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Nuts About Voting

There are a lot of nuts in politics these days.

Like this one: In the 2018 primary election, only 16% of Yakima County residents actually voted–that’s nuts!

That means 16% of people are making our decisions for us. You can bet your last acorn that those 16% don’t represent the entirety of Yakima’s ethnically and socioeconomically diverse population.

Do you want someone else deciding your future? Deciding what you can and cannot do? Deciding whether or not you can dance whenever you feel like it, specifically at high school dance functions (I’m looking at you, Dennis Quaid’s character in the remake of Footloose….)?

We certainly don’t. That’s why Field Group recently launched a voting awareness campaign.

It only takes three minutes (yeah, 3) to register to vote online. That’s less time than it took to come up with the tagline for our voting awareness campaign–which just so happens to be “Take 3 Minutes” (seems obvious now, like it maybe shouldn’t have taken that long to come up with it…).

You can learn more about voting on our Take 3 Minutes website: http://take3minutes.org/. Or, if you want to skip straight to getting registered, head to Washington’s voter registration page: https://register.vote.org/?state=Washington.

Ok, I’m registered. Now what?

Once you’re registered to vote, they (whoever “they” is–we assume it’s a bunch of squirrels wearing fancy hats) will literally mail a ballot directly to your home. All you have to do then is fill in the little rectangles next to the person/issue you want to vote for and mail it back. You don’t even need a stamp anymore (the fancy-hat-wearing squirrels are apparently in cahoots with the post office). How easy is that?

We know what you’re thinking: “How do I know whom or what to vote for? I don’t understand all the voting mumbo-jumbo on the ballot, and I sure as heck don’t got time to read that entire voter’s book. I also just started a free trial of Hulu Plus with no commercials, so I don’t even have TV ads to tell me what to think!”

Great news! There are websites that summarize political candidates and issues, so you can easily figure out what to vote for. No matter what your political leanings, there is a site for you:

Notice how we gave you a whole bunch of options for political parties? That’s because every voice matters–not just the ones we agree with. Living in a democracy such as ours means that all opinions are valid and deserve to be heard.

So, if you’re not already registered to vote, do it now. It takes three minutes or less. Then research the candidates and issues, and vote!

See you at the polls! Err…mailbox? (Explaining jokes makes them funnier, so we’re going to explain that last joke: They used to have “polls” where they made you stand in line forever and then you stood some more in this little box and used this big fancy hole puncher to vote. But now it’s all mail-in ballots. So we won’t actually see you at the polls because we don’t have polls anymore. Instead, you’ll put your ballot in a mailbox. We also won’t see you at your mailbox, though, because that would be weird.)

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Local marketing agency is going to the dogs

Field Group marketing & advertising launches fundraiser for local animal shelter

Yakima, Washington—When Wags to Riches Animal Rescue found a young dog in the Lower Valley, the puppy seemed mostly healthy after a bath and a good meal. But there were a lot of health problems beneath the fur.

They named the sweet, well-behaved dog Rescue, and took him to the vet for an exam. After several x-rays, the vet discovered that Rescue’s organs were all out of place. He suspected the dog had been hit by a car.

Rescue

A surgery at Washington State University moved Rescue’s organs back where they were supposed to go, and Rescue was back on his paws in just a few hours. Now he’s in a foster home receiving lots of love and time to recover from his surgery.

As a nonprofit, Wags to Riches struggles to pay for costly medical treatments like Rescue’s. Wags helps several dogs in need of medical procedures throughout the year, and the costs can become overwhelming. This year alone, Wags has spent over $45,000 on vet bills for the pets they help. Though they receive a number of donations from community members and animal lovers, many costs still remain.

Rescue

Jonathan Weedin, a volunteer at the dog shelter who also works at Field Group, a local marketing agency, came up with a plan to help Rescue. Field Group designed a unique t-shirt that will be sold to help pay for Rescue’s surgery and other services for homeless pets at Wags to Riches.

“The first time I saw a picture of Rescue, I was in love,” says Weedin. “It’s so great to see this project come to life and help homeless pets like Rescue get off the streets and into loving homes.”

The shirts are being printed at Yakima Sports Supply, who offered a discount on the shirts so that more money could go to help the shelter.

“When Field Group approached us with this idea, we were excited to jump on board,” says Cameron Eaton at Yakima Sports Supply. Eaton is a dog-lover himself, and his two dogs are usually at the store to greet customers.

The shirt features the tagline “Yaki-Paw” to allow pet lovers to show both their love for animals and their pride in Yakima.

Yaki-Paw shirt

Shirts can be purchased for $15 at thefieldgroup.net/pets. The shirts go on sale today, and are available to order until October 30. All proceeds benefit Wags to Riches Animal Rescue, and will be used to help pets who need homes or medical treatment.

Wags to Riches was started in 2008, and has since found homes for over 2,000 pets in the Yakima area. The animal rescue also runs a Senior Pet Companion Program to help keep animals in the homes of seniors, a Scholarship Program that provides two scholarships each year to veterinary technician students at YVC and WSU, and a Kids Education program teaching kids to be responsible and respectful of animals.

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10 Mission Statements That Will Make You Feel Inspired

Does your company have a purpose?

A mission statement can be a powerful motivator for employees, leadership, and customers alike. As Simon Sinek says, “People don’t buy what you’re selling, they buy why you’re selling it.”

Your company’s mission statement should make you feel excited to go to work in the morning. If you’re thinking of updating your mission statement, here’s some inspiration.

A passion to serve.

Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub

 

Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.

Patagonia

 

Spreading the power of optimism. Life is not perfect. Life is not easy. Life is good.

Life is Good

 

To inspire and connect with women to put their best selves forward every day.

Ann Taylor

 

To make people's lives better every day - naturally.

Burt's Bees

 

Offer the customer the best possible service, selection, quality and value.’

Nordstrom

 

To provide the best customer service possible.

Zappos

 

We're in the business to help improve lives. With every product you purchase, TOMS will help a person in need. One for one.

TOMS Shoes

 

To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.

Starbucks

 

To go further to make our cars better, our employees happier and our planet a better place to be.

Ford

 

We inspire, educate and outfit for a lifetime of adventure and stewardship.

REI

 

What do all these mission statements have in common? They’re not about “being the best company, making the most money, being the most innovative, being a leader in our market.” They’re about serving customers and making the world a better place.

What’s your mission statement?

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Fantastic Fonts and How to Pick Them (Infographic)

Even if you’re not a font expert, you can probably recognize a good font when you see one. This is because a well-chosen font fits seamlessly with its surrounding design. So, good fonts aren’t really noticed at all. You only notice a font when it doesn’t work.

Noticing good and bad fonts might be easy, but choosing a font for your own design is harder. So how do you choose a font? We’ll get to that in a bit, but first we need to clear out some misconceptions.

You’ve probably heard of terms like serif and kerning and leading, but none of those technical terms matter unless you’re a designer. So let’s talk about what really does matter for the average person.

Fonts are actually pretty simple

There are several font qualities that are not at all technical.

Font qualities

These characteristics are very easy to spot, even if you know nothing about fonts. And these qualities create associations in our brains. For example, a thin font will remind us of a thin person, so that font would be perfect for a weight loss product. Likewise, a thick font looks sturdy and strong, making it great for a muscle-building supplement.

As you look at different fonts, try to describe them in everyday words. How do certain fonts makes you feel? Chances are pretty high that the way you feel about a font is the same way other people feel.

Why are font feelings important?

You might be wondering why it matters how a particular font makes you feel, or what that font makes you think of. Well, it’s all about context. Context is the most important aspect of choosing a font. The font itself doesn’t matter too much—a “bad” font can work perfectly in the right context (i.e.: Comic Sans would be great in a comic book, but not anywhere else).

The next time you’re wading through a list of a bazillion fonts and can’t decide which one to use, remember the context and the font feelings.

Do you want to be formal and professional? Stick with an angular, serif font. Wanna be fun and carefree? Use a spaced, rounded font. Is modern and clean the look you’re going for? Then you want a straight, sans serif font.

There is no “perfect” font that works for everything, so don’t stress yourself out trying to find it. The key to good font choice lies in understanding the feelings of each font and matching those feelings to the context. Just like color choice, fonts can have a powerful psychological impact on your readers.

As your reward for reading, here’s a handy-dandy infographic you can use to help pick your next font.

Fonts infographic

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Contrast; or How to be a cheese-gurgling son of a macaroni mother

Besides being hilarious, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese’s new “Swear Like a Mother” commercial is a great example of an under-utilized marketing strategy called contrast. This strategy can really make your business stand out from the competition. However, a lot of businesses aren’t using this powerful technique.

Let’s take a look at what contrast is and why you should use it.

What is contrast?

Contrast in marketing means doing something different. That could mean different from everyone else or different from what’s expected of you. Kraft’s commercial uses contrast in both those ways. No other food company has a commercial with questionable language, and most people expect a company like Kraft to provide a family-friendly, wholesome message.

Most businesses firmly believe that their message needs to be “professional” and “business-like” at all times. So, the text on their website, brochures, and advertisements ends up sounding robotic and stiff.

Actual people don’t talk like robots (but they can dance like them). Always remember that your customer is a human, and talk to them in a way they can connect with—preferably using words they would actually use.

Dancing robot with contrast

 

Using contrast in your messaging might be as simple as not sounding too professional and uptight. Let your personality or the personality of your business show through. If you can do that, you’ll be well on your way to connecting more deeply with your audience.

Why should you use contrast?

In addition to helping you build a more personal relationship with your customers, contrast makes you stand out. Every other business might do things one way, but you do things differently. If your different approach is also a positive one, you’ll stand out and earn more customers.

Contrast works because it fights the “I already know this” reaction. When people see something we’ve seen before, our immediate response is to ignore it because we think we already know what it’s about. But if your marketing is unexpected and different, you’re going to get peoples’ attention.

In Kraft’s case, everyone already knows about their product. There’s nothing new or exciting about pasta covered in cheese, so our brains tune out and move on. A commercial with moms swearing at their kids, on the other hand—now that’s something you’ve probably never seen before. It bypasses your “been there, done that” response.

This is not a conclusion

In conclusion, contrast is an effective way to make your business stand out. Just be careful to use it wisely, or you’ll stand out in the wrong way.

When planning what kind of contrast you’ll use, keep in mind your target audience. You need to make sure you’re connecting with your customers. Kraft understood moms sometimes swear, and presenting evidence tells moms they’re not alone if they’ve sworn around their kids.

If you need some help using contrast to make your business stand out, send us a $*!&^ macaroni-loving email already (that was an example of contrast).

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Color Psychology

Color plays an important role in our lives whether we realize it or not. It has the ability to influence our feelings and emotions in a way that few other mediums can. It can control our moods and thoughts. Color has the ability to make us feel happy, depressed, excited, relaxed, hungry, and creative.

Colors have deep subliminal meanings that affect our thinking and rationale. As a result of this, color research and planning is a vital part of the design process. Before beginning a design or marketing campaign, you must choose the appropriate colors that are both effective to your message and also complement each other.

There are many different technical aspects when it comes to working with colors. In the print world Pantone and CMYK are the color formats, while online RGB and Hexadecimal are the formats. It is important that both web and print designers work closely on the color process to ensure colors transfer smoothly across mediums. A color may look one way on a particular screen but when printed looks totally different. It is important to come up with a color palette listing all different color codes to ensure a unified color scheme through print and web.

How do Colors Influence People?

Red – Creates a sense of urgency, which is good for clearance sales. Encourages appetite, thus is frequently used by fast-food chains. Physically stimulates the body, raising blood pressure and heart rate, associated with movement, excitement, and passion.

Blue – The preferred color of men. It’s associated with peace, water, tranquility, and reliability. Blue provides a sense of security, curbs appetite, and stimulates productivity. The most common color used by conservative brands looking to promote trust in their products.

Green – Associated with health, tranquility, power, and nature. Used in stores to relax customers and for promoting environmental issues. Green stimulates harmony in your brain and encourages a balance leading to decisiveness.

Purple – Commonly associated with royalty, wisdom, and respect. Stimulates problem solving as well as creativity. Frequently used to promote beauty and anti-aging products.

Orange & Yellow – Cheerful colors that promote optimism. Yellow can make babies cry, while orange can trigger a sense of caution. Used to create a sense of anxiety that can draw in impulsive buyers and window shoppers.

Black – Associated with authority, power, stability, and strength. Often a symbol of intelligence, but can become overwhelming if used to frequently.

Grey – Symbolizes feelings of practicality, old age, and solidarity. But too much grey can lead to feelings of nothingness and depression.

White – Associated with feelings of purity, cleanliness and safety. Can be used to project an absence of color or neutrality. White space helps spark creativity since it can be perceived as an unaltered, clean state.

How Are Major Brands Using Colors?

McDonald’s chooses high-energy colors like red and yellow, which appeal to children, kindle appetites, and create a sense of urgency. Micky D’s might not have been the same ridiculously big chain it is today without using red and yellow so effectively.

Starbucks on the other hand uses green as their primary color to promote a sense of relaxation in their cafes, inviting customers to come in for a coffee break during a stressful day.

How are you incorporating color into your branding and marketing efforts?

 

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Image file type cheat sheet (infographic)

When you’re putting an image in an email, website, or printed product, it can be hard to figure out which file type to use. Worry no more! You’re about to find out the difference between the most common file types and when to use each.

This infographic breaks down the basics, so save it somewhere for a handy reference. You can read on for more details on each file type. (Can you figure out which type of file the infographic is?)

File type infographic

Before we get started, let’s go over some image terminology.

  • File size: For email and website use, file size is important. Larger files take longer to download, which is a big no-no for a website.
  • Compression: Saving an image as a different file type will make the file size smaller. This is called compression.
  • Resolution: This refers to how clear an image is. Measured in dots per inch (DPI). Higher resolution means sharper image, but also a larger file size.
  • Lossless and lossy: When you compress an image, the quality decreases. This can mean lower resolution or fewer colors. The amount of decrease in quality is called “loss.” Lossless means no quality is lost, and lossy means some quality is lost.
  • Bits: Color in images is measured in bits. More bits means more color possibilities. For example, 8-bit color creates 256 possible colors, while 32-bit creates over 16 million possible colors.

You’ll understand why all this technical stuff is important when we look at the different file types. Each file type has different levels of the compression, colors, etc.

Ok, now that the technical stuff is out of the way, let’s get to more technical stuff!

The following are the most common file types you’ll see on the internet and in print.

  • JPEG or .jpg: This file type is used on the internet and in email. Photographs taken with a basic camera are usually .jpg. You will experience some loss of resolution and color, depending on how much you compress the image. Since JPEGs can have a relatively small file size, it’s great for the web and can make for some fast-loading images on your website that still look decent.
  • PNG or .png: Similar to JPEG, but with fewer color bits (which means fewer possible colors). PNGs can be very small in file size, especially when used for graphics that are entirely made of colors and lines—think clipart or logos. However, with high-resolution photos PNGs sometimes end up making a large file size. You would be better off with a JPEG in that situation. PNGs are the best file type if you want to remove the background from your image.
  • GIF or .gif: This is the only file type that can be animated, albeit with a duration of just a few seconds. It’s also the smallest file type. That small file size comes at a cost of image quality and color options. But if you need an image to load super fast on a website or need some cool animation, GIF is the way to go.
  • EPS or .eps: While JPEG, PNG, and GIF are great for web use, EPS is better suited for printing. An EPS file can be shrunk or enlarged to any size you can think of, and it will still look sharp and clear. This is because EPS images are built with mathematical formulas that tell a computer how to form the shape. When the image is resized, the computer just recalculates the formula and maintains the full resolution. This file type only works for images made of colors and shapes, not for photographs.
  • TIFF or .tiff: You probably won’t see this type of image unless you’re a professional photographer. TIFFs maintain very high resolution and color accuracy, but that also means big file sizes. You wouldn’t want a TIFF on your website, because it would take forever to load. But in a printed product like a brochure, TIFFs are a great option to make photos look realistic.

File type rules of thumb

For the web:

  • Photographs – use JPEG
  • Logos or clipart-type graphics – use PNG
  • Animated images – use GIF

For print:

  • Logos or graphics – use EPS
  • Photographs – use TIFF

By now you should understand the various image file types and where to use them. If you found this helpful, follow us on Facebook. We share lots of useful information to help you market your business.

PS: I’m sure you’ve been dying to know what file type the infographic is. It’s a PNG! Hope you guessed it right 🙂

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If you think “everyone” is your target market, think again

The first time we meet with a lot of our clients, they tell us their target market is “everyone.” While this might seem reasonable, it’s actually more likely to hurt their business and result in wasted advertising dollars with fewer customers.

Missing the target mark

Take Shea Moisture’s recent ad as an example. Shea Moisture’s products have historically been marketed to African American women. But their newest ad featured mostly Caucasian women.

Shea moisture
Shea’s latest ad, which targeted a new market to disastrous results

Why the sudden shift? Shea wanted to sell more products, so they tried to broaden their target market to include more people. That makes sense, right?

Wrong. The backlash on Shea’s new ad was not pretty. Over 30,000 negative tweets about the ad made Shea the top trend on Twitter for the afternoon. But all publicity isn’t necessarily good publicity: Shea pulled the ad after running it for only one day.

30,000+ negative tweets

Shea’s efforts blew up in their face because their target market felt abandoned. They’ve always provided a solution to African American women’s hair problems, which meant they deeply understood and cared about those problems. By offering that same solution to someone else, Shea showed they didn’t really “get” their target market.

Broadening your own business’ target market probably won’t result in a Shea-level disaster, but you can still learn from their mistake.

You can’t be everything to everyone

The most successful businesses work because they market to individuals who have the greatest need for their product. These businesses know what they’re really good at, and who they’re good at helping. They don’t try to provide a one-size-fits-all solution.

Imagine you have a 1965 Ford Mustang. Would you rather get the oil changed at a mechanic who specializes in vintage American cars, or would you go to a big brand chain repair shop?

In this example, a chain repair shop could certainly change the oil for you and do a reasonable job. But the mechanic who specializes in vintage American cars will know all about your Mustang. He’ll be able to provide service above and beyond, and he might find problems with the car that a typical mechanic wouldn’t even notice.

When you only do one thing, people assume you're really good at it

Target market = targeted marketing

Ads attempting to appeal to everyone end up appealing to no one. This is because everyone has different needs and problems. Trying to solve all those various problems with one ad ends up making your message so generic that no one benefits from it.

When you know exactly who your target market is, you can develop advertising messages that speak directly to them and their problem. This will lead to better engagement and more customers from every ad dollar you spend.

That means you can spend less money on advertising and get better results.

If your marketing plan needs some Shea Moisture love (or you just need help defining your target market), reach out to Field Group.

FG hits the target market bullseye
We’ve been practicing our archery skills
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Sarah and Jonathan attempt to assemble a coffeepot

Our coffeepot went on the fritz a few weeks ago. Good ole Mr. Coffee had never let us down before, but now he just beeped and beeped no matter how many times we pressed the “brew” button. All possible solutions having been exhausted, we caved and bought a new coffeepot.

Sarah came back with the new machine in hand. Thinking the hardest part would be opening the box, Jonathan brought some scissors into the kitchen to help.

The new machine came with a lot of instructions. There were no pictures. The intended audience of the instructions was clearly not people who hadn’t had their morning coffee. This was going to be rough.

About 30 minutes later, coffee was dripping peacefully into the pot. The smell of hope filled the air, and everyone was able to get work done just by inhaling it.

The pot was almost full when disaster struck. Let’s just say it looked almost exactly like this picture (I search-engined “coffee explosion”).

Maybe we should switch to tea.

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Jack Beeson: Saying goodbye to an advertising legend

It’s been almost a month since we lost our head cheerleader and dear friend, Jack Beeson. The atmosphere around the office has felt less exciting without his unbridled enthusiasm, less grand without his over-the-top ideas.

Whenever he came into the office, Jack brought a storm of energy and vigor for life. There was never a private conversation with Jack—we could all hear him on the phone negotiating rates with media reps, discussing baseball strategy with car clients, and telling Myrna he loved her.

Jack always reminded us how great it is to work in marketing and advertising. We have the power to help failing businesses succeed, to connect people with products and services that matter to them, and to make our city a great place to live.

He pushed us to do creative, outlandish things that no one else had the guts to do. One of our favorite Jackisms (and there are a lot) refers to the other guys: “We’ve got to be the best of the best. I mean if they’re here, I want us to be HERE.” Jack Beeson never settled for second place—at least not quietly.

Jack, we will miss your love for big ideas, Costco apple pie, and all of your “Field Groupies.” It’s hard to imagine Field Group without you, but somehow we’ll carry on and continue to be inspired by the exuberant spirit that you instilled in each of us. We hope to continue your legacy of good work and honor the man who made it all possible.