Since we at Leapfrog make our living from fostering creativity, it's always fun to help others with creative leanings to realize their potential. So we were very excited to  get the call recently from the folks at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro (UNCG), who have recently merged their Departments of Dance and Theatre into the School of Music to create a performing arts megalopolis with more than 1,000 students and 100 faculty.

Leapfrog will help the new School of Music, Theatre and Dance (MTD) create a playbill-style program that will be distributed at all of the school's public performing arts events during the coming school year.  The playbill will be more than just a way to pass the time while waiting for a show to start -- it will serve as an "educational piece" itself, helping the more than 65,000 event patrons better understand the merger as well as to appreciate the performing arts talent being cultivated right in our backyard.

We are proud to be a partner on this project with UNCG and know that the playbill will go a long way toward reaching these objectives. As a side note, if you are interested in the unique opportunity of advertising to this audience, we can get you connected to that, as well. Simply contact me through the contact link available on this website and we will get you the necessary information. 

At our firm, we treat all of our client’s projects, and all of our relationships, with equal importance. At times, however, we get the amazing pleasure of being able to produce work that transcends the traditionaland adds a little extra meaning to our lives.

We had such an experience with our recent work on the successful bond referendum campaign for Greensboro’s Natural Science Center. With the bond’s landslide triumph on election day Nov. 3, we not only produced a TV commercial and print ads that had impact, but ensured for generations of children that they would have a place to learn, to grow, and to explore their natural curiosity. Pretty heady stuff.

It was, in fact, children that took center stage in the TV spot (linked below) and print ads, in a strategy we espoused that played up the NSC’s most important asset. Anyone who has children know how important it is for them to get what they need to grow. Anyone who has taken a child through the Natural Science Center can speak firsthand to the sense of wonder and amazement they experience.

Clearly, the Natural Science Center will be under the microscope over the next decade, as Executive Director Glenn Dobrogosz and his team implement the $20 million vision that the bond will fund. But like other efforts to improve the center over the years, it is almost certain to be in the name of those precious children who were front-and-center on Nov. 3.  I am proud that in some way we at Leapfrog had a role in this lasting legacy.

Watch the Video:

I will admit that I chuckled when I first clicked open the link to the 30-second viral spot, sent to me by a friend. The commercial -- produced for a High Point furniture store by a North Carolina-based production company -- takes a decidedly different approach to appealing to customers by playing the race card in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. The spot, which appears to be web-only right now, has gained more than 530,000 hits on YouTube as of today and received national attention on TMZ.com and other sites.

In talking about the true meaning of viral marketing and social media, I offered to my team here at Leapfrog this spot as an example of one way to create buzz for clients in this "gotta-break-through-the-clutter-to-be-successful" world in which we live. It has provoked some fairly fervent debate both here and through my Facebook and Twitter accounts, polarizing viewers pretty effectively. Here's the spot:

As a former intrepid reporter, I decided to phone "The Red House" to gauge the true measurement for any campaign -- whether it has successfully returned their investment or stimulated business. A very good-natured employee at the Red House shared with me that, since the videos launch on April 20, increased business at the store has not materialized, but inocuous phone calls -- asking questions like, "Do you serve Asians, too?" -- have mushroomed. I am sure this is at a cost to the business in labor and as a distraction.

So, to recap: Few would argue that the campaign has been wildly successful (perhaps, even by accident) at gaining worldwide notoriety for the store and for the producers of the spot. I have hard evidence that it has not -- yet -- produced big numbers in terms of sales.  However, I do admit that the use of a very out-of-the-box approach to communications like this is almost mandatory these days -- whether you agree with the M.O. or not.

I am very interested in hearing what you think about this campaign, and its apparent early results, as well as your answer to the question posed in the title to this post.

A little horn-tooting, if you'll allow it: Leapfrog has learned that it won three Hermes Creative Awards -- a very prestigious honor from an even more prestigious international organization.

Click this link to read more about it! 

Wow -- what a day at the Frog! We took Halloween by storm and somehow managed to stay on top of our work and assignments....below, pleae find some pictures of the big event!

So I am not what you call the coolest cat in the litterbox....I still think of Pink as a color and 50 cent as something I toss in the soda machine to get a Coke. However, I have recently gotten a serious education in one of today's hottest "cool" things -- vampire romance, and in particular, the Stephenie Meyer "Twilight" series. 

We at Leapfrog MPD are happy to be representing a group of young, talented fans who are building America's largest fan convention for the Twilight series. Called TwiCon 2009, the "fan con," as it is called, will be held at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel and Convention Center July 30-Aug. 2, 2009. As I write this blog post, I am with the organizers in Dallas doing a site check and guest-starring on a "vlog" (video blog) broadcast with one of the biggest Twilight boosters, Bailey/NoMoreMarbles. I have really enjoyed her enthusiasm and that of Kaleb (of Kaleb Nation), Becca Grapsy, and my business partner, Becky Scoggins (of BresslerScoggins Literary Management).

I have found the Twilight phenomenon -- and associated fans -- to be fervent without overdoing it; to be cleancut (and in fact very intolerant of bad language and salacious content); and to truly embrace all things related to their passion (a major motion picture based on the first book, "Twilight", will be released next month.

A press release announcing the latest special guests to attend TwiCon is here. And you can go to www.TwiCon.org for the full scoop -- if you are THAT cool, of course! 

TwiCon Release 102508.pdf (86.29 kb)

TwiCon Release 102508.doc (917.00 kb)

 I was thinking about the last time the nation anticipated a VP debate as breathlessly as the one that's about to start tonight -- I think the guy at the left may have had a role. Admiral Stockdale was the running mate of Ross Perot (himself a "maverick," to use an oft-quoted McCainism) during the 1992 election and was woefully unprepared and overmatched (saying a lot since Dan Quayle was one of the fellow debaters!). However, his self-effacing humor and plain spoken answers made the nation feel a measure of "warm and fuzzy" for him.

I think about how the stakes have changed, even in the short amount of time that has elapsed, with the way Sarah Palin has been treated of late. When Stockdale debated, the World Wide Web was an information dirt road and news was still received several hours post haste. Though it is seemingly stating the obvious, today, every mistake is magnified; every gaffe amplified; and every ineptitude splashed across the world at blazing 1.5 mbps speed!

As I prepare for Palin's speech, it's not her impressive political record, nor her role of relative importance, that is top of mind -- instead, it's the image of Tina Fey's most recent lampoon -- and whether the Palin of reality will display any of the exaggerated mannerisms in the Fey caricature. Nope, a fair shake is almost impossible to be had these days, when every rehearsal is aired to the world.

Lesson here folks -- the cameras are almost always on -- so always be prepared. 

Who of my generation does not remember the words of "Fernando," one of my favorite Billy Crystal characters from the 1980s:  "It's better to look good, than to feel good."

Today, I am happy to say, we at Leapfrog proudly are both. With the shouts that rang through our office at 1:47 p.m. this afternoon, it was clear that the brand new LeapfrogMktg.com had propagated across the Web - and with it, the cream on the top of the six-month ice cream sundae known as our new identity branding process.

It's a gorgeous web site laden with great functionality (hence the "looking" and "feeling" good ideal); useful features and information; and of course, this blog, which will now provide our team with a voice (or ribbit, if you'll permit it) to share thoughts, ideas and other "stuff" relevant to what we do. 

Please have a seat on the porch and click around our eLilypad, and do let us know if you come across anything we might have missed in the spit-and-polish stage of getting 'er ready for launch.

Saludos, my dahlings! And thanks for stopping by.