Our thinking is rooted in the end customer and their perception of your business. The O’Brien Voice of the Customer study, or o.VoC, is a holistic look at your customer experience from your customer's perspective. We analyze the experience from the point when the customer considers your product to the point when they throw it away. The o.VoC puts a spotlight on important problems, the ones that adversely affect your customer relationships, and provides specific, actionable remedies.
Mid American Money - January 2010 from Creighton College of Business on Vimeo.
Our intrepid CEO Mary Ann O’Brien-Elkjer will be presenting at the Metro Omaha Women’s Business Forum on Friday, September 18th at 7:30 AM. She will be sharing some of her insight into the consumer mind and how that insight translates to great marketing. The presentation will be accompanied by breakfast and fabulous door prizes at UNO’s Thompson Alumni Center. For more info or to RSVP, drop an email to info@mowbcf.org by September 15th. Hope to see you there!
We recently kicked off SAC Federal Credit Union’s marketing campaign with an integrated media blitz that included TV and radio spots, billboards, print ads and a dedicated conversion microsite. Lots of credit goes out to SAC CEO Gail Deboer and her team for their vision and trusting our crew with it. It’s been a long time in the making, so we’re all excited to see finished work hit the public. Our work with SAC began last summer with an oVoC study and Brand Landscape Review. Among other things, we discovered that SAC’s somewhat dated, military look reinforces the perception that SAC is military only, even though SAC has been open to everyone in the area for years. The issue wasn’t limited to SAC: people who didn’t already bank at credit unions didn’t generally know how they were different from banks, why they would want to bank at a credit union, or that they could even join. To overcome these challenges, SAC needed a new identity and a supporting campaign.
We wanted SAC’s identity to appeal to a wider, more progressive audience without abandoning their heritage entirely, so the new logo evolves some central features of the old logo into a fresh modern design.
To get the most bang for our buck, we targeted the 70% or so of people who aren’t already using a credit union. They’re the best candidates for new membership because they have so much to gain from joining SAC: better rates, lower fees, greater stability, and a volunteer board of directors looking out for them. Our campaign shows these people the fundamental difference between credit unions and banks, lets them know they can join, and gives concrete benefits as proof. If they like what they see, want to learn more, and ultimately make the move, they can go to a dedicated conversion site.
We’ve put together some video and images from various parts of the campaign below; as more work hits the media in the coming months we’ll update.
Shane checking the shot at SAC’s South Omaha Branch.
View of the full setup.
Setting up in the Old Market Passageway.
Big thanks to Patrick’s for letting us shoot on very short notice; due to bad weather, one of our outdoor shots simply was not going to work. We talked to them Sunday night, they called the owner’s daughter, and we had go ahead the next morning. Great little grocery store and cool people, if you live near downtown definitely check it out.
Our video/sound team for the shoot: Jake (aka Sipowitz, an old friend of ours) and Melby, from Media Craft Communications in Minneapolis.
If you’d like to see the full gallery of production still, check out the gallery here.
Metal signage on the cutting table.
Building signs ready for transport at the factory.
I-80 billboard.
We went with simple, current event driven messages to reinforce the bank vs. credit union comparison that we draw in the TV and Radio spots. Outdoor billboards and Print ads take a no nonsense approach. If its truth, why mess around with fluffy advertising speak?
Coke versus Pepsi. Chevy versus Ford. Credit Unions versus Banks. Really? With all the financial unrest in the economy today (my jet’s bigger than your jet), it appears that the cat is out of the bag…the money bag that is. Never before have I heard so many rumblings about Credit Unions and their obvious benefits! Not that I sit around researching different interest rates in my spare time, (I’m more interested if House is a new episode or not) but I have certainly become more educated on the subject thanks to working with SAC Federal Credit Union. Here’s the skinny, banks are owned by shareholders, these shareholders are the decision makers. If they’re faced with a decision that could benefit them or benefit you, what do you think is going to happen? Credit Unions are run by an elected board of directors, if you don’t benefit me, guess what…I’m not voting for you again. Pretty obvious right? What’s better…my money earns money while it’s hanging out with other Members’ money. I’m earning dividends, that’s right, dividends. Who knew? Well if you’re privy to all the viral buzz going on, chances are you know what I’m talking about.
Another little nugget I was unaware of, you don’t have to be the first born, completed an online course, or pass an oral exam to be a Member. You DO, however, need to live, work or worship in a few specific counties, (Douglas, Cass, Sarpy in Nebraska, Pottawattamie in Iowa…don’t want to upset the compliance department), no big deal.
As if having the Board of Directors watching my back, a checking account that earns dividends, and many cheap or free services wasn’t enough, the testimonials I encountered while talking to some current SAC Members sealed the deal. It was almost as if they were main characters in a Harlequin Romance novel and SAC Federal Credit Union was the object of their obsession. Could you really be so passionate about your financial institution? These Members sure are! And nothing helps build a brand better than the people representing it; every person I’ve encountered at SAC has been an absolute joy to work with! Free services, great interest rates, dividends on my checking, and new friends to drink Sangria with.
And now that cup of coffee I’d given up, the one that requires 5 descriptive words when I order it, is back in my cup holder thanks to better banking!
Anyone who makes a living with their unique thoughts knows how challenging it can be to continually draw from the proverbial creative well. It requires an addiction to inspiration and more importantly, an obsession with looking for it. It takes input to output. Moving to Omaha from NYC, I’ve developed an appreciation for how fortunate I’ve been to be surrounded by creative stimulation in both places. New Yorkers sort of have it easy… they just step outside their doors and into a swarming pool of expression. Omaha has it too but its more of an under current and maybe not as easy to dip your toe into. You have to look for it and when you find it, appreciate and add to it. I’m talking about finding people who bring your game up and also trying to add to theirs. A 1+1=11 kind of thing. Here are a few of the people I’ve been lucky enough to play with during the day and some of the creative spillover they produce at night… the stuff behind the client work you see, the stuff that keeps their well wet.
BY TENNIEL LIU, GRAPHIC HITMAN
BY TENNIEL LIU, GRAPHIC HITMAN
BY TENNIEL LIU, GRAPHIC HITMAN
BY TENNIEL LIU, GRAPHIC HITMAN
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- by Jon Hustead, Writer/Photographer/Thinker
- by Jon Hustead, Writer/Photographer/Thinker
- by Jon Hustead, Writer/Photographer/Thinker (glass art by Julie Conway, Illuminata Glass)
- by Jon Hustead, Writer/Photographer/Thinker
- by Jon Hustead, Writer/Photographer/Thinker
- by Jon Hustead, Writer/Photographer/Thinker (glass art by Julie Conway, Illuminata Glass)
BY SHANE BAINBRIDGE, ART DIRECTOR/PAINTER/THINKER
BY SHANE BAINBRIDGE, ART DIRECTOR/PAINTER/THINKER
- BY SHANE BAINBRIDGE, ART DIRECTOR/PAINTER/THINKER
- BY SHANE BAINBRIDGE, ART DIRECTOR/PAINTER/THINKER
- BY SHANE BAINBRIDGE, ART DIRECTOR/PAINTER/THINKER
I often begin my day by playing the piano in my front room. I consider it a morning meditation. Over the last several weeks I often step away from my morning meditation with a fire of wanting to inspire and wanting to be inspired by collaborators.
Perhaps this is where OBI helps feed my passion for collaboration. Lately I’ve had this internal sound of “less weight equals less wait” that echo’s through my head. I think my involvement with the group of musicians that I get to work with on sound creation for our band “Broken Truth” has slowly been proving this thought sound that keeps pushing me to let my ideas grow by sharing them with people of similar skill and passion.
At OBI we’ve been pretty blessed to have clients and strategic partners that see the value in collaboration. To the point of which I’ve started to offer some of the original sounds that “Broken Truth” creates into some of the client work we find ourselves working on. Case and point - one of our current clients, SAC Federal Credit Union, will be using 2 songs that I wrote with my group as the music to an internal re-brand launch party that we’ve helped to facilitate.
I took a risk by offering up my personal creation at no added cost to our client - as this is something that I simply do for the joy of expression and creation - with the hopes that by sharing my true passion that our band will have more access to potential fans that we wouldn’t have been able to reach as quickly. It goes back to my comment, “Less weight equals less wait.”
This is my very first OBI Creative blog post and I think I’m going to try to focus (at least for the next couple of posts) on collaboration and share with you some of my own personal success stories. Or speak to situations where I’ve seen collaboration stimulate bigger picture ideas and decisions that create positive growth for every collaborator. I’d love hear your comments or personal stories where you too have seen great change because of a collective effort.
I firmly believe that the world is round and that what you give out will eventually come back. If you have a chance to help someone grow today I encourage you to do so as I’ve found that people are a better investment during any economic climate!
I recently attended an AIGA conference with guest speaker Bill Gardner, creator/founder of LogoLounge.com. Gardner spoke of his fascination/obsession with a vintage children’s toy for which the common spring was originally invented. From this toy, the spring was then adapted for furniture cushioning usage, and later to help transport coal cross country via rail. The point? Big ideas, great ideas, important ideas are often found in the frivolous, the novel, and the fringe. Don’t look to mainstream for big ideas, look to the source.
I thought i’d use Gardner’s point to highlight two successful fringe artist that, like the spring, have also been sourced by the mainstream. The first and most highly publicized recently is street artist Shepard Fairey. With the recent induction of his Obama “Hope” poster into the National Portrait Gallery and it’s amazing, perhaps integral, presence throughout the Presidential election process, Fairey’s ascension to the mainstream has been solidified. His rise, however, began with an off the cuff project involving a professional wrestler, some wheat paste, and a strong belief that street art was as less an eyesore than the paid advertisements that filled the cityscapes. Fairey’s OBEY street art and further exploitation of the phenomonology have allowed him access to major art institutions and major street audiences worldwide and have spawned an entire OBEY clothing line. When the political machine that elects the most powerful position in the world embraces an artist whose same work placed elsewhere is considered graffiti, the fringe had spoken.
The second artist, whose work was once, if not ignored, considered outer limits is the american film maker Errol Morris. Morris , now a weekly contributor to the new york times (Zoom) and creator of ads for Nike, Miller High Life , and CitiBank, was in 1981 known by few as the guy who made the movie about the pet cemetary owners (Gates of Heaven) and was working on one about a small town in florida whose inhabitants cut off appendages for insurance claims (Vernon, Florida). He was the guy who had failed to dig up Ed Gein’s mother’s corpse in hope of dispelling myths and the creator of the interrotron, still used today. He is today an oscar winning filmaker for his dissection of ex-secretary of state James McNamara in his 2003 documentary The Fog of War. His 1988 film The Thin Blue Line, considered by many critics the best of its genre, through it’s meticulous attention to detail not only dispproved a criminal conviction, but was subsequently responsible for the release of an innocent man from jail. Morris has devoted an entire series of shorts adapted for HBO, titled First Person, to the examination of the extraordinary, the odd, and the extreme. Morris’ ideas were not only fringe, they are sourced in and celebrate the fringe.
I heard a great snip about alternative energy in President Obama’s inauguration speech. He said, “We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.” I hope what he said comes true. It is time for this country to stop its dependency on crude oil. Our new leader can put our tax dollars to work and make good on his promise of increased gov support for alternative energies.
Portfolio has an article about some biofuel startups that are making waves in alternative energies: “Never mind falling oil prices. Bill Gates and the Rockefellers think
they know a better way to fill up your gas tank: algae (Yes, we mean pond scum).” Algae could be the answer to our oil dependencies and lower emissions at the same time. I don’t know about you but when I hear that Bill Gates and the Rockefellers are dumping lots of cash into the algae technologies I get excited. We’re some years away from large scale production of algae based fuel, but at least were heading in the right direction. A current client of ours (Primafuel) just issued a press release about how current algae technology is already there to produce high-value products and renewable fuels.
I guess what i am trying to get accross is that the more we talk about the issue of alternative energies, the more informed and concious we will all become. In the last 8 years we watched “big oil” collect record billion dollar profits and watched them spend a fraction of a percent of those profits back into renewable energies.
Thanks to NE Creative for putting obi in their “Creative Spaces” feature. Check it out here.
We’ve moved our site to a blog based, dynamically updated wonder machine. Over the coming weeks you’ll see posts from the obi team on advertising, strategy, and most anything else under the sun. Hope you like it.
