Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Fabulous.

Hello. My name is Laura Blakeman and I write stuff. I love long walks on the beach, scary movies and clichés.  I have some strong opinions about good copywriting, good branding and other such hullabaloo.

Am I the right fit for your next project?  Here are the top 10 things you need to know about working with me.

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#1
If it Looks like a Duck and Sounds Like a Duck.
I’m not going to make you be something you’re not.  The result would be hilarious, but I don’t think that’s what we’re going for.  So in case anyone asks, it was your idea first.  I tell it like it is.

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#2
Keep It Simple Stupid.
Better thinking always beats out more copy, more noise.

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#3
This is Between You, Me and the Fence Post.
No man is an island, and I don’t intend to work on one – at least not yet.  You get what you give. Frequent communication and camaraderie are a requirement.

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#4
Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions.
Pick your feedback loop appropriately.  Creativity is subjective and we could spend a lifetime shopping around ideas with the best of intentions.  Will I provide you perfection?  Maybe.  But I certainly won’t promise you that.

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#5
Everything Has Been Done Before.
But we can do it better.   Promising you otherwise would be about as helpful as a screen door on a submarine.

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#6
Stick to the Story.
Stories are genuine.  They are human. They are relevant.  If we can tell a story about your company, you’ll have listeners.

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#7
Cry Me a River.
People ultimately want to buy from people. Good copy is emotional, personal and informative.  Blatantly selling your service, although very sad, is not what I mean by emotion.

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#8
Divide and Conquer.
The real danger in ignoring the power of message hierarchy is redundancy.
The real danger in ignoring the power of message hierarchy is redundancy.
The real danger in ignoring the power of message hierarchy is redundancy.
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#9
A Face Only a Mother Would Love.
Yeah.  Get outside eyes on your brand, and allow yourself to be led.  I know this is your baby.  I’ll be gentle.

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#10
Don’t Beat a Dead Horse.
It takes guts to get outside of your comfort zone.  And by comfort I mean clichés…which are only allowed if you’re obviously making fun of them.  It’s obvious.  Isn’t it?

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Word Up

Better Thinking Wins.

laura@gb-studio.tv

HiDef Brand Overhaul

HiDef Web Solutions

Re-Branding Project

January 2009

 

HiDef came to gb studio as ‘HiDef Web Solutions’. Their hangup? The nagging feeling that their brand no longer represented where they’re headed as a company. Not fun.

What set HiDef apart to us, are the number of projects they take on in social philanthropy – a true extension of their unique individual passion that started the company in the first place. Our advice?

Web development is a crowded industry. You won’t get noticed here.

Be Focused. Give yourselves a reason to talk to the clients you want, and give everyone a reason to talk about you.

Own this: “Web solutions for companies with great causes.”

Identifier:

We craft custom web solutions for great causes. We are a group of social entrepreneurs and software developers who create and innovate ways to use technology to expand your reach.

 

Newsletter Mayhem

3 articles I wrote for Creative Visions, a south Denver-based ad agency.

Press Release for Launchpad Interactive

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

—————————————-

CONTACT:
Launchpad Interactive
303.327.5287
2299 Pearl Street
Ste. 402
Boulder, CO 80302

Of interest for editors and journalists covering: new business, brand buoyancy in a downtrodden economy, marketing and advertising.

Beauty and Wellness Therapy for Your… Brand?

BOULDER, Colo. (3/10/09) – In a down economy, companies need to stand out in the crowd.  Launchpad Interactive, a Boulder-based marketing and design agency is offering martinis, spa services, and even catered meals as a regular part of their consulting services.  Why?  Because nobody else does it.

“We’re not just here to give your company a pretty face,” says Launchpad President and Founder SuzAnn Brown, “you’ll experience service with results.”

Launching this spring, the aptly named Brand Spa is a fun, funky and functional twist to traditional consulting. Offering a menu (literally) of all things beyond marketing: brand makeovers, brand education and best-for-your-business practices complete with catered breakfast, lunch or dinner, a martini and spa service du jour to reward the day’s hard work. Takers will leave nourished, enriched and ready to make a splash in the market.

“We have created a place where you can be productive, learn, share your ideas and gain expert knowledge.  Our number one goal is that you walk away with the tools you need to grow your business today.”

Companies small and large can take advantage of the experts on staff at BrandSpa, who’s help includes such menu items as; naming and taglines, social marketing 101, behavioral marketing, discussions on authenticity, sales training, client research, and good copywriting. Perhaps the biggest value-add is that the space created with BrandSpa is collaborative.  Clients aren’t paying for an isolated re-do to their existing image – a ‘poof!’ it’s-all-better approach.  What’s different is a more concentrated analysis of the individual participants needs.

But for those that don’t have time for the full day treatment, BrandSpa’s got you covered. Beginning this week (insert date) they will begin a weekly series of seminars. Topics include those found in the menu list, but will continue to shift and shape based on the changing marketing environment.

SuzAnn continues, “Brand Spa is about the ideas, the inspiration and the solutions that we can provide.  It’s about you.”

And that’s nothing to fluff around about.

To find more information on Brand Spa, call 303327.5287, email studio@launchpadinteract.com or visit their website www.launchpadinteract.com.

# # #

ESO Website – one pager. Done and Done.

All text written my muah.  Site design by [gb] studio.

View the full site.

Screen shot 1

Screen Shot 2

Cover Letter/Portfolio package for CP+B

This one was super fun.  In a perhaps futile attempt to get noticed in the local Ad Zoo we call Crispin Porter, I made this hula hoop and sent it along with the following text:

Headline: Keep the Media Circus at Bay.

Hello CP+B.
Let me introduce myself. Shatki here. Dancer, writer, crafter, pseudo-famous hula-hooper, ninja-in-training.

To most, this is a hula-hoop – a hand-made offshoot of the Wham-O 1960’s original.  For me this is the whole shebang.  It’s ME manifest.

This little circle made me famous.  It is the creative content in my personal advertising campaign – the big-idea that built my brand.  It represents the company I started.  It reminds me of the far-way places and countries I’ve traveled to for performances.  It sparks a stream of consciousness that includes Cirque du Soleil (drool), the Boulder Circus Center and the Hoopie Awards 2008. I live this everyday.

Some may call it semantics, but what makes a hula-hoop all these things to me?  Passion.  Simple enough.  You can relate I’m sure.  It’s passion that puts the spark under your ass.  It’s the power of passion (and I don’t mean that in the fluffy sense) that starts companies, allows for risks, that’s crazy enough to see things in a different light, to come up against confrontation, to stand for something…anything.  That’s passion.  In some cases it can also be called courage.

I’m pretty type A.  I’m like you.  I DO.   So I did.  I made you a hoop.  I know it won’t work the same way for you.  It’s not a big idea when it comes to your brand…it won’t make you anymore famous than you already are.  It’s old news, yesterday’s brainchild.  So for you, let’s call it an “Idea Generator”. Place it in a hallway or central location, affix it’s label above it’s new home, pick it up when you feel stuck and let it do it’s thing.

Enjoy CP+B!  Will it lead to the idea that will make you millions?  Naw.  Don’t credit a hoop for that.  But will it make you smile?  Hell, it probably already has.

You want pop culture in the raw -  this is it.  Or will be again.  Mark my words.

Snippet for Shopping Blog

January 09

This was written for a shopping blog.  Direction was to find original products on the web and write a ’snippet’ or catalogue-type description that both intrigues and informs.

Keep Calm and Carry On says the British ministry of information.  Framed in delicate gold, these super chic reprints of the 1939 original exude Regal taste.  Available in Pink, Aqua, Red and Gold.

Fun With Phrases

Tee-shirt Ideas:

The direction here was for funny, catchy, phrases to go on tee shirts in Dazbog coffee stores.  They didn’t want shirts to sound like they were advertising their product. Also wanted to stand out as a small chain, (i.e. not Starbucks).  This was my original brainstorm.  One became a billboard.

Don’t Succumb to the Empire
Russia: Way Cooler Than Seattle.
100% Pure Russian Energy
This Is How We Do Coffee in Russia
Russian Name, Arabica Coffee Bean, American Dream: The DazBog Melting Pot.
White Nights Espresso.  A Whole New Meaning To Caffeine.
Hermitage House Blend. Coffee fit for a Czar.
Proud Supporter of the Socialites Union.
Big Corporation. Eurasking for Trouble.
I Like My Coffee Tall, Dark and Russian. – This became a billboard in Denver.

One Café Americano – Extra Russo, Hold the Corporate Conglomerates.
U.S.S.R.   Union of Socialites who Support – Really Good Coffee.
U.S. Uber Savory. (Oh wait, that’s German).
Byzantinetiquette
A Friend of DazBog Is A Friend of Mine.
Dazbog Coffee: It Won’t Stunt Your Growth.
DazBlog.
Embrace the Daily Grind.
One Assimilated Coffee House.
The Moxie Fix of Choice For Nonconformists.
Dazbog Coffee.  For Your Everyday Joe.
Small Company.  Big Busyness.
Dazbog. The Non-Alcoholics Vodka.
Dazbog: Coffeeholic for Vodka.
The Mafia Is A Family Business.
I Like Fuzzy Hats.
Proud Supporter of Fuzzy Hats.
Who Knows Ethiopian Coffee Better Than Two Russian Guys? Nobody.

New Product Development

Zaca
Organic Hangover Patch
New branding project: Identity
Summer/Fall 2008

New product launch for an organic hangover patch.  The angle was to be ‘higher-end’ than their competitors, yet still be fun, high-energy and marketable to a college demographic. We played up the natural angle, using the patch as a detox for your yoga, art studio enthusiast, high-society, shop-at-whole-foods-types, while simultaneously developing messaging for young club-goers.

Zaca.  Be Nice To Your Body.

This was the final name, an off-shoot of Zacatecas, Mexico, where the prickly pear – one of the more unique ingredients in the patch – is championed as state flower. Be nice to your body was the final tag line.  All design done by gb studio.

Some messaging:

At Zaca, our organic, natural and effective ingredients harmonize with your body to help you feel better in the morning.  Why?  Because we believe a cocktail or two should not interfere with your 9am yoga class…oh, and by the way, you’re not fooling anyone.

At Zaca, our organic, natural and effective ingredients harmonize with your body to help you feel better in the morning.  Why? Because your liver won the organ of the year award for putting up with all your crap.

At Zaca, our organic, natural and effective ingredients harmonize with your body to help you feel better in the morning.  Why?  Because we believe “rally” should involve cheerleaders in some way shape or form.

At Zaca, our organic, natural and effective ingredients harmonize with your body to help you feel better in the morning.  Why?  Because we truly endorse skiing ‘freshies.’

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Package design/copy:
A simple, all natural and certified organic hangover patch.  Common side effects: feel-great mornings, clear-headedness, bright eyes.  Our organic, natural and effective ingredients harmonize with your body to help you feel better long after you’re done with the party.  There are much more important things in life to dwell one.  Hangovers shouldn’t be one of them.  Be nice to your body.

Arrow Partnerships Re-Brand Consultation

Arrow Partnerships
Spring/Summer 2008
Re-brand consultation

This client needed to get on the same page internally with their brand.  As a group of experts with long track records in business, they ran into difficulties when talking about the company as a whole. Instead the tendency was to fall back on their particular role in the company.  Here are a few pages of top-level messaging gb studio put together for internal use.  This project eventually led to a re-design of their website.

‘Strategy Execution Results’ is their existing tagline. We gave it some meat.