Every time I watch the show, or even last season’s tagalong “The Pitch,” I say a prayer of gratitude that I work at Imagine Communications and not an agency SDCPCGC (real or fictional). Many of the agency situations they get into are real life, whether you’re working with a multi-million dollar account or a mom and pop business. The realness is part of the appeal. But that extends past the client-agency relationship and into the agency workings and culture.

If you’ve worked with Imagine, you already know that everyone matters and everyone helps. Clients are partners and employees are valued. Kind of the anti-“Mad Men” culture.

In a blog published on Crain’s Detroit Business website, “Don’t be like the ‘Mad Men,’” author Amy Haimerl discusses the downfalls of running an agency like SDCPCGC, especially one that has jumped from the small time to the big time. She offers these tips:

1. Have a vision: Know where you want to be in three to five years. The “Mad Men” “strategy” of chasing the next big thing is fading to black.
2. Establish a culture: “In stage one, the culture is ‘We have to make whatever work work.’ If you’re on a team of eight or 12, everyone is kind of on the same page naturally.
3. Manage talent: Finding and retaining talent is a significant challenge; be creative about it.
4. Marketing is critical: “They are more opportunist and waiting for the phone to ring. … Now, because of the complexity of the buyers and them having more options, the phones just aren’t ringing the way they used to.”

Practical advice, don’t you think? It goes beyond the advertising industry and can be applied to any company. You can read the full article (with more details) here:http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20130616/BLOG017/306169993/dont-be-like-the-mad-men

How do (or did) you avoid growing pains in your company?

Nadia Zerka is a client relations manager at Imagine Communications. She can be reached at nzerka@weareimagine.com.

The Imagine team enjoying a movie at the Henderson-based business, Movies & Candy.

Here at Imagine Communications, we’re a little quirky. Nary a day goes by when there isn’t some sort of mischief going on, and Nerf guns, music, chalk and chit-chat are regular staples in our office. On non-meeting days, we dress casually. On Fridays, many of us take an hour break for a personal training session at the park. But we don’t just work out together; we often take group lunches, or group paycheck deposit trips, or group oil change trips, or go see a movie together. While these things are what make Imagine a great place to work, they’re also strategic. Our environment, which fosters creativity and allows for tangents, sets the perfect stage for productivity and high-level work.

Still, not everyone is impressed by our artsy, creative atmosphere and genuine personalities. For some, our happy, easy-going attitudes and comfortable professional attire are off-putting, and we’ve seen more than one potential client opt for a slicker firm with smoother attitudes and clothes to match. We’ve also had more than one potential client return to us months – or even a year – later admitting they made a mistake in their firm selection.

What these companies who return realize is that when you’re looking for high-level creative services, it’s OK to go with a creative, quirky firm. You want people who ooze creativity from their every pore.

The same is true no matter what service company you’re looking to hire. While it’s important to select a company that’s likeminded, you shouldn’t be looking for another you; you want to find someone who produces top work in their field – that’s why you’re hiring someone, right? – and does so in a way that works best for them.

So what matters and what doesn’t when choosing a service company? That’s up to you. I would recommend making a list of your top priorities before you begin interviews; make a fresh copy of this list to bring with you as you meet with each potential service provider and jot down notes and thoughts as they relate to these priorities. At the end, you should have one or more clear choices laid out before you, in your words.

Melissa Biernacinski serves as Director of Media Relations for Imagine Communications. Email Melissa at mbiernacinski@weareimagine.com.

I was recently at UNLV serving as a Career Day speaker for one of my favorite professor’s journalism students. Before I entered the class, I stopped in the restroom. Hanging in each of the stalls was a beaded necklace sporting a cardboard square reading:

Side one:

Hey, I just met you

& this is crazy

But here’s my number

Side two:

Call me maybe…

702.785.0358

Side two also had a QR code.

Perhaps it’s my general curiosity, or my journalism background, or my career in marketing/public relations, but they had me. I’ve enjoyed reading about how different people and organizations have threaded Carly Rae Jepsen’s wildly popular lyrics into their marketing efforts – whether it’s guys marketing themselves to women or businesses marketing to consumers – and wanted to see what this was about.

I snagged the necklace and checked out the QR code, which led me to a website for the apartment building near campus. Clever.

Overall, the piece was a little disjointed – the necklace (random), the “I just met you” part when the necklaces were presented with no human interaction (not quite fitting), the lack of continuing the theme on the website itself (lack of follow-through). However, it did do its job, at least in my case. It got me to their website on the cheap, and that’s all it really needs to do. After that, it’s the website’s job to take the baton.

All in all, a fun grassroots marketing tool. I approve. What’s a guerilla marketing technique that caught your attention recently?

Melissa Biernacinski serves as Director of Media Relations for Imagine Communications. Contact Melissa at mbiernacinski@weareimagine.com. 

As a designer some of what we do is subjective, we choose the color yellow because it looks good with the rest of the design when using orange would work just as well. There are a lot of things though, that are done for a reason, which may not be apparent to the average person. One of these things is the use of empty space, which we refer to as “white space”. White space is a very important part of a design, it can just look like empty space that is being wasted that could be filled with text or imagery, but is indeed a necessity.

Lets look at this from a different perspective. Your living room is situated in a way that it is a useful space. If we look at it there is a lot of empty space, but this empty space serves a purpose, the purpose of allowing you to move around freely and use the room. If we filled this space you would have a hard time getting to the couch, you would be stuck and you most likely begin to choose not to go into the living room.

The same thing applies to a design. There are certain things we do to make your eyes move around the page in the order we want them to, the use of white space is one tool we use. Just like the empty spaces in your living room, white space in a design allows your eyes to move freely around the page and helps us to put emphasis on the important items. Take out this white space and we run into the same problem you would have if your living room was filled, your eyes get stuck, you have a hard time finding the important information (the couch) there is so much to look at, it can be overwhelming and you may choose not to look at it at all.

One of the most recognizable ads that display just how awesome white space can be is the Iconic Volkswagen bug campaign, below, just look at all that empty space! And next to it is a wonderful example of trying to take advantage of every last drop of space by filling it with content, gives me a headache just looking at the thing. Basically, when it comes down to it, empty space is much more than just empty space, it is “white space”, and the world could use a little more white space.

Cynthia Carbajal serves as Art Director for Imagine Communications.

Email Cynthia at ccarbajal@weareimagine.com.

Melissa Biernacinski, director of media relations

Recently my co-workers and I had breakfast at a local restaurant. For the majority of our nearly two hours there, ours was the only table occupied. Upon ordering our meals, several of us modified our orders. When our food came out an hour or so later, there were a few mistakes.

“Well, it was only a matter of time,” our waitress said a few times as she sorted everything out.

My question is, was it?

Being a server is a difficult job. However, there are many people out there who are excellent waiters and waitresses. The same goes for all difficult professions; there are those who are good, and there are those who aren’t. And while everyone is bound to make mistakes, it’s those who expect that they will make errors, or who justify their errors, who will make more of them. Guaranteed. The old expression, “If you think you can, you’re right, and if you think you can’t, you’re right,” says it perfectly.

While some people are self-motivators and will ensure they do good work no matter what, many people get their guidance and motivation from the top – whether it’s directly or via middle management.

Therefore, it is incumbent upon each and every business owner to set the tone for his or her business. If you expect your employees to do well, they will; if you expect them to do poorly, they will. Those who motivate themselves and do well in any environment will seek employment elsewhere if their standards are higher than management’s.

What tone have you set for your business? Is it working for you?

Melissa Biernacinski serves as Director of Media Relations for Imagine Communications. Email Melissa at mbiernacinski@weareimagine.com.

When I see people in the world solving problems in order to make success happen, it restores my faith that creativity, like love, can withstand and push through, despite the challenges.

Recently, Rob Thomas, a Hollywood writer/producer, started a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a movie he’s wanted to do for six years. He turned to Kickstarter because, even though most of the cast was on board, studios wouldn’t touch it – they didn’t think the popularity of “Veronica Mars,” the TV show from which the film would be based, had the audience for it, especially six years after the show was canceled three seasons into its existence on UPN and The CW.

So, he turned to Kickstarter, which delivers a platform for artists to raise money to fund and complete their projects. If the monetary goal is not met in the time frame allotted (usually 30 days), the pledge dies and the donors owe nothing. The burden to hit the goal and rally the troops is on the artist. Typically, said artist will offer up incentives for different levels of contributions to entice more pledges.

Thomas’ goal was to raise $2 million in 30 days – more than the website had previously raised, ever.

I’ve had friends’ careers pushed forward by projects on Kickstarter, so the fact he went that route was no surprise, especially after getting turned down by studios. Warner Brothers, which owned the rights to the TV show, pledged they would help with distribution if the money was raised to produce the film.

On day one, in the first 10 hours, the project surpassed the $2 million goal. With 25 days to go in its 30-day run, 55,400 people raised $3.6 million. Granted, the show has a widespread fan base that includes Hollywood super nerds like Joss Whedon (“The Avengers”), but it’s no “Dark Knight Rises.” The fast funding even surprised Thomas.

The moral to this story is, Thomas almost thought it was a foregone conclusion that his creative vision for this film would never be realized. The obstacles couldn’t be cleared. The twists and turns couldn’t be navigated. Although fans seemed to want it, and actress Kristen Bell (Veronica) was consistently asked on talk shows if the movie would ever happen, it seemed to be a pipe dream, fodder for fan sites. Creativity is more than coming up with the idea; it’s about solving the problems that get in the way of it becoming a reality. And, in the end, the journey is worth it.

Tiffannie Bond is a media relations specialist at Imagine Communications.

Email Tiffannie at tbond@weareimagine.com

That type of assumption makes me happy for a number of reasons:

• As business partners, Alex Raffi and I do our best to play a supporting role during client meetings. We only help when we feel we can contribute something of value. Apparently that leveraging tactic is working.
• It demonstrates that the Imagine team conducts itself in a manner befitting of owners; that they really do “take ownership” in the firm.
• The ownership attitude communicates a sense of quiet confidence to our clients, always beneficial in the relationship-building process.
• The autonomy (and lack of micromanagement) our team values is producing positive outcomes.
• Long term, this gives us viable options for our organization’s succession strategy.

Although this example specifically focuses on Melissa and Megan, I know it could just as easily apply to any Imagine team member. And that’s just the way we like it.

Brian Rouff serves as managing partner for Imagine Communications.

Contact Brian at brouff@weareimagine.com.

Eastside Yoga Centre is their brick and mortar place, a studio fighting to stand out in an over-saturated market. Alan, the dealer, explained that competition was fierce and those who practice yoga have several places from which to choose. So he and Dianne, his wife, came up with a unique way to differentiate themselves while expanding and reaching an entire new customer base, all without incurring any additional overhead. They opened an online studio.

Yogasteya.com, an online extension of their brand, has more than 50 classes available and they are adding new ones weekly. The tagline, “Your Studio, Wherever You Are” sums up the experience perfectly. They found a niche market for those who practice yoga and may not always have the time or energy to attend a class. And the cost is reasonable; only $12 a month gives you unlimited access to classes – less than the average cost of one drop-in class at a yoga studio. Since opening in 2012, the site has attracted members from around the globe.

What Dianne and Alan created is nothing short of brilliant. They found a way to be successful without sacrificing the integrity of the product. They found a way to expand without taking on too much risk. They found a way to give the people what they want, when they want it. It’s the perfect storm of creative courage and business sense that creates a marketing strategy that works.

If you are facing an oversaturated market, take a step back and think about your products. How can you expand your product or service offering? Are you serving your customers or yourself? How can you take your marketing off the mat?

Nadia Zerka is a client relations manager at Imagine Communications. She can be reached at nzerka@weareimagine.com.

I have to admit, we considered doing the same. And yet, after some consideration, we just couldn’t pull the trigger. More than anything, it came down to one thing: creativity. That’s what we sell around here. That’s the difference-maker. It’s still one of the few aspects of business that can’t be commoditized.

And how does creativity happen? Usually not by sitting alone in an office staring a hole through the computer screen. No, it’s a product of human interaction, sometimes structured, sometimes less so. We’ve written about brainstorming sessions before; they’re an invaluable tool, especially when people have worked together and respected each other as long as we have.

But more often than not, creativity is sparked by happy accidents. The casual remark in the hallway. Some wordplay between co-workers. A quick doodle on a whiteboard. Like a summer storm, it can appear at any moment. And dissipate just as fast.

Phones and emails and Skype are valuable conveniences; we couldn’t do our jobs without them. But they’re also barriers; extra layers that get in the way of true creative magic. I’m sure you’ve experienced teleconferences and webinars where you weren’t completely engaged, even when you wanted to be. It’s because technology trumps nuance. Synergy gets sapped when it’s converted into electrical impulses.

Sometimes the best decisions are the ones you don’t make. I’m pleased to say that we kept our office and our team intact. Sure, some of us work from home from time to time. But the real breakthroughs happen up close and personal. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Brian Rouff serves as managing partner for Imagine Communications.

Contact Brian at brouff@weareimagine.com.

Megan:

Growing up my Dad would always stuff our stockings with practical joke gifts like hot dogs and fake dog poop. You never knew what you were going to get!

Melissa:

A few years ago, Marek (my then boyfriend, now husband) got a number of my friends, family members and other people special to me to write me a letter. He then scanned in all the letters and had them made into a book, which he gave me for Christmas. To this day, it is one of my most prized possessions.

Nadia:

When we first moved back to the States, my parents, aunts and uncles all went out to celebrate New Year’s Eve, leaving all the cousins together at our house. I thought it was so cool, having our own party and staying up late. It still is one of my favorite New Year’s celebrations.

Tiffannie:

My sister and I used to go to my grandparents’ house five blocks away on Christmas Eve, eat pizza, play with her really cool decorations and visit relatives. Parents never came along … hmmm ….

Donna:

My favorite holiday memory is waking up at my grandma’s house the day after Thanksgiving to the smell of coffee and our secret tradition of eating leftover pumpkin pie for breakfast before anyone else got up.

Julie:

As a child, after sleeping (hardly) for a short while, I would wake up bright and early and sort all the presents under the tree. I would place all the gifts in designated piles beside where I would choose for each family member to be seated.

Also, can’t forget mom’s traditional bread/cheese morning breakfast dish. Not the healthiest, but always comforting to wake up to. YUM!

Cynthia:

My favorite holiday memory is building snowmen. Growing up in Utah, where it actually snows, we would get all bundled up – two pairs of pants, two or three pairs of socks, snow boots, sweater and coat, scarves, earmuffs, mittens, and hats. My fingers, toes and nose would be numb when we eventually came back inside, but even numb toes were no match for the fun of playing in the snow!

Diana:

My favorite holiday memory this Christmas, and for all my Christmases to follow, is from last year, Dec. 24, 2011 at 8 p.m., when Eric proposed.

Gail:

My favorite holiday memory is from my childhood. We had a park in my hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan called Bronson Park. Every year it was decorated in fine fashion for Christmas. There were lights on all the trees, Santa on his sled with his reindeer were “flying” across the fountain. There was a giant snowman at the entrance. But my FAVORITE thing, the thing that I looked forward to every year, was candy cane lane. Looking back on it, it wasn’t that big of a deal – just a walkway lined by giant candy canes. But to my childhood self, if felt so magical to walk down that candy cane-lined path; I pretended they were real and that I could lean over and take a taste. To me, that candy cane lane signaled the arrival of the holiday.