Outside Voice - an Origin Blog » Origin Culture

2012 Trends for Marketers to Pay Attention To

lisa — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:36:07 +0000

Our team made the pre-dawn trek to Vancouver this morning for the BCAMA’s Annual Ad Agency Panel on Advertising Trends for 2012.

Here are our top 5 take-aways. (A quick and dirty recap, thanks to our Interactive Director Rory Tucker, Resource Director Ruby Virk and Account Manager Carlee Cindric). More in-depth thinking (when we haven’t had to get up at 5am) to follow.)

1. 2012 will be the year of catvertising. (But seriously, as cats know, all the strategy you need is to be really really interesting. And what’s more interesting than dangling from a fan as it goes around and around…)

2. Pinterest, pinterest, pinterest. (Seriously? Could there be any more hype on pinterest?) Given that pinterest is now one of the top 5 referrers to online retailers, the hype is probably here to stay.

3. Purpose. The single most important thing for marketers is to discover and articulate a brand’s purpose. There’s nowhere for a brand to hide. Transparency continues to be important as well as a sense of moral obligation and social responsibility. Sometimes, that will mean being “flawsome” – ie owning up to your mistakes, quickly and openly.

4. Be responsive. Listen. Observe. Respond. Change. Develop. We are communicating with consumers continuously (as opposed to just during a specified campaign period) so we need to plan content creation and delivery in a way that allows us to adapt and respond to consumer reaction and environmental factors.

5. (Great) Content Is (Still) King.

Make it valuable – whether entertaining, informative or just sticky BUT make it GOOD, and worth people’s time and attention. Because attention is the ultimate commodity. Everyone’s fighting for it. Getting it is a privilege.

Thanks to Marty Yaskowich of DDB, Alvin Wasserman of Wasserman & Partners, Jack Dayan of Taxi West, and “the last minute sub” Darren Yada from Rethink (who was truly flawsome) for the mental caffeine.

Caption Contest returns!

lisa — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:00:11 +0000

Last week, 8 witty quippy captions came in to amuse and entertain us. And for that, we thank thee.

And invite suggestions as to how to best title this image.

Our new art director. God, he’s got good instincts.

Caption Writing Contest!

lisa — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:14:36 +0000

Today, we debut the Origin caption writing contest, a social media project that has 2 aims.
1. To crack us up.
2. To discover the quippy copywriting talents lurking out there in cyberspace.

Showing off some of our favourite photography is an added bonus.

How it works? Write quippy caption in the comments section below. If we choose your caption, we’ll invite you to Friday beer’o'clock.

We’ll kick things off with a couple.

Okay, snowgods, what have you got?

Portrait of a man waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“So, I went out for a dog walk and ended up looking for divine inspiration.”

Whatcha got?

(PS If you have a photo to share for next week’s caption writing contest, send it to lisa@origindesign.ca.)

Passion and Risk – the most thrilling combination of all.

Kevani — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 19:29:10 +0000

Farewell from Origin’s fashionista Account Director Kevani Macdonald.

Everyone please raise a glass to Passion, as I embark on a new future in retail management and fashion collaborations.

Passion. For all of us who choose to call Whistler home, we know what it’s like to follow a dream because it feels right in your heart, (even if your bank manager would disagree. I mean, what do bank managers know about passion?) Five years ago I followed my passion for winter and mountains to the holy grail of skiing (as it seemed to me from my house in Scotland!). After a first epic winter of 96 days on the mountain and almost as many trips to and from the airport with excited guests, I was lucky enough to find Origin, a place where my passion for creative ideas, good design and smart marketing found a home. A home where I could also hit the bike park after work, sing along to the Hairfarmers after a big Sunday on the slopes, and work with inspiring clients and colleagues.

And now, there is that familiar feeling in my heart, my passion for new challenges and entrepreneurship is pulling me on, pulling me forward. But, as all of us who call Whistler home also know, passion is fuelled by a willingness to face risk – to venture out of bounds, away from the packed trail, to blaze your own way, to find your own fresh stash of powder or dirt. Those of you who know me, will know that no decision like this comes lightly and laying in my wake there is a blizzard of mind maps and risk calculating sessions that have lead me to this day.

As I head out for my last ski day with the Origin team, I am reminded of the feeling I’ve had, the thrill of carefully lowering over the sketchy edge of a cornice to reach a perfect bowl of snow. Dropping in!

Wanted: Account Director (Montreal)

Kevani — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:15:18 +0000

We’re holding out for that perfect someone. We know you are out there, so send in your resume today!

Origin Design + Communications is looking for an ACCOUNT DIRECTOR with proven senior-level experience in leading agency accounts, managing client relationships and strategic marketing planning to join our Montreal team. A passion for action sports and mountain culture is a must, and bilingual fluency in English and French is an asset.

Must be eligible to work in Canada.

Full job description available here AccountDirector_JobDescription

Interested applicants can send their resume and salary expectations to jobs@origindesign.ca.

We would like to thank all applicants for their interest in this position; however only those who are considered for an interview will be contacted. No calls please.

How to Train an Intern, with Tom Sachs

lisa — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:06:56 +0000

If we were to draft our own script for an intern training video, it would contain these bullets:

1. Do not EVER make the coffee. You will make it too watery, too weak, or too washed out to properly fuel production here. Leave that to one of the 3 designated team members who have been pre-qualified to prepare the Origin house brew.

2. Bring cake. At any random time. Cake makes us happy. It’s simple, really.

3. A wheel is a wheel. Don’t reinvent it. Do the job you’re asked to do, according to the instructions you are given. The best way to get noticed is not to try to be noticed. #originzen

And on that note, here is the most awesome intern training video from a creative studio that we have ever seen. Thank you Tom Sachs.

Moodboard Monday – Anticipation for Winter

Cato — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:07:56 +0000

We know that – for a lot of people out there – fall is just a bummer season… summer is over, it’s dark going to work, it’s dark leaving work, it never stops raining and depression sets in. But for us Originers, fall is something totally different. We are in full anticipation for winter! OK, so it’s pretty sad putting away the bike gear (although a little rain hasn’t stopped all of us) and having to put toques on after a surf session, but there is no question, our mood in here is excited – we are keeping busy shopping for the latest gear, making room in our closets for skis, helmets and daydreaming all work day long, rolling bowling balls down Village Stroll and staring out our windows at snow capped mtns (if we ever get to see the top, through the storm clouds)… Winter is coming!

In fact looking outside today – it’s already here!

Moodboard Monday – Giving Thanks

Kevani — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:10:27 +0000

Today the Origin team are giving thanks for:

Fallen trees and fluffy snow
Stem Cells and Stem Cell transplant research
My girls, dirt, rocks, stumps, roots and full-face helmets
RAIN! It brings snow AND hero dirt, my two favouritest things!!
People watching the fact it will always be so entertaining
The fact that winter is on it’s way and that we can soon be hiking up the mountain for fresh powder and hidden trails
Working with colleagues and client’s who appreciate a good marshmallow hat!
The photomontage Véro does do annoy Guy… and the story of Guy’s marriage with an Asian girl, it makes me laugh everyday!
Sunsets on Savary Island
Drinking a beer on a barge with a buddy: “Heaven does exist!”
Wine. And for my home, where these grapes are growing
Fall for delivering a colour palette that is so warm and beautiful
Having a job with clients that give me great opportunities
Friends with nail guns, after 9 months of sitting on either the floor or on camping chairs I will finally get my sofa back for Thanksgiving!

and last but not least…

For being able to pre-schedule blog posts for while we are all at home getting fat on turkey and pumpkin pie!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Moodboard Monday – Summers Not Over Yet

gary — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:22:53 +0000

Thanks Giving may only be a week away but we’re still being blessed with the occasional summers day, office dog Nixon certainly seems to be enjoying himself.

Salomon’s fall creative heads out of the park

lisa — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 21:13:08 +0000

When you labour over creative campaigns, you can start to lose Big Picture perspective and obsess over the granularity, (fullstops or no? is there enough mud on that shoe? does the blue pop enough?) so it’s fun to pull back up and look at a finished approved ad, like this fall in-store display that our Montreal office designed for Salomon to increase the brand’s presence throughout Forzani’s stores. We’ve been calling out campaigns of our industry colleagues with a ruthless Hit or Miss, so it’s only fair that we square up to the same treatment. Whaddya reckon? Does it make you want to hit the trail? (Personally, we think “out of the park.”)