Category: agency news

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People on the Move

We’ve been…let’s just say lax…about keeping up on new hires and such around the state lately. That being said, here’s what’s been happening lately:

Wire Stone
[wire] stoneIn February, Wire Stone announced the formalization of practice areas for Client Engagement and Delivery Management to complement the existing Creative, Technology and Strategy disciplines. With that, they also announced that Bill Coffey has been promoted to Chief of Delivery Management.

Coffey brings more than 20 years of experience in enterprise technology, channel marketing, project management and business strategy to this role. Having previously served as Director of Operations, he spent the last several years providing business intelligence and internal reporting insights while elevating project management practices.

In addition, Chad Brusse has been promoted from Senior Copywriter to Copy Director and Functional Manager of the Boise office’s copy team.

Oliver Russell
Mike StevensIn March, Oliver Russell added art director Mike Stevens to its staff.

As an art director, Stevens will develop engaging visual solutions for interactive, print, and motion graphics projects. A self-professed ski bum, prior to Oliver Russell he worked for Scott USA, Sun Valley Magazine, and Wood River Technologies in Sun Valley, Idaho. He is experienced in a broad range of design, from print to interactive, from textiles to tradeshow exhibits. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the Whitworth University, majoring in business administration with a minor in design.

Foerstel Design
Cody GaeckAlso in March, Foerstel Design added to their staff, with Cody Gacek joining their team as a web designer and developer.

Cody comes with eight years of experience and most recently has worked as a contract agent for Foerstel. He moved to Boise about two years ago from Phoenix, in part because of its positive vibe and variety of outdoor activities such as mountain biking.

Congratulations to all.

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The math of digital display campaigns

Not to scale - 2.5:1
Image to scale, shrunk 3:1

Here’s a math equation for you, let me know if you think I’m confused:

$5 is more expensive than $9.

Got it? You hand me five dollars, and it will cost you more than if you hand me nine Mr. Washingtons.

No?

Let me explain.

Many providers of digital advertisements will charge you somewhere between $5 and $9 per thousand ads to show your local display ad. These ads work – fantastically. You capture an audience that is focused, and in a place to act (often sitting at their desk at work or at home).

But where are those ad impressions going to show? Are they going to show at all?

Here’s a tip: always make sure you require that your ad be shown above the fold. While that newspaper term is a little old-fashioned – it captures a simple concept: you want your ad to show on the top part of a website – not below the “fold” or scroll line. Why? Because chances are your ad isn’t going to be seen. Some sites will run three, four – even five ads in the right column – stacked up, or spread out from the top to the bottom. The only ad unit that is guaranteed to be seen is the top one.

So back to the math.

Let’s say Website A charges you $9 per thousand ads – but guarantees the message will run “ATF” or above the fold. That means that the vast majority of your impressions will be seen by a human being.

Website B will cut you a heck of a deal – just $5 per thousand ads. But they carry three ad units in the right hand column of their site – and only 1/3rd of your ads will show above the fold. That means your $5 worth of ads is only guaranteed to be seen by human eyes 333 times.

Website A – $9 for 1,000 impressions.
Website B – $5 for 333 impressions.

Simple math shows that you are really paying $15 to get 1,000 guaranteed impressions.

Now, some of those below the fold ad units will be seen – but on the home and landing pages, the vast majority of users don’t scroll very much. Also, once a user takes an action like scrolling, they are less likely to see your ad message.

If you’re a local advertiser looking to make your dollar go as far as you can – either buy sites that only place your ads above the fold, or require that site to run your ads above the fold.

(Disclosure: Don Day is the digital sales & product manager for KTVB.COM).

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Something’s brewing with the ITD

Woodland Empire Ale Craft Sign

Imitation is the sincerest [form] of flattery. – Charles Caleb Colton

It appears that the Idaho Transportation Department isn’t a fan of craft brew. Or, more specifically, a billboard about craft brew that looks too similar to their highway signs.

So they’ve requested that Woodland Empire Ale Craft take theirs down.

The billboard, created by Oliver Russell, was meant to leverage the environment at the intersection of 11th and Front streets on the connector. As westbound vehicles approach the intersection, they are presented with a row of existing highway directional signs. The Woodland Empire billboard emulates the colors and graphics of these directional signs, but with a headline that reads “Craft Beer–Right Here.”

Woodland Empire contacted the City of Boise prior to erecting the sign, and was told it had no regulations governing design requirements for an on-premise billboard atop a private business’s roof. Turns out, according to Dusty Schmidt, one of the brewery’s partners, this is a very special case. “Because we sit within the city limits, we thought we were in the good, but our brewery also happens to be near the connector, which is actually a state highway with different rules.”

It’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission. – Grace Hopper

By no means is this the first time that a business has gone the ‘ask forgiveness’ route with signage, names, or other identifying marks. In recent memory, Boise Fry Company originally opened as Idaho Fry Company, but was forced to change their name after the Idaho Potato Commission determined it infringed on IPC’s certification mark on the use of the word Idaho with anything related to potatoes.

As for Woodland Empire Ale Craft’s sign, Schmidt said the brewery never intended to create a traffic issue, and that the brewery is now in discussions with ITD. “We just wanted to let the 37,000 daily commuters know where they could get a delicious, hand-crafted beer,” he said.

And true to character, Dave Cook, Oliver Russell’s creative director, questions whether it constitutes a true safety hazard given the many other signs and billboards along Front Street. “All billboards distract drivers,” he said. “Especially the good ones.”

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New names in the agency directory

Long time readers of Idaho Ad Agencies may recall the agency directory, which is a relatively complete list of agencies throughout the state of Idaho.

Recently, that list has seen the addition of a couple new names.

Fahlgren Mortine opened an office in Boise just over six months ago. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, they also have offices in Cleveland, Dayton, Cincinnati and Toledo, Ohio, Parkersburg and Charleston, West Virginia, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and Denver, Colorado. Fahlgren Mortine provides a full-service offering to clients in 29 states from California to Connecticut, with industry specializations in automotive, business-to-business, consumer packaged goods, education, financial services, healthcare, retail, technology, and tourism and economic development.

Their Boise office services clients such as Scentsy, JR Simplot Company, Independent Doctors of Idaho, the Idaho State Dental Associations as well as pro bono work for the Idaho Foodbank.

Propeople is the other new addition to the list, and also opened an office in Boise last summer — their tenth office worldwide. Propeople describes themselves as “a full-service digital agency leveraging the latest trends and technology to provide advanced web development, elegant design, and business-savvy strategy.”

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New year. New hires at Drake Cooper

Screwball headline aside, Drake Cooper started off the new year with two senior-level additions to their staff: Colleen Morgan, who’s joining as Sr. Graphic Designer and Susan Becker, joining as Brand Manager.

From the post on Drake Cooper’s site about their new hires:

Colleen Morgan

Colleen MorganColleen brings over 16 years of design and advertising goodness to Drake Cooper. In that time, she has lived in the agency world as well as both corporate and non-profit sectors while honing her skills in branding, design and creative strategy. In that time, she has lived in the agency world as well as both corporate and non-profit sectors while honing her skills in branding, design and creative strategy. For a designer, her right and left-brain are surprisingly balanced.

Susan Becker

Susan BeckerSusan brings over fifteen years of marketing experience to her role at Drake Cooper, seven of those being with Portland-based Columbia Sportswear. As the promotions operations manager for Columbia she developed sponsorship programs with partners including NBC’s 2002 Winter Olympics, ESPN’s XGames, Sundance Film Festival, and The Discovery Channel. Since moving to Boise in 2008 Susan’s roles have included marketing manager at BOB Trailers, sponsorship manager with The Exergy Tour, and various consulting roles for businesses in the area.