This originally appeared as an email letter circulated to PAF members and others associated with the Portand Creative Community.

Many of you have questioned why the PAF chose to disparage other cities in this year’s Rosey call to entries. The answer is that while some of us fervently believe that Portland is a creative hot spot, it is more in the nature of our creative culture to be humble and soft spoken about our talents.

So what if we suddenly awakened in this current competitive environment and showed a little more chutzpah and brio? What if we started bragging and ultimately, what if we started out and out trash talking like they do on the basketball court? That was the premise the PAF started with for the Rosey Awards; let’s let those other cities know who the heck we are.

And it worked, the campaign is being noticed by you, in Adweek and in other cities. Ironically, the execution seems to have bruised the sensibilities of a few of us in the community who would rather remain modest.

Personally I enjoyed the fun of the concept and know that at the end of the day, it isn’t the trash talking that matters, it’s that you win the game or in this case, a Rosey. So enter the Rosey Awards and show us what you got. The trash talking is optional.

Jerry Ketel
President
Portland Advertising Federation

Alcoa presents (sorry, that’s the beginning of a TV commercial of “The Catch” in the 1982 NFL NFC Championship flashback when Dwight Clark levitated to grab a perfect pass from Joe Montana to lift the 49ers over the Cowboys). But, I digress. My mind faded to the dramatic music to Monday Night Football, but it’s now back on the prize - bragging rights to the Third Annual PAF Battle of the Bands at Someday Lounge in Old Town / Chinatown, Portland, Oregon where the creatives show their true colors after dark.  If you want to take a look at videos from prior year’s Battle of the Band, now is your time to really soak in some entertaining video for 2008.  It’s going to be almost impossible for eROI to win it for yet a third year in a row, but we’re going to bring our “A” Game.  Check it (this is PAF’s main event email and all the info is below):

BATTLE OF THE BANDS

DATE:
Wednesday June 17, 2009

TIME:
6:00 pm

PLACE:
Someday Lounge
224 NW 5th Avenue
Portland, OR

COST:
$300 per band

Register your Band!
Contact Mike Terry at mterry@magnetoworks.com

(more…)

Anvil Media, Inc., a search engine marketing (SEM) services agency, announced today strong financial growth in 2008, continuing in 2009. The combination of a growing team, expanded services and new business led to an 20 percent increase in revenue over 2007. Anvil expects continued growth in 2009 through a new set of SEM audits and the trend to focus advertising dollars into more measurable marketing channels during a recession.

“Client demand for Anvil’s social media marketing services was greater than expected,” stated Kent Lewis, President of Anvil Media, Inc. “While we’ve seen early success with social media marketing efforts for clients like Animation Mentor and Hungry Man Entertainment, we believe it’s a long-term commitment and payoff. We’re bullish about the benefits of social media marketing moving forward.”

In addition to social media marketing, Anvil announced a new set of audit and planning services targeted at Fortune 1000 companies looking to evaluate or validate the effectiveness of their current SEM efforts. Current SEM audits include search engine optimization (SEO) audits, pay-per-click (PPC) audits and online reputation management (ORM) audits. Anvil will also offer strategic consulting retainers and staff training for companies with existing SEM resources interested in taking their SEM campaigns to the next level.

“Since a majority of Fortune 1000 companies already have SEM agencies or dedicated in-house teams, the audits are a cost-effective way to fine-tune SEM efforts,” stated Hallie Janssen, Vice President of Anvil Media, Inc. “We’re committed to providing our clients with valuable insights that will result in a measurable improvement on the return-on-investment for their SEM programs.”

In 2008, Anvil has helped more than 100 companies increase awareness, leads or sales through SEM. A partial list of new SEM clients includes: AboutUs, Animation Mentor, Daily Journal of Commerce, DoneRight, ExpressJet, gDiapers, Grand America Hotels & Resorts, HorsepowerFreaks, Nautilus, PeopleFinders, Point6, Sterling Trucks, Tea Collection, Travel Tacoma and World Class Driving.

Anvil also received local and industry recognition in 2008 for its financial performance and work with the local community. The Portland Business Journal ranked Anvil Media as the 10^th Fastest Growing Private Companies in 2007. Anvil also continues to take on pro bono charity client projects, most recently Ronald McDonald House Charities and FORGE. Lastly, Anvil continues to stay involved in the SEM community, through support of SEMpdx and helping incubate local SEM agency, Formic Media.

To help meet the growing demand for search engine marketing and social media marketing and optimization services, Anvil added seven new employees. Nick Herinckx, Eric King and Heather Schwartz were added as Account Coordinators; Kurtis Alward, Mike Nierengarten and John Robbins were added as Account Executives and Yael Livneh as Office Manager.

About Anvil Media

Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Anvil Media, Inc. is a search engine marketing (SEM) consulting agency specializing in search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) management, social media marketing (SMM), SEM PR and online reputation management (ORM) auditing and ongoing services. Anvil helps Fortune 1000 clients generate a return-on-investment (ROI) on their online marketing programs by auditing existing agencies, programs or managing SEM efforts. Current clients include Concordia University, Extensis, Flowerbud, GolfNow, Jive Software, Lucy, Oregon State University, PC World Magazine, Planar Systems, Provenance Hotels, Travel Portland, Tumbleweed and Yesmail. For more information, visit www.anvilmediainc.com.

@jerryketel can you weigh in on the whopper virgins campaign? http://www.whoppervirgins.com/

Dear @Ibautist,

The Whopper Virgins campaign is pure artful propaganda. The filmmaking—as seen on the microsite—is as good as any of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen. It was nicely photographed, the choice of music propelled the story, the subjects were treated with warmth and dignity. The story itself had an element of suspense to it and it rewarded the viewer by being both surprising and intelligent. It made me think. And that is where the piece failed. Because it made me think how manipulative the pseudo-documentary was. It made me think how unscientific the survey was and how the tasters were being polite hosts when asked how they liked the Whopper being grilled in their homeland before their eyes. Of course they said it was good! But most of all it made me think of how the documentary has been used recently as propaganda, thanks to the likes of Michael Moore and Errol Morris. And now, the documentary, a category unto itself in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is being used to shill an industrial American hamburger. How far the art form has fallen.

It is really good propaganda. It just made me think too much.

Jerry Ketel

Once again we had a amazing Rosey Awards night. Thank you to all the agencies that submitted great work, all of those that volunteered to help put it on, the glorious and sadly now missed Livengood/Nowack for producing the media and collateral, the Newmark Theater for having us, Comedy Sportz for the showmanship, Jamie Sexton for pulling it all together and of course all of you that attended the show.

Here is the list of winners. Congrats to all.

I was able to shoot some video from my seat of some of the Awards, highlights, and out takes to share with all of you. They are not “Rosey” worth but none the less for those of you that did not make it this year, have never been but want to know what it is all about, or some of you that put that the term “happy hour” to the test and are having trouble remembering where you were last night, these videos are for you.

I have also found that there are some photos already posted up for you to view.

I look forward to hearing from all of you how you felt about the format this year (we tried to shorten the length of the overall program… happy hour was longer than the event) as well as hear what you might like to see next year. We would love your feedback. I see that we already have some props on the event blogged out there.

And to all of you that continue to support the Portland Advertising Federation and make it a great organization to belong to… Thank you.

By the way, please make sure to watch Part Five, it is a classic.

From Jerry Ketel, the PAF President, comes his first decree:

The Sexton Law

Whilst sitting on the Couch on Couch, Dylan Boyd’s (of eROI) den of emarketing excellence*, Jamie Sexton blurted out what was, at the time, a seemingly innocuous comment. She said, “Brands need to reinvent themselves every 18 months or so, don’t you think?”.  At the time, I remember Dylan and I looking at each other and nodding in approval. But later, the phrase stuck with me because it had a burning truth to it. And now I believe it to be a singular reality that needs to be called out as a genuine law of marketing, here forever to be known as the Sexton Law. That All brands, to be relevant, must reinvent themselves at least every 18 months, in many cases, sooner. Amen.

*Not to mention Ryan Buchanan and Maureen Pimley and if I’ve forgotten any others, my apologies.

Despite the economic slowdown, Anvil Media has managed to continue measured growth in 2008. In September alone, Anvil brought six new clients on board, including Amy Sacks Eyewear, BOORA Architects, Dapper Frog, PGE’s Green Power Oregon, Milgard and Point6. In addition, Anvil expanded its engagements with Nautilus Bowflex and Horsepower Freaks. Note: Anvil’s SEO Audit for Horsepower Freaks increased organic search traffic by over 1,000 percent in the first two months after implementation.

For agencies out there that are struggling through the economic downturn, I encourage you to shore up your client relationships by taking a deeper look at online marketing strategies, and how they integrate into the traditional marketing mix. Highly measurable, low-cost marketing campaigns are in great demand, and search engine and social media marketing are a natural solution. I encourage agency and client-side marketers to review their overall strategies and ensure all ad dollars are being measured and are generating a meaningful return-on-investment.

If you’re looking for more insight into how search and social media marketing can help you or your clients market more effectively, visit Anvil’s Resources section for helpful articles and our Clients section for illustrative case studies. In down economies, direct and online marketing pick up brand advertising and PR budgets, so it’s important to “stay close to the money,” as my uncle always says.

Congrats to PAF Member company Koopman Ostbo on great new client news.KOOPMAN OSTBO EXPAND ITS ROSTER OF FOOD AND BEVERAGE CLIENTSBoyd Coffee Company and Glutenfreeda Foods, Inc. have selected local integrated marketing communications agency Koopman Ostbo (KO) to support their public relations programs. With the addition of these two clients, KO continues to expand its food and beverage industries portfolio.

Boyd Coffee Company, headquartered in Portland, Ore. is a provider of specialty coffees, espresso, rare estate coffees and teas, and related equipment for restaurants and other foodservice operations nationwide and abroad. The 108-year-old company is a privately-held company managed by the third and fourth generations of the Boyd family. Boyds offers more than 650 coffee and food items, and counts renowned establishments such as Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, Metropolitan Grill and the Old Spaghetti Factory among its clientele.

Boyd Coffee Company sought KO’s expertise and strategic counsel to develop a public relations program and raise awareness of the company, its products and services. KO is also working with Boyd on tradeshow support and launching new products.

Glutenfreeda Foods, Inc., based out of Burlington, Wash., is a unique wheat/gluten-free food manufacturer producing gourmet gluten-free products. They initially launched a popular line of pre-formed frozen gluten-free cookies. The mother and daughter owned company also created the first online gluten-free cooking magazine in 1999, called Glutenfreeda.com. This Web site has more than 20,000 subscribers who are mostly gluten-intolerant customers, and offers a wealth of new and archived information featuring more than 5,000 gluten-free/wheat-free recipes.

This gluten-free food company, which recently achieved national distribution, tapped KO to create a public relations program to build awareness of their line of gluten-free cookies and resource website, as well as support launching future products.

“Our expertise in the food and beverage industries has allowed us to continue to make an impression on the media landscape for both clients and at the same time help them grow their business,” said Ken Koopman, Principal of Koopman Ostbo. “Boyds and Glutenfreeda are a great addition to our roster and we look forward to continuing our proven track record in our PR efforts.”

 The StudioBard crew started September rolling with the launch of a full-length feature film project, Magic Man. The movie, co-written and directed by long-time StudioBard client Stuart Cooper, is being produced in Los Angeles and edited by Bill Butler (Jaws, Grease).  Michael Bard will be the sound supervisor on Magic Man and will oversee the entire audio post-production - including a 5.1 surround mix at StudioBard. Party like a Rock Star! @Large Films dropped in to record and mix a set of web videos promoting Stage Kit - a new accessory for the Wii game, Rock Band. The project marked another successful venture in the collaboration between @Large Films and StudioBard for Nintendo’s Wii gaming system. August was a busy month for radio with projects from the Hallock Agency, Gard Communications and Wieden + Kennedy.  Engineer Brad Spradlin was out in the field recording interviews for ID Branding and Tri-Met’s educational program, “RideWise.”  Michael Bard was at the console composing an original score for Cappelli-Miles [spring] and Peace Health. Vocal diva Julianne Johnson (star of the recent stage production of Dream Girls) fronted a gospel group in the studio, adding her own brand of soul to the custom soundtrack on those TV spots. AudioLandscapes, the multi-media branch of StudioBard, has been named a finalist in the 2008 NAI Media Competition for their audio program, “Eastern Sierra Roadside Heritage/Hwy 395: Paiutes, Prospectors and Pioneers.” AudioLandscapes is also excited to announce the launch of their newly revamped website! With client-friendly updates and a fresh, new look - plus space to blog about new projects and ideas - the website is a powerful tool to connect clients and producers.  See for yourself at www.audiolandscapes.com!

OREGON’S LARGEST INTEGRATED MARKETING AGENCY EXPANDS  NATIONAL REACH, OPENS SECOND OFFICECMD, an integrated agency that has grown into a regional powerhouse by offering a deep bench of marketing solutions, is opening an office in the Charlotte, N.C. area. The agency has hired Joe Marion as a regional account supervisor to head up the new, second location. The agency is expanding to be able to better serve a number of its clients, including JELD-WEN, ATI and Western Star (a subsidiary of Freightliner) - companies that all have a large presence on the East Coast. CMD also handles major marketing projects for companies including Intel, HP and Cisco, and views the expansion as ultimately benefiting all of its clients. ”We live in an age of being able to operate remotely, yet the fact remains that there are key regional differences that need to be taken into account when it comes to providing strategic marketing solutions. Having offices on both coasts allows us to be responsive to that fact,” said Phil Reilly, president of CMD. In the past 30 years, CMD has continually evolved to stay ahead of marketing trends and deliver solutions that businesses require, including advertising, design, Web, PR, film and video, traditional and social media services. According to Reilly, the ability to transform based on clients’ needs has helped CMD expand while other agencies have been forced to cut back. ”There are so many ways to communicate now. The fact is that clients need agencies that can deliver in all of those different channels and generate demand,” said Reilly. “The outdated model of having separate advertising, PR and online only agencies is quickly going by the wayside. That’s been to our advantage and it’s allowing us to expand.”