New Client Spotlight: Unity FI Solutions

By Adam Bowers
RLF has extensive experience designing eye-catching websites and creating compelling content to populate them. We recently partnered with Unity FI Solutions to redesign its website, which launched earlier this year.
Unity FI Solutions is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based provider of electronic payment solutions to financial institutions and other corporate clients. Within the industry, Unity FI Solutions is well known for its ability to tailor solutions to meet very specific and complex client needs. This client-centric approach reflects RLF’s own commitment to service and has made for a strong and mutually beneficial partnership.
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Super Bowl Ads Draw on Our Emotions

While several of this year’s Super Bowl ads tended to the more serious or focused on generating a laugh, there were also several that seemed designed to draw on our sentimentality and emotions, such as Nissan’s “With Dad” commercial.
In our final review of the best 2015 Super Bowl commercials, we will focus on these more heartwarming, and often tear-evoking, ads.
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Super Bowl Ads Continue to Generate Laughs

While many of this year’s Super Bowl ads seemed to take a much more serious tone, there were also several lighthearted commercials in the bunch. Here is a look at some of our favorite of the funny.
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2015 Super Bowl Commercials Take a More Serious Tone

Super Bowl ads have historically been funny and clever, focused more on selling beer, junk food and cars than creating serious dialogue about societal issues. However, many of this year’s Super Bowl ads varied from that course and instead focused on a wide range of serious issues, starting with a highly controversial commercial by Nationwide looking at accidental deaths among children, and also including ads discussing cyberbullying, domestic violence and gender stereotypes.
Tomorrow we will look at some of the more humorous ads from this year’s Super Bowl, but today a few RLF employees will share their insights into some of the more serious ads from yesterday’s big game.
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From Music Sensation to PR Pro: 3 Lessons We Can Learn From Taylor Swift

By Alyssa Bedrosian

Taylor Swift is a singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, spokesmodel, fashion icon, and now, according to The Washington Post, a “public relations genius.”
With the release of her new album “1989” set for Oct. 27, Swift and her PR team have embarked on a strategic, full-force publicity campaign that has left “Swifties” (myself included) desperately counting down the days to the album release. The campaign started with multiple clues on her Instagram account, which led to a worldwide live stream event on Yahoo where Swift announced her new album and released her new single “Shake It Off.” Since then, Swift has been on just about every magazine cover possible and has made numerous television appearances, including an interview on “The Tonight Show” and performances at the MTV Video Music Awards and X-Factor UK.
While much of Swift’s PR success can be attributed to her high budget and seasoned PR team, it’s obvious that the 24-year-old has picked up some tips and tricks along the way and is a strong force behind her publicity strategy.
Here are three PR lessons the rest of us can learn from the star:

Know your audience

One of the basic principles of PR is to identify and understand your target audience. Swift has an in-depth understanding of her fans and is constantly engaging with them — she attended a fan’s bridal shower over the summer, included fans in the “Shake It Off” music video, and has commented on fans’ Instagram posts, most notably writing an uplifting comment to a fan who had been bullied. Swift connects with her fans through numerous channels, including magazine covers, late night talk shows, social media, television music competitions and Diet Coke commercials. Swift has secured a very wide, yet targeted, reach through a variety of channels, and as a result has fostered engagement and enhanced her credibility as an artist.

Build a strong, authentic brand

In addition to building a highly engaged audience, Swift has developed a strong brand identity that is key to her success. Swift understands who she is as an artist and public figure, and works hard to maintain her position and image. While many artists use their social media accounts as a mind dump, Swift takes a measured approach. Even as she has grown up over the years and changed from country artist to emerging pop star, the essence of Swift’s brand is the same, and she has remained honest and open with her fans about the ways in which she has evolved, a feat that can pose challenges for many artists.

PR = Relationships

While Swift works to maintain her strong personal brand, she still allows for relationships and experiences to shape her, her music, and ultimately, her fans, which brings me to the cornerstone of Swift’s success: Swift has bought into PR as a mutually beneficial relationship. PR is not a magic bullet—it’s all about building relationships that benefit both the organization (Swift) and its publics (Swifties). Swift and her team understand the importance of relationship building and have used both traditional and new media to create a culture in which Swift’s target audience can participate in a two-way, engaging conversation. Most recently, Swift has taken to social media to share lyrics from each track on the new album and has used hashtags to foster an ongoing conversation about “1989.” Swift influences and inspires her fans, and they seem to influence and inspire her as well — an achievement that most companies can only dream of.
Swift and her team have successfully built a comprehensive PR strategy focused on Swifties, a strong brand identity and relationship building. However, PR is not advertising — you can’t always control your message, and sometimes you are forced to be reactive rather than proactive. Despite Swift’s accomplishments in the world of PR and all the positive coverage she has secured leading up to the release of “1989,” she knows all too well that the “haters are gonna hate” and that the negative press will come. Her solution? Shake it off.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

The Best and Worst TV Ads of the 2014 World Cup

By Nick Ramsey

More than 3.2 billion television viewers watched at least one minute of a game during the 2010 World Cup — that’s nearly half of the world’s population – and many predicted the viewership to be even higher this year. To help capitalize on such a sizable audience, a wide variety of brands took advantage of this global platform and created brilliant advertisements that tugged on the heartstrings of viewers and inspired soccer fans across the globe. However, some brands missed the mark, coming up short in reaching their audience and being direct in their messaging. Now that the World Cup has ended (Congratulations Germany!), let’s take a look back at some of the best and worst ads from this year’s tournament.

Top 3 Campaigns

McDonald’s Gol!
McDonald’s scored big on this ad, creating a montage of seemingly average fans performing incredible trick shots. The ad is entertaining to watch, appeals to sports fans worldwide and encourages viewers to visit gol.mcd.com to participate in the McDonald’s’ “Peel. Play. Olé Olé.” competition, which provided an opportunity for customers to win a trip to the World Cup final in Brazil.
Beats – Game before the game
Beats uses Brazil’s poster boy Neymar da Siva Santos Jr., among other famous celebrities and athletes, to embrace the pregame routine, which of course features the brand’s signature noise-cancelling headphones. This ad gives viewers an inside look at how some of the world’s best get ready for the game, while clearly communicating the message that the top athletes from across the globe use Beats headphones to prepare for competition. Although the YouTube version lasts five minutes, shorter versions of the ad ran on TV.
Nike – Winner Stays
Nike has consistently produced some of the top ads for major athletic events, and the 2014 World Cup was no exception. This ad shows average fans playing a pick-up game of soccer, and then morphing into their favorite players and moving onto the world stage. The ad shows that Nike is the apparel of choice for athletes on any stage, whether it is a backyard pick-up game or the World Cup final. The excess of soccer superstars doesn’t hurt either, as the ad features Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Neymar and more. Similar to the Beats ad, the full YouTube ad lasts four minutes; however, shorter versions of the commercial appeared on TV just a few days after its Internet debut.

Worst 3 Campaigns

Burger King – Whopper Fanatic
Burger King embraces the stereotypical American lack of interest in soccer in this ad, and encourages people not to watch their favorite teams play. The restaurant even offers a free Whopper to those who come to eat at Burger King wearing their team’s jersey during that team’s match. However, individuals who do own a jersey are likely to be invested fans, and not willing to miss an event that occurs once every four years. Burger King tries to use humor in the ad to appeal to the stereotypical American, but the messaging and target audience remain unclear.
Kia – Adriana Lima Brings Fútbol to Sports Bar
This ad features supermodel Adriana Lima changing the TV channel in a bar from NASCAR to soccer, as three men sit speechless, dumbfounded by her beauty. While viewers may enjoy the ad’s humor and the attractive model, the connection to Kia is unclear. The Kia Sorento appears only briefly at the beginning and end of the ad, and could be easily missed by World Cup fans. Even if the connection to Kia is made, the commercial doesn’t highlight any of the car’s features.
Hooters – Coach Gruden Knows Fútbol
The international restaurant chain definitely lost with this ad, which showcases a stereotypical American ignorance of soccer, or “fútbol.” Former NFL coach John Gruden and others sports figures don’t understand what the Hooters waitress is saying when she references “fútbol,” because all they know is American football. The ad ends with the tag line, “No matter what football you like, watch it at Hooters.” Unfortunately, the ad just comes across as ignorant and cheaply made—better luck in 2018, Hooters.

The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier: A Guide on Personal Branding for Recent Graduates

By Alexandra Obradovich

Over the past four years of college I have read plenty of assigned books. Yet, with graduation right around the corner, I can only recall one text that I expect to have a constant impact on my future career. The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier was initially written to help businesses bridge the distance between strategy and design, although the disciplines outlined in this book directly relate to personal branding and my immediate job search.
“A brand is not what you say it is. It’s what they say it is,” is one of the first concepts introduced in the book. A brand is defined as a gut feeling about a product, service, person, or company and although people have power over their messaging they do not have control over how others will perceive their brand.
The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier can help recent graduates determine how to leverage their skills and education by exercising five key disciplines required to form an influential brand.

Discipline 1: Differentiate

Before a recent graduate can build a successful brand he or she needs to be able to answer three questions:

Who are you?
What do you do?
Why does it matter?

Professionals with established brands already have (hopefully) compelling answers for all three questions. Answering these questions can help to uncover flaws in focus, self-image, and outsider perception. By effectively communicating strengths and skills, young professionals can develop a strong argument for why they should be hired. Important competitive advantages lie in understanding who you are, what you do, and why it matters.

Discipline 2: Collaborate

Brands don’t develop in isolation. Instead they are a direct result of interactions between people over a long period of time. Building a brand is a collaborative effort that requires contributions from an entire community. For recent graduates, that branding community is a direct result of their networking efforts, like utilizing university career services or reaching out to industry professionals. As Neumeier says: “It takes a village to build a brand.”

Discipline 3: Innovate

In The Brand Gap, Neumeier introduces an idea called the innovator’s mantra: When everyone zigs, zag. Young professionals need to “abandon the comforts of habit, reason, and the approval of peers, and strike out in new directions.” In order to stand out from a sea of applicants recent graduates must attract employers through innovative approaches. “And how do you know when an idea is innovative? When it scares the hell out of you.”

Discipline 4: Validate

Neumeier describes the old model of communication as a monologue. This model fails to recognize that real world communication is instead a dialogue. Neumeier stresses that to transform a brand, feedback is necessary. As a young professional it is important to request feedback about your performance from your boss at work, internship supervisor, or university professor. Feedback can be immediate and unambiguous, which lets your personal brands adapt and make necessary changes.

Discipline 5: Cultivate

Within this disciple, Neumeier introduces the concept of a living brand. He states that a living brand is a dynamic experience. The most successful professionals are the ones that are continually adapting to changes in their industry, economy, and culture. Same goes for brands.

The Psychology of Marketing and Branding

By David French
My latest read, Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces that Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave, has spurred considerable thought about the branding and marketing work we do for clients. What are “good” design, appropriate colors and the right copy messages? Do subconscious forces influence our work?
The book by Adam Alter, assistant professor of psychology and marketing at NYU, delves into the subtle, unnoticed cues that influence our decisions, behaviors and even our success in life. If you’re unfamiliar with the shade of pink referenced in the title, it’s a vivid, bubblegum shade. Researchers in the 1970s and 1980s found that it significantly calmed children in Canadian schools. They wondered whether the same effect might occur when aggressive people were exposed to the color, so the walls of drunk tanks and jail cells were painted pink. You can guess the result.
I’m pleased to say that RLF has done quite a lot of excellent, award-winning branding and marketing work, directed by our stalwart and experienced creative director, Ron Irons. I sat with him for a few minutes to talk about how we use color, design and copy to support and build brands. I learned that creative direction is less about unseen forces and more about strategy and creativity with a dash of intuition.
“We’re not using colors, shapes and copy concepts to manipulate. At the most basic level we’re trying to help audiences understand a brand, its personality and what it promises to deliver,” he said. “But a fair amount of intuition—you could say the subconscious—does influence design and creative execution for a brand. Plus, I’ve been at it for many years, so experience counts, too.”
Take color, for example. For a client whose business is to educate and enlighten, we recommended the dominant color be shades of yellow—the color of sunlight and illumination. For another who’s in financial services, we used grays, blacks and muted colors to communicate solid, secure, and stable.
Shapes and spacial arrangement of design elements are important, too, to emphasize and clearly communicate what’s important—and to get noticed. As a brand is marketed and promoted, very often those shapes alone carry the entire brand message. Logos and symbols, for example, if property executed can become memorable. Think the Nike “swoosh”—in executions where it’s the only element, it’s immediately recognizable to millions around the world.
Elements like headlines and tags, and copy are the third consideration. Under Ron’s direction, we strive for high creativity, yet keeping it simple and pragmatic. “If the message isn’t easily grasped and understood by the intended audience, then it becomes noise,” he said. “You can be creative without being complex. And that holds true for all elements of design. They are the tools that provide a visual and verbal context, working together to communicate the core brand message.”
As a “non-creative,” I expected to draw more parallels between the thoughts presented in Drunk Tank Pink and marketing/branding creative. I have to say after talking to Ron, I’m not disappointed that there are few, if any. I’m gratified—and clients can be, as well—that building effective brands is based on strategy, creativity…and a lot of experience.

Six Social Media Lessons to Learn from Super Bowl Sunday

By Caroline Nobles
Social media professionals and sports fans alike are eagerly awaiting Super Bowl XLVI this Sunday night. Debates have already blossomed around the showdown between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. Will the event be a rematch of Super Bowl XLII or a sequel to the game in 2007?
Whether you’re hosting a Super Bowl bash or curling up on the couch to watch the Patriots, Giants or the highly publicized Volkswagen commercial, social media will certainly be abuzz with Super Bowl fever. As many of us are professional and personal users of social media, we can learn from athletes and teams using the same channels. What are they doing to get results, and how can we do the same?

Be engaged and active.
Athletes and teams who use social media successfully are constantly adding and updating content. They talk about upcoming games, chat with other athletes, promote special events or banter with rivals. Their goals may differ, but successful users are continuously linking, updating, following and talking.
Think outside the box.
When NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal announced his retirement from basketball, he didn’t follow the norm and hold a press conference. Instead, he posted a 15-second video to Tout, thanking his fans and informing them he was stepping down from the game. Last fall, to engage people via Twitter in the Battle for the Golden Egg between Mississippi State and the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State painted #HAILSTATE in one end zone. “Hashtagging” the end zone was an innovative way to marry sports enthusiasm with social media. Generating ideas and tactics that might be slightly outside your comfort zone just may provide the inspiration needed to start conversation.
Follow athletes in and out of your sport.
Athletes follow other athletes via Twitter in their own sport and outside of their sport. There are always opportunities to learn from others in and out of your field. Eli Manning, quarterback for the Giants, doesn’t only follow his teammates on Twitter; he also follows NBA star LeBron James, quarterbacks Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, and ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols. Use social media to keep up with colleagues, competitors and industry news. Untapped ideas, pitching opportunities, marketing tools, story ideas and other useful content is always available.
Promote yourself.
Sports teams and athletes use social media to talk about themselves, their products and their brands. With the Super Bowl quickly approaching, players on the Patriots and Giants aren’t talking about The World Series. Sports bloggers aren’t blogging about the U.S. Open. No, athletes, writers, reporters and sponsors are tweeting, posting, liking and blogging about the Big Game. So, use social media to your advantage and promote yourself. Promote a new product or brand through Facebook or YouTube. Blog about awards or recognitions your company, client or product earns. Launch a Twitter campaign to increase website awareness. The possibilities are endless.
Avoid the penalty flag.
While many sports figures maintain a professional image when using social media, there are athletes who abuse the privilege. Once you start using social media, you place yourself in the public eye. A seemingly innocent status update or tweet may be misinterpreted and result in the loss of a client or sponsorship. Champion dropped its endorsement deal with Rashard Mendenhall, running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, after an ill-timed and controversial tweet. Proofread and edit your content, and don’t post in frustration or anger. Maintain a professional image – one that demonstrates your expertise and mirrors your values.
Set goals and break records.
Whether you’re trying to break into the social media scene or become more engaged, set reachable goals. We can’t all be like Tim Tebow and set a record of 9,420 tweets per second. We can, however, set objectives such as tweeting at least three times per day, posting links and updates to Facebook once a day, blogging two to three times per month, and building our LinkedIn connections. Consistency is the first step to a winning effort.
No matter how you spend your Super Bowl Sunday, social media will play a key role in event coverage. Make a conscious effort to observe how other athletes and professionals use these online tools to generate coverage and awareness, and decide what strategies and tactics you can employ to get the most out of your social media.
How do you plan on using social media on Super Bowl Sunday?
Caroline Nobles is an assistant account executive who can be reached at @carolinenobles during the game.