September 3, 2010—Are you ready for some football?
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After about a week of living in the basement, our PR department has settled into its swanky new digs! The space has been completely transformed. Check out the photos below, and look on our Facebook page for more!
Tags: fun, Miller Brooks, Public Relations, staff
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Miller Brooks will be hosting AIGA Indy members on September 1 as part of the organization’s Studio Tour Series! What all does this entail?
“Studio Tours are designed to be intimately scaled events that offer attendees the opportunity to learn about business practices, view work, and experience environments of local studios and firms first-hand. Join us for the third Studio Tour of 2010 as we welcome Fall with a visit to Miller Brooks.
The event will feature insight into the inner workings of one of Indy’s design studios and an excellent chance to share in our own community. We’ll have some drinks and treats, and plenty of discussion topics, show & tell and collaborative conversation.”
Check out the event on Facebook, and you can register on the AIGA site!
Tags: current events, Miller Brooks
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Barbie mentioned a couple weeks ago that Miller Brooks is diving into the world of alternative workplace strategies, and our PR department is getting to benefit from it this week!
We’re getting all new furniture and a new layout from KimballOffice. While the transition is happening, PR will be working in the basement. We can’t wait to see the final result!
Check back throughout the week as we share photos of the action. We’ll also share photos on our Facebook page!
Tags: fun, Miller Brooks, Public Relations, staff
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Over the next few weeks, there will be some exciting office space changes going on here at Miller Brooks. Part of the first floor (primarily in our PR department) is getting a makeover using some wonderful Kimball® Office products. It is our first “physical” dive into the alternative workplace strategy (AWS) arena.
AWS is a fundamental transformation in the way work is organized, managed and performed. Almost 25 years after the first mention of AWS, we are beginning to see it carried out in some of the largest companies around the world. Central to this transformation are technological advancements that allow a highly mobile, agile and widespread workforce to conduct business anywhere at any time. Real estate cost pressures are another force driving AWS. A more remote workforce utilizes less office space, but can accommodate more employees.
Companies are embracing this fundamental shift to completing work, by scaling back on office footprints and demanding flexible, mobile and scalable furniture solutions that can easily be adjusted up, down or reconfigured as needed. The office of the future brings people together, in an effort to foster collaboration and innovation.
Technology is also playing a critical role in enabling people to work from remote locations whenever face-to-face interaction isn’t necessary; even then, new forms of high-tech virtual telecommunication technology is proving to be a great alternative to face-to-face communication.
One trend related to AWS involves allocating more space for teaming and casual areas: places where people can gather to brainstorm or socialize. A recent Gensler survey found people spend 32 percent of their workdays (more than 2.5 hours per day) collaborating with others. These casual gathering spaces drive demand for more soft seating and marker boards to support team activities.
We’ve also seen an increase in demand for smaller conference rooms that can serve as multifunctional spaces: small team rooms, spaces for private conversations, or areas to focus on work that requires a high level of concentration.
Another offshoot of AWS includes lower panel heights and mobile, flexible furniture. According to research conducted by Judith Heerwagen, a Seattle-based environmental psychologist, 80 percent of office interactions are unplanned and occur as a result of one employee visually monitoring the availability of another employee.
Intrigued? You will be able to see all of these elements in action here at Miller Brooks very soon. Stop by anytime after August 9th and check it out!
Tags: Communication, Design, Miller Brooks, staff
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Our PR department has a job opening for an intern during the coming fall semester. Check out the details below, as well as on Hoosier PRSA’s Job Bank website. Let Ashley know if you’re interested!
PR Intern
Scope of work
PR interns assist with the coordination of the tactical day-to-day activities of our public relations accounts. As are all team members, PR interns are expected to approach each project with a sense of urgency. Team members should be able to adapt to a variety of situations.
Scope of responsibilities include:
Ideal candidates will have or be seeking a Bachelor’s degree in English, journalism, public relations, marketing or related field. Candidates should have a professional presence and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
Resumes and cover letters should be sent Ashley Kasdorf by email.
Email: ashley@millerbrooks.com
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You may have already seen them around, because we immediately put them to work, but I wanted to make sure we formally introduced the newest members of the Miller Brooks team! Check out our three latest arrivals.
Matt Gonzales, Copywriter
There are some who are simply born writers. Describing himself as “obsessed” about writing music reviews from the time he was young, Matthew’s passion for writing—and the arts—is innate. His skill set is unique, woven from experience gained as a journalist and as an advertising copywriter. Matt brings over nine years of writing experience to Miller Brooks, from writing stints at two agencies to being a reporter/special sections editor at The Indianapolis Star, to content editor at Indy.com, to freelance advertising/marketing and journalistic writing endeavors. His articles have appeared in publications including Indianapolis Monthly and Go, the in-flight magazine of Air Tran—and many a music review have appeared on popmatters.com, an international magazine of cultural criticism.
A native of Muncie, Indiana, Matthew obtained his B.A. in English from Ball State University and now is continuing graduate studies in digital storytelling. He and wife Amy are still newlyweds, and reside on the northeast-side of Indianapolis. Matt would rather eat Asian food over American food any day—and every day. That affinity grew from his nearly two years in Asia, where he taught English as a second language. He still utilizes those skills in his volunteer work for Indy Reads. He competed in his third mini-marathon this past spring, and Matt was likely brainstorming as he pounded the pavement.
Taylor Graves, PR Account Executive
After living a majority of her life in San Diego, and then working there for 1-1/2 years, Taylor moved to Indiana. On purpose. (In January!) Some may find that a bit unbelievable, but Taylor actually missed the seasons she discovered while attending Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Taylor ventured far from home to attend the school so many in her family called their alma mater. After receiving her B.A. in Mass Communications, she returned to San Diego for her first job as an account executive for a public affairs firm that she had interned with previously. From there, she became a PR and event coordinator for the Raymond J. Lucia Companies. Yearning for a change, and a return to the Midwest (where the seasons—and her boyfriend—live), Taylor joined Miller Brooks.
Living in downtown Indy, Taylor keeps busy with the downtown buzz, as well as being an active member of the Public Relations Society of America, serving on the programs board. She struggles over her love-hate relationship with running, enjoys drama television over reality any day, and loves to recall the semester she spent in Luxembourg—where she went skydiving over the Swiss Alps.
Cheryl Meininger, Creative Director
ConAgra Foods. Kellogg’s. Domino’s Pizza. Cheryl brings her experience working on world-class brands like these to Miller Brooks. As vice president, executive creative director and creative director at top agencies in Cincinnati, Chicago and Minneapolis, Cheryl has led creative teams through print, interactive, television, outdoor and social media strategies that produce successful results for clients. One of her favorite client memories to date? Filming a commercial for Sunny D off the coast of New Zealand, with a ship full of pirates—while stunned onlookers passed by.
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cheryl graduated with a degree in graphic arts from ACA College of Design. Her love of travel has taken her beyond relocation in the United States to destinations like Europe and Argentina. Although her dreams of exotic careers varied, she gave up her “lounge singer in a red dress” aspiration for the demanding world of advertising. When not strategizing for clients, Cheryl enjoys reading, and watching karate and sci-fi movies.
Tags: Miller Brooks, staff
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Facebook and its predecessors showed how to connect with friends. For example, Facebook set the standard for connecting with websites and Foursquare and its peers established how you can connect with locations. Now, various augmented reality apps on mobile devices are starting to create ways to connect users with anything they can see through their phone’s viewfinder. An app called Stickybits is building connections and content around barcodes. For $1.29 a user can download the app which allows him/her to take a photo of a barcode and upload it into the database. Once completed, the user is connected to all other users who scanned the same barcode. The social network allows users to enter in text or upload additional photos or videos which will then be connected to the selected barcode.
Contrary to most social networks which entail people tracking products, with Stickybits the products track people.
Tags: Communication, Miller Brooks, online
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Approximately 100 sales and marketing executives from 32 national building-products manufacturers recently gathered at the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis for Miller Brooks’ 2010 Marketing to the Architect and Design Community Symposium. In its second year, the event once again provided an excellent opportunity for these sales and marketing executives to “engage, interact and connect with architects and designers.”
Through speaker presentations and a panel discussion, attendees learned about new trends and technology currently impacting the architecture and design industry, as well as best practices for cultivating stronger, more mutually beneficial relationships between manufacturers and design professionals.
Three speakers, who know this industry firsthand, shared their insight:
Claire Conroy, editorial director of residential architect, Custom Home and Custom Home Outdoors magazines:
Keynote speaker Rex Miller, founding member of the Mindshift Consortium — a building and design industry think tank — and author of The Commercial Real Estate Revolution presented “Mindshift: A New Way To Look at a New Problem”:
And Alex Oliver, CEO and founding partner of Los Angeles digital media firm Igloo Studios:
An interactive panel discussion
Moderated by Conroy and featuring Miller and Oliver, the panel included a diverse group of architects and interior designers:
Panel members fielded questions from audience members, delivered both by text message and microphone, about issues affecting the relationships between architects and the marketing and sales departments of manufacturing companies. What issues generated the most discussion?
So, was the symposium useful? What did attendees have to say when it was done?
Amy Lee, marketing manager for CertainTeed Gypsum‘s group: “The symposium provided useful information, not only about how to market to and communicate most effectively with architects, but also about current trends in the architectural field. We learned from the speakers and the panel what’s most important to architects, what kind of information they need from us, how they want to get it and when they want to get it.”
Mark Johnson, director of sales and marketing education for KraftMaid® Cabinetry: “This event offered incredible learning in a very short period of time — I really appreciated how these top-notch people made such good use of our time. If the architects share what their needs are, as they did at this event, hopefully the marketers will listen.”
And one attendee even blogged about the experience afterward! Check out Eric Nilsson’s thoughts on the CertainTeed blog.
Many, many thanks to everyone who was a part of this event. Do you have additional thoughts, questions, or comments to share? Let us know below!
Tags: Communication, Events, Marketing, Miller Brooks
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Guest blogger: Read about our PR intern, Sarah’s, trip to the PRSSA conference!
As a member of PRSSA, I was fortunate to attend the annual PRSSA conference last year in San Diego. It was my first trip to the conference – as well as California. My favorite session focused on tourism at the San Diego Zoo, and it only intensified my disappointment in not having enough time to visit the Zoo.
The San Diego Zoo is a sanctuary to animals and a leader in conservation communication efforts. Christina Simmons, public relations manager of the San Diego Zoo, spoke during the recent PRSA/PRSSA conference in San Francisco about her efforts with this special zoo.
Elephant Odyssey is the newest exhibit and largest project ever at the Zoo. Considering the current economic situation, this was a daring project to take on.
Despite the fact that tourism is down, they had to open the Zoo 30 minutes early on the Elephant Odyssey’s opening day, and Zoo attendance is up 14 percent since the exhibit opened. The public relations team used this exhibit as a chance to educate the public on elephants and elephants’ needs. Conservation is never far from their minds.
Simmons also spoke about the ongoing publicity surrounding the Panda exhibit. This was another daring move because only two other panda bears had been born in the United States, and both died shortly after birth. Pandas cannot always be open to the public, so that created another challenge.
To showcase the new additions without endangering their safety, Simmons and her team came up with a creative idea called the Panda Cam. With the Panda Cam, the public can remotely peek in on the animals whenever they want – making the exhibit a success despite the pandas’ special needs.
In addition to describing how the Zoo managed new exhibits, Simmons also talked about what she calls “Zen PR,” or finding a communications balance. She described three situations the team had dealt with in the past and asked the audience to think about what they would have done.
Situation: An advertising agency approached the Zoo with the idea of doing a Super Bowl commercial where a bicyclist would tackle a cheetah. Would you do it?
How the Zoo responded: They passed on the offer, despite the publicity they would have received, because this does not promote the Zoo’s overall message of conservation.
Situation: The team is planning the relocation of panda bears to the San Diego Zoo. Do you tell the public? If so, when?
How the Zoo acted: They knew they had to tell the public the pandas were coming, but waited until the pandas were one hour away from the destination and did not give an exact arrival time. This way it was a sure thing, and no one could interfere with the plan. Can you imagine everyone rushing to the highway to see panda bears being relocated? The animals’ safety was the Zoo’s main priority.
Situation: A man jumps into the bear pit, resulting in minor injuries – and it is all caught on video. Minutes later the video is being shown all over the country. Do you cash in on the extra publicity or not?
How the zoo responded: They had the tapes pulled off the air as soon as they could. Simmons believes this is not how you promote conservation, and she said, “Not all PR is good PR.”
I really gained a lot from listening to Simmons speak passionately about the safety of animals and ongoing conservation efforts of the Zoo. She advised us to always look for a communications balance between personal ethics and the job.
Do you agree with how the Zoo responded to those three scenarios?
Tags: Miller Brooks, Public Relations
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We have great news to share with you!
On Saturday evening, the American Advertising Federation (AAF) – Indianapolis club hosted the annual ADDY® awards, which recognize the best in advertising and creative talent in the area.
Our Miller Brooks team was truly honored to receive nine ADDY awards recognizing work we’ve done in the last year, including two Gold ADDYs and a Bronze award for our own, newly redesigned website. We were up against some really tough competition — 41 agencies, companies and individuals in the Indianapolis market submitted 248 broadcast and print entries.
To us, the awards signify the dedication we have to providing innovative ideas and exceptional work to our clients. Without those great clients, we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to exercise our creative muscle in the first place. (Thank you!)
The nine ADDY awards we received were:
We can’t say thank you enough to our fantastic clients. It’s a tremendous accomplishment and we’re looking forward to competing at the next level.
**Also, many kudos go out to our own Liz Gottlin for chairing the ADDY committee this year! Our traffic manager is already busy at MB, but this was like a second job for her. The event was fantastic, and she really did a great job. (We bet she slept for at least 12 hours on Saturday night after the event.) Great job, Liz!
Tags: Advertising, Events, Miller Brooks
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