Update

Just a quick update for those of you following. We are still here. Even though we don’t make it to the blog page often enough, we are having a good year. We have found our reach in Idaho ever expanding to the East. New clients in Pocatello and Idaho Falls have caused us to do a bit of traveling in the 2nd Quarter. Other than that things are great. Sorry for our absence, but at least we had a note from our mom.

“It’s been a long time”

It has been a while since we have posted anything.  After checking the website, we are sneaking this post in just under a year from the previous one.  Phewwwww,  that was close.  Not posting in an entire year would just be unforgivable.  A lot has happened in the past year.  Some good, some bad but all necessary.  We are definitely more than just a year wiser.  Lets call it 5 years wiser.

Within the last year we have added the following clients;

Aaron’s Sales and Lease Ownership-New Mexico, Washington,

Rimco-New Mexico, Colorado

Idaho Auto Sales, Vista Auto Sales and Freeman Auto Body

John’s Auto Care

etc, etc etc….

Like our Grammy speech on Sunday night, “If we have forgotten you, please don’t hold it agains us”.  With all of the new biz, it is hard to remember when they took the red pill.

With some good things in the works, 2009 is looking bright.  In a time that some businesses are having problems it is fun to be doing well…and to actually not be lying about it.

We hope that everyone is doing well.  We would like to thank the biz partners that we have in the community.

Welcome Tricycle

Hello Everyone,

There is a new player in town and we would like you to check out their website.  The company is called Tricycle and they are a brand management company.  If you don’t quite understand the term “brand management” check out

http://www.thetricycle.com

John Hardesty, Justin Foster and Sam Swenson are the principles and all came from Blueline Grassroots Marketing.

Look for great things to come from this company.

Jared the Galleria of terrible television commercials!

Wow!

That pretty much sums it up.  I understand that it is a very difficult thing to create customer loyalty for a jewelry store.  It is even more difficult to creatively advertise for them.  Outside of showing the jewelry that a specific chain carries, what else can be done.  You can sell the consumer on the exceptional customer service that you provide.

That is what Lee Read does.  They aren’t really selling jewelry, they are selling the experience of buying something and giving something.  They want to be part of the “magic” that jewelry purchases usually signify.

I might be missing the point of the ad campaign that “Jared” the galleria of jewelry is running, but it seems to do 2 things well;

1.  It annoys the consumer.  The television ads are terrible.  The concept is that every person is overcome with joy when a man goes to “Jared” and buys his important someone jewelery.  Most everyone has seen these, so I won’t go into any more detail.

2.  It sells guilt.  The only thing that these television spots are doing is telling the male consumer that if they don’t go to Jared’s that no one will care about the engagement ring they just purchased.

I would love to hear people’s thoughts and any other campaigns that are missing the mark.

Thank you to the community

I would like to say thank you to all of the people that donated books to Dutch Bros. coffee for Mercy Housing.  Mercy Housing helps people find affordable housing and offers after school programs for children.  Mercy Housing came to us to help them build a library for different communities.  We teamed up with Dutch Bros. Coffee and Peak Broadcasting and with their help have raised over 1700 books for Mercy Housing.

The number of books raised is 10 times what Mercy Housing had hoped for.

Thank You Treasure Valley, your commitment to giving back and helping those less fortunate is exceptional.

They should be ashamed

Within the past few weeks, there have been a few new television commercials that I think are absolutely terrible.  Not only should the client be embarrassed, but the agency that created them should be ashamed.  I won’t mention the client in the ad, but you can figure it out on your own
Spot – Flu Vaccination-In this commercial we have a mother and young daughter sitting at a night stand in the mom’s room.  The mother is getting ready for what looks like a night out.  She is performing the usual tasks…makeup and such.  While she does this, her daughter copies her every move.  She pretends to put on eyeliner, eyeshadow etc…

When her mother begins to put on her lipstick, the daughter asks her mother if she can have some.  The mother says yes and puts some lipstick on her daughters lips.  Then the voice over comes in and says, “If you aren’t getting vaccinated this year….”, it then goes to a white screen with computer graphics that read, “You aren’t just FLUIN yourself”.

WOW…I would like to know what creative genius came up with the concept for this campaign.   As a consumer and an advertiser I think this is terrible.  First, the concept does not get the point across strongly enough.  Second, how corny is the “Fluin” line.

They could have done something much more creative to get their point across.  Which I am assuming is, get vaccinated, because you aren’t only protecting yourself.  Any agency could have come up with 10 great ideas to portray this message.

I would be interested to hear any ideas that you guys might have for this concept?  Be creative, but I forbid the use of the word “FLUIN”.

What were reading!!

Continuing education is huge in the marketing/advertising arena. It seems like we have switched with the tech industry. New marketing/advertising ideas, channels and schools of thought pop up every day. That’s why we would like to suggest some new books for your educational enjoyment.

Treasure Hunt by Michael J. Silverstein

This book dives into the mind of the new consumer. It tackles ideas like the working class family with a 50 inch Plasma TV and where we are as consumers.

Secrets of Online Persuasion by John-Paul and Debra Micek

No secret what this one is about. The internet is one of the fastest growing advertising mediums in todays world. People are almost spending as much time online as they are watching television.

Free Prize Inside-How To Make A Purple Cow by Seth Godin

Another interesting book about the change in the mind of consumer about what pulls them toward a brand. It also talks a lot about the business side of things.

What do you blog about when you have nothing to blog about?

I have absolutely nothing interesting to talk about this morning so………

I have decided to post something different.

Make a Mojito

[edit] Introduction

The mojito is a traditional Cuban cocktail which became popular in the United States during the late 1980s, and has recently seen a resurgence in popularity.A mojito is traditionally made of five ingredients: spearmint, rum, sugar (traditionally sugar cane juice), lime, and carbonated water. Its combination of sweetness and refreshing citrus and spearmint flavors are intended to mask the potent kick of the rum, and have made this clear cocktail a popular summer drink.

[edit] Ingredients

• Fresh mint (if you’re going to be making them for a lot of people, get a lot of mint. This is the foundation for the mojito)
• Limes (one for each drink)
• Clear rum (Havana Club 3 yr is the cuban rum of choice for the drink, but if you cannot get it then Bacardi Superior Light, Captain Morgan’s Silver Edition or Oronoco are good substitutes, a golden rum such as Mount Gay is a great way to serve as top shelf.)
• Club Soda
• Pure granulated sugar, simple syrup (sugar/water mixture – see below), or guarapo (sugar cane juice)

[edit] Steps

1. Start by making some simple syrup. To do this, put equal parts sugar and water into a pot and cook it on high (stirring the whole time) until it dissolves together(you do not want it boiling!). You can also use granulated sugar but just make sure that it is well dissolved before serving. There is nothing worse than a crunchy mojito! Alternatively, forego the simple syrup and use guarapo (sugar cane juice) instead for a more natural and less sweet flavor.
2. Make sure you have a good muddler, a sturdy glass and a shaking tin for muddling and mixing the drink. The cocktail’s success depends on the blending of the lime and mint flavors.
3. Purchase a good light rum. You will also need fresh limes, mint, soda water and sugar. Brown sugar or simple syrup can be substituted for refined sugar.
4. Cut the limes into quarters and pick the mint leaves off of the stems. For eight mojitos you will need a generous bowl of mint and eight limes-one per drink.
5. Muddle a generous pinch of mint and about three lime wedges in the bottom of a tall mojito glass, cocktail shaker, or a mixing receptacle. If using granulated sugar, also muddle the sugar with the mint and lime to extract the lime’s essential oils. When the ingredients are well pulverized, add ice to fill the glass.
6. Add 2 Tablespoons of your simple syrup-this is equivalent to 1 oz.
7. Fill the glass with about 2 ounces of rum-with the ice, the glass should appear about 3/4 of the way full.
8. Shake or stir the mixture until fully blended.
9. Fill the remainder of the pint glass with soda water. Another option is to transfer the shaken cocktail to another glass to serve since the muddled lime and mint often stick in the bottom of the glass.
10. Garnish with a lime wedge, a mint sprig, a sugar cane swizzle stick, or all three.

[edit] Tips

• A dash of bitters can be added for a distinct flavor.
• If you want to get a little crazy with your mojito, you can try different flavor rums (i.e., Bacardi Big Apple), but be careful because it might make it a little sweeter. You might have to back off on the sugar.
• Try using guarapo (sugar cane juice) for a more authentic flavored mojito.
• Use ice cubes and not crushed ice. This keeps the true mojito flavor from being diluted as the ice melts.
• If available, use outdoor grown mint that is as woody as possible rather than the quickly grown supermarket varieties. This will add to the authentic nature of the mojito and delivers a better overall flavour.
• If possible, use spearmint rather than peppermint, since this has a flavour closer to the endemic mint (yerba buena) of Cuba. Many mojito aficionados grow spearmint in gardens or pots just to use for making drinks. But peppermint works okay, too.
• Using Palm Sugar instead of cane makes a nice flavour too.
• Use a quality muddler that does not destroy the mint. The key to good muddling is to crush the leaf a little to release the oils inside, not to rip or shred up the leaf.
• If no muddler is available, the back of a spoon can substitute.
• Barcardi Limon is a very good base too….the balance is perfect!
• Do not mix the club soda in the shaker.

[edit] Warnings

• The fresh mint and the lime are the two most important ingredients of the mojito. Don’t try to skimp on either of these things.

Enjoy!

Lyle Pearson Mercedes Benz

Recently, one of our principles purchased a used Mercedes Benz from Lyle Pearson in Boise, Idaho. You might think….wow…Mercedes huh…big time. Well, not yet, but were getting there.

Anyways, the reason that I bring this up is because of the outstanding customer service that he received. Most people would think, “if I’m buying a Benz the customer service better be outstanding!” But it wasn’t the experience of purchasing the car that was outstanding…it was the aftercare.

One week after purchasing the car, he received a huge gift basket. It had everything from chocolate, cheese, pretzels, fruit…everything you can imagine.

Every week after that something would appear in the mail. A brochure explaning their service department, a brochure with contact information at Lyle Pearson and other informational type items.

Then, last week a package arrived. A brand new leather wallet with the Mercedes Benz logo in the corner.

In a world where consumer loyalty is fleeting at best, this is what can be done to secure not only loyalty but refferals.
It would be shocking to me if the next car purchased by the MB owner isn’t another MB. I would be even more shocked if it wasn’t from Lyle Pearson.

So for all business owners out there…be more like Lyle Pearson!!!!!

New Digs!

Hello Everyone,

We have moved into a new location. Our new address is

731 N. 15th St.
Boise, Idaho 83702

We are on the corner of 15th and Hays in the former, former Bogus Basin office.

Our office phone and fax is 208.424.1010

Feel free to stop by!

Adam