haul, in a recognizable way.  I agree that advertising needs to stay fresh. But random campaigns that don’t build the brand do only one thing - they build the portfolio of the agency. The Zoo deserves better. 

Today, Ad Age raised the question of whether a company should hire a chief blogger.

While corporate blogs - along with all touch-points of a company’s social marketing/media - should be well-managed and generally consistent (this becomes time-consuming), it really depends on the intent of each company’s blog.

A blog’s author - whether “chief blogger,” marketing manager, ceo or group of individuals providing content - needs to have transparent identity. If the ceo is listed as the author of a corporate blog, there should not be a man behind the machine (i.e. the ceo needs to write it).

The bottom-line: being well-read, linked to, and respected depends solely on the blog’s content and credibility.

Our blog is a forum for all of our employees to share their views on the industry and the like. Our blog doesn’t pretend to have one consistent voice, and it’s not our intent to hire one person to write and manage it.

Amazing how difficult it is to find talent, no matter what the level. Some agencies are taking quite the creative route to lure the right fit.

My road less traveled:  if you’re a student and want to be considered for a paid pr internship this summer, write a creative comment on why you should be considered, along with your contact information, and I’ll get back to you - if you’re a fit, that is.

Just read a post from the Official Google Blog about creating gadgets to promote organizations. “Gadgets - which are basically interactive and dynamic mini-billboards - are one of the fastest growing applications at Google. They’re the foundation for iGoogle, the personalized version of the Google homepage that has tens of millions of users. They can also be included on most any page on the web with some simple copy-and-paste”. There are some really fun gadgets. If you haven’t checked them out yet, go here. I think this is a great opportunity for non-profits to get the word out about their fundraisers. And it could be terrific for the right campaign - like a little handicapping gadget for the Del Mar Racetrack?

Hi all -Jamie has been pushing us all to share great work, so here it is. Bailey Gardiner’s new client, Beauty Encounter, is featured on the cover page of today’s Money section of USA Today. Reporter Edward Iwata interviewed Founder/CEO Jacquelyn Tran for an article on small businesses going cross-boarder to sell their goods and services. The story highlights the success and growth of the e-tailer that specializes in all things beauty. There are two large images from Beauty Encounter in the print version of the story!

A bit of a hot topic around the BG office is how to write a good blog post. As if he heard the inner-office chatter, marketing guru Seth Godin did a post today on how to write  like a blogger. Something I know most of the BG team and our clients will find useful. 

Friday, April 4th, the Bailey Gardiner advertising team made their debut at the 2008 Addy awards. Bailey Gardiner’s first year of a participation was a successful one with 9 awards total including 1 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze and 3 people’s choice awards.

And the winners are…

Seaport Village On-Site Signage - SILVER ADDY for Out-of-Home
These signs, designed to boost shopping traffic, use stories to showcase the variety of merchandise that can be purchased at the village. See the full campaign here.

Bailey Gardiner New Years Self-Promotion - SILVER ADDY for Advertising Self-Promotion, and the PEOPLE’S CHOICE award
Don’t take your Christmas ornaments down, just put up more relevant ones. Hang these year-round ornaments on your office ficus to remind you of your painful New Years resolutions all year long.

Museum of Contemporary Arts, Feed the Greedy Organ - GOLD ADDY for Advertising for the Arts & Sciences, and the PEOPLE’S CHOICE award
This campaign publicized the amazing MCASD exhibits that can only really be appreciated in person.

Museum of Contemporary Arts, Feed the Greedy Organ - SILVER ADDY for Advertising for the Arts & Sciences
Campaign designed to increase attendance of persons under 25 by offering free admission.

Brookfield Homebuilders Ad - BRONZE ADDY for Newspaper, BRONZE ADDY for Consumer or Trade Publication and the PEOPLE’S CHOICE award
This ad campaign attracts perspective buyers by using a roller coaster as an analogy to what is happening in the current home market. View current Brookfield campaign here.