good ideas

There are few ideas that cross my path that give me such ample fuel to explain and generally geek out about marketing quite like these two.

I often find myself fumbling when I try to explain my business marketing degree to others. I run in a mostly artistic, creative and liberal circle which translates to a generally hostile mentality when it comes to anything business related. After assuring them that not all marketers adore Super Bowl ads, nor do we all focus on profit oriented advertising schemes, I then launch into a spiel about how I really just love people with good ideas. I love the idea of making one person's BIG, good idea happen with other good ideas. Idealistic and hokey, I know, but really, its what got me through all those corporate finance classes in business school.

Best ideas I have heard this week; things I'm willing to word-of-mouth market and would love to get behind in a bigger way -

Contrail

It's bikes, it's art, it's community, it's clever. The Contrail, a chalk tool for bikes, had me at "pretty colors."

Contrail is a chalking device attached to bicyclists' wheels in order to create "trails" or bright ribbons of color in heavily trafficked biking areas. The idea being, bikers proactively create awareness of shared road spaces.

More bikers = more color = heads up for motor vehicles.

Contrail was a concept design submission for a 2008 contest and is not in production yet, but hopefully with enough support something will materialize soon.

Obviously, I think Portland would be an amazing place to kick off a product launch of the Contrail. Can you imagine the colors on Clinton Street or Hawthorne... or, really anywhere in this bike-loving town? It would be great. I suppose the frequent rain could be a problem, but that's a minor detail in the grand scheme of this art+bike+community love obsession.


Carrotmob
It's the opposite of boycotting.

Frustrated with the not-so productive nature of traditional activism and the act of boycotting, Carrotmob founders conceived the idea of "carrotmobbing." A large network of organized consumers supports on-mass a business that is choosing to make socially and environmentally responsible business practices. By mobbing the business all on one day, the business gets a ton of publicity and a ton of cash to support their worthy endeavors.

I had heard of Carrotmob before, but the full extent of its awesomeness really hit me this week when I learned about Carrotmob's recent invasion of Hot Lips Pizza in Portland. Carrotmob invaded Hot Lips and racked in a over $6,000 for the business on what typically would have been a slow Sunday with as little as $2,000 in sales. The added income will be used for Hot Lips' commitment to make their locations more energy-efficient.

Watch this video for more on Carrotmob and a look at the first ever Carrotmob event that slammed a liquor store with business in San Francisco.



Carrotmob Makes It Rain from carrotmob on Vimeo.


Gosh! Good ideas. I love them. They make me want to MAKE THINGS!

All that pomp and circumstance

On Sunday I graduated from Seattle University with a degree in Marketing, cum laude, kinda sorta. I have to return in the fall for one last elective credit (it's a long story), but for all intensive purposes, I'M DONE.

The weekend was amazing and I surely could write for a while about it all--however, I'm so darn tuckered out from all the festivities I think I'm going to not say much at all. Rather, you all should take a look at all the many of my pictures. It really was grand.

my summer with Colaboratory

After a long and adventurous hunt, I have secured the illusive beast: an creative business internship in Portland, OR.

This weekend I found out that I will be part of Portland Advertising Federation's 2009 summer internship program, Colaboratory, serving as one of two Account Managers.

Colaboratory is 6 week program in Portland that accepts 10 junior or senior college students each year who are interested in writing, design, interactive multimedia, account management, production, strategy or public relations. We will be placed at three different Portland ad/marketing/design agencies for three two-week intensive internships over the course of the six weeks. During the six weeks, we will also be divided into teams of five--our mini agencies--and will compete head-to-head to develop a campaign pitch for a local company. Last year's company was Sameunderneath, a local clothing line. We do not know yet who the client will be this year--all they can tell us it is not Nike. The Internet rumors are true--the 2009 Colab client will be Columbia Sportswear! We will be meeting with the director of international marketing from Columbia on our first day of orientation.

Colaboratory's purpose is multi-functional. The local agencies get aptly funneled, highly qualified, eager interns, while PAF promotes young innovation city-wide and the interns get a broader perspective of the market and much more networking outlets. To say the least, it is an exciting program and for that reason and many others, I was highly invested in my application and was elated when I heard I was accepted.

Another function of the program is for the interns to be very public with their experiences to serve as a resource for other students looking to enter into an internship or the Portland business scene. The Colab interns are encouraged to blog, video-blog and Twitter about their experiences all throughout. That being said, I thought it would be fitting to make my first act as a Colab intern of the class of '09 to be a blog post about the details of my application (particularly seeing as it was the source of my blog-distraction for a few months).

My Colab Application ::

We were asked to provide three samples (shown below). I included 1) A group project Internet Marketing Plan for the Broadway Farmers Market in Seattle. Acted as group coordinator, designer and programmer for updated website, 2) DRY Soda Press Cards. With Turnstyle, acted as Project Manager and 3) Current marketing topic report on QR Code applications in package design.

One of the largest and most complex portions of the application was an open-ended response question where we were told we could use any form of media. The question asked us how we would explain to an automaker the value of marketing, PR and advertising when they are only concerned with price-reduction strategy. For my submission (shown below), I created a small book that reiterated my response using first a full page with charts, then just one paragraph, then one sentence and finally no words--the idea being, as an account manager you must be able to convey your team's idea in any way, whether that be a big long pitch or quick and short email. The book's cover was made with kraft paper and hand-sewn binding. Note the extra rad drawings of my "bull" and "bear" for the final page.

I grouped together all the main pieces into two bundles (shown below): the first included my résumé, business card, letters of recommendation, the application with my essay question responses and my little open-response book. The second bundle was my samples.

The whole thing was shipped out in this custom made envelope (shown below). Machine stitching on large sheets of kraft paper. Thanks to Maddy Eiche for letting me borrow her sewing machine!

And... then it was mailed and my Colab fate was resting in the hands of all the cool Portland professionals working with PAF.

The program is young (only in its second year), so I am sure it will be a growing process for all parties involved--but, I think that is what attracted me to the program. It is an adaptive concept that recognizes that there is no feasible way to learn everything about the creative business industry in the course of just one internship. Think bigger! Do more! Dive in the deep end and trust your skills! And most importantly, surround yourself with creative, excited, helpful individuals and figure it out. I am really excited to devote so much of my time this summer to this program. I am eager to find out who my fellow interns are and who our client will be. This summer has officially been dedicated to creativity and collaboration. Go go go.

I begin my stint with Colab on July 11th at which time all of you, my dear blog readers, will be subjected to a steady dosage of internship stories right here on Breakfast for Dinner. Prepare yourself, it is going to be an intense six weeks. You will soon read, see, hear and watch everything I encounter while venturing into the wild mix of the Portland Creative Class.

namesake

There have been quite a few questions coming my way lately regarding my namesake(s). What is a Reardonk and why does she eat Breakfast for Dinner?

Reardonk -- This one can be attributed to my soon-to-be alma mater, Seattle University. Upon receiving my SU email account, I was one part stunned and one part elated to see that my prefix was ReardonK@seattleu.edu. Unfortunate correlations to a rear end and baa-donk-da-donk-da-donk? Yes. Amazing ease of remembrance for my email recipients? YES! And a nick-name was born. The first rule of branding is to have a memorable name. Check one off for the Reardonk empire.

Breakfast For Dinner -- And then there was a blog. I created Breakfast For Dinner in the summer of 2008 in preparation for my trip abroad to India. The blog has evolved since to include all things simple and exciting that I encounter in my daily life--i.e. breakfast eaten at dinner time. There is a small block of copy at the bottom of my blog explaining this concept more thoroughly:

General notes in regards to things that are simple and exciting. Adventures (at home or abroad), beautiful packaging design, new moleskine journals, perfectly executed secret handshakes, jokes (inside or outside), shark week, babies with hiccups, fire pits, red shoes, yellow bikes and breakfast for dinner.

So, that is the why and what of Reardonk and her blog named Breakfast for Dinner.

thermos

in case you were wondering, a vintage thermos makes an excellent vase.