Clark Creative client Edibelles launched their line of Southern gourmet cookies and snack foods just over one year ago to great acclaim. After just one year, their line is expanding (more to come on that soon!). Currently, the line includes Charming Cheddar Biscuits, Perfectly Peach Cookies, Southern Praline Snackin’ Mix, Choice Chocolate Cookies, Beloved Butter Pecan Cookies and Sophisticated Shortbread Cookies. Founder Madeline Warren appeared on WTOC live with her cookies for the hosts to taste. What a sweet start to their day!

Clark Creative branded and name the cookie line, designed packaging and the company website as well as all of the supporting collateral. We’ve even won an ADDY for the work! The southern cookies are available at local retailers and online.

Happy Anniversary, Sweet Belle!

Packaging designed for Edibelles by Clark Creative

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 is Lost Sock Memorial Day. In recognition of this holiday, Clark Creative is taking a moment to honor all missing soles and their respective mates. Only time will heel the loss. If you, too, feel you’ve been missing something (a great design team?), feel free to share your woes with us. We’re here to listen – and hoping we’ll be the perfect match for you!

What better way to celebrate National High Five Day than to showcase our country’s most high-profile high-fiver? Let’s give it up for President Barack Obama and his unique style. Give your friends or co-workers a hand this week.

Cari Clark Phelps, owner and Creative Director at Clark Creative Communications, was named a 2012 Generation NEXT: Rising Star of Business by Business in Savannah and Savannah Magazine. The publications selected twenty-one under-40 business leaders based on a combination of their business success and philanthropic work. The Generation NEXT winners will be presented their awards on March 21, 2012.

Ms. Phelps founded Clark Creative Communications in 2004 to provide design and communication services to the Savannah community. She has steadily grown the business in billings, service offerings, and geographic reach, culminating in 100% growth in 2011. The company’s design work has won more than 30 ADDY Awards and been featured in national and international publications.

A graduate of Riverview High School in Sarasota, Ms. Phelps attended the Savannah College of Art and Design and chose to open her business in the Hostess City. Clark Creative now works with clients and vendors in across the Southeast and has been rewarded with multiple honors from her home state’s Florida Print Awards.

“We are the Creative Coast: start-ups, small businesses, entrepreneurs and manufacturing leaders,” Ms. Phelps said of her Savannah base. “I have positioned my business to help grow other businesses—when they succeed, so do I.”

Cari Clark Phelps’ passion for the creative community inspired her to co-found cSpot, a monthly networking event for creative professionals. She has served on the board of the Downtown Business Association, including a two-year stint as President. She is currently involved in Junior League and Rotary, as well as serving on the board of the Georgia River Network.

ABOUT CLARK CREATIVE: Clark Creative is an award-winning design and communications firm based in Savannah that works with businesses nationwide to establish their brand identity and position themselves strategically in the marketplace. Ten years of excellence under founder and Creative Director Cari Clark Phelps has established Clark Creative as one of the top design firms in the Southeast.

Edibelles Gourmet Cookie and Snack Company won an ADDY award for outstanding packaging at the 2012 Savannah ADDY Awards. The packaging, which weaves together Southern stories and imagery for each flavor’s box, was designed by Clark Creative of Savannah.

Edibelles was launched in 2011 by entrepreneur Madeleine Warren, who worked with the Clark Creative team to develop unique designs for the the six products. The packages celebrate the traditions of Southern hospitality with individualized stories and hand-drawn illustrations.

“Each of our flavors is a Southern tradition,” said Warren. “We wanted the packaging to reflect our Southern roots and evoke the same feeling of place that the products themselves do. We’re thrilled that the judges representing the American Advertising Federation recognized this work with an award.”

Cari Clark Phelps, creative director and founder at Clark Creative, recalls that the product development was a rewarding collaboration. “Madeleine was clear that she wanted the products to represent the recipes Southern families have used for decades. Our challenge was to develop a storyline brand and create packaging that would communicate that deep link to Southern tradition in a modern and distinctive way. We’re very proud of the result.”

The 2012 Savannah ADDY awards ceremony recognizing and rewarding creative excellence in the art of advertising was held on February 17, 2012. Conducted annually by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), the ADDY Awards is the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, attracting over 50,000 entries every year in local ADDY competitions. The local ADDY Awards is the first of a three-tier, national competition.

There are six flavors of Edibelles cookies and snacks: Charming Cheddar Biscuits, Choice Chocolate Cookies, Perfectly Peach Cookies, Beloved Butter Pecan Cookies, Southern Praline Snackin’ Mix, and Sophisticated Shortbread Cookies. The Edibelles products are being carried by more than 50 locations in nine States and was recently selected by the 5-star Inn at Palmetto Bluff as a guest amenity gift.

We don’t think twice about getting check-ups for our bodies, cars, and air conditioners, but when is the last time you had a marketing check-up? It’s always smart to check in routinely and review your business tools and message for attracting new business, and the end of the year is a great time to do it. Consider having your marketing reviewed – not only by your peers and internally – but also by a design professional (yes, like Clark Creative). As technology changes, so does media and the different ways to approach your audience. Here are a few checkpoints to get you started.

1) Your website How often do you visit your own website? If you aren’t spending time on your site, chances are that others aren’t either. In addition to adding content, keep your home page fresh and informative. If you don’t have Google analytics installed, do it this week – it’s a free tool! Make sure your visits stay on an upward trend and bounces on a downward trend. Check and see how many times your website was accessed by a mobile device. Is your website mobile-friendly?

2) Your communications pieces Look at all the pieces produced by your organization that were used for any type of public consumption, including letterhead, business cards, sales presentations, sales letters, press releases and advertisements. Lay them all out and make sure they follow your approved graphic standards and brand identity. Double check the messages being sent. Are pieces outdated? Are they easy to read and understand? Do they all appear similar in design style to send a cohesive message?

3) Your social media First, are you on social media? If not, jump in! (Our blog posts on Twitter 1.0 and Twitter 2.0 might be helpful.) If so, do you post daily, engage others, and respond? Are your posts in line with your overall brand message? Do all of your messages inform customers of your social media presence? Facebook sends a monthly report on users. Make sure you’re seeing green ‘up’ arrows and not red ‘down’ arrows!

4) Your buzz Can you remember the last time someone came up to you and said ‘Hey, I saw that you…”? You want to keep your company top of mind by attending and/or sponsoring events, writing articles, making presentations, donating time or product, and then letting your community know what you are doing. Press releases, social media, blogs, email newsletters and web updates are great (low cost) ways to remind folks that you are out there being innovative, making unique products, and providing important services.

5) Your future When was the last time you added a new element to your marketing? There are so many ways to spread the message of your product or service – a podcast series, an industry e-zine, online ads or a blog might be right for you. Do you have a YouTube channel? YouTube is now the second-largest search engine in the world, and video results are part of your Google ranking; if you don’t have video created, now might be the time (we can help). How is your website displaying on tablets and smartphones? We have begun working in Responsive Design, ensuring that web pages not only detect what device is accessing them, but go the next step of displaying a custom page layout optimized for that device. New forms of social media are cropping up all the time, and some have moved into daily use. Have you added a Google+ button to your website? Regardless of your industry, always be on the lookout for how your customers are getting information, then use your great ideas to deliver your message to them there. Questions? Drop us a line!

]]> http://www.clarkcreativedesign.com/marketing-check/feed/ 1 http://www.clarkcreativedesign.com/clark-creative-recognized-by-design-publications/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=clark-creative-recognized-by-design-publications http://www.clarkcreativedesign.com/clark-creative-recognized-by-design-publications/#comments Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:19:44 +0000 cari http://www.clarkcreativedesign.com/blog/?p=444  

Graphic design work by Clark Creative of Savannah has been selected for inclusion in two prestigious design publications.

Logo Lounge has produced six volumes of its highly regarded collection “2000 International Identities by Leading Designers.” For the upcoming edition they considered 36,000 logos by talented designers worldwide and narrowed it down to 2,000. Clark Creative’s logo for Bluegrass BBQ (sister restaurant of Savannah’s Cha Bella) was one of those selected and will be included in LogoLounge, Book 7, which will be distributed internationally.

The simply titled Business Cards was published in early 2012 and has selected a Clark Creative business card design for Savannah startup Catouri Cats.

What are those boxes with dots, squares, and triangles that are showing up everywhere? It seems as if suddenly they are on packaging, posters, billboards, websites, business cards and ads. Welcome to the QR code marketing tool.

QR code stands for Quick Response code. In essence, it is a bar code-a visual representation of something that would otherwise be written as text. Most QR codes are compressed data that link to more information, but can also be created to generate a text message or phone call. Scanning or ‘reading’ that code with a smartphone application-or app for short-allows the user to quickly access information without having to type it in.

QR code generators give anyone the ability to create a QR code. Here is a QR code for Business in Savannah’s website, made with the free I-nigma generator:

Www.BusinessinSavannah.com as a QR code

To ‘read’ it, you need two things: a smartphone and a reader app. There are many free readers; QR droid, I-nigma, Kaywa and Bee-tag are just a few. QR code readers use the smartphone camera to scan the code. Then the reader app will translate the encoded information and offer to connect the user to the website or other information the QR code might contain.

Whatever for?

QR codes are powerful marketing tools. In the current world of inbound marketing, where a consumer seeks out information that interests them, QR codes are an ideal way to deliver that information; they are an instant link from a static form of information like a poster, ad, or mailer to a dynamic source of information – the web.

If a consumer is flipping through the newspaper and sees an ad with a QR code, they can scan the code to learn more about the product or even buy it online. If someone wanders by a store at night, a QR code on the window can allow them to go to that store’s website or even to download a coupon that might encourage them to come back when the store is open. Macy’s has launched a program called Macy’s Backstage Pass, where QR codes unlock videos, shopping options, and-of course-a chance to win a sweepstakes prize. Scanning the code below accesses a video that gives an overview of the program to new users:

Macy's Backstage Pass QR code

QR codes have been in widespread use in Japan for more than a decade. (The technology was originally developed and implemented by Toyota to track auto parts.) Its use has rapidly grown in Europe, and a recent study of QR code access in the US found that in the month of June 2011 alone more than 14 million American smartphones scanned a QR code.

QR Codes in Savannah

Clark Creative recently worked with Savannah Mall on a new website and interactive marketing campaign which included QR codes. Creative Director Cari Clark Phelps explains:

“Savannah Mall was introducing a number of ways for shoppers to save and we wanted to give Mall visitors a quick way to access deals while they were shopping. The QR code system allows a shopper to scan the code and go right to the page on the Mall website where the deals are located, so they would never have the frustration of getting home and realizing that something they wanted was on sale at one of the retailers. The retailers are able to get offers in front of consumers at the best possible time – while they are at the Mall shopping.”

Originally put off by the blocky black-and-white look of the QR codes, Clark Creative discovered that there was some creative leeway in designing the codes. A total of six codes were eventually designed, each with a themed image inside to cue users as to what that particular QR code linked to. The Savannah Mall website includes a page with information about QR codes, how they are used at the Mall, and links to free reader app downloads.

QR Codes developed for Savannah Mall

One of the first organizations to make extensive use of scanned codes in Savannah was the Savannah Stopover Festival, organized in March 2011 by Founder and CEO Kayne Lanahan. The festival featured more than 60 bands traveling through the area on their way to the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin. The hugely successful festival attracted more than 2000 attendees to a jam-packed four-day event.

The festival partnered with Microsoft to use their propriety encoding platform called TAG. Microsoft TAGs are also a form of barcode (the other name for their platform is HCCB, High Capacity Color Barcode), but instead of square pixels, their information is displayed using other shapes, often triangles. (It requires the Microsoft TAG reader to be decoded.) Here is the Business in Savannah website URL as a Microsoft TAG:

www.businessinSavannah URL as a Microsoft TAG

Microsoft used the festival as a case study and assisted organizers with developing a custom Savannah Stopover TAG code, and then developing a micro-site that allowed users to get up-to-date information on bands, venues and schedules.

Savannah Stopover Festival TAG

“Poster designers were able to access the TAG code generator to create TAGs that linked users to information on bands and shows,” said Stopover Executive Director Summer Teal Simpson. “A festival-goer could walk by a poster of a band, scan the code and then be able to listen to music, see photos or a video and find out when and where the band was playing.

“There were a lot of bands coming through that had never played here and hadn’t had a chance to develop a fan base. We used the TAG codes to help festival-goers quickly learn a lot about the bands and hear their music, so that they could decide what to go see,” added Lanahan.

Both Phelps and Lanahan mentioned that education is a big part of using QR codes in advertising – making sure that consumers know what the codes are and how to take advantage of them. Cool Hunting produced a great video about the use of QR codes at Savannah Stopover, and Clark Creative incorporated instructions into all the QR code graphics at Savannah Mall:

Savannah Mall QR code instructions

With the fast growth of QR codes in the marketplace, that aspect of using QR codes may go the way of explaining email addresses and URLs. As an infinitely variable interactive marketing tool that is fun, informative, and quickly links consumers to their interests, QR codes are here to stay.

This article first appeared in the November 16 2011 edition of Business In Savannah

Clark Creative of Savannah has widened its marketing services for attorneys and law firms with the addition of an experienced legal marketer.

“Over the years we have worked with law firms across Georgia on their logos, websites and printed materials,” said Cari Clark Phelps, Creative Director. “The number of avenues for legal marketing has steadily increased and now we are able to offer marketing support for each of them.”

Mary Siceloff comes to Clark Creative with an extensive background in marketing, most recently for the nationwide food safety law firm Marler Clark. Adding her industry-specific skills in developing attorney websites, blogs, corporate videos, social media, pay per click campaigns, print ads, and online profile management to Clark Creative’s marketing and design strengths has given the company the ability to offer an even wider variety of options to law firms.

Clark Creative can handle an entire campaign or work with an existing marketing department to augment projects already underway. “We are familiar with working as an extension of an in-house marketing department, as a sub-contractor for specific tasks, or as a complete off-site marketing solution,” explains Phelps. “That flexibility has allowed us to work in different roles with businesses of all sizes-something we look forward to doing for attorneys and law firms in the Southeast.”

ABOUT CLARK CREATIVE: Clark Creative is an award-winning design and communications firm based in Savannah that works with businesses nationwide to establish their brand identity and position themselves strategically in the marketplace. Ten years of excellence under founder and Creative Director Cari Clark Phelps has established Clark Creative as one of the top design firms in the Southeast.

Download a PDF.

Clark Creative of Savannah recently launched Savannah Mall’s new website, which makes use of multiple access platforms, social media and interactive web technology.

“It’s clear that the old model of relying solely on print ads and a website for retail environments like Savannah Mall has been replaced by a spectrum of social media tools and platforms,” said Cari Clark Phelps, Creative Director at Clark Creative. “We approached the project by building as many inroads to the site as possible, so that however a consumer likes to get information, the site can provide it.”

Aspects of Savannah Mall Marketing Campaign

The site integrates a daily deal page with “What’s In Store” posts about sales and promotions from Savannah Mall retailers. Consumers can deals delivered in many ways: by visiting the website, by email, on Facebook, Twitter, or by text message. Checking in by FourSquare offers rewards of its own.

“There are several layers of deals that shoppers can enjoy,” said Savannah Mall Marketing Director Senea Crystal. “In addition to our daily deals, we have Featured Deals which are short-term, higher value discounts. Our best offering is our new preferred shopper program, the Insider. Insiders get the best deals, the deepest discounts and first notice of sales. And it’s free!”

The site has two interactive areas. The Mall directory is an interactive map, allowing viewers to click on stores in the map to see what they are, or click on the store name to find the store location. The individual merchant profiles spotlight that retailer’s location, sales, job openings and available discounts (such as military or student).

Savannah Mall is more than the stores within its walls, and part of the task was to show that consumers could visit the library, see a movie, get banking done, fill up with gas, and much more – all on Mall property. Clark Creative designed an interactive illustration of the mall environs for the site home page, with rollovers that provide information as the mouse is hovered or clicked, including business hours, special seasonal parking arrangements, and movie times.

“There are all kinds of data showing that many people access websites today with their smartphones, so we concurrently designed a mobile version of the site to make sure that the mobile experience was just as effortless as the computer-based experience,” Clark Phelps added. “Plus, it’s a great perk that a shopper can check for deals while they’re at the mall!”

Clark Creative also designed a QR (Quick Response) code campaign for posters and printed materials (like handheld directories). The QR code can be captured with a smartphone camera and read with one of many free apps (a variety of popular QR code readers are available for download on the Savannah Mall site). The code then connects the phone directly to the web page it promotes.

“It was a great challenge to integrate all of these forms of access into the site,” continued Phelps. Our goal was to make shopping easy, fun, interactive, and help the consumer save money-and it was rewarding to see it all come together.”