By Kathleen Ramirez, Fahlgren EVP and Corporate Media Director

(You fill in your own blanks.)

There is no denying that what was once called the traditional media landscape is fast becoming an antiquated term. Most discussions surrounding the changes with media inevitably make their way back to something related to digital applications and technology.  

Our view is that technology has morphed from an additional vehicle to a great enabler and equalizer. We know Americans are more and more adept at multi-tasking. A recent Experian Simmons report revealed that approximately 90% of us watch TV in a typical day and upwards of 70% use some other media while doing so. Surfing the web, using cell phones and emailing were cited as activities most often done while watching TV. 

What does a traditional landscape really mean to today’s overly connected and overscheduled consumer anyway?

Ask a different person….you’ll get a different answer.

So here’s the point of the title of this article….it’s not necessarily the technology or explosion of choices people have today.  It’s understanding where it all fits in the hearts and minds of consumers. 

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By Wendy Jenkins, Art Director

Co-authored by Kyle Younkman and Nathan Shipp

Each year HOW, a publication specializing in design, holds a design conference featuring a wide range of sessions including creativity, design principles, business, career, technology and production, in an effort to inspire and inform designers of all levels. This year, the conference was held in Austin, Texas and Fahlgren was kind enough to send Wendy Jenkins, Kyle Younkman and Nathan Shipp to experience everything that HOW and Austin had to offer.

Austin: The Experience
While we were lucky enough to visit Austin during a record heat wave, the average day being about 105 degrees, that didn’t stop us from getting out and exploring. Plus, due to Kyle’s uncanny ability to strike up conversations with absolute strangers, we were able to learn a lot about what to see, what to eat and where NOT to go. According to our cab driver who picked us up at the airport, Austin has “everything,” well except for line dancing. He may have been onto something. We experienced everything from cupcakes out of an airstream trailer to a mass exodus of bats from under a bridge.  And then there was HOW…

Austin: The Conference
The official conference began with a networking event. Everyone received a belt buckle with 10 descriptions written on it and you had to find people who fit each of those descriptions to sign your card. This is where Nathan became VERY popular as he was the guy “getting married this summer.”

The opening keynote, Progress vs. Novelty, touched on some interesting points regarding consumer behavior and the intersections between culture and commerce. Robert Walker, a columnist from the New York Times Magazine discussed how good design can elevate the value for the consumer, partner and client.  People want to display and share things that are well designed. At the same time, we need to stop targeting the same market of consumers, because they are running out of space to display these things. We need to consider the groups we haven’t spoken to, different age groups, income levels, regions, etc. We also need to listen to the consumer - consumers have more vehicles to express their opinions on products, facebook, twitter, etc -  and not just simply react.

Out of the sessions, we each picked our favorite that were both the most memorable and beneficial to share:

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By Jenny Fuerst, Director, Corporate Communications

For those who like lists.

In case you missed it, you might want to check out the April 13 issue of ADWEEK and April 27 issue of PRWeek, both include their annual agency rankings. Fahlgren Advertising moved up the ranks from 99 to 91, while Fahlgren Mortine Public Relations jumped 10 spots from 80 to 70. Both lists are based on revenue.

By Amy Dawson, Senior Vice President/Healthcare Account Director

I’d like to welcome Alden Schutte to our blog as a guest author. Alden is a brand strategist with Fahlgren’s healthcare group and brings a wealth of experience to our agency. For more than 35 years, his belief in the power of simple, meaningful brand stories has meant big results for his many clients. 

What’s your brand story? 

By Alden Schutte

Over the years we’ve asked that question to executives of all types of brands - including companies and organizations - and what continues to surprise us is the inability of most to easily deliver a succinct answer.

One of the most basic ways we make sense of our lives, our world and our place in it is through stories. It’s also true with brands. Brand stories that connect are always written around a strategic foundation, building each subsequent chapter around a powerful core idea or truth.

At Fahlgren, our brand stories succinctly sum up a client’s unique product or service benefit and why it matters to the target audience. However, before we can determine the core idea, a lot of research, market intelligence and analysis must take place. So how do we craft a brand story that’s coherent and compelling?

Our brand stories revolve around Brand Truths, Insights and Inspiration.

Truths: First we determine the essence of the brand and why it exists. We look to understand why someone would make the decision to purchase the brand or product and why it’s different or better than anything else in the marketplace.

Insights: We work to isolate the most meaningful and provocative brand truths about your consumers’ behaviors’, your category and your company. As blogger Peter Merholz says, it’s not who your customers are, it’s how they behave. Along the way we discard a lot of strong ideas to let the most powerful insights shine through. Insights that provide inspiration for concise creative solutions that work in concert with brand goals and objectives

Inspiration: The insights allow us to derive the inspiration for great strategy, audience segmentation, messaging and engagement. We develop a simplified creative message that turns desire into action. Our current campaign for Riverside Methodist Hospital has generated a 149% increase in patient visits since it began last year.

We believe that the best way to communicate a brand’s reason for existence is through storytelling. Stories, as we’ve all learned over the years, help us understand and work to clarify our lives.

Our stories drive a brand’s interaction with its selected target audiences, generating awareness, consideration, trial and purchase. Our brand stories work to create repetition of the selling process, leading to long-term brand loyalty, growth and profitability.