Your Brand's True Colors

I have an 8 year old daughter who is currently into those paper “fortune teller” gizmos.  Remember, the ones you make yourself out of a piece of paper and operate with your index fingers and thumbs? Your “client” chooses a color, then another color, then a number, and presto, your fortune is revealed. This article about brands and colors made me think of her fortune teller game.  Maybe her fortunes can really tell a person something about themselves if she includes some of this wisdom.  What do your colors say about you?

YOUR BRAND'S TRUE COLORS

BizBash Social Media Workshop

On Wednesday we went to BizBash IdeaFest in Chicago and participated in a workshop organized by @IanSohn from Ogilvy & Mather on Social Media for Event Marketing. Ian’s presentation was Event-specific, but his ideas could also be implemented into any marketing plan. We discussed the importance of including social media – not as a tag-a-long after-thought to the overall effort – but having it's own agenda and specific purpose. Social media can be looked at as a way to ignite an entire campaign, promotion or event. It stretches the reach to include a larger audience… including virtual attendees, consumers, etc. through "word of mouth". These were my favorite take-aways:

PRE (Event, Campaign, Promotion)

– Establish a calendar – then tear it up

This point really resonated with me. I think it's great to have a plan but it takes away the essence of the vehicle to know what you're going to say ahead of time. We don't need to tweet just to tweet – it's better to be moved to. It can be what makes your tweet ring true – that something you saw or heard or experienced is something worth sharing. Basically, have a plan but be prepared that you probably won't follow it.

DURING

– 80/20 rule: Don't be boring

I like having rules to follow and this 80/20 breakdown is a great rule of thumb. 80% of your content should be relevant information, what's happening, what's engaging you, what you're interested in (and seeing and doing and hearing). Save the other 20% for self or brand promotion. Also, the best content is serendipitous – not planned!

POST

– Generate an Impact Report: How many tweets, re-tweets, favorites, shares, comments, likes, uploads etc.

To me, one of the best things about social media is the ability to track activity. Simply by including a #hashtag, we can search for content and record the results. How many people are interacting with Eire Direct? Our clients? Our creative??? What are they saying? These answers are so easy to collect – they are right there at your fingertips.

The main thing, you need a plan. It can and should be simple. It should allow people to exercise their own creativity and experience – but with a little added direction and forethought. Social media efforts can be everyone's job, or no one's job – so be clear about your objective and assign responsibilities accordingly.

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Choosing Colors

The Creative/Production Team here at Eire often gets feedback regarding color choices. I came across an interesting article today that summarizes color and how different colors evoke different emotions. When we use a color and you’re not sure why, know there is reasoning and meaning behind every color we choose.

Click here to read the article.

Pumpkin Brownies

With the shorter days and cooler weather, I find myself staying indoors more and wanting to cook comfort food and bake things that fill the house with wonderful scents. A couple years ago I discovered this recipe for Pumpkin Brownies on Eating Is Art blog, and they have become a crowd favorite – perfect for this time of year!

Pumpkin Mixture
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup pumpkin puree

Dry Ingredients
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2-1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (the only way to go!)
1 bag chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and dust with flour. With an electric mixer, or in your stand mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and well blended. Beat in the egg. Add the vanilla and the pumpkin puree and continue to beat until thoroughly mixed. Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and nutmeg and stir them into the pumpkin mixture to form a smooth batter. Fold in the chocolate chips by hand.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool for about 15 minutes before cutting into squares.

Enjoy!

Refreshing

We’ve made a new lunch discovery here at Eire. (Always a reason to celebrate!) Our go-to corner deli for sandwiches, soups and salads has been serving Watermelon Gazpacho for the soup of the day, and it is delicious! A refreshing twist on the more common tomato gazpacho, it’s cool and sweet with a perfect little kick. I don’t have Brett’s recipe, but here’s one that is similar. (Brett’s has lots of jicama and some sort of a hot pepper diced in, too!) Get chopping and enjoy!

Ingredients

8 cups finely diced seedless watermelon, (about 6 pounds with the rind) (see Tip)

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced

1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

2 tablespoons minced shallot

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

Mix watermelon, cucumber, bell pepper, basil, parsley, vinegar, shallot, oil and salt in a large bowl. Puree 3 cups of the mixture in a blender or food processor to the desired smoothness; transfer to another large bowl.  Stir in the remaining diced mixture. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.

Melon Tip: Melon selection & storage – Look for symmetrical unblemished melons, without flat sides, that have a creamy yellow spot on the bottom indicating ripeness. At 92% water, this fruit should feel heavy when you heft it. Precut melon flesh should be dense, firm and appear moist. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week or keep in a cool, dark spot. Cover the cut surface of melon with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Nutrition – Per serving: 116 calories; 5 g fat ( 1 g sat , 4 g mono ); 0 mg cholesterol; 18 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 2 g protein; 2 g fiber; 296 mg sodium; 345 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (110% daily value), Vitamin A (45% dv).

Tradition

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. Not because I’m such a big patriot (although I certainly appreciate the benefits of being an American), but because it’s a chance for me to participate in some long-standing family traditions and catch up with family members – many of whom I don’t see the rest of the year.

I am blessed to come from a large extended family. With over 25 first cousins, almost all of whom have children (and grandchildren) of their own, family get-togethers can quickly become overwhelming. But every year around the 4th of July, we have a family reunion at the lake where my grandfather bought land and built a cabin over 60 years ago. The 4th of July reunion began 40 years ago and has continued with only a few alterations, to this day.  The day starts with games – musical chairs, cherry spitting, watermelon eating. Prizes are awarded for winners (this year the prizes were strings of brightly colored beads which I saw on kids the rest of the week!). A potluck dinner follows, which always includes the same standards: roast beef, twice baked cheesy potatoes, green salad, and fruit salad with cookies and brownies for dessert. The day of the celebrations, the kitchen in every house is busy chopping, sautéing, baking, mixing to prepare their portion of the meal.

Finally, there is the talent show. It’s usually about an hour long, not because we have so much talent in the family; but rather, because we “think” we have so much talent! There are toddlers shaking rattles, young boys swinging swords along to music, singing (usually the truly talented), playing of musical instruments, and even some tumbling and gymnastics. We’ve had magic shows, made up songs, and skits. It’s a lot of fun and one of the best parts of the day. My favorite act this year was a 2 ½ year old boy singing “This Land is Your Land” and strumming a full size guitar along to the beat.

The best part of the tradition, for me, is the comfort that comes with knowing exactly what to expect – the same games, same meal, even same songs at the talent show. Yet each year I also delight in the new things, like seeing my niece play musical chairs and almost win. Or having my son in the talent show for the first time ever. And throughout the entire weekend, I get the opportunity for conversations with some of the most amazing and interesting people I know. One of my cousins told me about work she’s involved in to bring basic medical care to remote villages throughout Africa. Another one spoke about her decision to maintain a gluten-free diet and how it’s positively impacting her health. With yet another relative, I talked about the state of the economy and the world of marketing agencies.

Coming back from this trip each year, I feel relaxed, refreshed, and ready to tackle my work and get back to the real world with a new perspective. I can’t wait for next year.