Substrate Studios

3 Times You Should Invest In Graphic Design

Substrate Studios — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:00:42 +0000

Let’s address the elephant in the room first. We’re under no illusions. We know tools like Canva are taking the world by storm. The emergence of freemium, self-serve, turn-key design tools that make everyday graphic design creation a cinch for the public, has levelled the playing field. It’s taken the sorcery out of design and put it into the hands of everyday people who want to build content for their businesses, sports teams, and personal brands.

But that doesn’t mean we no longer need graphic design experts who have intimate knowledge of design principles and the ability to wrangle complex software that helps bring ideas to life.

We believe there is a world where self-serve tools and graphic design experts can co-exist and even complement one another. There are just some things Canva just can’t do for you that a trained professional can.

Here are the three times you should definitely invest in a graphic designer:

Building Or Evolving Your Brand

Whether you’re starting from scratch – or want to give your existing branding a facelift – building a strong and consistent brand is critical to success with today’s marketing-savvy consumers. Customers are more likely to demonstrate affinity towards companies that communicate their purpose and pay careful attention to aesthetic and merchandizing.

It’s not just about building a logo and deciding upon colour ways – branding is so much more than that. Branding lives and breathes through every customer-facing element of your business.

Visual identity will be the foundation of your website, social presence, merchandise, collateral, vehicles and so much more. A professional asks the right questions, spends time on research and draws upon years of training and expertise to carefully and thoughtfully craft an identity that will stand the test of time.

It’s worth every penny invested when you arrive at branding you’re happy with the first time around. This eliminates re-work later down the road and frees up time for you to spend on driving your business forward.

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Design SpotlightThe Squamish Community Foundation commissioned us to help them rebrand. They wanted a visual ID that would complement the branding of fellow community foundations across the country, while creating a uniquely Squamish look and feel. Watch for the full roll-out of the brand in the coming months.

A post shared by Substrate Studios (@substratestudios) on Apr 1, 2020 at 10:01am PDT

Complex Design Projects

When it comes to custom projects like vehicle wraps, infographics, packaging and merchandise design, hire an expert to get the job done right.

It’s not just a matter of putting your logo on a van. A complex project like vehicle wraps requires detailed knowledge of the printing process and a good understanding of how to best represent your business on what is essentially a moving billboard.

Data visualizations like infographics often require custom illustrations to make the content pop. This can be painstaking and time consuming. Eliminate the headache and outsource that to someone who knows their stuff to get an end product you’re truly happy with.

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Design Spotlight We recently collaborated with @pacificwild on their community for wolf supporters. We helped to name and brand the community, then developed this #infographic for the cause. Sign up today and help stop BC’s wolf cull! Link in bio

A post shared by Substrate Studios (@substratestudios) on Feb 28, 2019 at 5:38pm PST

Creating Ads

This isn’t Mad Men and we’re not just building print ads anymore. With so many digital advertising mediums available, designing ads is more complicated than it’s ever been. Today’s designers must build powerful digital ads that break through the clutter, drive immediate action, render on a variety of devices and cater to dozens of different specs and formats.

Ensuring the ad drives clicks and conversions while maintaining creative integrity is both an art and a science. Knowing your CTA button from your IAB and your skyscraper from your big box is pretty essential. Hire a designer and let someone else navigate the minutia of design for digital advertising.

So, to summarize, we promise not to slap your wrist if you use Canva from time to time. But we do offer the perspective that investing in graphic design when it really matters most will drive better business outcomes – and save you a whole lot of time, money and sanity.

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Design SpotlightWe developed the tagline and creative for our pals at @NSMEC. Find their summer campaign on select @bcferries vessels and passenger terminals this month. And if you’re ever in Gibsons, be sure to visit them. You can touch a sea cucumber and spot an octopus! : @dolfvermeulen

A post shared by Substrate Studios (@substratestudios) on Jul 10, 2019 at 9:28am PDT

Do you have a design challenge for us? Get in touch and let’s chat!

The post 3 Times You Should Invest In Graphic Design appeared first on Substrate Studios.

How to Prepare for the Next Social Media Crisis

Substrate Studios — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 09:32:08 +0000

If there’s anything Covid-19 has taught us, it’s to expect the unexpected and prepare for a crisis before it happens. As many companies have overcome the initial shock of it all, they are now looking to the future and how to protect themselves from being caught off guard again.

Whether it be a global pandemic or a more localized issue, a PR disaster could be lurking around the next corner. It’s the stuff that a social media manager’s nightmares are made of. And, contrary to common belief, this can impact every size of business; from start up to enterprise.

How a business weathers the storm at the worst of times can make the difference between a quick recovery and a slow (and very public) death by a thousand Tweets or Instagram posts. Mitigate the damage ahead of time by having a social media crisis plan in place to avoid being caught off guard next time.

Social media is equally a public relations frontier as it is a marketing playground, and so we can rest assured that many PR crisis best practices are still relevant in today’s digital world – with a few modifications. Here are the top questions you need to answer to build an effective social media crisis plan:

1.Do you have existing social media response guidelines?

Every company should have a foundation of social media response guidelines that tackle how we respond to day-to-day questions. This can be invaluable in crafting a crisis response strategy as it allows the business to remain consistent in voice, tone and approach during the chaos.

To build your guidelines, align on your brand voice, then build a decision tree for who, how and when you would respond to customers. Finally, build a bank of FAQ assets and responses to make day-to-day online customer service quick and effective. As a PR crisis unfolds, you can update the FAQ to ensure messaging is up-to-date and in line with what people are talking about.

2.Does your business have social listening procedures and tools in place?

At its core, social listening is literally listening to what customers are saying in social media channels to help inform your messaging and business decisions. For small businesses, that might be something as simple as searching out hashtags, comments and @mentions on the crisis topic to glean important insights around sentiment and FAQ.

For a larger organization, a social listening tool could be brought in to provide powerful insights into conversation volume (how many people are posting about the topic), engagement and reach of your content. During a crisis, reporting and analyzing incoming social data is critical to identifying simmering crisis issues, managing operations during the issue, and assessing results after the fact.

For enterprise-level businesses, there are many social listening tools on the market, ranging drastically in terms of budget and functionality. To ensure your tool can be activated for a crisis, ensure that it checks the following boxes:

Allows for monitoring of hashtags, keywords (geographically is ideal)
Enables assigning conversations to other members of the team to warm-transfer to subject matter experts
Provides some type of tagging functionality to categorize conversations based on subject matter, sentiment, influencer status, or other important data that will be useful for aggregate data later on
Allows you to track conversation volume (ideally against competitors), reach, engagements, sentiment and most engaged users

3.What is the chain of command for messaging?

One of the most common hang ups when dealing with issues is miscommunication about who approves messaging. Companies can spend precious hours – or even days – chasing their tails as they wait for sign off and alignment. Does the buck stop with your CEO or does the PR prime have final say?

Before you go down the sign-off wormhole, identify which stakeholders need to be looped into the messaging. The leaner the team, the more effective and efficient. It may help to create a sliding scale of severity from 1-5 with examples for each, then establish a RACI model:

Responsible – in charge of stick-handling the messaging and approvals from end-to-end
Accountable- they will die on the sword for any decisions the team has collectively made
Consulted- feedback required, but not final say
Informed- FYI only

4.Does the rest of your team know what their role is during a crisis?

Finalizing a crisis and issues management plan is a major win for any organization, but an even greater (and more important) feat is making sure your team is in the loop too. Socializing with your business stakeholders will be critical to the successful execution of the plan, should you ever need to activate it.

Do the front-line folks know the plan – and the specific do’s and don’ts during an issue? Has the CEO, PR prime and manager seen and signed off? Are your company’s third-party representatives looped into the plan (i.e. contractors, agencies, or sales representatives)?

5.What’s your target (and realistic) reaction time?

What is the realistic amount of time it will take to craft and execute on your first messaging response during a crisis?

Time is of the essence when an issue is unfolding in the online space. This means we’re talking hours, not days. All it takes is a few Facebook shares to add gasoline onto already burning embers and you’ll have a sweeping wildfire on your hands.

That said, it’s important that you move forward with accurate, consistent messaging that the whole company is on board with. Remember, the tighter the plan, the faster you can begin to remedy the situation.

6.Is your Customer Service game on point?

The best defence is a good offence, as they say. When you have winning social media response approach during the good times, you will have a much easier time rebounding when things go sideways. Invest in your front-line superstars to ensure they are well-trained and have the resources they need to deliver online service excellence to your customers. Do this now, and you’ll find a ready army of customer advocates willing to come to your defence if tumultuous times ensue.

7.Do you have the ability to pivot quickly?

One of the common denominators about Covid-19 is that regardless of size, businesses are having to pivot at lightning speed. Whether it’s a mom and pop shop struggling to remain open for business or a multi-national corporation shifting its workforce to remote technology; the struggles are different, but united in their need for agility. Companies that have a lean and agile approach and see challenges as an opportunity are weathering the storm and standing out from the pack. A pivot is only as good as the communications that support it, so ensuring that you can get the word out to your customers through social media and marketing tools is critical.

Here are two recent examples good pivots and supporting social media communications during Covid 19:

EXAMPLES

Guinness Pivots On Saint Patrick’s Day

What happened:

Just days before St. Patrick’s Day, Covid-19 began to grip the Western world. Ireland cancelled celebrations and Guinness, which has been an integral part of St Patrick’s Day celebrations for generations, had to make a giant shift into the unknown.

How they dealt with it:

Rather than go silent, they pivoted—quickly and drastically. On March 13, the company launched a “We are all human” campaign, which promised $500,000 to communities in need during this difficult time through their Guinness Gives Back Fund. They paid tribute to their resilience over the company’s 260-year history and infused a sense of calm during the impending storm.

We know that St. Patrick’s Day feels different this year, so however you choose to celebrate, stay safe and be good to one another. Guinness is committing $500,000 through our Guinness Gives Back Fund to help communities where we live, work & celebrate. #Guinness pic.twitter.com/EZpYpzAGE0

— Guinness US (@GuinnessUS) March 13, 2020

Later.com shifts their content strategy to address Covid-19

What happened: Instagram scheduling and management platform, Later.com is well regarded in the social media industry for their thought leadership; not only on the Instagram platform, but also in digital marketing overall. The company plans their content weeks out, but with the impending crisis of Covid-19 affecting every sector and global market, they had to scrap all planned content and shift focus rapidly.

How they dealt with it: Later.com viewed this as an opportunity to shepherd marketers through this storm. The content team held a brainstorm to adjust their focus, anticipating the needs of their customers and creating content that would address growing concerns around how to continue marketing on Instagram during the emerging crisis. They provided an arsenal of content to give current and prospective clients ideas about how to move forward in this challenging business landscape. Also, most importantly, they met customers where they were at: working from home during quarantine.

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Right now, our only job is helping you.

A post shared by Later: Social Media Scheduler (@latermedia) on Mar 18, 2020 at 10:09am PDT

These are just some of the many examples of how pivoting, rapid ideation and customer insights drove an evolved communications approach. Looking to protect your business from a social media firestorm? Connect with us!

The post How to Prepare for the Next Social Media Crisis appeared first on Substrate Studios.

How Tik Tok is Bringing People Together During Covid-19

Substrate Studios — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 16:37:27 +0000

Tik Tok is surging in popularity as it captures the zeitgeist of the Covid-19 global pandemic and puts the “social” back into social media.

Want to know what it’s like on the frontlines of the fight against Covid-19? Hop onto Tik Tok and you’ll see protective gear-clad healthcare workers sharing first-hand accounts of their experiences: insights about their job, coronavirus facts, tears, pleas for supplies— and, yes, even whacky dances too.

@icu.nurseashtonPeople are out here dying. You can stay at home to help stop that. ##TheSongOfUs ##happyathome ##nursesoftiktok ##coronavirus ##healthcare ##stayhome ♬ original sound – flighthouse

@aecolburnCorona outbreaks got us nurses like…##nurselife ##nurseprobs ##nurseproblems ##nursesbelike ##nursesoftiktok ##nurses ##scrublife ##nurse ##PPE ##morph ♬ original sound – cidcurry

Want to experience quarantine? Watch everyday people share the trials and tribulations of working from home and eating their way through their pandemic pantry hoard.

@iampaynday 3 in quarantine and all the clubs are closed so i gotta make my own party! ##paynp ##coronavirus ##quarantine ♬ Satisfaction – DJ Tokeo

This is, perhaps, the first social platform that makes millennials feel “old.” With more than 800 million active users globally, the Chinese-owned platform initially grew in popularity amongst Gen Z (roughly ages seven to 22). At first, no one could understand the appeal—not even millennials. Wasn’t it just a silly app for lip synching and dance-offs? Isn’t it kind of what Twitter’s Vine used to be? As it turns out, that’s exactly what it is, and everyone loves it.

In recent months, there has been an influx of celebrities and brands jumping onto Tik Tok to join the conversation. Everyone from the Jenner clan to J Lo is hopping on the platform to reach a younger demographic. During Fall 2019, leader of the NDP political party Jagmeet Singh joined Tik Tok in his race for Prime Minister of Canada. Even the World Health Organization has a new account to share important updates about “Rona” as it is now affectionately called.

@thejagmeetsinghPractice social distancing my friends. Stay safe! ##covid19 ##covidー19 ##coronavirus ##foryou ##fyp ##foryoupage @gurkirankaur_♬ original sound – tiktokh0e

Multi-generational appeal

But, it’s not just young people who are joining Tik Tok in droves. Hold the phone, the soccer moms are here. And, so are the grandparents and realtors too. The multi-generational appeal in the platform is apparent as families enjoy the dance challenges and memes that make this platform so fun. While the majority of the globe goes into some level of self isolation for the foreseeable future, Tik Tok has become a fun and engaging way to both spend time with the ones you love and see how other households are spending their time together.

Music Discovery

Though it’s a video platform, audio is actually the backbone of Tik Tok. The “rinse and repeat’ nature of the platform means that movie clips or sound bytes from songs become memes and spread like wildfire. From foot tapping to hand clapping to shuffle dance routines, it’s a whole new way to discover music and rift off trending content. Somehow, in all of this, the Macarena has even made a come-back.

There are entire YouTube and Spotify playlists dedicated to curating the most popular Tik Tok songs. At the time of writing, Blinding Lights by The Weeknd is a viral hit, inspiring everyone from nurses to grannies, to try a new catchy 80s-jazzercise-inspired dance routine. Justin Bieber (often an early-adopter of emerging social platforms) recently launched his new single “Yummy” on Tik Tok and more musicians are sure to follow suit.

@theweekndMusic can bring joy during dark times. Thank you to the doctors and nurses risking their health and safety everyday for us. XO @nursesavyrose♬ The Weeknd – Blinding Lights – gregdahl7

Putting the “social” back in social media

When’s the last time you literally LOL’ed scrolling through Twitter? How many Facebook ads do you see before you can even find your friends’ updates on the platform? There has been a feeling amongst social media users (and even social media professionals) that many platforms have lost their social nature and become nothing but ad channels.

Tik Tok has become a refreshing sanctuary for many. As its revenue model is still evolving, the platform still feels very real and intimate. We users are still experiencing the sweet golden hour before pay-to-play swoops in to ruin the party and fill the feed with branded content.

Tik Tok’s all about getting people to interact with one another, have a laugh and share a moment of humanity with the world. The engaging and addictive “For You” tab serves up content from complete strangers, customized to your taste. And, the “Duet” feature allows you to challenge people to a dance off.

During these incredibly trying times, we are a captive audience, craving social connection and joy. With social distancing and physical isolation fast becoming a part of our new reality, it’s refreshing to have a window into the lives of others—a friendly reminder that we aren’t so different from one another after all. Nor are we alone.

The post How Tik Tok is Bringing People Together During Covid-19 appeared first on Substrate Studios.

How to Manage Working from Home

Substrate Studios — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 22:45:05 +0000

Over the last few months, much of the world has been reeling from the health and economic impacts of the Covid-19 virus. Here in North America, our journey with coronavirus is only just beginning. Businesses lucky enough to make the shift to virtual working environments have been forced to do so rapidly—leaving some employees scrambling to adjust.

For some of you, working from home might be new. Here at Substrate Studios, we have been working remotely since 2013. We wanted to share some tips and tricks that might help you adjust.

1. Get out of your PJs

As a potential newcomer to the remote working world, you may currently be revelling in the joys of being in your jammies whilst on a conference call.

But, after you do your first work day in your PJs, give it a rest. The simple function of changing out of sleeping clothes and into anything else (even if it’s sweatpants and a hoodie) can help prepare you mentally for the day ahead. Taking this tangible step is a demonstration of self-discipline —and, without the prying eyes of a boss or co-workers to keep you in check, you’re going to need to show restraint.

Of course, the benefit of working remotely is that you can be comfortable and place less emphasis on preparing the perfect work outfit and putting your face on for work. While you can dial-down the personal grooming to some extent, don’t get carried away. Because, my friend, it is a slippery slope.

2. Create a routine

One of the biggest challenges when working from home is mindset and shifting from “home mode” to “work mode.” Sometimes, you can yo-yo between the two throughout the day as home-life distractions interfere. The laundry buzzes, the kids are causing a ruckus, your partner interrupts you with a question while you’re deep in thought, and the dog needs to pee.

Creating a routine can help you set some boundaries, both with yourself and your family or roommates.

Set your alarm
Shower and “get ready” for your day
Try to take your meals at the same time
Walk dogs or complete chores during designated windows so you aren’t doing them sporadically throughout the day

3. Designate a working area in your house

When you work from an office, you can physically leave your work behind each day. But, that’s not so easy when you work from home. During these challenging times—with some people confined to their homes for long periods of time—it is important for mental health and wellbeing to have a separation of work and home life.

Ideally, you have a spare bedroom or a den in your home that can be used as a workspace. However, even if you live in a small, 450-square-foot apartment, carve out a little corner and use this space exclusively for work. Train yourself to acknowledge that when the work laptop closes for the day, it is time to transition back into “home life.”

This way, your work doesn’t spill into your bedroom, your kitchen, your living room and beyond.

4. Expect technology to fail you

Although video conferencing software like Skype and Zoom have been around for years now, the fact of the matter is that they are still imperfect tools. As more people lean on video conferencing software, they will have the expectations that it will work seamlessly, and that’s unfortunately just not the case. One-part technology failure and two-parts human error are to blame.

Expect that at least 60% of the time, your video conferencing meetings will be delayed by at least 10 minutes due to someone having issues with sound, video or dial-in codes.

Video is amazing for building rapport, sharing visuals and collaborating, but sometimes a plain old tele-conference is easier, faster and more efficient. Choose wisely.

Also, you know how sometimes quick hallway chats or popping over to someone’s desk can help solve an issue quickly and effectively? It’s the same virtually. Just pick up the phone. Sending 10 emails back and forth to clarify an issue can lead to miscommunications left, right and centre. When possible, pick up the phone and chat it through. You’ll save yourself time in the long-run.

5. Get really good at steering conference calls

Chairing an in-person meeting takes skill. Chairing a conference call takes sheer wizardry. Who’s making coffee in the background and needs to go on mute? Who’s accidentally on mute? Who’s dominating the conversation? Who’s off-topic? Who’s late to the meeting? Who’s answering emails and doing other work when they should be listening to this call?

Learn how to keep conversations on track by creating an agenda and sticking to it. Don’t be afraid to interrupt people who have taken the conversation out of scope. Use people’s names often to keep them focused and ask questions directed to specific people on the call, engaging them in the conversation.

6. Find your audio groove

Without the familiar buzz of office life and spirited cubicle banter, you may find working remotely to be a little too quiet. Stimulate your mind in other ways by finding music or podcasts that help you focus, feel connected with the world, and maintain your emotional wellbeing. Or better yet, create a Spotify playlist and share with your colleagues so you can all jam in unison.

7. Treat yo’self

It can sometimes be hard to stay on track whilst solo-officing as you’re relying on your own ability to concentrate for long periods of time. Set your timer for an hour to work solidly, then treat yourself with a short break. Build little incentives into your day, such as a fizzy water break from your Sodastream, an afternoon tea time, or cuddles with your pupper.

Get a short physical break with a walk around your house (or around the block, if social distancing allows). Also, with so many gyms and yoga studios offering free online classes, you could also take a short exercise break.

8. Get the tools

First, set your work space up to be as ergonomically correct as possible.

Raise your computer screen to eye level (with a stand or make-shift boxes if needed)
Try to score a second monitor if you can
Try to keep your hands below elbow level
Adjust your chair height so that knees are level with the hips
Create a “standing desk” so you don’t have to sit all day

Hopefully your workplace has existing virtual tools available. However, if not, Join.me and Zoom are cheap and cheerful video conferencing tools that can be deployed quickly. Slack is an excellent collaboration tool, which offers file sharing, chat, and direct messaging functions.

9. Seek social interaction

Working from home can be isolating on a good day. With the current situation, many of us are self isolating or social distancing nearly all day long, and may be feeling anxious or lonely. Seek out social interaction as best you can. In normal circumstances, that would look like setting up coffee dates, in-person business meetings or working from a co-working space.

Right now, you can set up a FaceTime coffee break with a peer, colleague or friend; try a virtual event hosted by your local networking group; or enjoy short interlude on one of the Facebook Groups that have formed to give people solace during this difficult time. Stay tuned to your network to look for options.

There are many uncertainties right now, and working from home may be the new norm for the foreseeable future. Together, let’s stay connected (and sane) as we navigate our new realities together.

The post How to Manage Working from Home appeared first on Substrate Studios.

It’s Lo-Fi Or The Highway

Substrate Studios — Tue, 28 May 2019 23:50:43 +0000

Unfiltered, unpolished, unapologetic. Could the age of the carefully crafted Instagram feed be coming to an end? As marketers and content creators, we sure as hell hope so!

The aesthetically pleasing “Instagram look” has saturated our newsfeeds for years now, with brands, influencers and everyday users bearing the burden of living up to these impossibly high standards.

You know the formula: the camping scene featuring a guy with headlamp and glowing tent; a “candid” capture of a woman looking pensively out from her glamping teepee; and the couple perched atop an infinity pool overlooking a dramatic backdrop. Craft a quippy caption and you’ll have social media gold– or so we thought.

Businesses of all sizes have agonized over their Insta grid and infused significant amounts of cash into content creation to meet the demand. The result has been a fixation on perfection and polish, rather than authenticity; an aesthetic checklist rather than an authenticity gut check. The common result of this obsession has meant that individuals and brands new to social media were intimidated to jump in, for fear of not producing gleaming content.

But, the tides are changing. The “Instagram look” is no longer capturing attention the way it once did.

Alas, there’s a new no-fuss generation emerging and they are not falling for the painstakingly twee social media feeds of the past. The style of content produced by this fresh new crop of influencers like @Double3Exposure, is raw, grainy and perfectly imperfect. And, waiting in the wings of this 20-something Generation Z, is an onslaught of youth with bigger fish to fry. The generation that started the Extinction Rebellion, they charge forward with role models like climate crisis influencer Gretta Thunburg and school shooting survivor, turned anti-gun warrior, Emma González.

It’s just an assumption, but perhaps people are waking up to the fact that there are more important things to worry about than spending hours capturing the perfect Instagram photo.

“Culture is a pendulum, and the pendulum is swaying,” Matt Klein, a cultural strategist at the consultancy Sparks & Honey, told the Atalantic in a recent interview.

And thus, social media is slowly inching back towards its old school roots– lo-fidelity content. Handcrafted video, unfiltered images and raw, real-time storytelling make up a growing wave of “ugly social” that has taken our digital feeds by storm (again).

What’s different this time around is that we have better tools and more robust platform features to bring the lo-fi story to life than ever before. Smartphones have amazing cameras, there are countless apps can help us produce cheap and cheerful videos and Stories are pervasive. In fact, Facebook has confirmed that Stories feature will overtake the Newsfeed as the primary posting medium in 2019.

But, one question remains: In a world of lo-fi, what role does high quality video and professional photography play? For a brand, it is still important to have a balance of the two. Should we continue to invest in inspiring video and brand photography? Yes, but use it strategically and thoughtfully to tell big stories and connect with your “why”. Should we worry if our Instagram grid isn’t perfect? Absolutely not.

Be real, be authentic, share your story! Embrace the lo-fi renaissance.

Need help getting started with your social media program? Get in touch and let’s chat!

The post It’s Lo-Fi Or The Highway appeared first on Substrate Studios.

6 Tips For Navigating The Social Media Universe

Substrate Studios — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 20:53:11 +0000

As I reflect back on my decade of working in this space, I have seen the fads, the innovations, and the flops. What initially began as a means of connection and communication has evolved into a powerful marketing and advertising tool that has been embraced wholeheartedly by the masses – not to mention brands, influencers and media.

Have a read through my 6 tips for navigating the social media universe today, tomorrow and into the future.

Don’t go chasing algorithms. Trust me on this one. They change so frequently, it’s becoming nearly impossible to keep up, let alone game the system. While we can have a surface-level understanding of the intent behind algorithm changes, the truth is that the sophistication of algorithms is beyond human comprehension. Strategies that work today may not work tomorrow, as machine learning analyzes thousands of data points and optimizes against them. Instead, focus on producing insight-driven content that resonates. Know your audience, understand their interests, behaviours and pain-points and you will be far more successful than if you were to spend your time dissecting how algorithms work.

Remember MySpace, Foursquare, Ello, Peach, or Google Plus? Their rise to stardom seems so long ago now. Change is the only thing guaranteed in the social media space. Social networks have risen and fallen, just like the ancient civilizations of our past. Every social network prides itself on continuous innovation, though new and flashy features have flourished and failed over the years. Always allocate at least 10% of your resourcing to innovation and testing. However, being flexible and agile is key. It won’t serve you to be rigid with your strategy, so don’t chase your tail. Fail quickly and move on.

If you can do just one thing, spend your efforts on creating quality content, versus quantity. The social media audience of today is fickle and discerning. You are competing against thousands of other brands and content creators who are vying for shortened attention spans. Put yourself in the position of others and ask yourself the honest question: “Would I share this?” Spend time on your creative and really think it through. There are plenty of turnkey, budget friendly tools available to help you up your production game.

Please, whatever you do, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. All it takes is an ousted tech CEO, a drop in shares for one of the big giants, or a disastrous data breach, to leave a Silicon Valley business hanging by a thread. Remember the list of social channels above? At one time they seemed like steadfast investments, but have now become irrelevant. While Facebook is currently THE best place to reach a broad range of customers, it may not always be the case. Keep your options open and be prepared to shift your approach or you could be left in the dust.

Every customer counts. Having a social response strategy will help you ensure that every customer comment (whether good or bad) is addressed. Of course, there are the trolls who stop at nothing to try and discredit and harm a company. However, the majority of customers just want to be heard. Approaching social media response with humanity, humility and even a little humour can do wonders for building your brand reputation.

Storytelling approaches are as diverse as the companies that employ them. But, education and emotion-driven stories should be the tenets of every social media strategy. It’s been said many times that content is king. But context and insight are equally as important. Teaching people something they didn’t know – or stirring up an emotional connection with your audience is the trick to holding their attention – and building loyalty over time.

Every day, I’m inspired, humbled – and even a little astounded – by the speed at which social media is changing. There’s no question that online communication has brought out both the good and evil of the human race. But, I’m still hopeful that connecting our global community through the power of technology and storytelling brings people together in new and unexpected ways. Ideas are exchanged with every Livestream, every Tweet, and every inspiring image. And even if a small fraction of those ideas bubble to the surface to make the world a better place, then that’s just fine by me.

Do you have a social media challenge for us to solve? Get in touch and let’s chat!

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Why Good Graphic Design Work Takes Time

Substrate Studios — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 23:59:52 +0000

April 27 marked World Design Day, but every day, we like to celebrate the graphic design process. Why? Because, like a fine wine or a good cup of coffee, great design work takes time.

Instant gratification carries great weight in today’s society. You don’t have to go far to find a web service or two pumping out cheap and cheerful designs for single-digit prices. But, fast and cheap does not necessarily mean you will receive something that is unique, conceptual and evergreen. In fact, it is proven that strategic iteration is the key to perfection.

Neil, our head of design, is an industry-trained professional with deep respect for and loyalty to the design process.

We often get asked by clients about the process and what the benefits are versus an informal approach. To this question, we respond that unless you put rigor and structure into the design process, it’s easy to lose your way and spin your wheels in the creative soup. This is a scenario that neither client or designer want to get into. Nobody wins when the project isn’t moving forward.

The design process is a gradual progression from minimum viable product to polished masterpiece. Here are the major steps along the way.

The Brief

It’s absolutely critical that the project kicks off with both the client and designer on the same page. Understanding the brand, target audience and overall objectives, as well as any preferences to certain designs styles, is essential to moving forward efficiently and effectively. Even with a brief, projects can go off the rails if there is a miscommunication about the direction at the early stages.

Designers find it helpful when you share share moodboards and samples of what you like – after all they speak in visual language.

Research

As the old saying goes: design is 70% research and only 30% execution. When a designer takes the time to understand your industry, your competitors and like-minded brands, he or she will become entrenched in the project. This also helps the designer get a sense of what already exists in your space so they don’t create anything too similar.

Research will likely lead to creative work that is well thought out, steeped in insight and aligned with your business goals. Mostly importantly, it will be original work.

Sketching

You know a true designer when you see them clutching a sketchbook and pencil. Neil has his Field Notes positioned within reach: on the bed table, in the car, at his desk, even in the shower (they’re waterproof).

Sketching is a quick and efficient way to jot ideas down at scale. At first, no idea is a bad idea. This technique is all about birthing concepts and exploring various directions. And, just when we think we’ve exhausted every angle, we’ll extract a few more from the deep recesses of our minds. We’ve found that those last sketches are often some of the strongest.

In the first round of feedback, you’ll receive your design options in sketch format. This is the most efficient way for us to gauge your first reactions before spending time to perfect them. If we are off base completely, we will be able to course correct without ever touching an Adobe program.

Digitizing

Once a client has landed on a short list of sketches, they’ll be scanned in and used as reference to create a digital version. During this phase, the concept is refined and tweaked.

Neil will often duplicate the designs over and over, while he plays with colour ways, typefaces, line treatments and angles. During this process, sometimes fresh ideas may come to life. However, even though we may have dozens of variations, our clients will only see the top selects at the next round of feedback.

As a final checkpoint, the logo is looked at from every possible angle to ensure that it looks good when viewed from any perspective – and to make sure no inappropriate symbols are revealed unknowingly.

At this stage of the process, it will be clear whether we’re on the right track and we should be nearing a final version of the logo with only small tweaks to type, colour and line.

Feedback

When we’re working with clients, we see the process as very collaborative. We’re up front at the beginning about how many stages of feedback the client has, but open to refinements as we go.

In return, we hope our clients provide us with clear, concise and very specific feedback. Here are some questions to help guide you on the way:

Is the design reflective of the original ask? Why or why not?
Do you feel this design represents your brand effectively? Why or why not?
Can this design stand the test of time (outside of today’s latest trends)?
Can you see the design or variations of it on different mediums? Why or why not)?
What about the type/font do you like/dislike?
What about the graphic treatment do you like/dislike?
Is there anything in the design you would prefer to remove/take out or change (please be as specific as possible)?

Here’s a recent example of some work we did with our good friend, Ann Marie McKenzie. She’s a Desire Map workshop facilitator and was looking for a logo that reflected her own personal style and approach. As you can see, a lot can happen between the first sketch and the final product.

And there you have it: a design process that is rigorous, but leaves room for course correction and iteration. It’s not as simple as opening up Adobe Illustrator and playing around for a little bit. There is much more research, concepting and evolution required behind the scenes to make beautiful design that stands the test of time.

Have a design challenge for us? Get in touch and let’s chat!

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Delete Facebook Vs. Setting Healthy Boundaries

Substrate Studios — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 05:03:21 +0000

The world has been abuzz in recent weeks amidst the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica data scandal. This is, perhaps, the most damaging and far-reaching revelation in the company’s 14-year history. Rally cries to #DeleteFacebook have been trending for weeks – and many individuals, including large brands like Tesla – have followed through on this threat.

Mark Zuckerberg’s scrutinized testimony at the congressional hearing, was followed by Facebook and Instagram’s sweeping API changes to crack down on how advertisers and third parties can access and use customer data. This has created a ripple effect across the digital marketing industry, as third-party developers and software companies play catch up.

But, I’m not going to write a blog post today about how marketers can adapt their privacy, data usage policies and overall social media advertising approach to the new era of social media marketing. There is plenty of coverage on that. Today, I’d like to share my thoughts how we must create healthier boundaries around social media.

Admittedly, I am in deep conflict about the state of affairs of the digital media landscape. Having worked in the social media space for over a decade now, I’ve helped some of Canada’s top brands capture the hearts, minds and attention of their customers. On a personal level, I have met and connected with amazing friends and colleagues, and have access to a flood of helpful information on a daily basis that helps me stay on the cutting edge of this industry. That said, I have also had my fair share of burn outs from staying connected to the firehose day in and day out.

The utopian vision of universal connection on which social media was founded upon has been crumbling for years now. Left in its place, there is a darker, more dystopian landscape, where social media has become a tool powered by algorithms, populated by marketers and, in some cases, manipulated by “bad actors”.

The #DeleteFacebook movement isn’t directly caused by the data scandal – this sentiment has been simmering below the surface for a while. It’s as if we know our social media usage isn’t sustainable, but we want to find a reason to cut the cord. The Cambridge Analytica scandal is just the latest reason, but it won’t be the last.

We all know that the platforms on which we’re spending increasing amounts of time are creating damaging dopamine-fed behavioural loops, where we keep checking for Likes and RTs like Pavlov’s dog and bell experiment.

Thanks to machine learning designed to personalize the experience, our feeds have become information echo chambers where our values, news sources and ideals are reinforcing existing views versus exposing us to diversity of thought. There are countless studies that speak to the direct correlation between an increase in social media usage and self esteem issues, anxiety and depression. To put it plainly, our current-day usage of social media is unhealthy and it’s making society worse off.

But, it’s not as simple as turning off our social media is it? We’re tied to social media for many reasons, whether it be work, social lives, extracurricular activities, committees or family.

Creating Mindful Habits

In my view, we don’t have to look at social media usage as all or nothing. There are still many positive benefits to using these tools – in moderation. We can create boundaries around how, when and why we use social media to enhance our lives – and when we need to put the phone away.

It’s not just about locking down our privacy settings and being more aware of third-party apps. It’s about creating mindful habits to allow moderate usage and give us the freedom to experience life outside of the addictive sandbox that has been carefully crafted for us.

I work in the digital space, so spend some days completely glued to one social channel or another for my clients. But, I’m working to create boundaries in my personal life by:

Setting specific hours for when I check my social feeds and private messages
Being mindful each time I pick my phone up to check my feeds. I ask myself: “Is this out of habit or are you checking for a specific reason?”
Thinking before I post: “Am I just posting to get likes?”
Creating digital detox days where I turn my phone off or leave it home
Opening the virtual door at a reasonable time, not while I’m still in bed

The Advertising Model

The largest digital platforms, Facebook (and Instagram), Twitter, Google (and YouTube), have all been built around a business model whereby the tool is free for users and paid for by advertisers. On the surface, it’s going well. Facebook’s meteoric rise since it went public in 2012 has meant great financial gains for its shareholders as its ad platforms continue to rake in obscene amounts of cash. In 2017, for example, Facebook reported earnings of $39.94 billion USD in ad revenue.

The problem is that to sustain their advertising model, these digital giants need to keep enhancing their habit forming technology to keep users coming back for more. What if there was another way to sustain these platforms, ad free? For example, if Facebook charged its 2 billion users just $20 per year for an ad-free platform, that would cover off last year’s ad earnings.

Scientist and technology watcher, Jaron Lanier, explained more about shifting this paradigm on the TED stage in Vancouver this year:

I know I am not alone in the struggle to find balance between real life and the virtual worlds that continue to pull at my coat tails. This is going to be an ongoing challenge for our society as we fight against the dystopia.

One thing is certain though, there is a groundswell of discussion around this topic in academic, tech and digital marketing circles. Thought leaders with creative solutions are emerging and it’s only a matter of time before the landscape shifts once again. I just hope we can steer ourselves back to that utopian vision so many of us still believe in.

The post Delete Facebook Vs. Setting Healthy Boundaries appeared first on Substrate Studios.

Checking In On Graphic Design Trends of 2018

Substrate Studios — Thu, 15 Mar 2018 02:27:30 +0000

We’re already well into 2018 and juicy creative is pulsing through the minds and tablets of graphic designers near and far. We believe that great design has the ability to be timeless, withstanding fads as they cycle in and out of popularity. But, we also recognize that sometimes, hopping on a design trend can help us tap into the zeitgeist of the time and connect with people in a contemporary manner.

At this time of year that we like to look back on the anticipated design trend forecasts to see if they’ve come to fruition. It’s a little pulse check on the design community and where its collective head is at. Here are five trends we have definitely spotted so far this year.

1. Integration

Integration is a more intentional and creative usage of a headline or text overlay. The idea is that the image blends in more seamlessly with the image so that the visuals can take centre stage, while the communication of the text still comes across. It’s almost as if the image and the text are living in the same dimension.

2. Photo Masking

This technique is similar to integration, but it includes shapes, bars of colour and text to mask photography. In this example you can see that the image has been used to mask the text. This is a technique you’ll see across many industries.

3. Sliced Text

The effect makes it look as though a knife has sliced right through a block of text. It gives a feeling of collage and creates visual interest when you’re only using type. Colour can be used to add additional style.

4. Glitch

This graphic treatment makes an image appear as though it has had some sort of digital interference. Glitch is currently very popular in contemporary designs and now that it’s on your radar, you’ll see this everywhere.

5. Type As Illustration

This is, by far, one of our favourites as it takes simple type or number form and turns it into an illustration. If you have to use type to communicate a message, you may as well use this creative form of typography to spruce things up a little bit.

Thanks to YouTube vlogger and designer Phillip VanDusen for the inspiration. You can watch his full-length video, which highlights a total of 15 trends for 2018.

Do you have an upcoming graphic design project for us? Connect with us and let’s chat

The post Checking In On Graphic Design Trends of 2018 appeared first on Substrate Studios.

Exploring 360 Video For Your Business

Substrate Studios — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 23:17:37 +0000

360 video and virtual reality are slated for explosive growth in 2018 as technologies become more accessible to the mainstream user. If you have a unique and visually appealing offering that could be turned into a virtual experience, immersive content is worth a closer look.

We recently reached out to our clients at Immersive Explorers – a 360 content creation and media company based in Whistler, BC – to learn more about how businesses can leverage 360 content. Here’s what they had to say:

Q1: Tell us a little bit about the current 360 video landscape (what are the trends, what’s the technology like, and who are the players)

A1: This is a very broad question since VR is growing across so many industries – we might have to write a book! Right now though, we would say that the growth of VR as a marketing tool has been evolving quickly. At first it was kind of a gimmick – think McDonald’s activation in March of 2016 in Sweden where they created a Happy Meal box that could be folded into a cardboard VR headset ( or Happy Goggles!) to play a VR game called Slope Stars.

With steep growth in users, organizations are embracing the opportunities that immersive content presents. The technology for both cameras and headsets is evolving and becoming more accessible, resulting in more content and broader adoption of the technology outside of the core user groups of “geeks and gamers”.

The main players right now are Google, Samsung, Facebook / Oculus, Microsoft, and Intel.

In the travel sector, the last two years has seen an increase in VR usage – Tourism Australia, Destination BC, and or Qantas have all made significant investments in virtual reality / 360 video content and reaped the rewards of being among the first to bring travel experiences in 360 to market.

Q2: How does the 360 experience compare to regular video content?

A2: We have found 360 assets to be way more engaging, providing double the average view times and a higher click thru rate than conventional assets. Recently, Destination BC posted a 360 video that we shot at Superfly Ziplines in Whistler. They had also posted a conventional video of dogs playing in the snow, taken at Silverstar Resort in that same week.

Just as background, after capturing content and working in Whistler Blackcomb’s PR department for many years we consider dogs playing in snow to be the holy grail of social content – it is super engaging – people love it.

Both videos were about one-minute long. The 360 video content outperformed the conventional video by receiving 175% more likes, 459% more shares and 159% more video views on the Destination BC page. To us, this is an incredible illustration of the strength that immersive content has to be super engaging and rise above conventional content assets.

Google partnered with or Columbia Sportswear to create an ad campaign using 360 Labs. Two campaigns were created using TrueView – one featured the 360-degree video format, whilst the other was a standard video format. The 360 in-stream video advertising underperformed for view-through rates across mobile and desktop.

However, click-through rates on 360-degree ads were higher compared to standard video. Interaction rates which includes tilting and scrolling, were also higher for the 60-second 360 ad. This led Google to conclude that 360 video formats drive engagement through interaction.

Indeed, the format attracted more views, shares and subscribers than traditional ads. Overall, the 360-degree video ad drove 41% more actions. Overall, the video had a 46% higher view count compared to the standard ad. That’s likely due to 360 being a more engaging and immersive format.

Q3. How are consumers using 360 video in 2018?

A3: Well, first of all there is a lot of really terrible user generated 360 content on Facebook!

But seriously, the number of people engaging with immersive content is growing. NBC was showing the Olympics in 360 format, you can view news stories on the New York Times VR app, CNN has a channel and many brands are using immersive experiences to share stories and content about their products and experiences.

As the price comes down for VR headsets and more content creators master the skills needed to create immersive content we can eventually see the VR headset becoming as ubiquitous as mobile phones.

Q4: What are some of the use cases for brands who want to leverage 360 video?

A4: The interest that we are seeing is coming mainly from hotels, destinations and adventure experiences.

Since 360 video allows for realistic spatial representation the inclusion of immersive content is a great balance to conventional photo and video assets. We can create utility-based content that can orientate people in spaces and show them the “lay of the land” without having to visit in person.

Aspirational content drives that dreaming phase and engages people by putting them in the driver’s seat in the middle of the action so they can experience something as if they are really there. Since the content that is created can be used as 360 assets on websites and social channels (Facebook, Youtube and Vimeo) as well put in a headset for sales and demo purposes the ways you can leverage a project are almost limitless.

Q5: What are the most common distribution channels for 360 video?

A5: YouTube (they have a Virtual Reality channel with 2.8 million subscribers), Vimeo, Facebook, veer.tv, Kuula.com, apps that host collections of content such as the Oculus store or New York Times. We plan to have an app for in headset distribution in the future and our website features 360 video and photographs in 4K.

Q6: What should businesses keep in mind when considering 360 video?

A6: Finding the right team to produce the content. Since this technology is emerging and is just starting to get more traction there are a lot of video teams out there getting into immersive content creation.

The problem is, filming immersive content the same way you film conventional content will result in footage that will literally make people sick when viewed in a headset. So, it is important to look for a team that has years of VR experience and can prove that they can capture immersive content free of sensory conflict.

A lot of immersive content relies solely on the “gimmick” that you can pan around and get the 360 view. The next layer that we are hoping to delve into with our clients is the storytelling aspect. Just because the content is super cool and immersive doesn’t mean we can’t layer in story to inspire the viewer.

Q7: What’s the best way for brands to get started with 360 video?

A7: My simple answer would be to give us a call! The price of capturing a short experience isn’t as much as people assume and working on a short experience is a great way to see the increased engagement that immersive content provides on website and mobile platforms.

Q8: Anything to add that we haven’t covered off?

A8: Immersive content is recalled in the brain in the same way as a memory is. Creating VR/360 content also separates you from your competitors, making you look like a forward thinking company.

About Immersive Explorers

Immersive Explorers is driven to create and widely share 360 content that allows past, present and future travellers to have deeper connections with destinations and experiences. Anyone, anywhere can explore a new place or revisit a beloved location; this is the richness of experience VR and 360 content enables. Immersive Explorers and its social channels feature and amplify editorially-driven virtual reality and 360 video or photo stories created in partnership with destinations, activity operators, and experiences.

This custom VR content is featured on both Immersive Explorers’ platforms, as well as those belonging to the partner.

We know content marketing is a crucial component of the marketing mix for brands in the tourism sector. Immersive Explorers provides VR and 360 custom content solutions for both headset technology and digital platforms. As VR technology becomes more accessible and consumer uptake increases, this is the time to invest in these exciting digital marketing assets. Besides full-service content development, Immersive Explorers offers distribution to ensure the asset is easily discovered, as well as the technical expertise and support partners require to maximize the opportunity immersive content presents.

Visit them online at immersiveexplorers.com Facebook, Twitter. or Instagram.

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