What's the problem UTA...Gorillas or Guerrillas?

Recently we've taken to the streets to break up the cold and monotonous winter commute many of us that live in Utah are faced with.

We thought it'd be fun to have a couple of our street team members dress up in Gorilla Costumes with MINDWISE T-shirts and ride the public light rail. Our own little "Guerrilla Marketing" stunt in our own backyard. With specific instructions not to talk to anyone, not be a distraction, mind their own business and just see what kind of buzz we'd create. If asked, the Gorillas could hand a MINDWISE media kit with more information on what we do.

We've received overwhelming responses of laughter, excitement, twitter messages and more from well wishing commuters. Of course, not surprisingly with all the good, we received a little resistance from the Utah Transit Authority. I guess a few UTA corporates got together and decided that this attention getting endeavor, was illegal (we were told our team couldn't wear masks), after taking off the masks, we were then told we couldn't wear T-shirts (that was blatant Advertising-which needed to be paid for via bus boards and go directly through them). Of course, we obliged but thought it an excellent case study to share some of our views on the topic of Guerrilla Marketing.

We've done numerous guerrilla marketing and promotional campaigns across the nation. From LA to New York and Chicago. Each city has its own flair and attitudes, but all seem to welcome and even embrace non traditional approaches to marketing. The issue, how I see it is this: In this market, Utah (government especially) may be a tad bit ignorant and even a little too cautious when it comes to stepping outside the norms of marketing. Sure, we have a top 40 media market. TV, Radio, Outdoor all thrive. But what if you desire something more? Something to engage, interact and inspire consumers beyond traditional media?

I guess thats where we come in. Warning-shameless plug: Call us. And next time you board a UTA bus or trax train, make sure you're not wearing a T-shirt that can be confused as advertising.

MINDWISE celebrates its 3 year anniversary

Since 2007, agency has taken a unique approach to marketing.

DRAPER, UTAH –Feb 2010 – MINDWISE, a Utah-based out of the box marketing agency celebrated its 3 year anniversary. Since 2007, The marketing firm has seen at least 30% annual growth each year-establishing itself as a viable and trusted partner for companies looking to reach consumers beyond traditional media outlets and mediums.

“We feel most companies are overlooking some crucial, inventive and extremely effective methods to market themselves” said Grant Hanson, Founding Partner. “MINDWISE enables a company or brand to not only focus on traditional sources of advertising, but engage, interact and inspire targeted consumers in a coveted, tested atmosphere.”

“Traditional Media is a no-brainer” , Grant said. “But our goal is to go beyond that-to offer something in addition- and by doing so, increasing not only value, but effectiveness across the board.”

MINDWISE works from the ground up incorporating a brand’s identity and goals into a custom strategy developed to blend a cohesive marketing mix otherwise overlooked. Besides traditional marketing tactics such as TV, print and radio, MINDWISE focuses on methods such as Event Creation and Management, Guerrilla Marketing, Experiential Marketing, Promotions, Sponsorship Activation, buzz creation and more. From sidewalk postings to full scale event marketing tactics and promotion creation, MINDWISE has executed campaigns from Los Angeles to New York City for clients such as Disney on Ice, AST Dew Tour, Dish Network, State and County Fairs, Mountain West Sports Network, Comcast, Best Friends Animal Society, and others.

About MINDWISE:

A marketing agency unlike any other, MINDWISE provides the opportunity to not only see and hear, but also to touch, taste, feel and experience a client’s brand- creating a more enduring impression than traditional media alone. Through channels such as events, guerrilla marketing, experiential, promotions, sponsorship activation, PR and media-MINDWISE will engage, interact and inspire!

Contact:

Grant Hanson

(801) 461-5050 ext 5

grant@mindwiseagency.com

MING Brands (Branding/Creative Case Study)

MING Brands-a new mobile accessory company- turned to MINDWISE to help conceive and create its corporate branding.

MINDWISE created the overall look and feel, company logo and slogan, and even product line names, logos and packaging.

Who's Your Daddy (Sampling Case Study)

Who’s Your Daddy Energy Drink was relatively new in the Utah Market and wanted to increase market share by amongst other tactics; branding and sampling.

MINDWISE developed a unique sponsorship with the Utah State Fair for WYD that included naming rights, exclusive energy drink across all events, and an 11-day intense sampling campaign across fairgrounds. WYD sampling teams worked from open to close to sample 4 unique flavors to a previously un-tasted crowd. Needless to say, those 11 days at the Utah State Fair cultivated probably the most energetic and active crowds in history.

Retail partnerships, admission discounts with WYD purchase, media and pr exposure all added to a successful sampling campaign.

Disney on Ice (Guerrilla Marketing Case Study)

Disney on Ice hired MINDWISE to execute a grass roots/guerrilla marketing campaign to promote one of their shows in the Utah market. A huge part of this campaign was “partnership marketing”.

MINDWISE organized and aligned the Disney on Ice with hundreds of local vendors such as kids clothing stores, grocery outlets, shopping centers, fast food locations, movie complexes and more to put custom signage, enter to win displays on store counters and windows.

MINDWISE also secured many high profile events for Disney on Ice to be apart of including skating events, family winter activities, radio events, public and community outdoor activities and facilities and more.

Comcast (Events Case Study)

MINDWISE was commissioned by Comcast to increase their exposure, good will and lead generation at local fairs, festivals and community events along the Wasatch Front, Utah. Comcast needed to set themselves apart from everyone else doing traditional booth space and exhibits at such events.

MINDWISE created a summer long promotion where-using branded Comcast mini-frisbees handed out at each event by Comcast brand ambassadors-“event goers” could try their chance at winning various prizes and be entered into a “wii a week” sweepstakes and a chance for a grand prize of a “Home Entertainment Makeover” back at the Comcast display. Up to 2 additional “tries” were given if participant signed up for service, and names with contact info were taken providing Comcast reps invaluable follow up leads after each event.

Brand ambassadors, a frisbee drop, promotional display and a custom Comcast bounce house helped draw and keep patrons at each Comcast display while Comcast reps were on hand pitching and getting leads for service.

Zagg (Experiential/Sampling Case Study)

Zagg wanted to capitalize on the launch of the new iPhone 3G to promote its invisibleSHIELD product and in turn, called on MINDWISE to create and execute a 5-market nationwide sampling campaign.

The top 2 apple stores in each New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver markets were selected as sampling and demo sites to show thousands of people in line waiting to buy the iPhone, how the invisibleSHIELD product looks, works and acts. In addition to product demos, MINDWISE created interactive competitions for new iPhone shields like “text olympics”, “text spelling bees” and more.

Giveaways, online coupon codes, bulky case mascot, mobile message marketing and picketing signs supported the campaign.

Best Friends Animal Society (Guerrilla Marketing Case Study)

Best Friends Animal society turned to MINDWISE to help educate the public about it’s organization and homeless pets overall.

MINDWISE used a “startling facts” guerrilla marketing campaign to educate and invite the public to get involved to help save homeless pets.

Over 4 consecutive weeks, Best Friends brand ambassadors engaged and interacted with people in the greater Los Angeles area on beaches, walking/jogging trails, dog parks, shopping centers and more to encourage future pet owners in getting their next pet from a shelter and invited them to text in to a Best Friends custom short code for event updates, adoption info and more. A “Pick a Pet” memory game was created to interact with a core audience and share startling facts about homeless pets and ingrain the No More Homeless Pets message through out the campaign.

Best Friends pet food scoops, fridge magnets, brand ambassadors, shirts and more helped spread the word.

Dew Tour (Guerrilla Marketing Case Study)

The AST Dew Tour contracted with MINDWISE to execute a guerrilla marketing campaign to promote the Toyota Challenge in Salt Lake City.

Dew Tour street team members interacting with potential ticket holders at skate parks, boat ramps, concerts, baseball games and other outdoor activities influenced a key demographic that held active lifestyles where traditional media otherwise couldn’t reach.

Onsite skate competitions, demos, bean bag tosses, “tix for tricks” and more quickly drew in crowds to provide a little taste of the Dew Tour brand. Guerrilla signage, partnership marketing, enter to win displays and location procurement were all key components in the success of the campaign.

Being the first time The AST Dew Tour held an event in the Salt Lake market, MINDWISE’s expertise of the local market was a huge advantage. In fact, the past two years while MINDWISE has been involved, each Salt Lake City stop has broken Nationwide Dew Tour records for attendance.

Mtn. Challenge (Promotion Case Study)

MINDWISE was hired to create and execute a college football promotion to capitalize on one of the biggest rivalries in the nation; Utah vs. BYU, and at the same time create some much needed positive public recognition in the state of Utah.

The Mtn. Challenge powered by Comcast was held before 4 BYU and 4 Utah home games with the final competition held before the annual BYU/UTAH game. During The MTN Challenge, contestants/fans competed in a series of timed skills challenges including a field goal kick, hurdles and football toss. The fastest times representing each school competed with the other school’s finalist for the Grand Prize (Trip for two to their teams Bowl Game).

MTN coverage and football highlights, brand ambassadors, custom display, promotional mini-footballs, and more supported the promotion.

Mtn. Mayhem (Events Case Study)

Being the exclusive TV network for the Mountain West Conference, The MTN turned to MINDWISE to create a four day event during the Mountain West Conference Basketball Championships held in Las Vegas.

Labeled as “Mountain Mayhem”, basketball fans were invited to participate in a series of 3 activities; “Mountain View” (a Plinko style game), “On Campus Cam” (get your picture taken with a Mtn TV personality) and “It’s a Numbers Game” (guess how many basketballs are in the Tacoma Truck), all named after popular shows on the network. Each activity interacted with The Mtn’s core audience.

Custom displays and signage, MTN brand ambassadors, sweepstakes, TV’s with looping MTN coverage, Mtn branded sweatbands and more supported the event.

Thousands of fans participated in each of the activities and walked away with positive brand experiences associating their school with The Mtn.

Jazz returning to old logo?

I think its a good move. Actually, I think it's a great move.

I read the Utah Jazz are thinking of returning to their old Jazz logo complete with the New Orleans Jazz Note symbol. I'll put a link to the article below, but I just wanted to share a few thoughts on why I think its a good move.

1. Differentiate. When the Jazz went away from the "note" logo of the past, they also distanced themselves from what set them apart. The Jazz had deep heritage and background. Famous players like Pete Maravich, Ricky Green, Darrell Griffith, Karl Malone and John Stockton-all wore at some point that note on their Jersey. When the Jazz decided to change, those icons and traditions went away as well. In branding, you have to have consistent and repetitive reminders of what makes you different.

2. Update not Overhaul. The Jazz also ignored a major branding law in my eyes. Logos can and should be updated and refreshed. But never a complete overhaul. They very well could have updated the "note" logo to provide a modern and current feel, while keeping the traditions and reminders of the past. Branding isn't a quick fix solution, but a long term "in-it to win-it" attitude.

Read article here.

Sponsorship Stats

Thought this was a good post by IEG regarding Sponsorships. Now...how about activating those?

IEG Property Survey: Largest Categories Account for Fewer Deals

If there is one thing made perfectly clear by the findings from IEG’s latest annual survey of properties, it is that the old stand-bys are no longer standing by.

When it comes to the categories most active in sponsorship, the major players remain the same for the most part—beverages, telecommunications companies and even banks and autos—despite their industry woes—show up on sponsor rosters more than any other industries. But the degree to which they appear has greatly diminished.

For example, in 2000 the nonalcoholic beverage category was number one in the number of properties reporting a sponsor from the category at 42 percent. This year, the category is still number one, but with just 31 percent of nearly 2,300 properties saying they have a nonalcoholic beverage sponsor.

Among the top 10 categories, telecommunications is the only one this year to increase the percentage of properties citing sponsorship from at least one company in the category, growing from 18 percent in ’08 to 25 percent in ’09.

The overall decline in the portion of sponsorship rosters claimed by leading categories continued a general trend that had seen a one-year reversal in ’08, but now appears back to the pattern witnessed for most of the decade.

The upshot for rights holders is that they cannot rely on the usual suspects to account for the sizable chuck of sponsorship revenue they once did.

Table: Most Active Non-Media Sponsor Categories

Category	2009 (%)
Nonalcoholic beverages	31
Bank	28
Telecommunications	25
Automotive	23
Beer	19
Specialty Retail	14
Insurance	12
Financial services (brokerage, mortgage, etc.)	12
Airline	11
Food	11

Figures represent the percentage of properties reporting sponsorship from at least one company in each category.