design assignment
waiting for inspiration
I practice haiku 

“What the bloggin’!”
an excited Irish man
says over a beer.

Website designing
is reclaimed by a spider
hungry for new food. 

exclamation point
is a period wanting
extra emphasis 

I think that you can never be too old to learn something new. When we stop learning, we stop growing, and then life becomes boring. What fun is that? I always want to enjoy life, so I try to roll with the punches and keep learning about all different things from all different people. I am not one to say that I am older- therefore wiser, because this is hardly the case. I am surrounded by unbelievable, fresh, young talent here at DDA. The people here are so knowledgeable about so many things that it can make my head swim. Carrie is the senior designer here, and she is amazing. I look forward to learning everything that she teaches me like a hungry child. But she is not the only one to learn from. This morning, I was given a short lesson in Flash animation from Melissa, another great talent here. In a few short minutes, I learned an easy flash book. My mind is happy, eager to put the new information to use. The people here at DDA are the most talented group of artisans that can put together any kind of advertising service that can be imagined. I am grateful to be working with and learning from such a brilliant group of graphic artists, videographers, animation artists, programmers and copywriters. I will never cease to be amazed at the level of skill that is shown here, and look forward to learning something new everyday.

I’ve mentioned before my interest in the video game industry, and my proclivity for reading game sites and listening to video game podcasts. Yesterday I was listening to a podcast that mentioned a few games that would have been successful, if they were marketed properly. Released to rave reviews, these games sales woes were due entirely to their publisher’s lack of marketing for the product, and therefore their failure to make an impression in the minds of gamers who have to decide what to make their $60 investment on.

Many games with good marketing campaigns get that way because of the money they have from previous entries in a series. For instance, Grand Theft Auto 4, currently the fastest selling game release in history, is based on a little known series that began on PC. Even when their breakout success, GTA3, debuted on PS2 in 2001, there was barely any advertising behind it. It would likely have failed completely if not for a lack of other software on the console at the time. Halo 3, the second fastest money-making game out there, was released last September along with a deluge of marketing tie ins, including multi-million dollar deals with 7-11, Burger King and GameStop. Without the marketing power of Microsoft behind the original, though, I don’t think the series would ever have done nearly as well.

These anecdotes do have a point, though; Marketing is the most important aspect of selling a product. In some cases, it can have as much impact on sales as the quality of the product itself. While I’m not saying that great marketing can sell a crap product, a good advertising agency can certainly raise awareness and generate hype for something that may not otherwise get consumers excited.

At DDA, I have the privilege of working with people who know the corporate and medical world enough so that our marketing is second to none. We can use multiple forms of media to run a campaign on multiple fronts, integrating web, television, and print advertising into a cohesive, effective marketing strategy. It is this kind of environment that allows us to flex our creative muscle, and to lead the way in corporate and medical marketing in the tri-state area.