Imbue designed and managed production of a sell sheet and brochure for Evercare.

Evercare Veterinary Crematory Servies in Warrington, PA provides services for owners facing the loss of a beloved pet including burial that respectfully honors every animal in a caring and trustworthy manner. They also stock a complete line of memorialization options including decorative urns and specialty keepsakes. Imbue designed and managed print production of new sales tools highlighting Evercare’s memorialization offerings. The set of collateral includes a sell sheet for use in veterinary offices and a brochure that families and owners can review at home.

OHANCAW Challenge Video Contest Website

Imbue designed and built a website for a national video contest aimed to educate adults on the importance of getting screened for oral, head and neck cancer. The website currently allows contestants to submit video entries and will showcase the winning videos at the end of the contest.

Westminster Conservatory of Music Collateral: Brochure, Poster, and Coupon

Imbue wrote and designed new promotional materials that can be used for public relations and student recruitment for Westminster Conservatory of Music, the community music school of Westminster College of the Arts of Rider University. The kit is designed to help raise awareness of Westminster’s programs and capabilities, publicize its locations, and build its enrollment by establishing a connection with orchestra, band, and choral directors at the region’s public and private schools.

Read the entire case study here.

Digital Dog Direct Truck Wrap

Outdoor media broadly fits into four categories: Billboards, Street Furniture, Transit Media, and Other. Other! Other is a very general category that encompasses such things as advertising on cups, bags, and quite a bit of the guerilla marketing items you may walk on or encounter in busy pedestrian areas. Transit Media is just that: ads placed on vehicles like the signs you may see on the side of a bus or the name of a company and its tagline on the back of a truck. Street furniture is advertising that requires a piece of furniture, like a bench, for positioning and that is designed for viewing while walking or riding. Billboards, they’re not just a large painted advertisement anymore for billboards continue to evolve with modern technology and have gone digital in recent years—a far different billboard than the ones used by Pompeiian candidates for office.

Our client, Digital Dog Direct, is a leading direct marketing solutions provider. They deliver a lot of product by truck the entire working day throughout New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Since a delivery truck is frequently on public display, there are continual opportunities for sending visual messages to all types of viewers and prospects all day long. A plain, nondescript truck completes its core function of delivering product, but a well-design truck wrap advertising the firm and its service offerings would attract attention and create awareness everywhere the truck goes.

Imbue presented Digital Dog Direct with two truck-wrap designs, each of which included a version for the side and the back of the truck. Since the space was large, each design needed to be simple, concise, and to the point. The actual “advertisement” needed to create awareness of the company and its services, be striking, memorable, and offer a quick read since the advertisement would be in motion much of the time.

Digital Dog Direct selected the design you see on the truck pictured in this blog post. The design strengthens the brand wherever it goes, pitches services, and acts as a calling card with contact information. There’s even a QR code available for smart phone users to go directly to a special landing page on the Digital Dog Direct website—a traditional media format made even more relevant with new media. It’s a moving billboard that can catch the attention of a new prospect or re-enforce the loyalty of a valued customer just as it passes by, making use of every opportunity presented whether parked or on the road.

How are you using new media to enhance tried and true traditional approaches? Please start a conversation or share your ideas with our readers by commenting on this post.

At Imbue, we’ve been saying “think mobile first” for a while now. Not only for advertising, but it’s imperative now for websites to be mobile compatible as people are searching more and more through mobile devices like smart phones and tablets. If links in your HTML emails are not going to a mobile-compatible website, you may be losing potential business.

Whenever possible, you should build a mobile-compatible website right from the start. Responsive web design is a great option for many websites because it automatically enables a site to be viewed easily on multiple devices of varying sizes. It also eliminates the need for maintaining a separate mobile version of your site, which makes content management easier. That being said, a responsive-website solution is not right for every website or web application because some are better served by having a custom mobile site or app created separately.

The bottom line is that going mobile with your marketing has quickly gone from optional to critical. More than ever, customers expect to be able to easily view and navigate any website on whatever size device they are using.

If you don’t have a mobile website, have your web developer build you one. If you are thinking of redesigning your website, ask your web designer about responsive-web design to see if your new site is a good candidate for that specific solution.

Prior to the internet, one was stuck with a photo collection that was saved on disc and could only be updated by purchasing another collection. Today, there are multiple stock photography and artwork websites—and these sites have new imagery posted daily.

With the abundance of stock imagery available today, it’s easy to find images for your website, print material, and PowerPoint^® or Keynote^® presentations. The challenge is to use images that work well together and that work with your overall brand and core messaging. This is why I recommend developing a library of approved imagery for your organization, chosen by a creative team, which communicates your message in a consistent and impactful visual manner.

Here are a few things to think about when building your library:

1. What are the most-relevant images for the subject matter you cover in your presentations, on your website, and in your printed material?

2. Who is your target audience? (Think about age, gender, race, and profession.)

3. In what capacity will you be using the images?

• Stock photography pricing is often based on resolution. If you are using the image for on-screen items such as PowerPoint and tablet presentations or on websites, you can often get away with purchasing a lower-resolution image than if you were using it for print.
• If your budget permits, purchase the highest-resolution image. You never know when you might want to use it for a poster or brochure. Also, keep in mind that with the advent of higher-resolution displays like Apple’s^® Retina Displays, higher-resolution images will be needed for on-screen use in the future.

4. Choose images that have a similar “look and feel”.

• Photographers often have their own collections of multiple images that are taken in the same style. It often makes sense to purchase imagery from the same collection of work.

5. Do not just appropriate images from the internet. Be sure to secure the rights to use an image. You can learn more about proper image licensing in this blog post.

6. Make sure every image is properly cropped and saved at the correct resolution.

Creating a photo library might seem time consuming and expensive up front. But having the ease of going to a central library, composed of beautiful imagery that strongly reinforces your core messaging, ensures that every presentation, website, and printed item that leaves your office will reinforce, rather than damage, the brand recognition that you’ve worked so hard to build.

The winning entry is a website designed for America’s most-famous summer theater: the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA. The site serves as one of the theater’s primary promotional vehicles and is a critical component in the rejuvenation of an historic landmark in Bucks County, PA.

“As avid theatergoers and dedicated supporters of the arts in Bucks County, designing and developing the Bucks County Playhouse website was truly a labor of love for the Imbue Creative team,” said Michael Piperno, President and Creative Director at Imbue Creative. “The award-winning design is the product of a close collaboration between the playhouse’s marketing team and the Imbue design team, and we are all very honored to be recognized by The Davey Awards.”

The Davey Awards is judged and overseen by the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA), a 200+ member organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media. Current IAVA membership represents a “Who’s Who” of acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms including: Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Yahoo!, Estee Lauder, Wired, Insight Interactive, The Webby Awards, Bath & Body Works, Brandweek, Polo Ralph Lauren, ADWEEK, Alloy, Coach, iNDELIBLE, MTV, Victoria’s Secret, HBO, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Myspace.com, and many others. See www.iavisarts.org for more information.

“This year’s winners truly represent a smart, nimble approach to creativity and embody the quick thinking, resourceful nature that make small agencies so unique” noted Linda Day, Executive Director of the IAVA. She added, “On behalf of the entire International Academy of Visual Arts, I want to thank this year’s Davey Awards entrants and winners for sharing their amazing capabilities and talents, allowing us to once again highlight the best small firms worldwide.”

About Imbue Creative:

Imbue Creative is an award-winning marketing, design, and web development firm located in New Hope, Bucks County, PA. Founded in 2004, the company develops targeted branding, advertising, design, public relations, social media, and digital marketing solutions for local and national clients. For additional information, connect with Imbue Creative on Twitter @ImbueCreative, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/imbuecreative or visit http://www.imbuecreative.com.

About The Davey Awards:

The Davey Awards exclusively honor the “Davids” of creativity, the finest small firms, agencies and companies in the world. David defeated the giant Goliath with a big idea and a little rock – the sort of thing small firms do each year. The annual International Davey Awards honors the achievements of the “Creative Davids” who derive their strength from big ideas, rather than big budgets. The Davey Awards is the leading awards competition specifically for smaller firms, where firms compete with their peers to win the recognition they deserve. Please visit http://www.daveyawards.com for more information.

The Davey Awards is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from a “Who’s Who” of acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms. Please visit http://www.iavisarts.org for a full member list and more information.

View the news release on PRWeb.

Creating a cohesive look and feel to everything you present to your clients is the best way to leave a lasting impression and create brand awareness. Take the time to have a branded template designed and developed for your company, utilizing the design elements that are reflected in your print pieces and on your website.

Here are a few tips for branding your presentations and for making them look their best:

Tip 1: Repetition

Study your existing advertising materials and repeat those elements in your template design.
Utilize the same fonts, color scheme, photography, design elements and any other artwork that
reflects your brand. Also, keep “repetition” going throughout your presentation. Make all titles the same font, size, and color, and make all body copy the same size, font, and color.

Tip 2: Quality

Use only the best quality photographs and design elements in your presentations. Do not use low resolution (blurry) photography, low quality clip art, or low resolution logos. It is better to leave images out than display something of poor quality. Again, look at your print pieces or at your website and pull the best imagery out of those pieces to use on your slides.

Tip 3: Readability and Contrast

Create contrast between the foreground and background of your slides. If you are using a light background, use dark colors for type, shapes, and lines. If you are using a dark background, use light colors for type, shapes, and lines.  Slides often need to present well in various environments from small boardrooms to large auditoriums. Creating contrast will ensure that the entire audience will see your presentation in any setting.

Tip 4: Simplicity

The key to good presentation design is simplicity. Stay away from wordy, bulleted slides. The slide is there to support your words. Use key words, phrases, and imagery to bring home your message and avoid slide copy that is verbatim to your speech.

A well designed PowerPoint or Keynote template not only makes your presentations more professional but also helps teams maintain consistency throughout all of the presentations within an organization.

Do you have any tips for keeping the presentations in your organization on brand? Tell us about them by commenting on this post.

Regular backups, ongoing maintenance, and proactive security are essential for every website or digital application.

A website is only as strong as its weakest link.

With more and more stories about website security breaches and stronger cyber attacks appearing in the news, employing a security strategy for your website is not just a good idea—it’s imperative.

Here are three quick tips for keeping your website secure:

Tip 1: Use Strong Passwords

Weak passwords make it very easy for hackers to gain access to your website. If your password is something simple like a pet’s name or your phone number and zip code, you’re asking for trouble. Check out this blog post to find out how to create a strong password.

Tip 2: Track IP Addresses

Ask your web developer to track the IP addresses that visit your website. If one of them shows a pattern of repeated failed website-login attempts, then you can block the address and prevent a potential hacker from gaining access.

Tip 3: Employ CAPTCHA and SPAM Protection

Okay, so those annoying weird words we have to type in at the end of a form are a bother, aren’t they? The truth is that they stop hackers and spammers from automatically filling out forms. They also help prevent hackers from gaining access to your website through a specific type of attack called an SQL Injection. Protect your site with a CAPTCHA on all forms and have your web developer implement strong SPAM-blocking measures throughout your website.

If you’re using a content management system like WordPress^® or Drupal™ to manage your site’s content, ask your web development team to update your website’s security on a regular basis. That’s simply the best way to try to stay one step ahead of the bad guys. Of course, a regular backup strategy is critical to recovering quickly in the event that your website is compromised.

Now through December 30, 2012, you can earn a $50 Visa Gift Card for every qualified referral* of new clients to Imbue Creative! Simply let your colleagues and friends know about what Imbue Creative has to offer, and tell them to mention that they were referred by you when they contact us – that’s it!

* A qualified referral is one that results in at least $500 of paid business from a new client within 3 months of the initial contact. Initial contact must occur on or before December 30, 2012 to qualify.

A strong brand stands out among the competition and instills loyalty and trust in its customers. In general, it’s a good idea to refresh a logo (corporate identity) when a company is moving in a different direction or trying to reach a higher level of business. It’s important for an identity to look fresh and relevant as the business grows and trends change. The key is to make an improvement that will both give the company a boost and keep its current customers engaged. Does Microsoft hit these marks? To weigh in, leave a comment or take our poll in the sidebar! To take a peek at their new logo visit microsoft.com.

Regular backups, ongoing maintenance, and proactive security are essential for every website or digital application.

We’re sure our clients are tired of hearing us talk about the importance of a good website backup strategy, but with the recent successful hacking at GoDaddy.com that caused a significant outage we feel it’s time to remind everyone again of the importance of safeguarding your data stored in the cloud.

I Thought My Hosting Company Backed Up My Site?

Your hosting provider most likely backs up your website on a weekly or monthly basis. Our opinion is that you cannot rely solely on those backups. There are several reasons why we take this stance, but one of the main reasons is that the backups are stored with your hosting company. If the host has a catastrophic event that affects both your website and their servers, guess what? Your backups are gone. We recommend that all clients implement a backup strategy that includes storing a separate copy of the website on a different server than where their website is hosted. Some of our clients who have internal technical folks or IT teams manage this process themselves while others work with us to plan and manage their backups.

Time Machine for Your Website

One of the services we offer our clients is something that works similarly to Apple’s Time Machine^® software. The service backs up our client’s websites incrementally on a daily basis, which means we can “roll back” a site to a specific date instead of only being able to restore a site based on when manual backups are performed (2 weeks or 1 month ago, for example). The service also provides us with notifications when items on a website change, which can help identify hacking attempts before they do too much damage.

Email

Large businesses with enterprise-level email systems have IT teams that backup their email. Smaller businesses often rely on the email services that they get with their website’s hosting account. If you use the email services that are hosted along with your website, you need to be sure you have a strategy for backing that data up as well. For some businesses, a simple archiving strategy will do the trick, but for most we recommend partnering with an IT professional to develop a regular backup strategy along with a disaster recovery/continuity of business plan for company email.

Other Cloud-based Services

We use a lot of cloud-based software here at Imbue Creative, including a project management system, a time-tracking system, and a file-sharing system. While all of the companies that we buy these cloud-based solutions from have their own backup and redundancy systems in place to protect our data, we still have a comprehensive strategy for ensuring the data in those systems is backed up independently on a regular basis. It’s our data, and ultimately we’re responsible for it.

Do you have any tips to share regarding backing up your company’s cloud-based data? Tell us about them by commenting on this post.

On the other hand, there’s little I enjoy more than helping others succeed. In fact, that’s why I was a high school teacher many years ago—and the teaching bug is still with me. I started a marketing and advertising agency because I decided almost a decade ago that owning my own firm would be the best way to spend my workdays: helping others succeed and giving me the opportunity to use my creative talents at the same time. Since then, my firm has helped more than 100 clients succeed through campaigns and strategies too numerous to list here. That’s pretty cool if I do say so myself.

To run a small business you need to be a coach, a teacher, a listener, a pseudo IT professional, an account executive, and, yes, a salesperson. I’ll be honest: I don’t like that last one—never have. I enjoy meeting new people, but I dislike cold calling and get bored at networking events where people won’t spend more than eight seconds with you if they think they can’t sell you their wares.

Put me in a room or on the phone with people who know they need one or more of our services, and that’s where I do my best work. I don’t need to “sell” to them; I just need to help them succeed. That’s how I like it.

I’m happy to say that we don’t cold call much anymore. We do just fine with letting people that need us find us using inbound marketing. Don’t get me wrong: it takes work. In fact, it takes dedication, a budget of time and dollars, and a large dose of patience. But it works; and I no longer need to regularly pick up the phone to bother someone I don’t know, who may or may not need what we sell.

Here are some tips for ramping up your inbound marketing and content marketing efforts so your customers will find you.

Good Content + Smart Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

This is the single most important equation for small and medium businesses today. If your website is too light on content or isn’t optimized well to help search engines understand what your website is all about, you’re missing out on attracting visitors who are probably close to making a buying decision and looking for a business that can help them.

Your website needs to be well written so it clearly communicates your services and capabilities; but, even more importantly, should be written so visitors can understand how you can help them solve their specific business problems. Then you need to write good page titles and descriptions for each page of your site—search engines use this data to determine what your pages are all about.

Your Website Must be Coded Well

If your website isn’t getting the traffic you expect, you might be thinking that you need a website redesign. That might be the case, but it actually may only need to be optimized to better attract your potential buyers. A website needs to be coded well so the search engines can index it effectively. Your web designer or development firm needs to understand search marketing and search engine optimization in order to help you here. If they don’t, you need to either find a new partner or hire a consultant to work along with your designer or developer.

Blog About It

One of the best ways to create regular content on your website is to start a blog. You can keep your current customers updated about what’s been going on within your company; provide commentary on current events as they pertain to your products or services; or simply provide free, helpful information and tips to your customers. The best blogs are those with regular posts that encourage people to participate in conversations. If you start a blog, be transparent and honest and don’t overtly promote your services. Position yourself as a resource of good advice or an expert with important things to say. You can even invite other experts to “guest blog” on your blog to add different perspectives.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Campaigns

Pay-per-click (also known as paid placement) campaigns with Google, Yahoo!^®/Bing^®, and other search or social networks are a good complement to traditional SEO strategies that target organic search traffic. You need to write good ads, have good content on your website, and set realistic budgets for these to work well—and, if they are done right, you can boost online exposure very quickly, especially in competitive markets.

Leverage Social Media

Twitter^®, Facebook^®, LinkedIn^®, Pinterest, Groupon™, Google+™, Foursquare^® and other social media sites can be great tools for businesses. You do, however, need to evaluate how you can use one or more of them to participate socially with potential customers. The object here is to participate by offering helpful information to people in your network and sharing content that your followers will find interesting—content that will likely be shared with their friends and followers. Good social media marketing is like good PR. You need to identify the networks where your customers and potential clients participate, put together a media plan so you have some content ready when you don’t have anything else to say, and make sure you have the right people on your team managing your social media properties and online reputation. Just because one of your team members is good with technology and uses social media sites for personal use doesn’t mean he or she should be the voice of your company in the social mediasphere.

Don’t Forget the Free Stuff

You don’t need to lay all your cards on the table, but you’ll instill trust and establish credibility if you provide potential customers with good information or advice for free. This can be as simple as posting good, relevant tips on your blog or giving advice on social networking sites. You can also develop white papers or ebooks about specific topics that your customers will find useful and offer them on your website for download.

Traditionalists rejoice: billboards, direct mail, and other classic outbound marketing tools still have a place in a complete marketing or advertising plan. But for most of the businesses we help every day, inbound marketing tactics that drive customers who are already looking for a specific service or product right to their doors (or websites) provide a higher return on investment than pushing a message out to a wide audience with the hope that it resonates with a few potential customers.

Do you have any additional inbound marketing tips or experiences to share? Tell us about them by commentating on this post.

We remind clients all the time about the importance of changing passwords often and about using strong passwords. My passwords are unique and strong for most of my online accounts, but I realized this morning that the password for my Apple ID was a little weak.

Nowadays, your Apple ID is connected to so many more things than just the iTunes store (iCloud, Apple’s Online Store, App Store, iMessage, Find My Mac/iPhone/iPad, etc.). A breach like what happend to a journalist a few days ago would be devastating.

We use many cloud-based services here at Imbue. But we also have on- and off-site backup redundancy so we’re not relying solely on the cloud. In addition, we try to keep our own “firewalls” between our online accounts as much as we can so a breach of one account won’t allow hackers to gain access to other accounts.

This article from PC Magazine has some good thoughts for staying safer in the cloud and online.

Don’t get us wrong: designing and laying out a magazine or catalog for print is something we love to do. And, for some audiences, a printed version is still a must.

But we’re digital nerds here too, and any chance we get to take a client’s publication online is one we jump on immediately. A digital publication allows you to get information online quickly, closely track its performance, and cultivate the type of engagement that drives sales (or donations, memberships, readership… insert your ultimate business goal here).

We’ve built complete online publishing systems for clients that are very robust and frankly, pretty slick. We’ve also created publishing environments for others who only needed the basics and wanted to simply get their content online quickly and efficiently.

If you’re investing in a website or online publication now, a mobile-friendly version should be a critical aspect in which you want to be sure you invest the time or dollars. The use of mobile devices is steadily on the rise, and tablets like iPad®, Kindle Fire®, and Surface™ simply cannot be ignored when creating a digital publication.

Here are some tips for those who want to get their content online but have a limited budget or just want to test the waters before taking the plunge into an all-digital format:

1) Go beyond PDFs with a digital “flip book”
This solution can be the perfect companion to a printed publication or catalog. In fact several of our clients have opted to go digital in this manner since they still need to have a paper version professionally designed, printed, and mailed—but they also understand the importance of providing an online version. A recent example is the Summer 2012 issue of Innkeeping Now, which is a quarterly magazine published by the Professional Association of Innkeepers International (PAII).

Digital flip books can be optimized for mobile devices and tablets like iPad, iPhone®, and Android™ devices. The more sophisticated solutions can even provide search engine indexing and analytics tracking far beyond what you can do by simply offering a PDF for online viewing. The cost to get them up and running is very reasonable, and they can often be hosted right on your website.

2) Leverage a content management system that is built for publishing, like WordPress.
You can have a WordPress website up and running fairly quickly with some basic web “know-how” and a minimal investment of time. If you know how to set up hosting for a website and aren’t afraid to talk to the hosting company’s tech-support team a few times if you have trouble getting things going, the process will be relatively painless. There are many “themes” that you can use as a base which are available for free or for very-low cost. (Be careful: they are not all free for commercial use, so be sure to read the license agreements carefully and understand what you can and cannot do.)

WordPress can be leveraged beyond the do-it-yourself approach by hiring a developer or development firm that specializes in building websites on the platform. It’s pretty amazing what WordPress (and other similar open-source content management systems) can do when extended beyond the basics.

Keep in mind that not all WordPress sites (or websites for that matter) are going to be mobile friendly out of the box. Again, we can’t stress enough the importance of ensuring your publication can be viewed on mobile devices.

3) Use a service or special generation software
If you’ve got the time and resources to do it yourself, you can use an online document-sharing service like issuu™ or software like 3D Issue to create your own online editions. These types of solutions are usually either free and ad supported or carry a licensing fee. You’ll need to pick the right one for you, so be sure to do your homework and take the time familiarizing yourself with the different features and options available with each service. You need to be sure you pick the one that has the right balance of features and costs for your organization.

Of course, these solutions are only a sampling of a few solutions that can help you get online quickly and without a major financial investment. If you decide one of them is right for you and need an experienced partner to provide advice or manage the process for you, we’re here to help!

If you need to pull out the big guns and develop something more custom for your online publishing needs, we can do that too. Let’s talk.

The Bucks County Playhouse is back and has a new website.

Imbue designed and built a new WordPress content-managed website for America’s most famous summer theater: the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA. The new site is easy to update via a web-based administration area and includes featured areas for shows & events, online ticket purchases, social media sharing, and fundraising. Join Imbue in celebrating the playhouse’s return by ordering tickets for this season’s shows and special events.

Whether you’re on an iPhone® or an Android™ device, an iPad® or a Surface™ tablet, you’re connected wherever you are. This “always-on” internet access means more and more visitors to your website are coming from mobile devices. How your website appears on the screens of these devices will affect the length of the visit. Is the information easily accessible? Is the text large enough? What about the load time?

Don’t let a poor mobile-browsing experience prevent a visitor from becoming a customer. While we recommend making your website fully mobile compatible, at the very least be sure you have your core messaging optimized for small screens.

Help us receive 250 votes on the Mission: Small Business℠ page to get closer to qualifying for a grant. After clicking “Support” on the home page, look for our business and vote for us!

We have so much going on here this week with website launches and print campaigns going to press that we don’t have time to write our usual weekly recap, but we wanted to be sure to thank all of you who voted for us at the Mission: Small Business website.

Thank you so much!

We still need some more votes to qualify our grant application, so if you have not voted already please head over to the site and vote for us today!

Using a neat app called MindNode for brainstorming the feature set for a new web-based application.

Happy Friday, and happy June everyone! For a short week, we sure did get a lot done. Wendy wrote a great blog post on the new Every Door Direct Mail service from the post office. Check it out here. We also applied for a grant to help fund our current expansion plans. You can help us with our application by voting for us here!

Here’s a rundown of what else went on here this week:

• Eric and the website development team began final testing on a gorgeous website that is launching soon.
• Wendy finalized a cool custom illustration for a local nonprofit.
• With a little help from our new favorite app called MindNode, we had two really fun brainstorming sessions for webapp projects that are in their initial stages of development.
• We created a slick presentation for a client to use on an iPad at an upcoming trade show.
• And we worked on several other print design projects such as advertisements and brochures for some great clients.

Enjoy the first weekend of June!

P.S. Did you know that June is the month with the longest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere?

This screenshot shows the target area that was chosen. In this case it’s a one-mile radius around Imbue Creative.

Easy to Use

EDDM is easy to use: you don’t have to compile names and addresses—you simply identify neighborhoods where you want your mail piece sent. Just have it designed, printed, and drop it in bundles at the post office. Your mailing piece will be delivered to every property in the areas you specify.

Low Cost

Postage starts at 14.5 cents per piece, and you can get a quick cost estimate by using a nifty mapping tool on the United States Postal Service (USPS) website. The tool helps you to select the carrier routes that are closest to your business, and it’s simple to add or remove routes to see various postage estimates.

Here, we refined our selections to be under 5000. We can target the areas we left out another day! Click image to enlarge.

This screenshot shows that we are over the limit of 5000 pieces to qualify for EDDM-Retail. Click image to enlarge.

Two Program Options

Every Door Direct Mail-Retail lets you send up to 5,000 pieces per day, doesn’t require a postage permit, and you drop the mail at the front counter of the local post office.

EDDM (without the “Retail” designation) is for larger mailings, and you must submit your bundles at a Business Mail Entry Unit (BMEU). A BMEU is the area of a postal facility where postal customers present bulk and permit mail for acceptance. You must take these mailings to the Post Office where you hold your permit. Call your local post office for more information, ie: there may be restricted hours for a BMEU.

Mailer Formats

There are a variety of sizing options for your mailer. Some typical examples are 6-1/2 x 9 in. postcards, 8-1/2 x 11 in. cards, and 4.25 x 14 in. tri-fold menus. Visit the USPS website for additional sizes and parameters.

Snail Mail Plus Digital Make a Great Team!

One might assume that digital marketing is currently the best way to generate business, but the right combination of direct mail and digital marketing can be a more-powerful way to gain attention and deliver your message. When people see consistent brand messages across multiple platforms, there’s a better chance it will stick in their minds and inspire them to act.

We think Every Door Direct Mail is a great way to get the word out about your business, especially when done alongside a digital or social media campaign. The price is right, and mailing to prospects in a particular area has never been easier.

Happy Mailing!

P.S. For more direct mail marketing tips, consider a free subscription to Deliver. It’s a digital magazine published by the USPS. At the least, go there and take a peek at their cool masthead illustration!

Here’s a rundown of what else went on here this week:

• We designed a new logo for a financial services marketing firm.
• Wendy worked up a custom illustration for a local nonprofit.
• Eric and the website development team continued to move two large website projects along that are set to launch in June.
• We had a heated debate over the use of the word “nifty” in a blog post. Don’t ask.
• And to be honest, we’re all exhausted. The long weekend is certainly well deserved!

In remembrance of all who have given their lives to serve and protect our country, and with gratitude to all the men and women who continue to serve…

Happy Memorial Day from Imbue Creative

Here’s a rundown of what else went on here this week:

• We launched a new website for local nonprofit FACT Bucks County.
• A couple of us attended the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Expo on Wednesday where we met some nice folks.
• Eric moved two big web projects along that are looking really great!
• Wendy put the finishing touches on several scientific posters as well as loaded in a bunch of content for a new WordPress website we’re building.
• Michael cranked out some new HTML email templates for 2 clients that they can use going forward for consistent email comunications with their customers.
• And finally we started building a great ecommerce website that’s so feature-rich it’s going to blow our client’s socks off. We can’t wait.

Enjoy the weekend!

Imbue designed and built a new WordPress content managed website for local nonprofit FACT Bucks County. The new website is easy to update via a web-based administration area and includes featured areas for events, photo galleries, social media sharing, and PayPal integration for donations. Check it out at www.factbuckscounty.org.

Using a Mac app called Reflection to demonstrate how a website renders on an iPad

It’s Friday already? Just looking at the number of meetings on my Outlook calendar for the past week makes me wonder how I got anything done! I’m happy to say that we’re gearing up for what looks to be a beautiful spring weekend here in Bucks County, PA. If only the pollen count would go down around here so I could breathe….

Here’s a rundown of what else went on here this week:

• Eric and the development team made a lot of headway on several website development projects. We can’t wait until they’re done so we can show them off.
• We put the finishing touches on a new website for a local nonprofit, which is going to launch early next week. Stay tuned…
• Wendy continued to churn out sophisticated scientific poster layouts. Spring is our busiest season for this type of work. She also worked on a new project that will utilize the post office’s new “Every Door Direct Mail” service.
• We met some great new people this week who have contacted us for various upcoming branding and website development projects.
• We held an online meeting from an iPad using Fuzemeeting’s iPad app (which we thought was pretty cool).
• Thanks to the creators of a Mac app called Reflection, we were able to demo how our web-based publishing system looks on an iPad during a screen sharing session with a client. The Imbue Publisher system will now format a publication’s website for desktop browsing as well as for tablets and mobile devices without the need for a separate mobile version or app.
• And we finally got our K-cup coffee collection organized so you can easily find a Hazelnut or Decaf without having to dig.

Enjoy the weekend, and Happy Mother’s Day to all of the great Moms out there.

The 18^th Annual Communicator Awards Announces 2012 Winners, Bucks County Firm Wins Award of Distinction

New York, NY (May 7, 2012) – The winners of The 2012 Communicator Awards have been announced by the International Academy of the Visual Arts and New Hope, Bucks County, PA creative services firm Imbue Creative has received an Award of Distinction in the print design category. With thousands of entries received from across the US and around the world, The Communicator Awards is the largest and most-competitive awards program honoring creative excellence for communications professionals.

The winning entry is a recruitment brochure designed for the Texas Regional Office, a full-service insurance broker in Coppell, Texas. “The Imbue Creative team is delighted to be recognized by The Communicator Awards again this year,” said Michael Piperno, President and Creative Director of Imbue Creative. “We designed the brochure to be an effective-communications tool for our client, and the fact that it has been selected as an award-winning design by our peers is a true honor.”

The Communicator Awards are judged and overseen by the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA), a 550+ member organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media. Current IAVA membership represents a “Who’s Who” of acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms including: Condè Nast, Coach, Disney, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Estee Lauder, HBO, Keller Crescent, Monster.com, MTV, Polo Ralph Lauren, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Tribal DDB, Victoria’s Secret, Wired, Yahoo!, and many others. See www.iavisarts.org for more information.

“The pool of entries we received for this year’s Communicator Awards serves as a true testament to the innovative ideas and capabilities of communications and marketing professionals around the world. Each year our entrants continue to amaze by reinventing the ways we communicate and market in an ever-changing industry” noted Linda Day, executive director of the IAVA. She added, “On behalf of the entire Academy, we congratulate this year’s Communicator Award Entrants and Winners for their passion and dedication. We are humbled to be given the opportunity to recognize such amazing work.”

For more information about The Communicator Awards, please visit www.communicatorawards.com, email The Communicator Awards at info@communicatorawards.com or call us at (212) 675-3555.

About Imbue Creative
Imbue Creative (www.imbuecreative.com) is an award-winning marketing, design, and advertising agency located in New Hope, Pennsylvania. The firm is a division of Imbue Communications, LLC, a marketing and design consultancy founded in Bucks County, PA in 2004. Other Imbue Communications companies include ScientificPostersOnline.com, a graphic design service providing professional scientific and research poster design and layout for medical communications companies, hospitals, and clinical researchers; and Imbue Digital, a web design, web development, and internet-based marketing company serving small and mid-sized organizations.

About The Communicator Awards
The Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program honoring creative excellence for communication professionals. Founded by communication professionals over a decade ago, The Communicator Awards is an annual competition honoring the best in advertising, corporate communications, public relations and identity work for print, video, interactive and audio. This year’s Communicator Awards received thousands of entries from companies and agencies of all sizes, making it one of the largest awards of its kind in the world. Please visit www.communicatorawards.com for more information.

The Communicator Awards is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from a “Who’s Who” of acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms. Please visit www.iavisarts.org for a full member list and more information.

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Wendy and Eric with their iPads at Imbue Creative

I’ll admit we’re a little tech-obsessed here at Imbue. This week I finally made the move away from paper notes and cleaned up my desk thanks to my new favorite iPad app Noteability and an iFrogz Stylus that I got from Staples. It’s funny, but this 99 cent app and ten dollar stylus really did change my life! Meanwhile, Eric mapped out our office with his new favorite app Magic Plan. Anyone looking to make floor plans with an iPad 2 or higher needs to check this one out!

We were also quite busy from a work standpoint. Here’s a recap of what else went on here this week:

• Wendy and I laid out 6 scientific posters, whew!
• We met with a local retailer to discuss a new e-commerce website.
• Eric trained our friends from a local nonprofit on updating and managing their new WordPress website (check back next week to see the new site).
• Eric and I designed and developed a touch screen presentation for a trade show booth.
• Eric finalized a website design for a large website we’re working on, and started getting the nuts and bolts of the content management system ready for implementing the design.
• The entire team worked on information architecture for a large initiative for one of our medical communications clients that has us all totally geeked out (which we love). It involves a website, an iPad app, and more. We’re very excited.

Oh, and last but not least we won a Communicator Award this week for a brochure we designed for our friends at the Texas Regional Office.

We hope everyone has a great weekend!

Yesterday, the Bucks County Playhouse held a press conference to announce the upcoming season’s shows. At the event, they also unveiled their new logo, designed by our team here at Imbue Creative!

In this additional short video you’ll see Broadway producer Jed Bernstein unveil the new logo at time marker 1:28 (and at time marker :28 through :34 you’ll catch a glimpse of Michael and Wendy). You can also see the logo on our website and on our Facebook page.

The Bucks County Playhouse is undergoing an exciting revitalization. Check out bcptheater.org for updates and to support the Playhouse by becoming a member and purchasing a subscription for the upcoming Summer 2012 season.

1) Recycle plastic, glass, and paper whenever we can

We have recycling buckets in our kitchen and workroom and a recycling dumpster by the parking lot. We can recycle paper, mail, cardboard, magazines, catalogs, boxes, glass, shopping bags, metal containers, and even, oh no!, brochures.

2) Dispose of batteries, printer cartridges, and electronic equipment properly

We have quite a few gadgets because techno geeks are we. Batteries power many of our gadgets. We take our used batteries to our local UPS Store® where they are disposed of properly for a nominal charge. Thank you, UPS Store, New Hope! When the Imbue printer went on the fritz, our local Staples store was able to take the printer and make sure that it was disposed of without harming the Earth. Staples disposes of printer cartridges too! The Earth loves you, Staples!

 3) Save gas and keep the air clean

“All that I need is the air that I breathe,” sang Albert Hammond in 1972. We try to do as much as we can to save gas and keep the air clean in 2012 by keeping travel for on-site visits to a minimum through web training, conference calls, and videoconferencing.

4) Communicate with our clients and vendors electronically

In addition to email, at Imbue, all our client invoices are sent electronically saving gas and paper. Most of our bills are paid through online bill payment. We edit documents using track changes and sign our contracts and work orders digitally. Not only is it more convenient, but also there are hardly any wasted resources.

5) Use a programmable thermostat

We use a programmable thermostat that regulates the temperature at the Imbue office when we’re here, not here, summertime, and wintertime. We definitely save money and reduce our power consumption. It’s one of the most important things we do for the environment. If we only could agree on what the correct temperature should be while we’re here, we would have it made.

 6) We’ll improve even more

We turn off the lights, even during the day when no one is in the kitchen or the sun is streaming through our conference room windows. Imbue has been tardy, however, in replacing our light bulbs with those earning the Energy Star, even though they last longer and save money. Hey, that’s what our Earth Day resolution should be: replace at least one of our incandescent bulbs with an Energy Star qualified light bulb! We can do that and even more.

Learn more about Earth Day by visiting the United States Environmental Protection Agency Earth Day web page.

1) Plop in content, then style it

By adding your text content first, then images, and then styling the text with header tags, you’ll get the best results. Why? The CMS is writing code in the background when you insert your content. Putting the content in without any styling or images first allows the system to write cleaner code—and can help you avoid unexpected results when you preview the page or make the page live.

2) Unlink your images in your pages and posts

Are your page and post images linking to themselves? Try clicking on an image on your live site. If you end up seeing a window that includes just the image you clicked on, then the answer is yes. WordPress automatically links placed images to themselves, so you need to tell it not to when you add each new image. So, when you add an image into your page, be sure to unlink it by selecting “None” in the Link URL field.

3) Optimize your SEO with quality URLs

Is your URL clean and easy to read and bookmark? As you create new pages, notice the permalink. This is the actual URL for the page you are creating, and it is used when others tweet and share your page link on other social networks. Is your permalink clean and concise while still being descriptive of the page’s content?

Also, don’t forget that if you add a new page with the same name as a previous page, the system might add a “-2” as part of the permalink. Simply change the permalink to text that is relevant to your page’s content. A previous page’s permalink cannot be duplicated.

4) Preserve your search site’s page indexing

Google, Bing™, Yahoo!^®, and other search sites index your web pages and store the data in their databases so they can quickly serve up relevant results to searchers. If you change a page’s name, or change how it’s accessed by moving it, you will break your valuable index history with the search engines. All of Imbue’s sites include re-indexing features which will help you avoid losing rankings when you change page names or move pages to new locations. Be sure you remember to make the appropriate redirects every time you change a page name or link.

5) Upload images that fit

Yes, you can scale your images and crop them within the CMS; but if you upload high resolution images from your 8 megapixel camera, you are adding a lot of large files onto your server. This makes your file uploads slower and will make your backups take longer. So, it’s in your best interest to scale your images to 72 dots per inch (dpi) and to the actual pixel width that is just the size you need for your page, post, or banner image. You can scale and crop images in Photoshop^®, Photoshop Elements, Apple’s^® Preview, or any other image editor.

The State of Small Business Report, 2011 Survey of Small Business Success, sponsored by Network Solutions®, LLC and the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business found that technology investments by small businesses are on the rise once again. The survey also found that a slim majority, 56% of small businesses, have a website yet only 31% use social media. A smaller number, 27%, have a search engine optimization plan and most have not yet embraced mobile marketing.

Imbue Digital will help small and mid-size businesses make sense of the variety of digital tools and tactics available to connect with their audiences and develop strategies for growing their businesses online. Imbue will provide these clients with customized digital solutions from content-managed websites to comprehensive integrated campaigns spanning both the traditional- and digital-marketing landscape.

The division will offer services in five broad areas: web and digital design, web development including content management systems, internet and search marketing, digital content development, and mobile websites. Imbue Digital clients will ultimately be able to manage most of their own digital solutions if they choose, which can lead to significant long-term savings. Websites will be built on a content management system (CMS), such as WordPress, Drupal™, and Joomla!™, that allows a client to make edits to the text content of the site through an easy-to-learn web-based interface. The CMS also permits online adjustments to the search engine optimization strategy as clients learn more about the performance of their website. Imbue will guide clients to leverage and engage in social media dialogue as a complement to other methods of communication.

“The digital age can be complex, daunting, and confusing to businesses since web development and internet marketing options seem to grow everyday,” said Michael Piperno, President and Creative Director of Imbue Creative and Imbue Digital. “We think Imbue Digital is the ideal partner in this age of overwhelming choices and considerations since the Imbue team is well experienced in the new media and our solutions are customized for each of our clients.”

About Imbue Communications, LLC

Imbue Communications, LLC, is a marketing and design consultancy founded in Bucks County, PA in 2004. Other Imbue Communications companies include Imbue Creative, an award-winning marketing, design, and advertising agency; ScientificPostersOnline.com, a graphic design service providing professional scientific and research poster design and layout for medical communications companies, hospitals, and clinical researchers; and Imbue Digital, a web design, web development, and internet-based marketing company serving small and mid-sized organizations.

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With the recent good news that New Hope retail vacancies have dropped, and with the revitalization of the Bucks County Playhouse underway, we thought it was a perfect time to remind our neighboring businesses of some free ways you can get yourself more exposure.

1. Google Places

If you haven’t claimed and updated your Google Places page, bookmark this article and go do it right now. Make sure your information is accurate and try to make the listing as robust as you can. While you’re at it, create a coupon offer for visitors of your Places page.

2. Bing and Yahoo Local Listings

Similar to a Google Places listing, you should also create a listing for your business that will display on Bing and one for Yahoo.

3. Yelp

We love Yelp.com — it is a great network and offers some nice free business tools that you can leverage as part of your free account. Get yourself a free business listing on Yelp and then check out how their offers and other tools can work for you.

4. Press Releases

Write a press release about a new product, service, or other announcement and submit it to all of the local media outlets. For a wider reach, submit your release through a service like PRweb (there is a fee for this, but they have very reasonable rates for the exposure you get).

5. Social Media

Twitter and Facebook are great tools for businesses when used correctly. If you have not claimed your space on those two social networks, do it today. Then evaluate how you might use them effectively to participate socially with potential customers. The object here is to participate by offering helpful information to others in your network and sharing content that your followers will find interesting and will be likely to share with their friends and followers. Google Plus is another good site to check out to see if it’s a good fit for you. We’re really into Pinterest lately too. This new social sharing site is addictive and fun. Sign up for a free account and start “pinning” images and watch as your friends share them like wildfire.

6. Page Titles and Descriptions

When it comes to getting found online, simply having a gorgeous website is not enough. First you need good text content. Then you need well written page titles and descriptions for every page on your site. This process is part art and part science. You need to first understand the types of search terms people are likely to use to look for a business like yours. Then you need to craft page titles and descriptions that target those terms.

7. Link Building

One way to help increase site traffic and give your site more credibility when it comes to search engine indexing is to have other sites linking to your site. Be careful here… you don’t want any ol’ site linking to you. The best inbound links are those that come from sites that are related to your site’s content. Ask other businesses that offer services that complement yours for a link exchange (you link to their site and they link to yours). Free and paid directories for your type of industry are also a great source of inbound links. For example, if you are a bed and breakfast, get yourself listed in as many of the popular online B&B directories as you can.

8. Blogging

One great way to create regular content on your website is to start a blog. You can keep your current customers updated about what’s been going on within your company, provide commentary on current events as they pertain to your products or services, or simply provide free, helpful information and tips to your customers. The best company blogs are updated frequently and provide good information that their current and potential customers will find useful.

All of these tactics are free and can help you increase exposure online. You’ll just need to invest your time to set them up and in some cases, generate content. If you don’t have the time or technical skill to go it alone, we’re here to help.

• Dynamic slide shows
• Dynamic landing pages
• Sidebar Widgets
• Database for Classes, Staff, and Workshops
• News posts
• Blog
• and more!

“QR Code” is an abbreviation for “Quick Response Code.” It is essentially a two-dimensional barcode that contains data which can be decoded at high speed. This code was originally created to track vehicle parts for an auto manufacturer but is now being used all over the world in many different industries.

Users with a smartphone that is equipped with a QR Code reader application can scan the QR Code using the phone’s camera. This scan accesses information that can take you right to a specific page on a website, download a PDF, connect to a wireless network, instantly display contact information, or even make a phone call!

The use of QR Code technology is exploding—you can find QR Codes in print ads, retail store displays, on business cards, buses, tickets, product labels, t-shirts and more. Basically, anything that can be printed on can be used as a vehicle for a QR Code to link a user to more information.

The use of QR Codes is license free. The patent rights on QR Codes are owned by Denso Wave, but they have elected not to exercise them. Anyone can create a code by using one of the many free online QR Code generators. QR reader software is available for most mobile platforms. As a matter of fact, many smartphones now come with QR readers already installed.

Standard QR Codes can store data containing between 1,817 and 7,089 characters depending on the type (numeric, alphanumeric, binary, and kanji/kana). Regular bar codes have data going in only one direction while QR Codes contain information in both vertical and horizontal directions, thus enabling them able to store more than twice as much data. There is also a Micro QR Code which is a smaller version of the standard for applications that can’t handle larger scans. The most these can hold is 35 numeric characters.

The myriad of ways to use this technology in every day life is exciting! Large corporations down to tiny volunteer organizations are using these instant links from an object to cyberspace (aka hardlinking) to their advantage. The ways your company can utilize QR Codes is limited only by your imagination… or Imbue’s. Will it be on your next set of business cards, company t-shirts, or promotional tote bags; sending the reader to your website? Or maybe an informational brochure with a link to a video containing a live demonstration! Give us a call to discuss ways for your company to ride the next wave of marketing innovation!

*QR Code is registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED.

Now you might be thinking, “but it’s a picture of the Brooklyn bridge… that’s a public place!” And you’re right, it is a public place—but the person who took that photo owns the copyright for that specific photograph of that landmark. And you can’t use it without permission. 

So, how do I find images that I can use in my marketing materials and on my website? Good question, and the answer is actually quite simple. If you are working with a design firm or creative services agency, ask them to find images for you. They know where to look for the best images, and will also know where to look for images that suit your budget and usage requirements. Because they also have a lot of experience licensing images, they can often negotiate better pricing than you could on your own.

If you’re from the DIY school, you can research images on your own by visiting sites like gettyimages.com and veer.com. Here’s a short summary of the most common types of licenses available.

• With “Royalty Free” images you pay once and have rights to use the image as long as you want (typically the only main limitations are if you use it in print and do over 500,000 pieces or use it on a website with an extremely high volume of traffic, you need to pay more).
• “Rights Managed” images are much different — these types of licenses mean you have to license an image for a specific use (brochure cover, for example), and at a specific size (1/4 of the page, for example), for a geographic region where it will be seen, and for a specific time frame. This type of licensing can get complicated, and costs significantly more than Royalty Free, but if exclusivity is important, they’re well worth the cost. We often use Rights Managed images when a client doesn’t have the budget for a photo shoot, but wants an image that’s not as likely to be used by other companies at the same time.

There are many other scenarios including special licensing for items that will be resold, and licenses that allow you to use images for personal or limited business use—but the two above are the most common.

As a creative services firm, we understand copyright law better than the average business person. While we certainly don’t claim to be as knowledgable as our favorite intellectual property attorney, we do know enough to help our clients stay out of copyright trouble.

One final thought… beware of images on the internet that claim to be in the public domain. It’s still your responsibility to check the copyright of any image you use, even though the person or website hosting it claims it is in the public domain.

The content management features of the new website allow OPT4 Group to continually deliver relevant and current content to their visitors. Check it out at www.opt4group.com.

For Immediate Release

THE 17th ANNUAL COMMUNICATOR AWARDS ANNOUNCES 2011 WINNERS — NEW HOPE FIRM WINS AWARD OF DISTINCTION

New York, NY (June 7, 2011) — The winners of the 2011 Communicator Awards were announced by the International Academy of the Visual Arts today, and New Hope creative services firm Imbue Creative has received an Award of Distinction in the interactive media category. With thousands of entries received from across the US and around the world, the Communicator Awards is the largest and most-competitive awards program honoring the creative excellence for communications professionals.

The winning entry is a custom website designed and developed for Maximuck’s Farm Market (www.maximucks.com), a family owned and operated farm and market in Doylestown, PA. According to Imbue Creative’s director of digital media, “Our firm is very proud of the Maximuck’s Farm Market website, especially because there are a lot of enhanced features ‘behind the scenes,’ including: a customized client administrative area that allows the Maximuck family to edit the site anytime they choose, a store hours display that automatically changes each day, and feature areas for highlighting seasonal specials.”

The Communicator Awards are judged and overseen by the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA), a 550+ member organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media. Current IAVA membership represents a “Who’s Who” of acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms including: Condè Nast, Coach, Disney, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Estee Lauder, HBO, Keller Crescent, Monster.com, MTV, Polo Ralph Lauren, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Tribal DDB, Victoria’s Secret, Wired, Yahoo!, and many others. See www.iavisarts.org for more information.

“As we continue our mission to honor Creative Excellence for Communication Professionals, we were once again amazed at the high level of work we received for this year’s Communicator Awards. With this year’s entries we found an increased awareness and reflection of the digital world in which we live, and our entrants always seem to find new and creative ways to push the envelope of possibilities across all mediums” noted Linda Day, director of the IAVA. She added, “We are honored to witness the amazing work being done throughout the industry and want to commend and congratulate this year’s Communicator Award Winners and Entrants for their hard work and dedication. On behalf of the entire Academy — Job well done.”

For more information about the Communicator Awards, please visit www.communicatorawards.com, email the Communicator Awards at info@communicatorawards.com or call us at (212) 675-3555.

About Imbue Creative:
Imbue Creative (www.imbuecreative.com) is an award-winning creative services firm with over 20 years of expertise in marketing, branding, advertising, print design, website development, and interactive design. Located in New Hope, Pennsylvania, the firm develops targeted creative solutions for local and national clients, and has specific expertise in the financial services, healthcare, medical education, travel & leisure, meetings & events, and publishing industries.

About The Communicator Awards:
The Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program honoring creative excellence for communication professionals. Founded by communication professionals over a decade ago, The Communicator Awards is an annual competition honoring the best in advertising, corporate communications, public relations and identity work for print, video, interactive and audio. This year’s Communicator Awards received  thousands of entries from companies and agencies of all sizes, making it one of the largest awards of its kind in the world. Please visit www.communicatorawards.com for more information.

The Communicator Awards is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from a “Who’s Who” of acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms. Please visit www.iavisarts.org for a full member list and more information.

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The short answer is “No!”

Why? Because sending unsolicited email is actually against the law in many countries — you need permission from all recipients in order to send them email campaigns. Plus, you don’t want your domain being labeled as a “spammer” — because that causes all sorts of ugly problems.

So, who can you send email to?

• People who have specifically signed up, via your website, to receive email from you
• People who have completed an offline/printed form (like a survey) and indicated they wish to be emailed
• People who gave you their business card and asked to receive email
• Customers who have purchased something from you in the last 2 years (even though this permission is implicit, we still think it’s a nice idea to specifically ask them)

Who can’t I send email to?

If they don’t satisfy at least one of the criteria from the above list, you can’t send them email. For example, don’t:

• Use lists or email addresses received from a third party (including any list you bought or rented, or received from a membership organization)
• Collect or “copy & paste” addresses from the Internet to build a list
• Mail to addresses you haven’t emailed in the last 2 years

Email is an excellent business tool. Just be sure to get permission before hitting “Send”!

Apple recently announced the new iPad 2. Wow, it’s been barely a year since the first iPad, and Apple has delivered a more-evolved version. Tablets are the thing now. Motorola’s Xoom, Research In Motion’s Playbook, and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab are all vying to compete with the iPad.

Why are these devices so important?

The way we consume the printed word is changing—again. Amazon turned the retail landscape of book selling on its side with the Kindle and now sells more digital eBooks than printed copies. Thanks to the Nook eBook reader, bn.com (Barnes & Noble’s online store) sells more eBooks than printed books as well.

As interactive media in the 90s blossomed with the introduction of the CD-ROM in personal computers, these new tablet devices offer an amazing amount of similar interactively. Add to that the ability to interact with content by touch, and you have a whole new experience. Imagine the possibilities:

• Interactive children’s pop-up books
• Magazines with dynamic content and advertisements
• Location-aware content for books, brochures, and catalogs
• Embedded video training for products or services

What does all this mean?

Let’s face it—tablets and eBook readers are here to stay. This means that the next digital media revolution is already taking place. It’s time to dual publish your catalog, magazine, book, or multi-page company brochure as a digital document for tablets, such as the iPad and Xoom.

What can Imbue do for you?

Let our team of print and digital media experts help you:

• Dual publish your printed piece in digital format
• Convert previous print or web publications to a format suitable for tablets
• Provide your readers with new and innovative ways to interact with your stories, articles, or reports
• Help create that “Next Big Thing” you’ve been dreaming about for years….

Now’s the time!

The City of Coatesville has enhanced its accessibility and made itself available to residents and visitors twenty-four hours a day. The new website allows Coatesville to quickly edit content and upload important documents to keep pace with changing needs and new requirements. Check it out at www.coatesville.org.

You already know how passionate our team is about our work. This Valentine’s Day, we want to make sure you know how thankful we are that you help us make it all possible. So, today we celebrate passion… for our work, for good design, for cool new technology, and for our great clients (and the work that they do)!

Okay, enough about us, what about you? What is YOUR passion? We want to know. Share your love of your work, your hobbies, or anything that you feel passionately about.  Just make a comment below!

THE 16^th ANNUAL COMMUNICATOR AWARDS ANNOUNCES 2010 WINNERS AND NEW HOPE AGENCY WINS AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

New Hope, PA (June 4, 2010) - The winners of The 2010 Communicator Awards have been announced by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, and New Hope agency Imbue Creative has received the program’s top honor, the Award of Excellence, in the corporate identity/logo category. With thousands of entries received from across the US and around the world, the Communicator Awards is the largest and most competitive awards program honoring the creative excellence of communications professionals.

The winning entry is a corporate identity/logo design created for Athena Education Group, a Lambertville, NJ-based medical education company. According to Michael Piperno, Imbue Creative’s president and chief creative director, “This award is a great honor for our agency. We are especially proud of the Athena Education Group logo because it strongly establishes a memorable visual identity for a small business that is doing important work in its field; and one that we feel is made up of truly terrific people.”

The Communicator Awards are judged and overseen by the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA), a 550+ member organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media. Current IAVA membership represents a “Who’s Who” of acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms including: Condè Nast, Coach, Disney, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Estee Lauder, HBO, Keller Crescent, Monster.com, MTV, Polo Ralph Lauren, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Tribal DDB, Victoria’s Secret, Wired, Yahoo!, and many others. See www.iavisarts.org for more information.

“As we continue our mission to honor Creative Excellence for Communications Professionals, we were once again amazed at the high level of work we received for this year’s Communicator Awards. With this year’s entries we found an increased awareness and reflection of the digital world in which we live, and our entrants always seem to find new and creative ways to push the envelope of possibilities across all mediums” noted Linda Day, director of the IAVA. She added, “We are honored to witness the amazing work being done throughout the industry and want to commend and congratulate this year’s Communicator Award Winners and Entrants for their hard work and dedication. On behalf of the entire Academy — Job well done.”

For more information about the Communicator Awards, please visit www.communicatorawards.com, email the Communicator Awards at info@communicatorawards.com, or call (212) 675-3555.

About Imbue Creative:

Imbue Creative (www.imbuecreative.com) is a strategic communications company that brings over 20 years of design, branding, art direction, production, and creative/marketing strategy experience to every project. Located in New Hope, Pennsylvania, the firm develops targeted solutions for clients both locally and nationally.

About The Communicator Awards:

The Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program honoring creative excellence for communications professionals. Founded by communication professionals over a decade ago, The Communicator Awards is an annual competition honoring the best in advertising, corporate communications, public relations and identity work for print, video, interactive and audio. This year’s Communicator Awards received thousands of entries from companies and agencies of all sizes, making it one of the largest awards of its kind in the world. Please visit www.communicatorawards.com for more information.

The Communicator Awards is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from a “Who’s Who” of acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms. Please visit www.iavisarts.org for a full member list and more information.

The en dash (–) is wider than a hyphen but shorter than an em dash (more on this in a moment). The most common use of the en dash is for ranges of dates, time, or numbers. For example, ‘July 21–28′ or ‘ages 5–8′.

The em dash (—) is wider than an en dash. The most common use of an em dash is to indicate an abrupt change in thought, or a pause where a period is too strong, but a comma does not indicate a strong enough pause. For example, ‘I am sure of it—absolutely and complete sure of it!’ or ‘He said he would be here on time—forget it, I’m not waiting any longer.’

Now don’t get me started on the minus sign….

Today, the fonts we use in our word processors are variable width fonts. They are designed to handle the beginnings and ends of sentences without that extra spacebar tap. In fact, adding that extra space these days is actually distracting for a reader, especially when reading text on screen.

When you are ready to develop marketing materials, or any other creative project, here are some things to consider before your first meeting or telephone call. Having thought about these items ahead of time will give your designer or agency a better overall picture of your project, and will result in a more accurate estimate from the start:

1. Content: What do you want to say, and how much text do you think you’ll need to say it well? Is the brochure content short enough to work in a tri-fold format, or do you need a larger brochure with a pocket integrated in the back for sell sheets? If it’s a web site you’re trying to launch, how many sections will it have and how much content will fit under each section? In addition, will you write the copy yourself, or will you need your creative partner to write the copy for you?
2. Audience: Who is your target audience for each specific piece? What are their particular needs and desires when looking for the products or services you provide? Does a piece cater to a specific audience independently, or does it need to encompass all of your target markets?
3. Design: Do you have an existing “look” (logo, color scheme, fonts, or other design elements) that you want carried throughout this new material, or does a new look need to be created from scratch?
4. Photography: If the project will require photography, is stock photography appropriate, or do you need to hire a photographer to capture the shots needed? What portion of your budget are you willing to spend on images?
5. Budget: If you know what you want and what you have to spend, don’t be afraid to let your designer or agency know your budget range up front — especially if you already have a relationship with them. When a client gives us information about their budget requirements, we are able to provide an estimate with different options at different price-points that all fall within their range. If their budget is larger than what a project would normally cost, then we recommend additional components or features that compliment or enhance the core deliverables. And, if their budget is lower than what a project would normally cost, we offer cost-saving modifications to their specifications and requirements that can allow us to meet those budget requirements.

The bottom line is that the more information you can provide up front to your designer or agency, the more accurate your estimate will be. Plus, you’ll ensure you get a final result that you love to show off, and that makes a significant positive impact for your business.

For those of you who use Twitter, you can check out TweetBeep (tweetbeep.com) to monitor what’s being said about you or your biz on Twitter too!

Don’t delay, list your business today. Not technologically inclined, or don’t have time? Imbue Creative can set up your listings for you — call or email us for details!

Think of it like buying a new car. (Of course, good brands last much longer than most cars, but stay with me here). You know up front that it will need maintenance over the years—and that some day it may become a classic, especially if well cared for. If you don’t maintain it well, it will give you trouble, and will eventually fall apart. Your brand needs tire rotations and a new set of brakes every so often too. Consider these tips when developing a “maintenance plan” for your brand.

• 1,500 Mile Service: After launching a new brand, bring it into the garage after a few months and see how all the new parts are performing. Is there anything that needs adjustment? Refine those little things now before you waste time and money promoting something that’s not working.
• Inspect Tires Every 6,000 Miles: Take the time on a regular basis to evaluate your audiences to asses their current and future needs. If one of your strategies is looking a little worn, replace it. While you’re at it, balance it out by implementing a new strategy which targets a new audience as well.
• Change the Brakes: Don’t let a weak set of brakes land you in trouble. If something is not working, fix it. This sometimes means you need to make a drastic change in your core visuals or messaging. It hurts, but it happens. Evaluate any weaknesses thoroughly, and fix them, pronto, so you don’t whizz by opportunities that you should have been poised to capture.
• When you Need a New Transmission: Even if you’ve planned well from the start, sometimes your business changes so significantly over the years that your brand no longer fits. If you reach this point, it’s time to rework the brand, and maybe even rebrand the company from scratch (which doesn’t have to mean completely abandoning the old brand). Don’t go it alone. Seek the resources of a professional agency or branding consultant to lead the way.

Think about when you arrive home after a hard day’s work and begin to sort through your mail. I know when I go through my stack, the only items I read right away are those that aren’t jammed packed with text. The text-heavy stuff goes in a pile… and unless it’s a bill or a magazine, it will probably end up in the recycle bin within a day or two (without being read).

When it comes to making a quick and memorable connection on a marketing or advertising piece, less is more. Make your text strong, clear, and memorable. Let your clever headline, accompanying imagery, and the design of the piece grab the reader’s attention; then present a few relevant details and a call to action. Finally, include contact details and you’re done! If you have more to say, direct the reader to your web site or give them a phone number to call to learn more.

And we’re not just talking about postcards here — the same holds true for other promotional pieces like brochures, advertisements, billboards, and more. Avoid being a “text heavy turn-off” and don’t try to fill every inch of a piece with text just because there’s room!

• Make your subject line mean something. We all get a lot of emails every day, and a descriptive subject line is important when you want your message to get attention over other messages the recipient deems less important. In addition, a subject line that includes the main topic of a message will be much easier to find in the future when you or your recipient needs to search for it.
• Refrain from replying to an old message when you are actually sending a new message. Replying to a message about “last week’s status report” when you’re really sending a new message about “important changes to the web site” can easily cause your new message to be overlooked. This goes back to the item above about subject lines… “Re: Status Report” seems much less important than “Important Changes for Web Site.”
• Use the “To:” and “Cc:” fields appropriately. The “To” field should be reserved for recipients who are directly affected by the message, or who may need to take action as a result of reading the message. The “Cc” field, on the other hand, is for those who only need to be aware of the message, and who are not expected to reply or take action.
• Use the “High Priority” feature sparingly, and only when truly needed to communicate an urgent issue. Individuals who always mark messages as “High Priority” quickly wear out their credibility and are less likely to have real “high priority” messages viewed as such. Using good, descriptive subjects are more effective in getting your message noticed when they are not true emergencies.
• “Reply to all” has its place. Avoid “replying to all” when you’re just sending a note back to the sender that nobody else needs to see. Your friends and coworkers will appreciate it.
• Set a schedule. If possible, try to set a schedule for reviewing your new messages — maybe every 2 hours, or 4 times a day. The point here is that you’ll be more productive if you don’t let every arriving email message take you away from the current task at hand.
• Sometimes a phone call beats an email. Not everyone checks messages as soon as they arrive, so if your message is truly urgent, it’s a good idea to follow-up with a phone call. In addition, some conversations are better had when you can hear the other party’s voice… for example, when talking to clients about their ideas for a creative concept, we can often have a 10 minute call to accomplish what could take 8 to 10 back and forth messages via email (saving both parties a lot of composing and reading time). In addition, not everyone expresses themselves well in email – so when your message could be misconstrued or you’re not understanding what the other party is trying to say, give ‘em a call!

While there are a variety of methods for increasing hits on your web site from search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing, there are a few basics that no web site should overlook.

• First, make sure you have some relevant text on every page (not just images) and never create an entire page out of an image (search engines can’t read text that is part of an image). Well written text is the first step in generating traffic from search engines.
• Second, ensure your web designer or agency puts appropriate key words in the page title (the part that shows at the top of the browser window) for every page.
• Lastly, ask your  agency or web designer to make sure there is relevant and descriptive text in the “Description” tag for all of your pages. The Description tag is hidden to site visitors, but is very important to the search engines that are deciding whether or not to show your site.

There are many more ways to help increase traffic from search engines, but these basics will ensure they can easily find out what your site is all about. After all, search engines want to make finding information easy for their users — so we need to make it easy for search engines to understand what our sites offer a potential visitor.

Now through January 31, 2010, you can earn a $50 Visa Gift Card for every qualified referral* of new clients to Imbue Creative! Simply let your colleagues and friends know about what Imbue Creative has to offer, and tell them to mention that they were referred by you when they contact us – that’s it!

* A qualified referral is one that results in at least $500 of paid business from a new client within 3 months of the initial contact. Initial contact must occur on or before January 31, 2010 to qualify.

• Longer passwords are better passwords
• Use both upper case and lower case letters, along with numbers and symbols to increase password strength
• Invest in a password manager (which is also password protected by a strong password). Two of our favorite password managers are SplashID Safe and 1Password.
• Make commonly used passwords easy to remember by using the first character of each word in a sentence to construct them. For example: “I used to eat 8 Starbursts at a time, but now I stick to 2 Twizzlers” would be “Iute8S@atbnIst2T”. Now that one is hard to crack!

Sometimes, slight color variances are not a problem; and sometimes tweaking color at press time will achieve good results from press run to press run (if you’re willing to spend the time and money). But when your orange needs to be “spot-on” and you don’t have the time to adjust on press – use a spot color instead. And remember, you can’t proof color on a computer monitor! You need to see a physical proof, or a spot color swatch book, to really see how color will look in print.

Jpegs, gifs, and in many cases pngs (pings) taken from web sites and/or embedded in Word documents are usually not suitable for print. The reason being that they are purposefully compressed for optimal screen viewing. On screen images only require a resolution of 72 dpi (dots per inch) to look great on screen. To get a crisp, high-detail image in print, you need 300 dpi or higher. And, once an image is compressed or resized down to 72 dpi for screen viewing, there’s no turning back!

Now, this is not to say that a jpeg never works for a print designer. In many cases a high resolution jpeg, like those licensed from a stock photography web site, has enough image data in the file. It’s provided as a jpeg just so the file size is manageable for electronic delivery, but when we unpack it, the image is actually very large when it comes to its resolution. We then save it as another, “lossless” file format before we do our final editing and prep work to make the image shine in print.

You’ve invested time and money building the perfect web site — and it is very effective in communicating how your products and services can help potential clients or customers. But are you maximizing your exposure? Do the search engines even know you exist?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) done right will drive more traffic to your site by improving your rankings on today’s most popular search engines. With Saturate™ from Imbue Creative, a thorough analysis of your site, audiences, and goals will lead us to a SEO/SEM strategy that will improve search engine saturation and keyword penetration, as well as other important factors that have an impact on your rankings — ultimately helping you gain the traffic your web site deserves.

Want to learn more? Contact us for a free Saturate™ consultation.