I recently had the opportunity to watch the trailer for the latest Morgan Spurlock movie, "POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold".  If the name Morgan Spurlock sounds familiar, he was the force behind the hit “Super Size Me,” which chronicled his 30-day diet eating only McDonald’s food. 

In his latest documentary, he takes on the advertising industry with a film fundedcompletely by advertisers --featured in the movie with complete transparency,right down to the title sponsorship by a juice maker. The movie uses theprocess and  the sponsors to explore theworld of product placement and marketing. 

You may not be aware of how much product placement is going on around you. The most obvious thought you may have is that of a NASCAR driver who wears his sponsor’s logos all over his clothing. But it goes far beyond that. For example, when watching any movie or television show and a person is drinking a beverage - it could be water, a soft drink, coffee or even alcohol. The choice of drink comes down to product placement. Which company is going to pay the most money to have the actor drink their beverage of choice?  None of these decisions are happening by chance -- everything is negotiated from the cars being driven, to the food and drink consumed to the electronics being used. Audiences today are being influenced far beyond the typical 30-second commercial. 

I’m not suggesting that your company should begin to experiment with sponsorships or product placement, unless it is right for your organization. A critical key that successful companies in this arena all share is a crystal clear vision of who they are and who makes up their target market. In the trailer, executives from the Ban deodorant company are asked by Mr. Spurlock what words are used to describe Ban. A moment of uncomfortable silence passes and finally a Ban executive comments, “Good question.”  Since this is part of the trailer, we don’t know how the scene plays out in its entirety in the movie. Hopefully, the group recovers and responds appropriately. Could you answer the question quickly and confidently? If not, do you think your customers can?

Watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9vu3dUMQ1s

It’s time for reviews. It’s time to talk about growing, getting better, and setting goals. It’s time to evaluate and make recommendations for improvements.

Being fair and accurate is important to whether or not these reviews really work the way we want them to. So, I have a couple of resources that I believe are proving to be more than helpful. Second Wind is a great resource for information about running an agency. They always have plenty to ponder.
Action Coach is another great resource that I can count on. They teach me how to be a team leader.  And even though I believe the most useful information is what you learn from other people, I still would’ve never thought about asking other employees for their input on their teammates' performance review.

I have found some great articles and listened to some inspiring auditorials, but the thing that I think will be most helpful in writing these reviews is listening to what teammates have to say about one another: NOT a gossip session, NOT a griping session, but what positive things do they believe this person brings to the team? How do they improve our environment? What do they appreciate the most about their teammate or what makes them a valuable asset?

I’m thinking that I’ll create a short questionnaire for everyone to fill out. The questions will allow team members to only focus on the positives. I want to know what the natural skill sets are that someone brings to the office each day. (And that means more than just their interaction with me!) Besides good design and exceptional writing, I want to talk about things that add value to our culture. I expect everyone to do their job. I want to know what else they do. Do they inspire others? Do they motivate others? Are they the steady rock that grounds us when emotions get out of control? Whatever it is, I want to develop it.

We are always working on improvements within the agency, and I’m betting that this will help as well. And, of course, everyone will start thinking about what THEY bring to the team and how important their ownership is.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

(I’m curious to know what other methods are out there, so if you have any, please share them!!)--Tracie Beasley

This year, Leapfrog was proud to sponsor the March Of Dimes’ Chef Auction. We all think the work that they do to prevent premature births and birth defects is excellent. It feels good to reach out and help raise money for such a cause. The turn-out was incredible. They raised  more than $87,000 and had almost twice as many people than in previous years. And the food—fantastic! Mushroom risotto, scallops, steak, seafood macaroni and cheese, chocolate cake truffles--I went by every table there. I can eat my weight in delicious food. I was so full by the end of the night but still could have eaten more if they left the tables open. It was a great night for a great cause.--Shelley Jones

It’s that time in the late afternoon when my stomach starts to growl. So, in unity with fellow bloggers everywhere who are hungry before the end of the work day, I figured I would share a useful recipe. My boyfriend Will came up with this little number—I hope you like it.

Will’s Bruchetta

Ingredients:

1 baguette

2-3 medium tomatoes

2 rounds of smoked mozzarella (the good kind makes it better….oh, just splurge!)

1 container of fresh basil

Balsamic vinegar ( the better stuff is…well…better.)

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Slice the bread on the diagonal about ½” thick. Lay bread out on a baking sheet. Drizzle bread LIGHTLY with olive oil. Top each piece with a slice of tomato. Drizzle balsamic on top of the tomatoes, then salt and pepper the tomatoes. Put a basil leaf on each of the tomatoes. Finally, top everything with slices of mozzarella.

Pop those bad boys in the oven until the cheese gets melted, and what I like to do is once the cheese is melted I flip the oven over to the broiler and let the cheese get a little crusty on top—it makes them WAY better!

These suckers are so easy to make and every time Will and I make them we end up eating them as a meal. Everyone requests them. You can try different combos too, I think they are good with slices of mushroom and garlic. Maybe even try pieces of prosciutto. YUM!

Boy has that phrase been overused throughout the years - but it is absolutely true.  If you have never done something before how do you get started and where do you find out how?  Well, you get started and find out how at the same place and that is "Somewhere".

Somewhere now-a-days is the Internet.  We have have gathered a few tips and links to help you out.  Enjoy ... and remember, Tolstoy started War and Peace - "Somewhere".

Are We There Yet?

Just like I tell my kids when they ask that question on a long trip, "You are never there because you're always here.  So, stop asking ... we're never going to get there!  Well, they stopped asking!"

The First link is to an article, "What's A Blog". It talks about old school blogging rules. Hum, old school from 2006?

http://www.copyblogger.com/whats-a-blog/

I like this site. The author has a fun writing style while focusing on and giving good advice and information.

Again, a link from copyblogger. This guy is obviously a copywriter because the article here goes back to some basic copywriting 101. Yeah, the good stuff never dies! There are also some good links within this article you may find useful.

http://www.copyblogger.com/magnetic-headlines/