A Case Study in Terrible Advertising:

All too often, we see ads that were based on a great idea, but then executed terribly. Coors Light recently put up a new billboard on my way to work. It’s the same design they’ve been running for a long time now with a frosty beer can on the right, and a witty saying on the left. This month’s witty saying? “You’ve just been poked by an Ice Cold Beer”.

I can picture the 50 year old Ad execs of Coors now… “I know! We will run an ad making a reference to that popular FaceBook site! Kids love that place!” Correct they were. Kids of all ages do love that place. FaceBook has been a massive success and leveraging an ad campaign with reference to it is almost a sure fire hit. Unfortunately, they referenced one of the worst things about FaceBook.

The Poke feature on FaceBook is ridiculed in the majority of social circles, mocked by internet commentators and is generally frowned upon by the users of FaceBook. Site users have made valiant attempts to rid the site of this feature, calling it “childish, lame and a waste of space.” The only thing keeping it alive is FaceBook’s stubborn love of their original project. This isn’t anything I would want my brand referencing in a positive light. With a little more research and a little more time spent talking to actual FaceBook users, and Coors could have had a much stronger advertising campaign. “Get poked in real life” is a much better reference than “I’m the creepy guy who pokes people late a night” (on FaceBook of course).

OutRight Communications is a marketing, design and PR firm that can skillfully craft your public image. Our team works together to ensure that your message is delivered to the public, whatever your message may be. We specialize in long term image crafting, publicity, web & graphic design, press releases & media interviews, author services & book publicity, media buys, and creative writing. Get in touch today to solve your media problems!

Grow Your Market Share

The doom and gloom newspaper writers and anchormen want you to believe that you have no hope against the economic down turn. That there is nothing you can do but grab onto something solid and hold on. They are wrong. Very, very wrong. For the wise, far-sighted, strategic business owners, this slow down is a blessing. Why? Because you can be smarter than your competitors. Market share is up for grabs, it's time to position yourself properly.

Many businesses are slashing their marketing budgets, filling the airwaves with horrendously poor ads. This illogical response to declining revenue has opened the door for you. Instead of cutting your budget or allowing an ad that looks cheap to represent your business, it's time to develop your brand. Take the step and allow professionals to manage your public image. Put a stop to the terrible ad campaigns your near-sighted competitors are doing and remember that your brand image is with you for the long run. Here in Edmonton, radio stations are struggling to sell ad space, something that should never be happening! Use your marketing budget wisely and get your name out. Expand your marketing to make sure your business is always growing. Becoming a house hold name means you'll always be busy. So why are you not taking steps to become a house hold name?

Watching an hour of T.V makes this point very easy to see. Corporate giants like Apple, Microsoft, Nike, Disney and McDonalds are producing the same high quality ads they always have been. The leaders of those companies know that everyone is weaker right now, which means market share is up for grabs. By promoting yourself with high quality ads, you can stand out much easier during a recession than during the boom years. If your competitors have cut their ad budgets, you have the opportunity to capture the market. Now is the time to make yourself a house hold name, when your competition can’t compete.

OutRight Communications is a marketing, design and PR firm that can skillfully craft your public image. Our team works together to ensure that your message is delivered to the public, whatever your message may be. We specialize in long term image crafting, publicity, web & graphic design, press releases & media interviews, author services & book publicity, media buys, and creative writing. Get in touch today to solve your media problems!

What do you mean growth doesn't last forever?

Everyone who has had their doors open over the last 5 years has felt the great joy of expanding and growing their business. Unfortunately, due to no fault of your own, that growth has likely stopped. But, instead of passively blaming greedy Wall Street suits while allowing your business to stagnate, take advantage of the down turn. Many great leaders have spoken of turning an obstacle into an advantage and now it's your turn to do just that.

• Take this time to re-set the foundation of your business. If you overstretched yourself during the boom years, take this time to re-establish yourself around your home base.
• Get market research done to ensure your ads are reaching your target market.
• Re-connect with your best customers; establish a relationship that will help both of you prepare for sustained growth.
• Take this time to make sure your business is running as efficiently as possible.
• Design new ways to distribute, manage, or create your product.
• If the days at work aren't as busy as they used to be, take advantage of the slow times by networking with others in the field, fix bridges you may have burnt in mad attempts to get that order filled during the boom.
• Create and establish a public image that ensures your phone will never stop ringing, boom or bust.

You couldn't do those things doing the boom, but you sure can now. A recession is not the end of the world. It's an opportunity to re-set your business for growth in the years to come.

OutRight Communications is a marketing, design and PR firm that can skillfully craft your public image. Our team works together to ensure that your message is delivered to the public, whatever your message may be. We specialize in long term image crafting, publicity, web & graphic design, press releases & media interviews, author services & book publicity, media buys, and creative writing. Get in touch today to solve your media problems!

Beating Goliath

Malcolm Gladwells latest article for the New Yorker is, like everything else that flows from his finger tips, a golden piece of literature. The incredibly successful author of The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers recently jumped into the land of the underdog. His article uncovers a fascinating trend.

- Political scientist Ivan Arreguin-Toft has studied every war fought in the last 200 years that featured an overwhelming military favorite. As predicted, the favorites won in over 70% of the wars. But what makes his study worth mentioning, is that when the underdog embraced their weakness and chose unconventional strategies, they won. Convincingly. In fact, over 60% of the time, when the underdogs did what only the underdog could do, they won. This trend is not limiting just to the battle field, but is similarly found in sports, software engineering, and other games of strategy.

So what does this mean for you?

Well, there are two messages you can take home from this article.

1) If you are the little guy on the block, you can win. In fact, if you welcome the opportunities that being the underdog presents, odds are you will win. You just have to have more passion, more drive, and a stronger commitment than the big guy.

2) You must do things differently than the Goliath. This matters most to marketing. Goliath is known by everyone after they watch their first hour of T.V and spend a day reading billboards. You have to be creative with your media presence. Don’t fight Goliath by using T.V ads and radio placement, hit them quietly. Use local events, the internet, and the press as your key weapons in battle. Embrace viral and guerrilla marketing tactics. Allow your inner David to take charge and take down Goliath, one step at a time.

And if you get discouraged remember you don’t become a giant without spending time as the small guy first. McDonalds, Starbucks, and Blockbuster all started out as local Mom and Pop stores. Produce a quality product while using effective marketing and one day you’ll be fighting off challengers.

OutRight Communications is a marketing, design and PR firm that can skillfully craft your public image. Our team works together to ensure that your message is delivered to the public, whatever your message may be. We specialize in long term image crafting, publicity, web & graphic design, press releases & media interviews, author services & book publicity, media buys, and creative writing. Get in touch today to solve your media problems!

Staying Ahead of The Curve

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education
- Mark Twain

Mark Twain said and wrote a lot of great things, but none of them resound with businesses today quite like this one. The Internet has fundamentally and drastically changed the way the world works, yet most of us received our education in a pre-Internet world. Have you taken the time to learn how to grow your business using the Internet?

Reading books and blogs about this new, digital business age can help turn your project from small to huge. Taking the time to learn how to grow your online presence and attract clients and readers without using traditional advertising, can save your budget and create a ripple effect of growth.

Make it your goal to spend a couple of hours every week to not only keep up to date on your industry, but to also take the time to learn what you didn’t learn in school. Go get your http://www.sixmonthmba.com/. Learn about becoming more productive through www.lifehacks.org. Step into the minds of New York Times best selling authors and Internet gurus at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ and http://www.thelongtail.com/

The business world is constantly evolving; shouldn't your education be as well?




Mark Guest is the director of Social Media for OutRight communications

OutRight Communications is a marketing, design and PR firm that can skillfully craft your public image. Our team works together to ensure that your message is delivered to the public, whatever your message may be. We specialize in long term image crafting, publicity, web & graphic design, press releases & media interviews, author services & book publicity, media buys, and creative writing. Get in touch today to solve your media problems!

Inspiration Injection

We’ve all been there.

This nagging project is on your task list, yet you are STILL looking at that blank screen or page with no ideas in sight. Sure, a brilliant idea MAY pop into your head at 3 a.m. – but deadlines can’t always wait!

Here are some techniques to spark creative ideas, ready for when YOU need them:

• Brainstorm without boundaries. Sketch ideas. Let your mind wander to extremes, and write everything that comes to mind – good, bad or ugly. Sometimes even a bad idea can be the catalyst to a GREAT idea.
• Take a mind-vacation. Like the watched pot that never boils, great concepts often can’t be forced. Take a break. Call a friend to chat about her day, bake a cake, work on another project, go for a walk on the beach, … Take your mind off the task at hand by working on something completely unrelated, and the solution may pop out at you!
• Adjust your perspective. After a break, take a fresh look at the project. Putting yourself in the shoes of someone perceiving it for the first time can often shed new light on it. What does the new perspective show you?

Now, tackle that project!

OutRight Communications is a marketing, design and PR firm that can skillfully craft your public image. Our team works together to ensure that your message is delivered to the public, whatever your message may be. We specialize in long term image crafting, publicity, web & graphic design, press releases & media interviews, author services & book publicity, media buys, and creative writing. Get in touch today to solve your media problems!

The right space to create

Whether you are in an office setting, or setting up shop at home, having the right space to create is incredibly important. You might not think that when you are setting up your computer and desk that it is going to make much of a difference in your productivity, but it is amazing how your work can be affected by the placement of a monitor or laptop- especially if they are in the wrong places.

You don't have to be a believer in Feng Shui to realize that facing a window is much nicer than facing a wall. At OutRight Communications, our business is built on opening the creative mind to all kinds of stimuli, and if the space we are in doesn't help us write and design- then we don't have a business!!

So take a little time to really think out your floor plan and how you want your business to run. Simple things like making a change to a wireless keyboard and mouse so you feel less constricted is one way to feel a little more freedom from your computer. Placing plants (real or fake) around you, or having a favourite inspirational poem in front of you can keep you focused and energized to work.

And most of all- don't eat your lunch at your desk!! Resist the temptation to work on your lunch break. You need that time to step back and out of your work- both your brain and body will thank you!


OutRight Communications is a marketing, design and PR firm that can skillfully craft your public image. Our team works together to ensure that your message is delivered to the public, whatever your message may be. We specialize in long term image crafting, publicity, web & graphic design, press releases & media interviews, author services & book publicity, media buys, and creative writing. Get in touch today to solve your media problems!