We’re hoping this will be the first in a series of a different kind of blog posting style. A lot of discussions at Translator happen over IM, so we figured, why not share in the same format? We’re all about transparency right? Interested in your feedback on both the style and the topic! First up… digital education. Enjoy!
Posts Tagged ‘digital agencies’
August 15th, 2010
Written by Cynthia Thomas
@deziner
Shifting the ‘Build It’ Paradigm
“If you build it, they will come.”
We’ve heard the line used so many times. First coined in the movie “Field of Dreams,” its meaning has been morphed into a rally cry, inspiration and motivation to produce something. When lack of involvement or acceptance hinders the production of an idea or service, many turn to the this sentiment as the soothing nudge to move forward. Put your effort into building it, and you will be rewarded with people using it.
July 1st, 2010
Written by Mark Fairbanks
@markfairbanks
Branding lessons from a bean counter
It’s a valuable lesson (one that you can’t learn soon enough) to get in the mindset that you are always self employed—even if you receive a paycheck from an employer. Yes, it’s good to identify with and be proud of the company you work for. But in an industry as volatile as ours, it can often be a painful discovery to realize that no agency is bullet-proof and nothing lasts forever. Always begin with the (your name goes here) brand. It will make you a better and more valuable employee, team member and contributor to your community.
Tagged with: Advertising, branding, creative, Dan Schawbel, digital agencies, self employment, Seth Godin
April 13th, 2010
Written by Mark Fairbanks
@markfairbanks
Running, digital, and running a digital agency
Sara Santiago wrote a great little post (a love letter, she calls it) last week about dailymile. For those not familiar with dailymile, it’s essentially an unbranded descendant of the groundbreaking Nike+ site created by R/GA a few years back. dailymile has taken the concept a bit further, allowing not only runners, but anyone actively training (cycling, swimming, strength-training) the ability to track their efforts and share it with other members of the community.
It’s amazing how well digital has connected the dots for runners, but that’s always a matter of identifying key user insights. First of all, the majority of us are fanatics. Why else would anyone go out and run all those brutally monotonous miles? Runners are also obsessive (no surprise) about keeping track of personal progress. All those endless miles, all those hills, all those repeats become a body of work. They become a story of individual growth, an epic on a personal level. They are the equivalent of the most timeless of stories: the quest.
Tagged with: DailyMile, Digital, digital agencies, digital tools, experience, experience design, Nike+, Philosophy, quest, R/GA, Runners, Running, social media, training tools, user experience, utility, widgets
April 8th, 2010
Written by Mark Fairbanks
@markfairbanks
The day that strategy died
Last week I sat listening to a sales pitch. The subject: document handling. The young woman giving the sales pitch had all the prerequisites: friendly, articulate, earnest (great shoes, too). But something unnerved me. Throughout her spiel, she kept using the term strategic to describe how her company approached document handling versus the competition. And all I could think was, if strategic is used to sell document handling, what meaning does it have left anymore?
In all fairness, maybe a document handling company’s approach can be strategic. As a start-up, we’re not in the position to buy a strategic solution, so I was naturally a bit detached. I guess buying a copier, laser printer, scanner, and phone system separately would be considered tactical. But does buying them all from one source make it more of a strategic purchase? So while sitting there in my chair, sipping ice coffee and nodding attentively, I had a brief out of body experience. I found myself thinking: Is this what the majority of the digital industry has started to sound like?
Tagged with: analytics, branding, capabilities, digital agencies, digital strategy, experience brief, experience design, human behavior, kittens, metrics, user experience, user-centric
