team super aasman!

This weekend ten runners, including two aasman employees will be sporting red capes and red shorts marked "super aasman". The pun is intended for this event, a 176.5 km running relay, which brought to mind a blog topic for the day: corporate sponsorship.

What value is there is putting ones identity on a sports team or event? What is the return on investment?

As a donation it's a testament to a company's community involvement, but it's not really measurable beyond a tingly-good feeling.

As a business tool there are some tangible benefits to sponsorship that are both community and corporately responsible.

How many times is the brand seen? If the mark is on quality items, the sponsorship impact will outlast the event and connect with new pairs of eyes. How many photographs are taken of crazy runners in bright red shorts and super hero capes? And where will those photos end up?

How much value does media's involvement add to the sponsorship? How many times is the brand mentioned in team listings, race results, news articles. It's yet to be seen if "super aasman" ranks significantly in this one, but we'll do our best.

As an branding agency known for innovative solutions, "super aasman" will show through awesome costumes and fit rears that aasmanites live creatively and our sense of humour comes naturally. Additionally, the rest of Yukon and Alaska will be a little more aware of that!

Excuse me, do you have a minute?

Would you like to join our conversation? Do you want a voice in what we are doing? Do you care? Or do you just want to be left alone to make up your own damn mind and vote with your purchase or lack there of?

I was chatting with a colleague the other day when the conversation lead us onto the subject about engaging (interacting with) our target audiences instead of interrupting (just getting stuff in front of) them, which of course has been a huge shift in strategic communications for the past few years. The area where we got into the most heated discussion was around the Yukon middle class and how to engage them. More specifically, the average middle class family who has a heck of a lot more on their mind then being bothered with our, or our clients agenda. I was left pondering this for most of the afternoon, are we choosing the right strategies for the right target audience. Later on that day I was sent this blog entry.

It is a fictional letter (of course it is) describing one average Joe’s frustration over a sausage company’s new campaign strategy to engage their audience in making viral video commercials on how to sell their product. The writer describes his disgust with this level of engagement and misunderstanding that this company really felt he had time or even cared that much about sausages to waste his free time taking part in this campaign.

So my question is, in the real world in the busy family lives of parents - are our expectations for their level of engagement too high? Or do we simply go back to trying to interrupt them in the hope that we can make a crack into their busy lives?

Finding Red

While hiking last weekend I was marvelling at the changing colours of autumn on the Yukon landscape. After pointing out dozens of red plants along our two- turned six-hour trek, I was asked of a particular red bush "what colour is that?" It took me a while before I answered, "fire engine red."

I wasn't totally satisfied with that answer; it captured the vivid intensity of the plant but it brought to mind how challenging red can be to describe. Red can be urgent and hard to ignore, especially when it's a warm red leaning toward the yellow end of the colour wheel, like a fire exit, the header of a news magazine or a For Sale sign.

But red can also be comforting and calming on the cooler end of the colour wheel, like an accent wall in a cozy living room—the opposite effect of the fire exit—a valentine's card, or a royal red carpet.

I asked one of the aasman partners to describe the colour red that aasman uses in our branding. Margriet replied: "We were searching for the truest and most intense red, that wasn't too warm, cold, blue or yellow. It is as energetic, bright and focussed as we are."

If you're interested in the history, cultural context, emotional response and fun facts all about red, check out this site.

blog on blog

Today's blog is about a blog about 50 of the best illustration blogs on the web!

I read somewhere recently, and I hope I'm not repeating myself here, that one of the reason's folks resist joining the blogging culture is that it takes a lot of time. Well, it's true, and it can, but an easy way to get involved is to simply put aside a set amount of time each day; recognize that keeping up with the communities and conversations that are important to you is worth it. Blogs are a newscast catered to your interests as well as a source of inspiration, which the 6 o-clock news usually is not.

That all being said, I missed last Monday's blog, but I'm back on track. My personal challenge is the look at one of these 50 illustration blogs a day for as long as it holds my interest. 50 Best Illustration Blog on the Web

“You can’t read this”

Using street messages for a social marketing campaign is venturing out on new ground. Okay, maybe not, but for our client and us it is. I guess you could call it a form of graffiti. The definition from Wikipedia says:

Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property. Graffiti is any type of public markings that may appear in the forms of simple written words to elaborate wall paintings. Graffiti has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire... Sometimes graffiti is employed to communicate social and political messages. To some, it is an art form worthy of display in galleries and exhibitions; to others it is merely vandalism.

Graffiti can reflect an individual or group’s presence, emotions, or political views. Sometimes the art is intriguing or beautiful, sometimes it’s just plain awful. Humans have this insatiable need to express themselves, be involved, communicate personal feelings and thoughts. (Boy, this sounds like Facebook and Twitter.) Truth is, I find this a very healthy practice. If we were not able to express ourselves, besides becoming very repressed and unhealthy beings, we would not have dialogue with others. We would not be able to “try out” our feelings and beliefs and see what they look like in the open air and see how valid they are. We would not have others respond to us, engage in a conversation about our thinking and experiences. It gives us a chance to hear another’s perspective, and who knows, we may change our thinking about something for the better.

Social Inclusion is something many Yukoners are not talking about. This campaign is using the medium of graffiti, or rather sidewalk and walkway signage, to awaken those who are happily included in all of Yukon life. We want them to pause when they read “You don’t belong here” or “You can’t work here” and feel for a moment what exclusion feels like. It is to create awareness that it exists, stimulate dialogue and encourage thinking on how we can change to include everyone. Not all responses will be positive, but that is okay as long as it gets the conversation started.

Yes, this medium is new for us and our client. I watched the aasman team work very hard with the client to develop a strategy that would deliver a meaningful impact, to get approvals and support of the city and local businesses, and to finally work all night to get messages painted accurately and cleanly around town. Today we all wait to see what impact they will have and to hear from our fellow Yukoners.

Photography: Christian Kuntz