ZGM Dialogue

ZGM captures Best of Show at the Ad Rodeo

Dan King — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 20:15:31 +0000

The theme of this year’s Ad Rodeo was “High School Prep”.

So to continue that theme to this blog post – at this year’s Ad Rodeo, we ruled the school!!

Best of Show goes to…ZGM!

In total, we won four Anvils including Best Magazine Single for Brix and Morsel, Best Website over $75,000 for Alberta Health Services’ “The Big Burn”, Best Annual Report for the Distress Centre’s “Listen” and Best of Show for the Distress Centre’s Annual Report.

Let’s be upfront – winning Best of Show against so many strong pieces is a real honour. We’re grateful for the recognition and the opportunity to work with the kind of clients who support us and the work we do.

As an integrated agency, we don’t want to simply offer a list of services, we want to be best in class in everything we do. Winning these awards in categories that represent advertising, digital and design bears that out.

The Best of Show annual report was an innovative solution to the traditional annual report. Knowing that the Distress Centre exists to its clients primarily through the phone, ZGM created an annual report that was delivered through the phone. A post-card inviting readers to call a unique phone number, set up exclusively for this purpose, was sent out instead of the traditional annual. When listeners called the number a series of voice prompts guided them through the entire contents of the report, including financials. Listeners could also review the messages and transcripts online.

You can check out the case study that highlights this annual report here: http://www.adrodeo.com/winners/

The Best Website Anvil was for www.thebigburn.ca, a program to warn teenagers about the dangers of indoor tanning. This site was also recognized in Applied Arts Digital Annual. This Anvil represented the third year in a row ZGM has won in the Website category. Previous wins included Cadillac Fairview’s Market Mall Santa Tracker and W. Brett Wilson’s personal site.

The Best Magazine Single was for Brix and Morsel, a local restaurant currently under construction. The ad was developed to announce the concept and raise awareness of the new brand to Calgary foodies. The ad was also recognized in the 2013 Communication Arts advertising annual.

As is always the case, we entered a lot of work that we thought stood a really good chance of getting some recognition, but for whatever reason it didn’t connect with the judges. It doesn’t mean we’re any less proud of all the work we did on behalf of our clients over this past year. But as these are the pieces that resonated with the judges, these are the awards we’re celebrating.

And celebrate we did – Friday night was a blast and ZGM did itself proud. If there was an Anvil given out for loudest agency, we would have bagged it for sure. As Peter Bishop pointed out, ZGM once again owned the dance floor. Some seriously sweet moves on display.

So a big shout out to all our clients for another outstanding year of work we can both be proud of. And to everyone on the ZGM team – Class Dismissed!

Now, who’s smoking in the boys room?

What Facebook Home Could Mean to Marketers

Luke Devlin — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 20:35:06 +0000

On Thursday Facebook launched Facebook Home, an app that brings Facebook functions onto the home screen of Android phones, which essentially turns any Android phone into a Facebook phone. Home’s deep integration with the Android OS essentially makes the Newsfeed a constant part of your home screen (they call it Coverfeed), and it also means that people no longer have to hop in out of the Facebook app to message friends. Despite being a brilliant marketing play by Facebook, this Android takeover strategy could present a ton of new opportunities for brands and marketers.

More targeted Facebook ads?

Privacy issues aside—and Home is full of them. If widely adopted, Facebook Home could provide a huge influx of mobile data as use of the social network increases. This new source of data could help refine targeting of both mobile and desktop served ads to fish-in-a-barrel levels.

Or just more Facebook ads?

More use means more ads served up, and if Facebook starts weaving ads into Home’s Cover Feed, it could be a lot more ads. Imagine if every time people checked the time on their phone (with Home streaming Facebook content onto the locked screen), they saw an ad. Annoying? Definitely. The future? Potentially.

Will branded environments on our phones become the new apps?

To me, this is the most exciting aspect of Home. Depending on the success of Home, we could see other major brands developing their own custom environments that cater to their users’ interests. A phone with Nike plus and fuel information available on the home screen instead of hidden behind an app, for example. An NFL environment with scores, schedules and standings right on the home screen. The possibilities are endless, and I’m excited to see all the new creative executions from major brands that could come out of this.

Let us know what you think. Brand owned phone environments: Bold new direction or bust?

7 ways to create online content people might actually read

Peter Bishop — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:40:34 +0000

When it comes to websites, too often we spend a lot of time on the bread but not on the meat. We design a great look, pop in animation, make sure its working on different devices but fail at the main reason we do all this work – content. Content is the meat in the sandwich, it’s the reason to build a site in the first place and it should be at the top of our list. Here are a few ways you can spruce things up – that is if you’ve made it this far – it’s been a long paragraph.

1. Tell a story

We are all from a culture of storytellers and are naturally drawn to them. If you can tell a story, you are more likely to have people want to find out what happens. How many business books have you read and stopped one third in? How many fiction books have you read from cover to cover? The difference is story and the anticipation of a payoff at the end. If you can craft your content regardless whether or not its text or a video you will have a reason to stick through to the conclusion.

2. Stop talking to yourself

Stepping away from what you think is important and finding out what your audience thinks can be difficult. That’s where personas comes in. Personas are a great way to identify the unique users that access your application. A persona is basically a breakdown of who your target audience is and what they are likely to do online. Armed with information like this, you can find strategies to talk directly to these people.

3. Less is more and lesser is more…er

Our attention span is getting shorter and shorter as time goes on. We live in an age of snippets and are getting used to scanning for headlines and bullet points. To expect someone to be keenly interested in your four page ‘about us’ statement is lofty at best. To take a page from the editor’s handbook, cut as much as you can – then cut again. Another way to approach it is to go mobile first. If the content is effective on a phone then it’s going to work on a desktop.

4. Design your content

Web content is typically left to the last minute and then vomited in to the content manager from a company brochure or some other communication. Design is mostly spent on the wrapping around the content – typically a home page and a sub page. Little time is spent on designing the content itself which is probably the most important Interaction the user will face. Look at each page individually. Are there ways to break up text or replace areas with images or diagrams? Can you use pull-quotes or deck copy? Would a video work instead? See if there are ways to avoid putting up long pages of wall to wall text.

5. Spread it around

One of the best parts of social media is the ability to share obviously. So don’t put your content in the corner – show it off. If its a video put it on YouTube or Vimeo. If its an image put it on Pinterest or Flickr, advertise new articles on Twitter or Facebook. Or do it all – why not? Get the most out of your hard work.

6. Change stuff

If you want return visitors then there needs to be a reason to come back. There are a lot of side benefits to this as it’s boosts your Search Engine results, it gives you a reason to post via social networks to drive people back to the site and it keeps it topical.

7. Keywords and SEO

Google loves relevant content. if you want to get up the rankings then there’s no better way than talking about the subjects that you want to compete in. Make sure you use the keywords that you would normally use in your meta data within the content itself. If you don’t tag your content, you are missing out on one of the great advantages of all your efforts.

A Rip in the Space Time Continuum: ZGM Has Moved…Finally

Luke Devlin — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 01:05:42 +0000

If you’ve seen any of us around town and were wondering why we’re walking a bit taller, it’s because we’ve relocated to a shiny new office and finally have the space to stretch out. Like a jarred bean plant in a Grade 5 science class, we’d reached the limits of our space and then some, so we did what any forward thinking agency would do—drank coffee and complained about it for an entire year.

Then we moved.

If you’re thirsty, our new digs are across from Watchman’s, down the street from Jamesons, one block from 1410, and five floors up from Morgan’s Pub. If you’re hungry, we’re sandwiched between McDonald’s and Wendy’s. If you’re, full and sober, we’re at 500, 1324 – Seventeenth Ave SW. Come say hi, play some ping-pong, listen to some music or teach us how to use the gym…we haven’t quite figured it out yet.

2012 ZGM Movember Awards

Heleena Webber — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 18:40:27 +0000

As our “favourite” time of year came once again (aka Movember), the menfolk of ZGM ~~attempted to grow~~ sported their best staches to support this worthy cause.

To reward their valiant efforts, the ladies of ZGM voted on each handsome moustache and presented the fellas with their very own bronzed razor (which they promptly used on November 30 at 11:59:59pm).

Without further ado, the 2012 ZGM Movember Awards go to:

1. Andrew McFallon – Most Surprised to Have a Moustache

2. Christopher Heatherington – The Late Bloomer Moustache

3. Dan King – Best Moustache Mug Shot

4. Luke Devlin – Most Dangerous Moustache

5. Mike Pardy – Best Biker Moustache

6. Rob Fairhead – Most Disturbing Moustache

7. Scott Irwin – Best Creeper Moustache

8. Mario Amantea – Best Fortune 500 Moustache

9. Rob Harlow – Best Effort for a Moustache

10. And the LADIES’ PICK for 2012 goes to… PETER BISHOP!

A big congrats to all of the guys who participated; raising over $1,600 for Prostate Cancer Canada. We, uh… are anxiously counting down the days until next year!

3 Quick Tips to Increase Facebook Engagement

Heleena Webber — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 17:33:49 +0000

Be attractive.

Reached 1,000 followers? Post a celebratory photo! Announcing a new product? Create a fun video! According to Facebook, photos and videos generate 180% to 100% more engagement than text posts alone. Leveraging a tool like Instagram, or posting videos from YouTube also help your content reach more people, across more channels.

Be sure to keep it interesting. Think of what you share or like to see online. Utilize trends, like generating your own meme, to add humour to your post. Use fun and unique visuals to back up your message. For a great example, check out Oreo’s Facebook page.

It’s not all about you.

Look at your wall. Are all of your posts about your sales or promotions? Do you ignore your follower comments and what other pages are doing? If you answered “yes” then you need to give your head a shake. Social media is just that – a social platform. Ask your fans what they want to see, answer their questions, and comment or share great content from other pages.

L’Oreal USA does a great job of linking to partners and celebrities in their posts, and asking followers what they think.

Make your fans feel special.

Exclusive behind-the-scenes photos, follower-only discounts and contests, and sneak peak announcements are a few ways to reward your followers. Remember, most people ‘like’ a brand’s Facebook page for special offers, so it’s important to offer value to your fans, in addition to providing customer service and great content.

For example, check out the VIP Contest we created with Market Mall. If you ‘like’ their page and sign up for the e-newsletter, you’re automatically entered to win a great new prize, each month.

Have tips or experiences of your own? Share them below!

Design and Execute With Purpose

Umer Tahir — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 17:04:13 +0000

Like Jason Gross, I too have often been asked to make things look good or “pretty” because content looks quite mundane all by itself apparently. I’m quite competent in my skill sets that I can comfortably give things like a boring paragraph of text a face lift. In doing so however, I ask myself what the purpose of adding certain design elements is. Is it simply to make bits of content look beautiful or is it the need to emphasize certain parts to make them stand out based on their varying degrees of significance. Maybe paragraphs of text ought to be left alone. As long as text is legible, it serves its purpose. The purpose being of course is for the information to be consumed by the end user quickly and effectively.

It doesn’t stop at paragraphs of text.

Would you believe me if I told you that being a designer and practicing my craft professionally for a number of years now, that I can tell when a designer is just designing to make things look appealing rather than backing their design thinking with a purpose?

It’s easy to slap together some gradient highlights, shadows and transparent objects to make a design that’s eye catching but to present clusters of information in a structured manner that follows some level of consistency is quite another. Put it this way: do you want the user to absorb and take away valuable information from the site that you’ve designed or would you rather that they gawk at it for 2 min and exit without exactly knowing the purpose of it?

From personal experience working in the industry as a Web Designer, I’ve learned to design for the end user and not for the client. If a client or an account manager has feedback regarding my design thinking, I encourage them to engage me in backing up their opinions with rational arguments rather than saying what their personal preference regarding a color choice is for example.

It doesn’t stop at just design either. The web’s landscape is constantly evolving and while the potential of HTML 5 and CSS3 looks promising, as professionals, we shouldn’t be using these techs just for the sake of using them. I’m as much of an advocate for pushing new tech as the next web geek is in order to drive the web forward. Application, context, and a user base is important when considering the use of new technologies. Like design, application/execution through the use of new technologies should be done so with good reasoning as well.

A good designer and front end developer needs crucial understanding of fundamental principles behind their executions. Without these principles, they’re just designing and executing blindly without actually giving their decisions much thought.

A Cell Phone Rant

Umer Tahir — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:42:04 +0000

I definitely had my fair share of expectations from Apple prior to the iPhone 5 announcement. Most of them dealt with a “complete re-design” of the phone as many in the blogosphere had been hoping/speculating. My hopes of a re-design though were being challenged by Apple’s consistency when it came to sticking with their signature iPhone outlook and marketing the product similar to its predecessor models. I took a step back and realized that as a non-fan of Apple, I too was succumbing to a visual appeal of the product. Looking from a technical standpoint, I knew that Apple would be playing catch-up as rivals like Samsung have pushed the boundaries with multiple devices to set the bar high. So has it come to this? As a company that strives for leading edge innovation (or so it says it does), we haven’t seen a drastic change in the design of its flagship product nor a technical advancement to ogle at.

To give Apple some credit, the whole world is watching and the expectations are high so it can be expected then that fans & non-fans alike would be disappointed in some shape or form. I’m not even going to mention the fact that Apple just can’t keep secrets anymore which leads to nothing new when they hold their events. That of course leads to more disappointments. But then again, they’ve built themselves to embrace that pressure. On the other hand, what more can we really ask for in a cell-phone device which is physically limiting in terms of its size. This goes for Samsung as well seeing as though it’s the biggest rival to Apple and is rumored to unveil its S4 device in Feb of 2013. It’s becoming harder and harder to impress a consumer who if smart would realize that there is a physical limit that prevents manufacturers and design engineers from including certain features. Your cell phone device cannot make you coffee, but you could download an app that lets you control a coffee maker. Not that you expect your phone to serve you coffee or anything…

Cell phone devices will become thinner but what will be the limit? They’ll continue to have better cameras. An increase in battery life will continue to be a successful focus. Faster performance will be there with each iteration. Are all of these really revolutionary? We’ve all come to expect this. So what’s new? At this point in the evolutionary era of cell phone devices, I can only come to expect physical design changes in products coupled with revolutionary UI interaction. If that’s enough to drive sales and keep stocks surging, who needs new built-in features that are as exciting as when the camera was introduced in a cellphone device (which I may add has helped in over throwing dictators across the middle east). That’s big isn’t it? Where are features of that magnitude that have had a profound impact on our global society?

The ZGM Stampede-Zone

Ashley Tyler — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:44:25 +0000

In Calgary tradition, the whole ZGM crew pulled out their best western shirts, dusted off their worn cowboy hats and tolerated their boots one more year as the team marked the 2012 Stampede on their calendars!

We drove in style to the annual Pattison party where we all enjoyed super hot sunshine, delicious BBQ eats, ice cold drinks and great live music!
The bus ride back into the city was filled with lots of laughs, crazy music trivia and excitement for part 2 of our Stampede filled day.

We all had front door, no line, no cover entrance to the famous Wild Horse Salon and what a great night we had… and for two lucky ZGM girls Garth Brooks tickets were awarded to them for being such die-hard fans… tears, screams and photos were shared and their party continued into the wee hours of Friday morning as they celebrated this once in a life time opportunity!!

ZGM STAMPEDE-ZONE was a success, as it was a very quiet Thursday morning as we all trickled in with sore feet, soft voices and dark circles – and we are excited to know it’s a long 360 days until the next stampede party!!

What’s powering your online content?

Peter Bishop — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:41:46 +0000

Being able to manage your online content is not a luxury anymore. No longer should you have to email your web developer with a change to a line of copy and hope that he’s not snowboarding on the weekend. A Content Management System (CMS) is standard and they range from the free applications to boutique custom solutions. Here are 4 questions you should ask when deciding what engine you want to put under the hood.

1. Will this just manage my website or everything I have online?

Online Content management is exactly that: managing your online content. It shouldn’t matter if you are displaying it on a website, mobile device, TV or car dashboard. At its core, content consists of text, video images and documents and how it’s displayed is irrelevant. Or at least it should be. Your CMS can even manage your offline content too such as staff bios and company write-ups. The fact that it’s not displayed on your site is fine as it’s accessible when you need it.

WordPress is a good example of a one-to-one relationship where its content manager exists purely to power your WordPress site. If you wanted to display that same content elsewhere then it’s a matter of populating a new manager for a different purpose. Fine if that’s all you want to do but it can get limiting as you grow.

2. What is the learning curve?

Third party content managers are loaded with features. Sometimes those features are overwhelming. Take a look at the dashboard via screenshots or demos to see if it makes sense. If the learning curve is high then it defeats the purpose of a Content Manager. Your CMS should make your life easier not harder.

3. What happens if we want to customize it?

Companies are unique and evolving constantly and so are their online needs. It’s expected that their CMS will need to evolve with them. If you are using an off-the-shelf package, you can find yourself hitting a wall where you want it to do something and it can’t. The only options at that point are to request a new feature in the next release or to get a programmer to hack into the code. Neither option is ideal. Regardless of what you choose, you need to find out if that package is going to meet your needs now and those in the future. Obviously, these issues are easier with a custom built CMS (depending on the developer) but can also be expensive if they have to build everything from scratch.

4. Is it transferable if we change developers?

Getting a custom built CMS is a great way to get the features you want but can also be dangerous. The risk is that the developer you are using quits or leaves the project leaving you to pick up the pieces. Your content is your property. Make sure you know where it’s being hosted and that you have access to the logins and passwords should anything happen. If you do find yourself changing developers, depending on how the CMS is built, it can be an easy process or one where you have to start all over again. Some of the more standard products like Joomla and WordPress can make it easier to find developers willing to pick up the reins as long as the code hasn’t been too creative.