Vision Graphics Inc. Connect Magazine May/June 2013

Vision Graphics Inc. Engaging Marketing Minds

TM

Vol 3, Issue 3, May/June 2013

1 2 3 4 5 How imagery is changing the way we process content INSIDE

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Revelance of play • From Where I Sit • Understanding Big Data

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publisher ’s letter

Looking Out for One Another T he world has changed a lot over the last several years. Some say it’s scarier and more confusing. Take the recent bombing during the Boston Marathon. The event has shaken us to the core, forcing us to be more protective of everyone and everything around us.

Yet, as is the case with any horrific act, we are able to find blessings amid the chaos. When the bombs exploded, a number of heroes emerged to remind us what we are capable of when life changes in an instant. These heroes were, for the most part, ordinary and everyday people who made the instantaneous decision to run toward trouble without any regard for their own safety. In the most precarious of moments, they put the needs of others ahead of their own.

Their intrinsic character was to serve rather than self preserve – and that’s just heroic.

In what has become a more guarded and cynical market, the best marketers understand that, to be successful, you must be in tune with the communities you serve and what they stand for. They realize that people are becoming more protective in an increasingly difficult world. And they understand the responsibility that comes with that trust.

So, while this may be a scary time for everyone, it holds many opportunities. We live in a world where consumers have all the power. And now, more than ever, they make decisions based on the advice of their closest friends and associates. They define their lives succinctly, so getting into their inner circle is harder.

We know that marketing is about building trust, showing compassion and demonstrating understanding. But it’s also about serving others and becoming a sincere part of your clients’ world. So, while the world has changed, a need exists for the kind of heroes who will rush to the aid of the people they serve.

We think you’ll enjoy this issue. The timing is perfect. We have a couple of features that delve into the artistry of marketing and the dynamics of the landscape. Our cover article, “Visual Learning,” discusses the theory that we learn through pictures more than words. Our need to absorb more content has made us more visual – something that really has become fun. Our second feature, “Reviving the Art of Play,” takes an interesting look at how the lack of play in our lives is having a profound impact on our world.

As you read our latest issue, keep our friends in Boston in your hearts, and embrace the many lessons that day holds. And, remember to take some time to look out for one another.

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The best marketers understand that, to be successful, you must be in tune with the communities you serve and what they stand for.

Warmest regards,

Mark Steputis Publisher Publisher

Mark Steputis mark.steputis@visiongraphics-inc.com

Managing Editor

Michele McCreath michele.mccreath@visiongraphics-inc.com

Art Direction

Tyson Polzkill Brent Cashman Connect is published bimonthly copyright 2013. All rights reserved For more information contact Michele McCreath at michele.mccreath@visiongraphics-inc.com

Contents 03 Publisher’s Letter

Looking Out for One Another

04 The Inbox 06 Visual Learning

How imagery is changing the way we process content in the 21st Century

10 Relevance of Play

Why physical activity – or the lack thereof – is critical to how we learn

14 From Where I Sit

The CMO Council’s Donovan Neale-May on getting the most from ‘people-produced’ content

15 Who’s Using What

A look at the type of devices consumers are using to check in with

connect – Vision Graphics Inc. • May/June 2013

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The Inbox

She said it…

SEO and social media are converging into content marketing optimization.

Businesses create content their prospects are interested in. Naturally they want to maximize the results they get from each piece of content they create. The best method for doing that is by optimizing the content for search engines and spreading the word to their existing fan base on social media platforms.”

– Lisa Parmley, founder of BusinessBolts.com, on what the new age of content marketing means to your brand

Get your social media on Tell me if you heard this one: Social media marketing has arrived. According to a recent report

by BtoB, 96 percent of marketers engage with social media in some fashion. In addition, the “Social Media: From Marginal to Mainstream” report says that 47 percent of B2B marketers are “very involved” or “fully integrated” with social marketing and that social media activities command 6 percent of the average B2B marketing budget. Interestingly, only 41 percent of marketers say they make any attempt to measure social’s return on investment, the report shows.

The percent of marketers who plan to increase their digital marketing budgets this year, according to a survey by the Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA).

The report, “2013 Digital Marketing Outlook,” also shows that 34 percent will keep their digital marketing budgets flat, while 11 percent plan to decrease them.

May/June 2013 • connect – Vision Graphics Inc.

The Inbox

4 ways to make

W

5

big data work for you

ile big data analytics continue to become more mainstream; many businesses h struggle to see how they can apply advanced analytics to their own business models and achieve a sustainable and worthwhile ROI. To help you set your game plan, Pitney Bowes recommends the following best practices for strategic planning around your data and spending:

No.1

Demonstrate the business value of every data project or exercise to senior executives

No.3

No.2 Focus spending on staffing with advanced analytics and reporting skills

» BOOK RECOMMENDATION

‘The Icarus Deception:

How High Will You Fly?’

By Seth Godin

No.4

Think about whether centralizing data, data management and/or data analytics will help deliver business value

Create and nurture the discipline of repeating like data analytics exercises, over time, to measure changes in business results and client or consumer behavior, over time

I

t is a fabled tale from Greek mythology. King Minos of Crete had imprisoned the great inventor Daedalus for helping slay a monster and then fleeing with his daughter. But prison wasn’t for Daedalus, so he plotted his escape. Knowing that Minos controlled the escape routes by land and sea, Daedalus made wings by adhering feathers to a wooden frame with wax and string. Giving one pair to his son, Icarus, he cautioned the boy that flying too close to the sun would cause the wax to melt. Icarus didn’t listen.

The Icarus myth often is used as an example of when over-confidence can go badly. In “The Icarus Deception,” bestselling author and marketing guru Seth Godin urges us to remember that Icarus also was warned about flying too low to the ground. Godin’s message: We all have the potential to be artists and to do great work. But to do so, we must leave our comfort zones. And, sometimes, that means flying closer to the sun. It means having the hubris (confidence) to take bigger risks, create new things and face the pain involved in the creative process, i.e., be open to possible failure and criticism.

In a climate of constant change, “The Icarus Deception” will help motivate you to create more and embrace the pain involved in creating new things. You may find the stories in Godin’s message to be necessary and integral parts of the process. connect – Vision Graphics Inc. • May/June 2013

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May/June 2013 • connect – Vision Graphics Inc.

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1 2 3 4 5

T

he digital age has ushered in fundamental changes to the way we communicate. Experts contend that being literate today requires more than just the ability to read and write.

It’s about decoding and encoding text. Most of us can look at a photograph and quickly determine what it means. In fact, our eyes actually can register about 36,000 messages per hour. But visual literacy is the ability to not only understand a visual language (decode images), but also create a visual language (encode images).

Unfortunately, many of us are not so proficient at encoding visual language. We either lack the technical skills or the artistic ability to communicate effectively with images. That makes us vulnerable to becoming visually illiterate in the 21st Century.

How imagery is changing the way we process content in the 21st Century

Do you consider yourself visually literate? Are your photos among the 250 million uploaded to Facebook each day? Do your tweets include an image? Do you know how to take and send photos and videos with your smartphone? Have you discovered the communication value of Instagram and Pinterest? Do you know how to tell a story and create an effective presentation using images in a PowerPoint presentation? Ever hear of Haiku Deck, Keek or Vine? Are you truly among the visually literate, or are your visual communication skills, unfortunately, inferior to those of most middle school students in this country?

So many questions.

Dr. Kimberley Lyles-Folkman, an instructor at The Art Institute of Atlanta who earned her doctorate researching visual thinking, says our culture quickly is shifting away from text-centric communication to visual-centric communication. “For so long, we have considered text to be the best way to communicate. But now, because of technoBy Lorrie Bryan logical changes, we are seeing visuals taking a front seat and starting to drive the way that we communicate. This doesn’t mean that text is going away, but increasingly people want to see images and use images to tell their stories.”

Truth be told, most people are naturally visual learners. “The statistics show that we generally retain information longer when it is supported with images, and technology has made it easier for us to use images to communicate,” Lyles-Folkman says. “Visual communication is becoming an agent of change. When we talk about 21st Century literacy, that now includes understanding and using visuals. And I don’t think this change would have happened without the shift to the digital age.” connect – Vision Graphics Inc. • May/June 2013

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Visual Learning Science & Art These days, optimal visual communication represents a melding of science and art – you increasingly must have technical proficiency coupled with a fundamental knowledge of artistic design to get your message across. And, while a lot of people have developed the required technical skills – they know how to download and drop in text and images – they lack an understanding of the fundamental artistic elements of good design.

“I have seen a lot of presentations and emails where the communication was compromised and the flow broken by bad haphazard design – the font is too small or busy, the photos are distorted or pixilated, the colors are distracting, and there is no deliberate hierarchy,” Lyles-Folkman says. “The power of an image is definitely enhanced when the communicator understands these basic design principals.”

Consider what you want the reader to feel when he looks at the spread – all design elements should help build on that feeling.”

If you have the science but lack the artistic foundation, Lyles-Folkman suggests sticking to templates. “That way, at least there will be consistency in the alignment and text size, and the flow of your communication won’t be interrupted. When the flow is broken by poor design – pixilated or small photos, inappropriate fonts and colors – you lose your audience, and the power of the images is diminished.”

If you want to create something more engaging than basic Power Point, Lyles-Folkman suggests trying Haiku Deck, a simple new presentation app for iPad, which features big pictures and an economy of words. The app’s popularity is soaring. “It’s easy to use, and it’s great for pitching an idea, teaching a lesson or telling a story with images and simple text.”

Visual Communication & Videos

Combining the effectiveness of video with the proven success of personalization, many companies are using personalized videos as part of a multimedia marketing campaign.

At this year’s Ad Age Digital Conference, one of the nation’s premier events for exploring marketing, technology and media, there was lots of talk about the growing prominence of visual communication and the emerging role of video.

According to conference research: • More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month • More than 4 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube • 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute • 70 percent of YouTube traffic comes from outside the United States

Did You Know?

About 40 percent of all nerve fibers connected to our brains are linked to our retinas Source: The Visual Teaching Alliance

Like many successful graphic artists today, Sheri Wilson, senior art director for awardwinning Atlanta magazine, combines strong technical skills with her artistic talent to create compelling visual communiqués. Her left brain helps her master the technical aspects, while her right brain provides the empathy and artistic impetus. For Wilson, considering hierarchy is essential to her design process.

“What will be the most powerful thing to the reader – the headline? The photo? Base your design off of that,” Wilson advises. “If you have a really powerful photo, consider having a more subtle headline. Make sure nothing is competing and that the reader sees the components in the order you want them to.

May/June 2013 • connect – Vision Graphics Inc.

• YouTube is localized in 53 countries and across 61 languages • In 2011, YouTube had more than 1 trillion views, or around 140 views for every person on Earth

Just back from the Ad Age Digital Conference, Judy Salzinger, professor and program coordinator at Savannah College of Art and Design-Atlanta, says the industry consensus is that video is the biggest thing in communications and is getting bigger. “Video is going to take over – it already is – and the power of

9 “For so long, we have considered text to be the best way to communicate. But now, because of technological changes, we are seeing visuals taking a front seat and starting to drive the way that we communicate.”

Did You Know?

The brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text Source: The Visual Teaching Alliance

– Dr. Kimberley Lyles-Folkman, Instructor, The Art Institute of Atlanta

images is growing. Storytelling is essential, and, with video, it’s much easier to tell your story effectively.”

Videos & Personalized Marketing Combining the effectiveness of video with the proven success of personalization, many companies are using personalized videos as part of a multimedia marketing campaign. Larry Zusman, an expert in direct marketing and the new director of video personalization at

experience and boost your visual literacy.

Vine is a mobile app by Twitter that enables you to create and post short video clips. Video clips created with Vine have a maximum length of six seconds and can be shared or embedded on a variety of social networking services.

Keek is a free online social networking service that enables you to upload video status updates (which are called Keeks) via a smartphone. Users also have the option of sharing content to other major social media

Did You Know?

About 65 percent of the population are visual learners Source: The Visual Teaching Alliance

XMPie, says the company’s uDirect Video addresses the need to incorporate dynamic content into cinematic-quality movies, and link to them from other personalized media such as email and web pages.

“With uDirect Video, marketers and service providers can create and generate attention-getting, personalized videos with motionpicture visual effects,” Zusman says.

If you’re interested in harnessing the power of video as a marketing tool, it’s a good idea to play with it yourself – get some hands-on

networks and embedding their Keeks into a blog or website.

All of you should know your way around YouTube and Facebook – venues that help develop the technical skills and fundamental artistic competency essential to engaging effectively in a visually-orientated society. It’s hard to imagine not being able to read, write and share ideas. But in the 21st Century, visual literacy is not only empowering, it is necessary to participate fully and share ideas in our newly emerging visual culture. connect – Vision Graphics Inc. • May/June 2013

e c n a v e l e R of

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Why physical activity – or the lack thereof – is critical to how we learn

Play

By Michael J. Pallerino

T

he story still haunts Darell Hammond. In 1995, shortly after moving to Washington, D.C., he read a news story about two children who suffocated to death while playing in an abandoned car. As it turned out, the kids didn’t have anywhere else to play. It wasn’t only that the two children died trying to enjoy the simplest of childhood pleasures that disturbed Hammond. What was equally as disturbing was his belief that the tragedy could have been prevented.

To say the story was a life-changing moment for the 24-year-old transplant from Illinois may be the mother of all understatements. On that day, Hammond made a promise to the memory of those young boys and to himself: This would never happen again on his watch.

It is right to call Darell Hammond a game changer. The young man who grew up with seven brothers and sisters at the Mooseheart Child City & School, a group home outside of Chicago, learned about the power of volunteerism at an early age. His upbringing not only taught him about the importance of helping the less fortunate, but also impressed upon him the compassion it takes to make change happen. After graduating from college, Hammond helped lead the start up of City Year Chicago, which works to curtail high school dropout rates. Under his leadership, the organization built two playgrounds, skills that he would use for a lifetime.

May/June 2013 • connect – Vision Graphics Inc.

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“ We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

– Unknown

connect – Vision Graphics Inc. • May/June 2013

12

Revelance of Play

His goal was simple: Prevent future tragedies, provide children a great place to play and bring communities together with a common goal.

Hammond helped build his first community playground in the Washington, D.C., area (before they would fall under the umbrella of his soonto-be started company, KaBOOM!) in southeast D.C.’s Livingston Manor in 1995. He later founded KaBOOM!, which officially opened in 1996.

Since then, KaBOOM! has raised more than $200 million, rallied 1 million-plus volunteers and guided the hands-on construction of more than 2,000 playgrounds. But, perhaps more than anything, it has inspired a movement for our right to play. “Play is learning, and learning is play,” Hammond says. “It’s not a coincidence that some of the best educational systems in the world are ones that have adopted playful curriculums. You learn in the classroom, and then you go outside in the fresh air to let off steam. And then you go back and learn some more.

Those 50 minutes that you’re outside playing make you more appreciative of the learning process.”

Without ample play, we’ll continue to see a decrease in creativity and imagination, as well as vital skills, including curiosity, social skills, resiliency and the ability to assess risk.”

– Darell Hammond, Founder & CEO, Kaboom!

Hammond says more experts are discovering this concept as well.

“We know play is important for kids. Research tells us that play is critical to helping children develop socially, emotionally, academically and physically, and that there is a stark correlation between the lack of play and childhood obesity. In neighborhoods without a park or playground, the incidence of childhood obesity increases 29 percent. Without ample play, we’ll continue to see a decrease in creativity and imagination, as well as vital skills, including curiosity, social skills, resiliency and the ability to assess risk.”

There is more to the concept of play. Look closely at what happens when play is diminished, and you’ll start to see an eerie trend. “Children who don’t play are the ones who don’t learn how to work in groups, share, negotiate, resolve conflicts and advocate for themselves,” Hammond says. “Studies have shown that schools without recess face increased incidence in classroom behavioral problems, including violence, emotional outbursts, and their students show a lack of ability to interact with peers and authority figures.”

A ‘Whole New’ Mindset When it comes to play, Darell Hammond will reference author Daniel Pink and vice versa. Hammond references some of the theories Pink lays out in his bestselling book, “A Whole New Mind,” as an example of what play means to our culture today. Pink doesn’t believe that American schools produce imaginative innovators capable of offsetting the three great trends of automation of routine manufacturing tasks; the abundant May/June 2013 • connect – Vision Graphics Inc.

13 proliferation of goods and changing demands message, among other things, is that physiin the marketplace; and outsourcing of labor cal education and play are viable parts of to Asia. the educational process.

One of Pink’s most telling analysis is “The sedentary trends are not good,” how “right brain” skills such as drawing/ says Baugh, who also leads the Jim Baugh design, music and storytelling must be Consulting firm. “Over 170 million Americans developed to give today’s children ample – nearly one in four – do nothing in the more opportunity to compete with other world than 120 activities we track. And these numcultures. He also describes how the U.S. bers are growing each year. If we don’t turn Army employs game-based learning to atthem around, we will be in a state of decline. tract new recruits and to train helicopter We all need to work together to create a more pilots via simulators. fit, active and healthy America.”

“There is a time to be serious, but too Anne Flannery, former president and CEO much sobriety can be bad for your career of PE4Life, spent the last decade, along with and worse for your general well being,” Baugh and other sporting goods industry exPink says. “In the Conceptual Age, in work ecutives, trying to explain the importance of and in life, we all need to play. I don’t conplay to legislators on Capitol Hill. “The more sider my job ‘work,’ as I enjoy it. I can we learn about the brain, the more I believe ‘work’ for hours on school stuff and not we’ll recognize that play is integral to how we even realize how much time has gone by, move through the world, exploring and trying because I love it.” new things,” says Flannery, who now serves as Ask Jim Baugh what the importance president of Out Loud Ventures. “That’s critical of play means today, and he’ll tell you how to our physical, mental and emotional health.” poorly Americans are at getting their recomThe lack of play in our lives is having a mended levels of physical activity. And Baugh major impact on all of us by stifling our creativ– Jim Baugh, Chairman, PE4Life should know. As the former president of Wility and connections. That’s why being playful son Sporting Goods, he presided over a sportis a mindset that great marketers must eming goods company that has been at the heart of sports history for nearly brace. Today’s marketers realize that people identify with playful brands a century. As chairman of PE4Life, he spends his days helping to make and understand that games provide enriching experiences. Combining a sure that schools get their fair share of physical education funding. playful mindset and the experience of play can elevate any brand.

During much of the last decade, funding for PE programs in Like thought leaders Daniel Pink stress in their analyses, play is the new our nation’s schools was drastically cut with the passage of the No way to think. Through play, we use our imaginations to become involved.

Child Left Behind Act. Passed in 2001, the act pressured schools Today’s technologically pressured world can have the opposite effect. Too and teachers to place a heavier focus on standardized test results. many people are becoming drone-like and losing their sense of identity or Enter groups such as PE4Life, a nonprofit agency that’s dedicated to uniqueness. Play allows us to engage our brains and bodies to connect with helping schools build fit kids by advocating for and assisting in the the world around us. In turn, a marketer’s greatest accomplishment is when development and enhancement of physical education programs and people identify so strongly with a brand that they define themselves by it. physical activity opportunities in schools and communities. The group’s That type of playful mindset has never been more relevant to marketers.

“We all need to work together to create a more fit, active and healthy America.”

ways marketers should play No. 1: You must be playful – As an adult, you

must set an example. Find creative and fun things to do to get exercise and stay active.

No. 2: Employ the 60-minute rule – Get outside for at least one hour every day. Be purposeful, creative and imaginative in your pursuits.

No. 3: Enlist others in your joy – Having fun and playing is about building the masses.

No. 4: Add water and sand – The joy that comes with play is immeasurable, and it is everywhere.

No. 5: Make it a habit – Don’t make play something you have to do – just do it. Make it part of your every day routine.

Source: Darell Hammond, Founder & CEO, Kaboom!

connect – Vision Graphics Inc. • May/June 2013

Q&A

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From Where I Sit...

The CMO Council’s Donovan Neale-May on getting the most from ‘people-produced’ content

L

ondon. New York. San Francisco. Los Angeles. Silicon Valley. For more than 35 years, Donovan Neale-May has worked the business, agency and media hubs of those storied towns. Along the way, he has consulted with more than 300 companies to create countless imaginative promotional marketing and strategic communications

campaigns. In 2001, he founded the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council (www.cmocouncil.org), for which he serves as executive director. Today, the peer-powered network has more than 6,500 members in 110 countries and controls more than $350 billion in annual aggregated marketing spend. We recently sat down with Neale-May to get his thoughts

on today’s ever-changing marketing world.

Become relentlessly organized and disciplined in your digital daily life. Do not be diverted or distracted from the purpose and productivity.

As a consumer marketer, you must have a totally granular view of your customers and find ways to interact on personal, rational, emotional and behavioral levels like never before.

All the ideas and inspirations I need to create effective campaign actions and deliverables keep me up at night.

Find more time, and then make sure you use it properly.

B2B marketers need to become far more adept and adroit at infiltrating, engaging and activating corporate accounts through more relevant, targeted interaction and authority leader positioning.

Sizzle and substance are key. If your customer experience doesn’t deliver on the brand promise, don’t waste your marketing money.

Extracting value and insight from the volume and velocity of digital content derived daily from multiplying sources and channels of “people-produced” content and conversation will be our biggest challenge. Acquiring, converting and keeping customers, while delighting them with new, technologyenabled brand experiences is key.

You must have a relentless curiosity, combined with immense stamina and capacity for hard work and daily discovery.

Become relentlessly organized and disciplined in your digital daily life.

Do not be diverted or distracted from the purpose and productivity.

Putting market interaction in the hands of the consumers is transforming the buyer-supplier paradigm. Consumers self-select their brand relationships, and these only endure if there is value, trust and tangible delivery of an authentic, connective experience.

The mass market really is a mass of niche markets.

May/June 2013 • connect – Vision Graphics Inc.

Mobile Relationship Marketing (MRM) can “engage at every stage” of the customer life cycle.

Before You Go

Who’s Using What

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A look at the type of devices consumers with which are checking in They use them at home and in the office. They use them in coffee shops, bookstores and at the mall. They can be found online, anywhere and everywhere there is a connection. And, thanks to Deloitte’s seventh “State of the Media Democracy” survey, we have a feel for the technology, media and telecommunications consumption trends of today’s U.S. consumers aged 14 and older. Here’s a snapshot of what’s being used:

Device Ownership

75 26 % % 36 55 %

Laptop

%

Most Valued Devices

Tablet, Smartphone & Laptop

Tablet

Smartphone

69

%

Smartphone

32

%

65

%

Tablets

Laptops

connect – Vision Graphics Inc. • May/June 2013

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