Embrace your company’s inner animal with nontraditional marketing

The best advertising campaigns are no longer reserved for 30 or 60 seconds during the Super Bowl. Smart companies are taking to the streets (sometimes literally) with their nontraditional marketing tactics. More and more companies are turning to guerrilla marketing as a way to connect with their target audiences. Smaller companies initially used guerrilla marketing

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Weighing Sponsorship Opportunities

How to Decide If a Sponsorship Opportunity is Right for Your Company Companies are often asked to sponsor a variety of opportunities ranging from reserving a table at an industry event to buying an advertisement for an elementary school. With all of the opportunities and choices, how do you decide if a sponsorship opportunity is

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Let’s give (some) billboards the respect they deserve

During our daily commute, we’ve learned to ignore those looming eyesores called “billboards.” Most of the time these advertisements fall flat and clutter up the sky with nonsense because someone, somewhere told a company “billboard advertising will definitely get you more business.” It can…but there is always an if. Instead of wasting budget on lackluster

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Reaching and Connecting with the New Affluent Consumer

In the past you could identify an affluent customer just by the clothes they were wearing. But in today’s world of teenage millionaires, thanks to the tech boom, you don’t know if the kid in a hoodie is actually your target audience, nor can you afford to make that judgment. Here are some tips for

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Philosophy Communication takes home gold.

The PRSA Colorado Gold Picks Ceremony was held on Thursday, May 9th. We are ecstatic about being one of the top winners of the night. It’s truly an honor to be recognized by our peers in the industry. Philosophy Communication ended the night with five Gold Pick awards and one Silver Pick award. Gold Picks:

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Philosophy Communication Hires Marni Hale to Strengthen Home and Appliance Division and Lead Southern California Office

  DENVER, March 7, 2013– Philosophy Communication, Inc., a marketing and communication agency, welcomes Marni Hale as director of the home and appliance division and head of the Southern California Philosophy office. Hale comes to the agency with a strong background in branding and promoting luxury consumer products. Hale joined Philosophy Communication after having spent

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In advertising big bucks don’t always equal big bang

Spending a lot of money on advertising can demand eyeballs, but it can’t demand loyalty. The most effective advertising tells stories and creates emotions that tie consumers to a brand. A big budget is nice, but it isn’t inherently what defines successful advertising. Recently, retail giants Adidas and Nike competed for attention in the 2012

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5 Tips for Analyzing SEO Data

5 Things to remember about analyzing and understanding search engine optimization results. Search engine optimization is a pivotal part of online marketing, however, results are so subjective to individual expectations that we are frequently asked, “How long before I can expect results from a SEO campaign?” These five tips can help you stay focused on

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Ebay has a new brand logo

EBay introduced a new brand logo late in 2012. Ebay states that it reflects our commitment to delivering a cleaner, more contemporary and consistent experience. We agree, it’s cleaner and more simple. But it gives-up the personality and uniqueness of their brand that they have built-up over the past decade.  The new brand mark feels

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Design Philosophy: Bikes Belong Poster Advertisement

Build More Than Bicycles. That’s the message of bicycling advocacy group, Bikes Belong, who hired Philosophy to help “push bicycling forward” in key communities across the country. Our work began with the development of a visual piece to supplement new marketing and communication campaigns the non-profit was implementing at cycling trade shows and other events.

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Are Typos and Grammatical Errors Forgiven in the Fast-Moving Age of Social Media?

The short answer is, “NO!” – especially when the error is coming from a reputable news organization. In this case, the original perpetrator is CNN. Then, Denver’s Fox31 picked it up and ran it as is, as we’re sure many other local news outlets did, too. While reporting about an accident that happened in Florida,

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Iconic Logos That Weren’t Always So

Building a brand that stands the test of time is no easy feat, and even the big guns get it wrong sometimes. Thankfully, these five companies recognized the error of their ways, listened to their marketing and communication teams and got it right. Imagine what kind of a company Apple would be today if it

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Walking the Fine Line of Social Media

  Four Strategies of Avoiding and Addressing Blunders in the Digital Realm If we’ve learned anything from social media, we’ve learned that information travels fast. Okay, we already knew that. Recent blunders could fill an award-winning showcase titled “Failing in Social Media.” Between costly tweets (Celeb Boutique, James Taranto, Tricia Evans) about the Aurora theater

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50 Shades of Bad Typography

When the world was introduced to desktop publishing thirty years ago, proper punctuation marks and kerning pairs were not brought to the party.  Foot and inch marks were used instead, and they weren’t exactly the best stunt doubles. Today, I expected a more savvy designer pool with an arsenal of modern tools to rectify this

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Colorado Fire Disaster Relief Greetings

While President Barack Obama has issued a disaster declaration for our home state of Colorado, families affected are dealing with the aftermath of the destruction and displacement. Often overlooked are the brave firefighters who risk their lives everyday to fight the multiple blazes throughout the state. In efforts to raise money for disaster relief, we’ve

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Whiskey tasting campaign national coverage

For many school districts, fundraising events commonly fall into the camp of bake sales and car washes; Merrill Middle School in Denver wanted a more original, eye-catching event to drum up funds. As part of a widespread auction, a local connoisseur, known for holding seminars on the art of scotch tasting, was brought into the

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Build It and They Will Come

Search Engine Optimization. SEO. Search Engine Marketing. SEM. Organic search. Paper Per Click. Whatever you call it, it’s quickly becoming the most important digital strategy out there when it comes marketing. Just like the digital economy, SEO is a young industry, evolving and still trying to figure itself out. But we still know good SEO

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Communication Arts Magazine features Lovely Confections

Since 1959, Communication Arts has published the best in visual communications from around the world. Our campaign for Lovely Confections Bakery is featured in the Exhibit section of the Communication Arts website. Click here to see the work at Communication Arts.  

2012 Paper Fashion Show

In addition to handling the PR and Press Relations for the 8th Annual ADCD Paper Fashion Show, Philosophy Communication executed a UV-Lighted Fashion / self-promotion at the event that took place last night at the DCPA/Denver. Our Alice In Wonderland fashions were painted with florescent and glow-in-the-dark paint before the show. 100 branded UV flashlights

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Recent Branding Work

The Continental Room is the new name and brand logo for Teddy T’s in Denver, Colorado. A neighborhood sports bar and restaurant. The new name helped shape the vintage/modern tone to the logo. We illustrated the martini glass and sourced a type face that would compliment the name and new owner’s vision for the property.

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New Posters Promote Scotch and Whiskey Sippin’ Benefit

Jennifer Lester hosts a intimate charity Scotch tasting annually to benefit Cory Elementary. Guests spend an evening tasting various scotch and whiskey brands from around the world. The evening is hosted by Master of Whiskey Robert Sickler. This poster campaign was displayed in the school office and used as an email campaign. The event sells

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A Valentine’s Campaign for Secrets Resorts

This direct mail piece was sent out on Valentines Day to meeting planners and travel agents to help raise awareness for Secrets Resorts as a premier destination for couples. The concept is all about secrets. Custom candy hearts have a URL puzzle — with each candy featuring a letter that will reveal the website address. Clues

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Lovely Confections Tongue Twister Campaign

After taking that first bite of a cupcake from retailer Lovely Confections, you immediately know. That heavenly taste of moist, flavorful cake catches your tongue off guard. Our new poster campaign for Lovely Confections adopts an inviting, playful approach through tongue twisters to convey curiosity about the awesomeness that are these cupcakes.

Philosophy honored at Denver 50 Award Show

Philosophy was recently honored with two campaigned included in the Denver 50. The fifty does what every advertising show on Earth tires to do. Celebrate the good idea. Bog. Small. Integrated. Traditional. Advertising. PR. There are no categories. It’s a media-neutral show and is partial to smart thinking. Only the best 50 pieces in our

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Something is cooking this holiday season

Take a look at our holiday mailing. Each member of the staff contributed a family recipe to make a book of “Philo-Cipes.” The box self-mails, has a silk screened inside, 12-page book and branded whisk. Recipes are themed toward a day at the agency starting with Monday Power Breakfast through New Business Lunches to Cooking for

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Art Directors Club of Denver Annual Show

Philosophy Communication recently took nine awards home from The Art Directors Club of Denver annual show. The organization is one of the oldest advertising/design clubs in the country. Categories wins included identity design, print advertising, Public Service and 3D.   The Culinary Scene is Roth Distributing’s umbrella brand for their education/training service. The Continental Room

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We Can Count… On 10 Years

By now, you probably know that Philosophy Communication is 10 years old. We haven’t had a “10-year” blog post in a few weeks, so I was thinking about what to write about. I fired up my laptop and began checking our social media sites to see if anything sparked an idea. My pages were loading

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Lessons Learned

As grown-ups, birthdays, anniversaries and other milestones tend to cause us to reflect rather than celebrate in the way a 10-year-old child might. Since we’re grown-ups (most of the time) here at Philosophy Communication, we thought we’d take a look back at some of the most important lessons in life and business we’ve learned over

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Philosophy Communication Wins PRSA Grand Gold Pick

Summary of the Situation
When the creators of a unique play, Girls Only – The Secret Comedy of Women, approached Philosophy Communication about handling the show’s media relations, we knew we had a creative goldmine of a client. The play, written by two Denver actresses, is a lighthearted romp through all things girly, drawing on universal experiences of women. The show had run previously at a Canadian comedy festival with a positive reception, and the creators felt certain it had national appeal in the U.S. They had planned a six-week run beginning mid-January in a small 120-seat theater in Denver, with hopes of attracting a national production company to take the show on the road. They had a small budget and a few basic postcards to promote the play. Other than that, media relations would be the only external push to sell tickets. With a small budget and little time before the show’s opening night, Philosophy knew that they had to produce results for this client very quickly.

ADCD Paper Fashion Show Video

See Philosophy’s winning design at 0:50!  

Philosophy Communication Wins 2009 ADCD Paper Fashion Show

Denver, Colo. (PRWEB) May 15, 2009 — Paper fashion isn’t just for childhood paper dolls anymore. Paper fashion has hit a new level of originality: the runway. Philosophy Communication, Inc., a Denver-based marketing and public relations agency was honored as winner of the 2009 Paper Fashion Show.
Philosophy ruled the runway with a “paper” strategy that the fashion show has never experienced: capri paper pants. With 380 attendees and 37 competitors, Philosophy Communication dazzled the crowd with a delicate peacock ensemble made of finely cut paper pieces and folds accompanied by large moveable paper wings.

PR’s Public Flogging

PR Week has an article this week about a second editor who has posted a black list of PR professionals who have sent her unwelcome pitches. Gina Trapani, editor of Lifehacker, followed in the footsteps of Wired magazine editor, Chris Anderson, posting the e-mail addresses of PR people who have not met their expectations for pitching stories.

I understand reporters’ frustration. Public relations professionals have a responsibility to research a publication, formulate a pitch that is relevant to an outlet’s readers or viewers and send the pitch to the right person. However, this mass posting of PR professionals’ e-mail addresses demonstrates a severe lack of understanding of our own professional responsibilities, time constraints and the demands placed upon us.

Annoying Advertising

In a recent lunch meeting, I was minding my own business making a delicious turkey sandwich when something on the deli bag caught my eye. It was an advertisement for a television show…on the deli bag sticker! What? Is there nothing sacred anymore? It is understandable that ads might be on a brand name box of chips. This is something I expect, and of course, completely ignore. However, when ads start popping up on the store brand’s deli bags, the ads have gone too far.

Ethical Dilemmas

When I co-founded Philosophy Communication, my dad gave me a short but extremely valuable piece of business advice that I find myself recalling a few times each month. I thought the advice was worthy of a blog post, since I often share it with so many peers and business owners. His wisdom is terrific for businesses searching for the “right” thing to do. The advice: “Whatever you do in business, make sure you can discuss it at the dinner table with the people involved.” Sounds simple, but not always as easy as it sounds.

Ms. Communication

Or rather, miscommunication is the root of so much strife in the world, from interpersonal relationships to global politics. With technology sprinting ahead faster than we can thoroughly grasp it, opportunities for miscommunication have multiplied.

Who cares about my brand?

For those of you who dare ask this question to someone who works in public relations or marketing, the answer is, “everyone!”
Take the famous golden arches – think there is a single American alive who doesn’t immediately associate this symbol with McDonald’s tasty Big Macs and French fries?
Try this tagline: “Just Do It.” Nike, anyone? How about this one: “Don’t leave home without it.” Your American Express card, that is.
According to the American Marketing Association, a brand is a name, term, design, symbol or other feature that distinguishes products or services from competitive offerings. A brand defines your company and includes components like your company name, logo and tagline.

Could This Be A Viable Business?

If there is one thing that I know for sure, it is that I absolutely wish to deliver the correct information to reporters on the first try. Having worked on both the newsroom and media relations side, I empathize with the inundation of phone calls, e-mail and mail that reporters receive. However, I have always wondered one thing. Why don’t reporters create a Web page outlining specifically how they like to receive information and when? Yes, it is our job to read past articles and be most familiar with the publication. Though, it isn’t always that simple nor is it that clear. I wonder if that could be a business endeavor – creating reporter Web pages clearly outlining all of the specifics for detail-orientated public relations professionals? A fee that I am certain public relations professionals would more than gladly pay. Hmmmm…I wonder?

Who Can You Trust?

Information overload has never been more real. Today we can get information about any topic that interests us, from Britney’s latest exploits to the political climate in Turkey, with just a click of the mouse. Between the Internet with its myriad news and information sources; hundreds of television channels, many that cover only one topic; and the usual suspects of newspapers, magazines and the nightly news, there’s little we can’t uncover. Unfortunately, this explosion in media options has brought confusion about legitimacy and agenda of those reporting news.

Did I Say That?

Communication is all in the context, right? I could say, “You are hopelessly romantic,” but if your cell phone cut out and you only heard “you are hopeless,” you’d probably never speak to me again. And here I am thinking I’m paying you a compliment.

The altitude of attitude.

Media relations always seemed like a good fit for me, and finally, one day I was ready to give it a try. In the beginning, I was a bit naïve, thinking that everybody would give me the time of day, listen to my pitch, and I would go on placing articles, case studies and product mentions right and left. After getting my feet wet for a few weeks, I realized that this may not be the case. But what I also realized throughout what seemed like a million pitching phone calls and e-mails was the importance of keeping a good attitude, or how I like to say, “keeping the altitude of my good attitude high and the altitude of my bad attitude, low.”

What’s the Story?

It seems like common sense, but some of us public relations professionals occasionally lose sight of exactly what it is we are pitching to the media. We can get wrapped up in the client’s vision- Yes, indeed, YOURS IS the GREATEST, MOST INNOVATIVE hands free fishing pole on the market- and allow our focus to deviate. But our job is to know our clients inside and out, take a step back, put on our “objective” glasses, and creatively discern what their story is.
It’s not always that easy, but isn’t that why they are paying us the medium-to-big-bucks vs. doing it themselves?

What’s up with all the bad writers who think they can write?

Art directors, executive assistants, lawyers, CEOs, and yes, even fellow marketers, express with great confidence that they are great writers. To me, proclaiming that you are a great writer is no different from saying that you can sing – and not Pop Princess Britney Spears smoke-and-mirrors kind of singing. I mean real singing, where you can close your eyes, and the emotion, sound and tone of the voice truly moves the listener, transporting them to a whole new place

Can I Have a PR onThat?

Earlier in my career I had a colleague ask me for “a PR.” She came into my office, told me about a new service her department was launching, and said, “I’m going to need a PR on that.” Not understanding what she really meant, I said, “no problem” and began developing my strategy. After all, I’d spent my entire career thus far in PR. I even deliberately earned a degree in PR in college.