For those who haven’t heard, Google recently experienced some cyber attacks. The attacks originated in China, with whom their relationship has been a longstanding point of contention for many of Google’s critics. Free speech and human rights activists have been especially outspoken about Google’s role in censorship of their search results within Chinese borders. Yesterday afternoon, Google announced steps toward removal of those censorship measures subsequent to discussions with the Chinese government.

Here is Google’s press release on the issue.

There are two important points that relate to this story, and the business of building and maintaining both websites and brands.

Firstly, we must tap into the wealth of information the web provides us. The web still lives in a gray area of communication where perhaps the truest freedom of speech exists. Behind the veil of the keyboard, users can say and do as they would never think to in the real world. People show their true feelings and express ideas that may not be socially acceptable or popular, but may reflect the person even more truly than who they are in the physical world. For sites, and brands, striving to speak freely and honestly about themselves can be the best way to bring in customers. Brands should take advantage of the wealth of information and unchecked commentary about them on the web by addressing consumer challenges and changing their products or company policies for the better. Google seems to be learning the lesson the hard way by waiting for someone to attack before responding to the public sentiment.

Secondly, we have to consistently assess the health of a website and/or the brand it supports. For Google, despite all of the criticism of its actions in China, it has taken a malicious attack on the very fabric of what makes their business great to drive them toward change. Domino’s Pizza, longstanding cardboard, er pizza delivery joint, has recently undertaken a campaign that shows their honest assessment of their product and the changes they’ve made to improve it. How Domino’s and Google have used these negative experiences and brand criticisms to remake their products or reassess their adherence to ethics are stories that have yet be completed. Both of them, however, are examples for businesses everywhere to follow toward advancement and improvement. When someone criticizes you, as hard as it may be to take, you have to look in the mirror and think about whether or not they might be right.

Although it’s taken a serious attack for them to measure up, I applaud Google for finally standing up to the Chinese government and showing us that great business can afford to do the right thing when it means more than the dollars they may lose in the process.

Park&Co Debuts Business Cards With A New Twist

The business card is one of the most boring or interesting or silly or downright weird things you might ever get from a person. A small piece of thick paper or lightweight card stock, it says something about a company and possibly about the person. A business card can even lead to a jealous murderous rage. Well, at least in a Brett Easton Ellis novel it can.

What would make someone do anything more with that business card than just file it away or toss it in the nearest wastebasket? The simple answer is make it eye popping. Blind the person you’re giving it to with a dazzling display of visual daring do, or something like that. The card though, can be just as effective and memorable by asking you to do with it something that you’ve never done.

We recently decided at Park&Co that it was time for a new look, and to merge several ideas in one very simple, elegant little card.

This card, as you can see, is modest in its print execution, with two colors and an inviting sans-serif font. Free of distraction, you’re provided the necessary information about the individual giving it to you. The card also has some curious text in the upper right hand corner. Web and print are married by the request that the holder visit Google and search that very unique phrase. Go ahead and give it a try. This one is “The Fastest White Man Alive” Won’t forget about that too soon, will you?

You visit the page and learn a little more about the card’s issuer. With a story unique to that person, you find something about who he or she is and what makes him or her great at the job. We tried to create a business card that melds media in a creative way and leaves an impression on the person who receives it. Maybe we’re off the mark though. We could’ve just gone to this guy.

So we thought he should have a party.

It’s a simple concept, but one that’s often lost on us advertising types. It goes something like – “Put puppets in moving picture shows, and they will be funny.” – or whatever. I’m not sure what the exact wording is, but I know it’s truly a gold nugget of knowledge that often, in striving to be clever or creative in advertising, simple things like puppets, cartoons or, god forbid, good writing can make an ordinary spot outstanding. This past May and June, those of us who follow NBA basketball were treated to an advertising campaign that wasn’t just good, but great. The ads featured puppet versions of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, preparing for the NBA Playoffs, while living together. This was advertising at its finest.

Nike not only keeps their brand in front of the viewer, but uses the personal brands of LeBron and Kobe to promote the Nike brand as well. For those of you wondering what the chalk thing is all about, that’s this ridiculous thing that LeBron James stole from some other players like Kevin Garnett and . . . sorry. I started on a little basketball rant there. My bad. Back to the ads.

At this point you’re hooked, at least if you’re a basketball fan. The advertising is making you think about the real Kobe and LeBron, and what it might be like if they actually lived together. The trash talking and taunting would be amazing.

The general feeling amongst the basketball watching public was that these commercials were an attempt to promote a possible NBA Finals match-up between LeBron’s scrub Cavaliers and Kobe’s fantastically championship worthy Lakers. (Maybe I’m biased, but who really cares.) Now, this campaign was running well in advance of the Finals, which makes the risk associated with it a large part of why it was such great advertising.

Now they’re just being silly.

I love it. After four of these, I can’t wait to see the next one. That’s great, memorable advertising. Like the conjunction junction commercials from when I was a kid. Heck, they even made t-shirts out of that advertising. Did I mention they have Most Valuable Puppets campaign t-shirts as well? Let’s get to what I think was really the best part of the campaign.

The babysitting gig gives Nike a chance to really showcase the brand. Taking Lil Dez to the shoe room to show him some shoes really puts Nike at the forefront. Great branding. Next, the campaign takes a turn, after LeBron has been eliminated from the playoffs.

With all of the hype surrounding the possible Kobe v. LeBron Finals now deflated, the true genius of the campaign shines. The writers at Weiden+Kennedy (whom I assume had the reigns on this campaign, as they typically do with most of Nike’s high profile stuff) embraced the currency of the events and effectively turned them into a joke. In one final parting shot, LeBron looks forward to next year.

Now I haven’t included all of the ads here, although it may seem like a lot at this point. There are still others involving hilarious puppet activities like jumping into a car, being in two places at once and a post-Finals-winning celebration.

Perhaps the spots could’ve been as good with live action characters, but would you have as much fun watching them? Would they be nearly as memorable? My guess is no on both counts. The puppets, on top of all of the other great aspects of the campaign, make the advertising unforgettable.

Advertising can be all at once, art, entertainment, and sales tool. This campaign is one of the few that I can remember accomplishing all three of those things.

I hope they do it again next season.

Our ongoing efforts to educate as many impressionable minds as possible in the ways of our craft have gone largely unnoticed. Hard to get the kids to read or listen when they think you’re just some weird stranger babbling about kerning and typefaces. In the interest of finding students who actually want to hear what we have to say about the ad biz, we’ve recently hired two interns who had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

Forrest Nutter is our creative intern and joins us from the Arizona State graphic design program. When he’s not sweating out designs for Park&Co, Forrest is a Barista at Starbucks. But don’t think we hired him just for the afternoon iced coffee recipe, although we do enjoy that little pep in our afternoon steps, because the young man has the proverbial skills to pay the bills. Forrest narrowly avoided a host of other career paths, from Marine rifleman to sous chef, before coming to Park&Co. However, fate stepped in and serendipity brought Forrest to us. Now if only we could find something for serendipity to do while Forrest works.

Tiffany Franquemont is our account services intern. She’s a student at the University of Missouri where she studies strategic communications. Tiffany’s obviously learning a lot at school, because when it comes to communications, she’s a pro. She’s got more Facebook friends than you can count (1,055). Well okay, obviously you can count them. Twitter? Let’s just say she doesn’t get all the hype. Really, does everyone need to know what you’re doing all of the time? We’re concentrating on showing Tiffany the always glamorous “behind the scenes” action in advertising, as that’s what we specialize in here at Park&Co - glamor.

Finally, for the third year in a row, Parker Howell is joining us from Chapman University in Orange, California where he’s studying film and business. Being a film major has some sweet perks, and not just the awesome fact that you get to say “I’m a film major.” The main advantage – actually making films. Some of Parker’s more recent productions are titled Superchief and Poor Profits. Don’t you dare call him an oxymoron though.

Welcome to our newest team members, and here’s hoping that when you’re finished at Park&Co, you still want to work in advertising.

Let it not be said that Shawn Hardy, our hard-working art director, doesn’t go the distance to finish any job. Could it be a lesson learned from hours of grueling competition with himself and the elements? Shawn is an avid triathlete, and he’s gained an appreciation of the journey by swimming, cycling and running an amount miles most of us get tired just thinking about. After many shorter-distance excursions, Shawn recently completed his first full triathlon, in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I sat down to ask him a few questions about the experience.

Right off the bat, why triathlons? By that I mean, of all of the sports you could choose from to be actively involved with, you may have chosen the most grueling. What drove you to that?

I was a swimmer. I swam all of the way through college and after college, kind of gave up on organized sports. I had just done that for my entire life. But my youngest brother has forever idolized Lance Armstrong, and got himself involved in cycling, and just looking for another outlet to be active, I got involved in cycling with him. After I got into cycling, it was kind of a natural progression back into swimming and now running.

What do you for training?

The basic formula is swim, bike and run - alot! More than you could imagine if you’re not into the sport. But, once you get into it, it’s pretty manageable. Training for Ironman we* did 2 to 3 swims, bikes and runs a week.

As the races approach, how does your training change?

Three weeks away from the race, you shorten your distances and take it a little easier so you’re rested for the race. At that three weeks point you’re kind of at the crescendo of your distances and time spent in training.

So do you train harder when you know that big race is coming?

Yes and no. At the peak of training, you’re the most exhausted because it’s the end of the training cycle. For an Ironman, that’s about 6 months. By that point, you’re pretty sick of doing the same routine you’ve been doing for the past 6 months. The effort level is probably lower due to exhaustion. When the three week period prior to the race approaches, you begin to ease up on your distance and so you start to feel less and less tired.

Tell us about one of the phases of training, you’ve referred to as a “brick.”

A brick is when you do a bike followed by a run. It’s called a brick because your legs feel like bricks. The point is not to get a longer workout or mimic a triathlon, but to mimic the pain of running immediately after biking. Just getting mentally tough. The tougher and more accustomed you are to that pain, when it comes down to the race, you can handle it that much better.

Do you find that you’re tougher in other areas of life as a result of putting yourself through the physical and mental anguish of doing a triathlon?

Absolutely. You kind of realize that everything is a journey, and it’s about the trip and not the end result. You also realize that everyone is on a personal journey. During a triathlon, you’ll be passed by someone 20 years older than you, or 100 pounds heavier, or 20 years older and 100 pounds heavier and a woman, and myself being a man, you just realize that life has a level playing playing field. You have to move through it based on your own pace and goals. You can’t judge others, only yourself, based on your personal goals.

How long does it usually take you to finish a race?

Ironman took me about 13 hours and 50 minutes. We do several half Ironmen which takes me about 5 hours. We also do Olympic distance triathlons and those take about 2 hours to complete.

What are the distances for each of those races?

Olympic, which is the shortest one I do, is a one mile swim, a 24 mile bike, and a six mile run. A half triathlon is a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike and a 13 mile run. The Ironman, the one I just completed, is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and finish with a 26.2 mile run which is a full marathon.

With the races being as long as they are, how do you stay nourished?

You have to eat a lot of food. It becomes challenging because you get really tired of sports food and sports drinks. You get creative. We boil potatoes the night before, cut them into little pieces and put lots of salt on them, because the salt is important to replace due to the strenuous exercise, then put them into little sandwich bags. So we eat lots of small potatoes on the bikes and the runs, In addition they have tons of food and water and sports drinks on the course. I’ll eat lots of bananas if they have them on the course. They’re really easy to get down. Dry food is difficult to swallow, so I try to stay away from that. Dry mouth gets really bad. They usually have pretzels on the course because they’re salty and they taste good, but I tried eating them once and I almost threw up, so I just stay away from the dry food.

It’s actually funny. I read a newspaper article before the race that said a person would have to eat a 27 pound turkey by themselves in order to equal the amount of calories burned in an Ironman. I wish I could remember the number but I want to say it’s around 120,000 calories. They also hand out warm chicken broth during the run and then they give you soda when you’re finished to help you replenish the sugars in your body.

So how long will you be doing triathlons? Do you think it’s something you’re committed to for life, or will you just stop when you don’t feel like doing it anymore?

I think I’ll do it, pretty much forever. You’ll see lots of 70-year-olds out there doing it. I don’t think I’ll always be as competitive as I am now or as into the time it takes, but again it’s mostly about the journey. Being outdoors, active and healthy.

So there are some pretty healthy 70-year-olds out there?

Oh, you wouldn’t believe it! There’s one that did like, 3 Ironmen just this year. I don’t think I’ll do an Ironman every year. When we finished we said, “it’s great to get our lives back!”

How important is it for you to improve every time you do a race?

I would say that 80% of it is about staying active and being healthy, enjoying the outdoors and being social. It’s a great social outlet. You meet a lot of very motivated individuals doing this, which is probably the best part about triathlons. Triathletes are also usually pretty motivated people, so I would there is a bit of wanting to keep track of and improve your progress. So the shorter distance triathlons, it’s a little easier to give yourself time goals and try to place higher in your age group. The main point of the Ironman though, was mainly just to finish it and enjoy it. To cross the finish line standing up with a smile was our biggest goal. And we did that!

So when is the next one?

I think we’re doing a half Ironman in October. We may sprinkle a short race in there, but October is the one we have planned.

Do you plan on doing another full one next year?

Probably not for another 2 or 3 years. It’s just such a grueling time commitment that now we’re excited to do half that distance, which might sound a little crazy, but to us seems a little more manageable.

Well, that’s about it. Congratulations on finishing this first Ironman, and good luck on the next one!

Thanks Josh!

Thanks again to Shawn for taking some time to tell us about this great experience, and the world of the triathlete. Now, how many readers will be joining him on the next one?

*For those of you confused by the constant references of “we” that Shawn made during the interview, he’s speaking of his girlfriend, Nicole, who is also an avid triathlete.

I did the majority of my growing-up during the 1980’s and ’90s, although my wife will probably tell you I still have plenty of that to do. During my childhood I typically had just a few thoughts going though my mind, and most of them involved toys or eating. One of the other things running through my head on a regular basis was growing-up. What would I do? Who did I want to be? In those formidable years, while I was making life-altering decisions like whether to play inside or outside, there was an ad campaign that spoke to me, and an advertising agency that did a great job.

As far as ad campaigns go, one product has been consistently masterful throughout my life – milk. You know, the delicious white beverage that comes from cows? Sorry for being inconsiderate if you’re lactose intolerant, or is it milk-sensitive? One can never be too careful in today’s politically correct world, you know. I digress. Since I was a young whipper-snapper, milk has been wooing me in a way that no other product can match. The first campaign I have vivid memories of watching had the message down so well, I was a milk-drinking maniac for many years. Those commercials had a tagline I’ll never forget – Milk: It Does a Body Good. For those of you who aren’t currently smiling and remembering the campaign fondly, here’s a sample:

What more could a kid ask for in a drink?

• Astronauts? You bet!
• Kangaroos on pogo sticks? Of course!
• Hanging upside down? Do kids like anything more than that?
• Dressing like a robot? Got it!
• Parachuting cows, kids in rock bands, and dancing milk cartons? All here!

Now before I get too far off on my nostalgic trip, I’ll bring it back to the real subject of this post. Advertising agencies, and ad campaigns for that matter, can be life-altering. When McCann-Erickson created the Milk: It Does a Body Good campaign, they cut out a swath of my childhood and pointed me toward greatness. I’ll be sure to write an extensive post when I finally get there. Really though, the campaign painted milk as what us marketers call an “aspirational product.” Kids everywhere dreamed of beating up bullies, getting the girl, and making the football team all because they were drinking milk. It was the secret to every Gen-Xer’s success, at least when we were little.

McCann-Erickson knew what we were thinking, and simply showed us how to get there. A few glasses of milk and we were on our way.

Improving search ranking can be daunting, considering search engines are notoriously secretive about their formulas in order to prevent the masses from taking advantage of the formulas for a profit. Sometimes that fairness upsets the big brands on the block (although not lately) but it makes Google one of the most egalitarian sites on the internet. Anyone and everyone with a website has a chance to be on the first page of Google search results. The real key is knowing what search engine robots are looking for when they come to your site.

What you must be thinking now is “How can he say that he knows ways to improve search ranking, when the search engines are keeping their formulas a secret?” Well, the proof is in the pudding, as they say. Search engine optimization, or SEO, is oftentimes a matter of using the scientific process. Try something and if it doesn’t work, try something else. Eventually you’ll come to proven conclusions of how to improve your search ranking.

The following are 3 quick ways you can improve your search ranking:

• Improve your keyword use. – This doesn’t mean keyword stuffing. It also doesn’t mean overloading the keyword meta data that Google actually ignores. What it really means is using words and phrases that relate specifically to your business and improve the quality of your site. The search robots are constantly under the watchful eye of actual humans, and as such, they are continually redesigned and improved in order to give optimum results to searchers. Don’t try to trick them. The bottom line here is that you need to create quality content that serves your customers and web users. Or you can find someone who will help you improve your ranking.
• Use keyword specific page titles – Quick! Look up at the top of your browser window. Way at the top. Now that I have you back, I’m sure you noticed that there was some writing up there that displayed the title of this blog post, and the name of the website you’re visiting. So why’s this important? That writing at the top of the page is the very first bit of content that a search engine robot sees when it comes by to index your site. That makes it a first-impression of sorts, and you know the deal about first impressions. Improve your ranking by inserting meaningful keywords that relate to the content for that page into the title tag.
• Invite others to link to your site – Amongst SEO specialists, the typical opinion of ranking formulas is that one of the most important aspects of search ranking is linking. There are a lot of other elements that make up the supposed formula, such as the popularity of the sites that link to yours and where the links are on the page, but the main idea is to attract links. If you have a blog, invite guest bloggers to write a post and then link back to your site from theirs. It’s also important to have quality linkable content that other sites will want to reference. Lastly, you should be linking out to other sites as well. Improving your search ranking can be as simple as becoming a part of the community of people in your field.

These steps may seem oversimplified to the experienced eye, however they can make a difference. Getting to the first page of search results can have a major effect on a company’s income, so why not give it a shot? Try these small steps and keep a sharp eye on your rankings for a few weeks, and if things don’t improve, try changing a few things and go back to watching the results. Sooner or later you’ll likely find a nice mix, and even if you don’t make it to page one, any small improvement in your search ranking could make a big difference.

I’m a Lakers fan, unabashed and unapologetic. Growing up in Southern California, if you’re a basketball fan, you’re a Lakers fan because seriously, no one roots for the Clippers. Being that I’m a Lakers fan, I’m also the exact opposite of a Celtics fan. With every cell of my being I despise the Celtics, from Red Auerbach and his slimy cigars to Kevin McHale’s clothesline to Paul Pierce’s fake leg injury. So when I was watching a game recently between those Celtics and the Chicago Bulls, I was struck by the fact that there were two teams on the floor and the team wearing all green wasn’t the road Celtics, but the hometown Bulls. I was instantly aghast and reaching for my phone to call the league office and offer my admonitions about the Bulls’ sudden color change, when I heard the announcer mention that the NBA was promoting their Green Week. Man was I relieved. Were I to be forced into watching another team wear that disgusting color on a regular basis, I might unleash a barrage of hateful emails to the league office. Three teams have elected to participate in this insidious green marketing effort. The Denver Nuggets, Charlotte Bobcats and Chicago Bulls will all be donning that putrid shade to bring attention to the NBA’s environment-loving measures. Shame on them.

I can’t say the NBA isn’t doing a great thing by marketing theirs and their teams’ sustainability efforts, but couldn’t they have picked picked a different shade of green for the teams to wear maybe? Don’t get me wrong, I love that the NBA is pushing that the Mavs are purchasing carbon offsets and renewable energy credits, the Jazz have offered fans a free home energy audit, and the Suns have the NBA’s premiere spokesman for the green movement. These efforts show that the NBA isn’t just marketing green, but following through with the actions of its teams. But back to the real issue at hand here, which is the incessant display of a particular shade of the color green.

Consider this an open letter to those in charge of marketing Green Week. The Celtics have tortured my existence for a large part of my time as a Lakers fan, and now thanks to NBA green marketing, I get to suffer just a little bit more. Please, in the interest of not confusing casual fans and not making me slightly ill, pick a different shade of green for these teams to wear next season. It’s already difficult enough for me to watch one team wear that grotesque color, let alone three more, even if it is for a good cause and just one game a year. Thanks for ruining my week, NBA.

Around this time every year, there’s always that one guy at your job that makes about 1,000 too many copies one Monday, and before you know it he’s in your office asking whether or not you want to partake in the NCAA basketball tournament office pool. I’m that guy. Hosting the office pool is about as easy as selling stock in GM right now, what with the “slumping economy” we all keep hearing about. People are keeping their dollars for essential items like “food” and “electricity”. Who needs all that when you can have fun trying to guess the winners of college basketball games that you most likely won’t even be able to watch?

It’s really all about incentive these days. You have to make it worth someone’s while to take part in this year’s office pool, because people want real bang for their buck. With that in mind, I’ve devised a few simple ways for you to spice up the office pool and hopefully up the fun with more participants. Keep in mind that office pools are illegal and we are in no way condoning them for anything more than bragging rights around the office because you’re a way better guesser than the rest of those chumps.

• Lower prices on brackets – Obviously the easiest way to get more participants is to charge them less to take part. Try a penny bracket, or even a free one where the winner gets to wear flip-flops around the office for a week or for the rest of the month the other participants have to refer to the winner as “Your Majesty”.
• Make winners out of losers – Turn the bad news into good news by rewarding the person who receives the worst score of the tourney. They probably won’t even want whatever it is you try to give them because they’ll feel guilty. You know what? Scratch giving them anything and just keep that special “loser prize” for yourself. That loser didn’t deserve it anyway.
• Halftime Capri Suns and orange wedges – Maybe it’ll look weird when you and the other pool participants are sitting around the lunch room table 6 times on Thursday and Friday eating these tasty halftime treats, but so what? Those other totally uncool coworkers are just jealous because they haven’t had such delicacies since their 2nd grade soccer matches.
• Liveblogging of the office pool – People want to stay informed about what’s going on in the tournament. Sure they’ve got that whole internet thing at their disposal for scores and such, but we all know that blogging is where it’s really at. Do a live blog for your pool participants, with updates on who’s leading the pool, which teams are looking good to move on, and where the celebration will be held after you’ve won the tourney by changing the rules halfway through to favor you (it’s not really “cheating” if you add a rule after the fact).
• Real-time reenactments of key moments – Who needs ESPN when you’ve got the wastebasket in your office and an endless supply of paper rocks (that’s basketball slang for ball) with which to replay the best moments of the day? Get together with the other members of the pool and find the most open space in the office where everyone can watch. Stage reenactments of the best buzzerbeaters and the wildest dunks of the day for the whole office to see. Run for cover when your boss walks by to see what the commotion is all about. He hates fun.

Now it’s time to take action. With just a few days left until selection Sunday, you’re gonna have to get to work on some of the particulars for making this year’s pool the true economic slumpbuster it deserves to be. Get to the grocery and store and round up those halftime treats; make sure you’ve got that liveblogging software hacked onto to your workstation, and order an extra ream of paper for all of the dunking and last-second heroics you’ll be performing for the masses. Oh, and don’t forget to hatch that plan to weasel everyone out of their money before the tourney is over so you can keep it all for yourself.

After all we are in a recession, and you need all the money you can get.