Our tribute to the King

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Team AKC | Leave a comment

This Sunday, January 8, would have been Elvis Presley’s 77th birthday. 

A display of some of our AKC associates' personal Elvis Presley collections... yes, that is a velvet Elvis canvas in the back!

And, although the King has been gone for nearly 35 years, many people will still be honoring and celebrating the Rock ‘n’ Roll Legend’s birth this weekend. Simply take a look at what Elvis’ mansion, Graceland, is doing to celebrate and you can begin to understand how excited Elvis fans still get about his birthday. 

So, why are we talking about the King? Well, surprisingly enough, we have quite the little group of Elvis fans here at AKC. It is even more surprising when you begin to think that out of our mini fan club, most of us weren’t even alive at the time of his death! 

So, how has the Elvis spirit been able to stay alive over these past 35 years in a way that has intrigued people in their twenties and younger to not only know who he is, but be interested in who he was, the music he produced and the impact he had? Simply put, it’s in the branding! 

Elvis is still everywhere! Even after all of these years, you can still find his face on t-shirts, coffee mugs, pillows, paintings, etc. Take a look at the below recent TV commercial starring the King (note: the commercial is for a Greek fashion retailer) and it gives you a pretty clear idea that the Elvis brand is still very much alive, still extremely recognizable and still… loved! 

 

There is something about the King that makes him a true symbol of America. Happy Birthday Elvis!

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Posted in: AKC Marketing, Branding, Friday Fun, Video
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Does Pinterest peak your interest?

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Team AKC | Leave a comment

What things peak your interest? Sports? What about fashion? Maybe it’s cooking up a delicious recipe? Whatever it is, one social network is making it possible for people to share their interests, while also drawing from the interests of others.

Pinterest is all the rage for many with interests in areas such as crafting, DIY projects, decorating, designing and cooking. Serving as a virtual pin board, Pinterest allows users to find and share images by “pinning” photos of inspiration to personalized Pinterest boards. Your customizable boards can focus on whatever you choose. Planning a wedding? Create a wedding board and pin up-do photos, gorgeous bouquets and delectable cakes to that board. Getting tired of the same-old recipes for dinner night after night? Create a cooking board and pin recipes and photos of fabulous food creations to your board.

And, what makes Pinterest even better? Other than being named by Time as one of the five best social media sites of 2011, the creator of this site, Ben Silbermann, is an Iowa boy, having grown up right here in Des Moines. Check out this recent Des Moines Register article about Ben and the rise of Pinterest by clicking here.

Many of us here at AKC have become quite enamored with Pinterest. After all, being the right-brained creative thinkers we are, having a place to house the creativity all around us on a daily basis is something we view as tremendous! Below, is a screen shot of AKC PR Account Director, Jamie’s, Pinterest boards.

Interested in joining Pinterest? Members must first be invited to join, or you can visit the Pinterest website and request an invitation.

Take a look at the below slideshow of items created by AKC associates, from ideas found on Pinterest. Can you tell we are having fun with it?

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Posted in: AKC Marketing, Show and Tell Tuesday, Social Media
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Happy Holidays!

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Team AKC | Leave a comment

Here at AKC we know we are extremely fortunate for our many blessings. 2011 has been a year of many accomplishments, and we are very grateful to be able to work with such wonderful people throughout the year!

We wanted to take a minute to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We hope your holidays are filled with special memories and all those dear to you, both near and far.

Thank you for working with us to make a wonderful 2011. We look forward to an even better 2012!

Happy Holidays for all of us at AKC! 

Happy Holidays from the AKC team!

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Posted in: AKC Marketing, Think Big. Market Bigger.
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Another one of our favorite holiday campaigns

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Team AKC | Leave a comment

What a great time of year! Holiday lights line the streets, stores are full of frenzied shoppers, holiday plans are being made with loved ones and mail boxes are overflowing with cheerful holiday cards.

A couple of weeks ago, in honor of the holiday season, we shared with you one of our favorite holiday campaigns, the “Elf Yourself” Office Max campaign.This week, we thought we’d share yet another one of our favorites with you: Old Spice’s 2011 “Manta Claus” campaign.

Most of us are aware of Old Spice and their genius marketing campaign starring Isaiah Mustafa, aka: Old Spice man, with the “man your man could smell like” campaign. Take a look at the campaign’s first video:

This commercial launched a series of videos starring Old Spice man. Old Spice even developed a live tweet video campaign, which allowed Old Spice twitter followers to tweet at Old Spice for the chance of a personalized video response from Mustafa. The campaign was hugely successful, enough so to inspire a future holiday YouTube campaign.

For the 2011 holiday season, Old Spice man is back as Manta Claus, where he is responding to tweets and vowing to give gifts to all 7 billion people on earth. According to Old Spice man, “it is the very least he can do.”

Check out the first video of the holiday Manta Claus campaign:

To view more Manta Claus videos, visit Old Spice’s YouTube page or follow Old Spice man on twitter.

We want to know, what’s your favorite holiday campaign or commercial?

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Posted in: Advertising, Show and Tell Tuesday, Social Media, Think Big. Market Bigger., Video
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Video Marketing a Must for Companies

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Team AKC | Leave a comment

Video marketing is an increasingly popular way for businesses to promote their products and services.

Think about it. Which is more engaging for you as a consumer? To read a ten-page product analysis report, or watch a two minute video that brings to life the product’s story through customer testimonials and interesting facts?

Most of us would agree that the two minute video sounds much more entertaining.

Don’t get us wrong, product analyses and annual reports very much have their place within the marketing-sphere. And, just as these reports must be a part of a business’ strategic plan, choosing to include video as a part of your company’s internet marketing strategy is a must.

We have produced a number of videos for our clients to increase their viral marketing efforts. Most recently, we produced a video for one of our clients, Becker Underwood Sustainability, which educates viewers on the agriculture industry’s need to feed a growing world population, and how one of their products, Vault® HP, can help.

Check out the video below. How can you incorporate video as a part of your online marketing strategy?

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Posted in: AKC Marketing, Becker Underwood, Friday Fun, Think Big. Market Bigger., Video
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You Should Get to Know… Shawn Brincks!

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Team AKC | 1 Comment

AKC’s Merchandising Sales Manager, Shawn Brincks, was highlighted in the Des Moines Register this morning as a central Iowa business leader you should get to know.

As Merchandising Sales Manager, Shawn directs branded identity and special promotions for AKC.

You can check out the featured article by clicking here.

We enjoyed learning a little more about Shawn… we hope you do too!

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Posted in: AKC Marketing, AKC Propaganda, Think Big. Market Bigger., Wednesday Happenings at AKC
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‘Tis the season!

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Team AKC | 1 Comment

The AKC Holiday Tree

Here at AKC, we have officially gotten into the holiday spirit!

First thing this morning, we tuned our office radio to Lite 104.1, which has provided us with nonstop holiday music throughout the day in the background as we work.

This afternoon, we even took a few minutes out of our day to assemble and decorate the beloved office holiday tree (while sipping on some hot chocolate with marshmallows… yum!).

Being in the industry that we are, to us, the start of the holiday season also gives us a time to reflect and share some of our favorite holiday marketing campaigns.

Do you have a favorite campaign?

There is no doubt that one of the most successful viral marketing holiday campaigns in recent years to surface has been Office Max’s Elf Yourself campaign, which lets users turn headshots of family and friends into dancing or singing elves. Participants are then able to share their video creations via social media platforms or email. The campaign mixes the perfect combination of humor, timeliness and personalization, and has been a definite holiday hit for Office Max.   

In honor of the Elf Yourself campaign, we hope you enjoy the below video of the AKC tree decorating team of elves!

Happy Holidays from AKC!

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Posted in: AKC Marketing, Marketing Monday, Social Media, Video
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Happy THANKSgiving from AKC

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Team AKC | Leave a comment

“Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.” 
~Native American Saying

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for the many blessings in our lives. Here at AKC, we have much to be thankful for.

We are thankful for our families and loved ones; the memories of the past and present.

We are thankful for the food on our tables and the people within the food industry, from the farmer out in his field to the clerk at our local grocery stores who work so hard to make that food available. 

We are thankful for the men and women who protect our country and fight for our Land of the Free.

We are thankful for good health, happiness and hope.

We are thankful to be part of such a great team; a team that enjoys being around one another and works hard day in and day out to be creative with our ideas and the materials we produce. 

We are thankful for our wonderful clients and the companies they represent. It is because of you that we are allowed to do what we love and we cherish the relationships we have, and continue, to build.

We are thankful for the opportunity for growth as we prepare to move into a new building, a building that will allow us to better serve our clients.

Our thanks and gratitude for the many blessings in our lives is unending.

From all of us here at AKC, thank YOU for your continued support. We wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with all those who are dear to your hearts!

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Posted in: AKC Marketing, Agriculture, Wednesday Happenings at AKC
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#FoodThanks and Thanksgiving

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Team AKC | Leave a comment

What are your family’s Thanksgiving food staples? Turkey? Cranberry sauce? Mashed potatoes? Stuffing?

Have you ever taken the time to think about where the food on your table at Thanksgiving comes from?

If you have kids, do they know that their favorite foods do not just magically appear on the shelves at your local grocery store? That thousands of people work hard every day to put that food on our tables?

This Thanksgiving season, the AgChat Foundation, along with numerous others within the food industry, are raising awareness for agriculture and giving thanks for food through the #foodthanks campaign.

The #foodthanks campaign first debuted in 2010, and more than 800 people participated by blogging, adding the #foodthanks twibbon to their avatar photo and sharing more than 2,000 Twitter posts.

This year, people have been encouraged to tweet, post and blog about #foodthanks throughout the month of November. A simple visit to the official #foodthanks website, which provides tips and resources for making your voice heard in the #foodthanks conversation, will show visitors that there have been close to 1,500 tweets about #foodthanks since November 1, 2011. Ag and food community supporters are especially encouraged to give #foodthanks on November 23 as “Thanksgiving becomes top of mind for much of the country.”  

In a recent press release announcing the 2011 campaign, Darin Grimm, president of the AgChat Foundation said:

“For many of us, this month is when we take time to give thanks for the food on our tables. The #foodthanks campaign provides tools and inspiration for people to take their personal expressions of gratitude beyond the dinner table to friends, family and followers within their social networks.”

Here at AKC, we want to give our #foodthanks in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thank you to everyone within the agriculture industry for working so hard to put food on our families’ tables!

To learn more about ways to share your #foodthanks, visit http://foodthanks.com/.

We wish everyone a very safe and happy Thanksgiving!

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Posted in: AKC Marketing, Agriculture
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Everybody Wins! Iowa

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Jamie | Leave a comment

“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.” – Maya Angelou

A good book is one of my favorite things in the world. The ability to escape reality, travel to places I have never been and become best friends with a character all from the comfort of my imagination is priceless. Reading for me is a time of peace, adventure or sometimes an emotional roller coaster evoking different feelings of sadness, happiness or anger. It’s something I look forward to doing every day.

Novels, memoirs and mystery thrillers are my usual genres of choice, but of recent I’d now add sci-fi and action to the list. I can name the characters of the Transformer books, explain the anatomy of a praying mantis and recall Max’s imaginative journey in Where the Wild Things Are. My new found love of these types of books is all because of one 4th grade boy – my partner in Everybody Wins! Iowa.

Every Wednesday over my lunch break, I head over to a local elementary school to read with him. While he has lunch, we read books. We take turns reading aloud. It’s not a reading lesson – no tests, no judging – simply a fun hour for the both of us. It’s called a Power Lunch.

It’s one of the best hours of my week. With just a small commitment of my time, I can help a child discover the joy of reading.

If you’re interested in learning more about Everybody Wins! Iowa, follow them on Twitter or visit their official website, Facebook or YouTube page.

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Posted in: AKC Marketing, Thursday Charity Feature
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