We love it when our clients
win awards, which is why we're cheering this week --
Kettler, a local real estate firm that's among the nation's top 20 multifamily developers, was honored by the
National Association of Home Builders for having the Best Corporate Website. Kudos to
Peyton for his award-winning design. Now ... To the blogs!
Steph’s
post gave some practical advice to anyone struggling to define themselves in site copy; Step One? Speak. She contends that taking ideas from natural conversation is a great starting point from which to generate a succinct voice and tone that gives site content its personality. Later,
I wrote about
spontaneity, which was influenced by a
History Channel program on Martin Luther King, Jr., I saw over the weekend. Since I love quoting myself: "For your message to get out, catch on, and have lasting power, you need to start with a great message, then deliver it at the right time to a community that’s ready to be inspired."
Jackson and
KV tricked me for a second into thinking I had earned coveted outside comments, but, alas, it was insider discussion happening outwardly (almost as good!). Speaking of being inspired...
Earlier this week,
Rob told us about
jQuery's animate () function, and gave us the code he used to make three very cool versions of tabs -- all of which illustrate his love for Macs.
Doug then described
the mysterious "save for web" color shift after discovering the issue through his work on
ODEO. Doug decided to drop some knowledge on fellow designers; specifically by providing three steps to color perfection. This set off a firestorm of great comments, and the masses showed the value of this kind of platform by sharing more information that further explained the problem and uncovered solutions.
Samantha, after trying to explain a few concepts like blogging to her mom and her grandmother (who has never touched a computer), asked us for advice, specifically, “
How do you describe what you do on the Internet to someone who has no concept of it?” Well?
Ryan continued his watch over
major brands' efforts at gaining a foothold in social media marketing, this week specifically citing Coca-Cola. He said, "What Coca-Cola is learning, as are other brands that are joining the conversation with their customers, is that it requires a long-term commitment to nurturing those relationships. Relationships that, quite frankly, need to built on their
customers' terms."
Josh, in his post on the
confusion of digital marketing mentions a
DirecTV commercial series that highlights -- with a strategically awkward, "The Office"-style wit -- how traditional organizations try to leverage social media without truly understanding its use or potential. He cites an
AdAge report that says only 5-10 percent of most advertising budgets are allocated to digital media. I fully expect this percentage to increase dramatically over the next few years, particularly if overall economic conditions create budget pressure and marketers feel the need to measure, justify, and more closely manage every aspect of their budget. Thanks to everyone who checked out
Social Media Club last night at our headquarters; it was great having you. Have a super weekend!
