CB Designs & Printing

Brand Announcement

To our clients, friends, and partners:

For the past 5 years we've helped our clients develop and execute many of the industry's most effective design and print campaigns. We're proud of what we've helped our partners accomplish and we're committed to becoming an even better partner for the future.

We are proud to announce in the next few weeks, we'll be launching a couple new brands under our parent company, CB Designs & Printing, Inc. Think of it as a community of products and services making up our business ecosystem.

Our brand enhancements are more than just a logo makeover—it is a reflection of our company’s renewed commitment to being a strategic partner to our clients.

If you visit our printing website cbprintshop.com, you'll now be redirected to our new brand, www.printninjaz.com. In keeping things simple, as of now we will not be changing the functionally of the site. As the experts in design and printing, we'll continue to provide you with the products and services you rely on to successfully grow your business.

May we take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support. We invite you to visit www.printninjaz.com and see the new face of printing.

  Sincerely,

Christopher Burns

5 Web Design Trends on the Decline

As technology changes from year to year, so too does design – and from one year to the next, it’s normal to see certain web design trends fading out of style while others become more popular. There are lots of new exciting trends on the horizon – like the use of single page design with parallax scrolling, flat design, or video backgrounds – but ever wondered what those new trends might be replacing? If so, check out the list below. It contains 5 trends that will most likely be fading into the background in 2014.

1. Flash Introductions

Back in the day, web designers used flash intros on a site to grab the attention of a visitor, give them something cool to watch and make them want more. Now, flash is out – but having to watch a video before you get to the info you really want is just a hindrance to web users. Instead, designers are incorporating video design into page backgrounds, so that you can still see an impressive video, just at the same time as you are exploring the page.

2. Complicated Forms

In the past, websites – particularly e-commerce sites – had users fill out long forms to share information or make purposes. Today, however, there is more of a focus on UX than ever before – so designers are getting rid of long, extensive forms to get user information. Instead, forms are now asking for basic contact info or linking to a site like PayPal, which most likely has a user's financial info already save and can be used in a click. Web users are more likely to do business with a site that is fast and easy for them to use.

3. Complex/complicated and Skeuomorphic Design

While skeuomorphic design is not dead yet, web design experts are predicting it might be done pretty soon. The design, which creative an impressive, nearly 3d visual effect is cool to look at, but designers are eschewing it these days in exchange for flat design, which uses smooth, simple, minimalist images and lines. Flat design is being used more than ever, which shows a growing focus on simple UIs and good UX. With the shift to flat design also comes a turn away from other complicated, complex design elements, which only serve to clutter pages and distract users from the task at hand on the site.

4. Stock Photos

Online, there are libraries of stock photos that designers can use for free (or pay to use.) What results is that many websites end up using the same photos on their page, making it not only confusing – but also boring and unattractive – for potential customers. These days, web designers are turning away from stock photos and using their own customized photos to communicate something specific about their business; designers are also using even more complex elements like video backgrounds for their site – which means no more identical, un-distinguishable sites.

5. Pop-overs

(No, not the delicious baked treat.) One of the most annoying things to happen when you’re viewing a web page is when something pops up and blocks what you’re viewing or trying to accomplish. Today, web designers are opting away from the pop-over, which pops up in the middle of viewing a site and prompts you to sign up for something else or accomplish something else on the site. This will encourage visitors to actually stay on the site and make a transaction or finish what they came for, and find the place to sign up for whatever is being offered on the site, should they so choose.

How are you feeling right now?

Is your back aching? Or maybe your shoulders? No, you haven’t had an injury; it’s just kind of…there.

Or maybe you've been losing sleep lately? Or having memory problems? You've been feeling empty, helpless, and down for “no reason.” You’ve been procrastinating a lot more, too, haven’t you? (It’s okay. I won’t tell.) But who could blame you? Just thinking about work makes you feel a sense of dread. It’s become downright boring. At best.

Well, friend — it sounds like you’re experiencing burnout. And burnout sucks. Worse yet, if you don’t get it under control, it will start to control you.

Don’t worry. I’m here for you. Let’s handle this.

10 Ways to Handle (and Prevent) Burnout

1. Take a Break

Burnout is a form of exhaustion. It covers all the bases: mental, emotional, and physical. Even if you have a sit-down job with relatively low demands, you can still experience burnout. No one is truly immune. Even people who adore their jobs experience burnout from time to time.

The number one reason? Going too long without a break!

Taking a full-blown vacation might not be an option for you. I get that. But can you take a weekend off to just loaf around your home? Maybe play your guitar? Take your dog to the park? Catch up on the latest season of whatever on Netflix?

No matter how important you are to your job, you’re not as important as you think. If your business isn’t a complete disaster, it can go a day or two without your being there. Relax.

2. Keep Eating (But Hide the Snacks)

There are two types of people:

Those who overeat/binge when experiencing burnout

Those who stop eating when experiencing burnout

Neither type is better than the other. To be honest, both of those reactions are pretty terrible.

Here’s the thing: if you stop eating, you won’t be getting the fuel your body (including your brain) needs to function, which will make your exhaustion just that much worse. On the flip side, if you start over-eating, you’ll start to pack on the pounds (it happens quicker than you might think!), and that will add to your feelings of sluggishness and depression.

Even if you’re not feeling it, try to keep your meals “normal.” Set timers if you have to just to stay on track. Stick with a normal eating routine.

But keep your snacks out of arm’s reach. I love to chow down on a pint of Ben & Jerry’s as much as the next guy, but if that pint is hidden away in the back of the freezer I’m going to be less likely to turn to it the minute I’m feeling “bored” or uncomfortable with my job.

3. Sleep

If you’re feeling exhausted, what’s the one thing your body craves most? Sleep, right? So, give your body what it needs! (Duh.)

Generally speaking, the more burned out you feel, the more sleep you’re probably going to require. And, I know, it might be hard to get into the habit of sleeping again (especially if you've given it up in favor of “more important” things), but you’re going to have to force yourself. For your body’s sake. And your sanity’s.

4. Exercise

Exercise always seemed like a chore to me — and sometimes it is! — but it’s also worth it. And it doesn't have to be as horrible as it sounds.

Simply moving around more can count as “exercise.” Do you usually sit in your chair for hours on end and eat lunch at your desk? Try getting up from your office area and walking around a bit, and maybe having your lunch outside. See? You’re already moving around more than you were. That’s exercise. It’s not much exercise, granted, but it still counts.

Once you start exercising, even the tiniest bit, you’ll notice yourself starting to do more. If you stick with things you enjoy (walking around, bicycling, playing with your cat), your body will start to crave that feel-good feeling and want more of it. Exercise gets easier the more often you do it — make it a habit.

5. Try to Remember Why Your Work Doesn’t Suck

This can be difficult if you’ve been feeling burned out for a while now. If you’ve gotten to the point where everything seems hopeless, this can feel downright painful. But try to think back…

What do you enjoy about your work? What made you start working in the first place? What are your overall goals and dreams that are intertwined with this job?

If you can manage to focus on the positive instead of the negative, even if you’re not “feeling it,” your brain will start to make little adjustments toward being happier. It’s sort of the “fake it ’til you make it” principle.

6.  Set Goals

I’m a big fan of setting goals. Not just when I’m burned out, but for everything. But, in this case, goal setting serves a few functions:

It keeps you organized. Staying organized will ensure you don’t create extra work for yourself. (More on this later).

It gives you a clear idea of what needs to be done. By setting clear goals — and clear action steps to achieve them — you avoid overworking yourself further.

It shows the light at the end of the tunnel. When you have a goal in mind, rather than a seemingly endless ocean of work, life seems a little less hopeless.

If you’re already feeling burned out, you’re more likely to put off “unnecessary” tasks for “tomorrow.” This is a terrible idea. Do it now.

Whatever you’re putting off now, you’ll end up having to do later — creating more work for yourself in the long run. Don’t add to your stress when you’re already stressed. Do what needs to be done and move onto the next step, one step at a time. The easiest way to do this is to know what “steps” need to be done: by setting goals!

7. Don’t Overbook Yourself

It might be “too late” to implement this strategy now, but keep it in mind for the future. Be realistic about how much work you can handle. If you’re taking on too much work because you “need the money” then chances are your rates are too low. If you overburden yourself, of course you’re going to burn out.

8. Outsource

Remember how I said you’re not as important as you think you are? It was way back on number one, but it still holds true all the way down here on number eight.

Relinquish some of your power and hand over some tasks to someone else. Preferably the tasks you don’t feel like doing yourself (the ones that make you most dread doing your job).

9. Find Others Like You

Try joining groups or communities of people in your same field of business. Chances are, they’re going through — or have gone through — what you’re going through right now. Even if you’re not a big joiner, finding one other like-minded person to talk to can still make a huge difference.

10. Fix the Source

There’s no magic cure for stress; however, if you “cure” the cause of your stress…your stress will go away. So why are you so darned stressed?

It might be uncomfortable (or even embarrassing) to think about, but the time has come to start asking yourself the tough questions. Would you still feel this way if you had more clients? If you were paid more? If your work activities were more aligned with your core values?

If you’re at a total loss to what’s been causing you stress — leading to your burnout — try making a list of your day-to-day activities. Next to each one, write down how you feel about it (“tense,” “fine,” “bored,” “anxious,” etc.). Then try to come up with solutions for the activities that elicit a negative response.

Think to the Future

Once you've gotten this bout of burnout under control, start taking steps to prevent becoming burned out in the future. Do you need to take on less work? Make time for more sleep? Those are easy preventative measures to take.

What’s less easy is when your burnout simply won’t go away — when it continues to linger around even after things are “better.” When this is the case, you may need to take stronger actions.

If you've been continually neglecting your own needs to meet that of someone else’s, and that person still isn't pleased (or you’re not pleased trying to please them), then you may simply be unsuited for the work at hand. This may mean “firing” a client from your life.

I’m not telling you to do anything drastic straight out of the blue; however, if you’re truly unhappy and you know that it’s because your work (or client base) just isn't “right” for you: do something about it. Even if it means re branding and starting over from scratch, do it. Your health — your happiness — comes first. Because burnout sucks.

Image by leocub

The good news is that small businesses often have an edge over bigger brands when selling online--if they know how to use their size to their advantage.

Even better, the key tactics for growing a business online actually go against the conventional wisdom on the subject.

Don’t try to build your own online shopping destination and expect it to drive sales growth.

Online storefront companies make incredible technology, but once you build your store it’s hard to actually create a growing commerce business unless you have a big budget to buy advertising.

While you may believe that having your own website will attract lots of new shoppers, website development and maintenance is expensive and time consuming. The hard truth: Consumers aren’t searching for you. If they do search “bracelets” or “bbq sauce” the big companies bid up the keywords, making it near impossible to appear on the first page of search results. Bottom line: page 2, 3, or 400 of search results never built a brand.

Don’t expect your unique products to sell on a large online marketplace.

While big online marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay attract millions of shoppers, unless customers are searching specifically for your brand, they will never see or discover your products. (And if they do, you’ll be in a sea of other similar goods.)

The only way to drive volume in the big marketplaces is to be super cheap. (That means no margin.) Bottom line: List your goods for the occasional sale, but don’t count on much volume, margin, or brand building.

Do actively use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and OpenSky to promote your brand.

These are powerful channels for engagement and for creating direct-to-consumer connections. On OpenSky, the more followers a merchant has, the more goods it sells.

But to make the social networks work for you, you need to post. If you don’t engage, you don’t sell. Merchants use OpenSky to create posts and share them across all of their social networks. It saves time and coordinates their marketing. And they see that as a result, they get ten times the sales of merchants who do not post. Bottom line: Invest in relationships on social platforms.

Do create eye-catching content and do it frequently.

No one remembers the bland brand. Bottom line: Let your voice out.

Create tips, recipes, or behind-the-scenes snippets.

If your products are naturally sourced, why not share photos from the beautiful hike that provided your inspiration for it? Sharing relevant and relatable content will keep your customers coming back. Bottom line: Teach and engage.

Do use your size to your advantage.

Build personal relationships with your followers on social platforms. Answer questions, engage, and interact by sharing product news, relevant content, and personal reminders about new items you think your followers will enjoy. Remember that what makes your small business special is your customers’ opportunity to feel a personal connection with you, the entrepreneur, and your passion (your product). Bottom line: Build your brand by connecting with people in personal, relevant ways.

  Selling online can build your brand and business. But don’t go after sales first. Focus on engagement and relationship building, and the sales will come.

Every business with a Web site should make Search Engine Optimization -- trying to get your site as high up as possible on Google and Bing search-results pages -- a part of their growth strategy.

At its most basic, "SEO" means finding ways to increase your site's appearance in web visitors' search results. This generally means more traffic to your site.

While intense SEO can involve complex site restructuring with a firm (or consultant) that specializes in this area, there are a few steps you and your web designer can take yourself to increase your search engine ranking.

All it requires is a little effort, and some re-thinking of how you approach content on your site.

  Monitor where you stand

You won't know if your SEO efforts are working unless you monitor your search standings. MarketingVox suggests that you keep an eye on your page rank with tools like Alexa and the Google Analytics.

It's also important to check your referrer log regularly to track where your visitors are coming from and the search terms they're using to find your site, according to PC World.

Photo: chefranden (Flickr)

Keywords, keywords, keywords!

You should be conscious of placing appropriate keywords throughout every aspect of your site: your titles, content, URLs, and image names. Think about your keywords as search terms -- how would someone looking for information on this topic search for it?

The title tag and page header are the two most important spots to put keywords, PC World notes.

BEWARE: Putting ridiculous amounts of keywords on your site will get you labeled as a spammer, and search engine spiders are programmed to ignore sites guilty of "keyword-stuffing." Be strategic in your keyword use.

Link back to yourself

There is probably no more basic strategy for SEO than the integration of internal links into your site -- it is an easy way to boost traffic to individual pages, SEO Consult says.

You should make it standard to link back to your archives frequently when creating new content. MarketingVox advises that you also make the anchor text search-engine-friendly: "The more relevant words point to a page, the more likely that page is to appear in search results when users run a query with those terms."

As with all other SEO approaches, be sure your links are appropriate, and be careful not to cross the line into excessive linking -- you don't want your visitors to get annoyed.

Photo: hryck. (Flickr)

Create a sitemap

Adding a site map -- a page listing and linking to all the other major pages on your site -- makes it easier for spiders to search your site.

"The fewer clicks necessary to get to a page on your website, the better," advises MarketingVox.

Image descriptions

Spiders can only search text, not text in your images -- which is why you need to make the words associated with your images as descriptive as possible.

Start with your image names: adding an "ALT" tag allows you to include a keyword-rich description for every image on your site. Perfect Optimization explains an easy way to do this.

The visible text around your images is valuable for SEO: MarketPosition suggests adding captions to all your pictures and being descriptive with the text in immediate physical proximity to your images.

Content

Your content needs to be fresh -- updating regularly and often is crucial for increasing traffic.

"The best sites for users, and consequently for search engines, are full of oft-updated, useful information about a given service, product, topic or discipline," MarketingVox explains.

One way to ensure that your site gets new content on a frequent basis is to integrate a blog. "Get the owner or CEO blogging. It’s priceless!" the Search Engine Journal suggests. An executive blog is an excellent way to reach out to your clients, create more opportunities for internal and external linking, while giving your site a more personal voice.

Social media distribution

A CEO blog is just one element of social media distribution, an important SEO strategy according to SEO Consult. You should be distributing links to fresh content on your site across appropriate social networking platforms.

Whether displayed on your company's account, or recommended, re-tweeted, and re-distributed by someone else, this strategy exponentially muliplies the number of places where visitors will view your links.

Link to others

An easy way to direct more traffic to your site is by developing relationships with other sites.

PC World suggests that you personally ask the webmasters of well-respected sites if they'll include a link to your site on theirs. Be sure to return the favor -- then everyone wins!

Make certain that your partner has a good web-reputation, of course. MarketingVox warns against getting tied to a "link farm" whose bad SEO habits could bring you down.

A new study conducted by the Internet Advertising Bureau has found that 90 per cent of consumers would recommend a brand to others after interacting with them on social media.

The study focused on FMCG brands Heinz, Kettle and Twinings and found that social media can drive ROI by driving brand sentiment, encouraging consumer engagement and increasing brand loyalty.

More than 4,500 survey responses were collected from each brands social media pages over a two month period and supplemented by 800 interviews to inform the findings.

This showed that four out of five consumers would be more inclined to buy a brand more after being exposed to their social media, with 83 per cent happy to trial the product in such circumstances.

The uplift in sentiment for each brand was measured as Heinz 22%, Kettle 17% and Twinings 19 per cent, allowing the IAB to estimate that for every £1 spent on social media as much as £3.34 could be generated.

Kristin Brewe, the IAB’s director of marketing & communications said: “The IAB study shows that, when trying to create deeper emotional connections with consumers, social media is an essential channel for brands. This isn't surprising since social media is the only channel where it’s possible for brands and consumers to have meaningful two-way conversations, making the strength of connections that much stronger.”

Ian Ralph, the director at marketing sciences who conducted the research, adds, “Our research shows that to create an emotional connection brands really need to provide clear, timely and, most important of all, relevant content that develop a conversation. Interestingly, we also found that brands really shouldn’t be afraid about having their products on show and of linking up their social media activities to their business objectives. Social media has the potential to turn brand customers into brand fans.

“By making people love, not just like your brand, you’re more likely to drive future purchases and increase sales.”

Do you need a fresh look or a brand new social media campaign. Contact us now to get started! www.cbdesignsshop.com

We have just been named one of the "Ultimate Graphic Designers for Your Next CD Cover"! This is awesome news and we are really excited to be on this list!  Check out the article here!

A graphic designer is an integral member of any PR team.  Having one on staff and in-house gives copywriters, project managers, social media specialists, and the rest of the gang in today’s fast-paced agency environment instance access to a creative mind.  Sometimes, we are mistaken for being the people who just “make things look pretty” and while that’s (kind of) true, we possess a multitude of skills and talents beyond the ability to pretty things up.  It’s important to know how to work with a graphic designer within an agency to reap the full benefits of the creative mind you have at your fingertips. Following these five tips will help someone like me help someone like you deliver the exact product that you want—the perfect picture that isn’t just pretty, but serves a purpose, communicates a clear message, sells an idea, and reaches a target audience.

What you may think is “quick” or “easy” is not always. 

It’s “easy” to use terms like “throw this together” and “simple” when referring to a specific round of edits/revisions and a turnaround for a project, but you may not be aware of all of the “behind the scenes” work that takes place for that to happen.  Finished logos, brochures, or booklets may look simple, clean, and straightforward as finished products, but they took more than just two to three hours to create. Keep in mind all of the creative brainstorming, sketching, drafts, revisions, and more that were required. Good designers are equipped with the talent and skills to work quickly and efficiently, but not lightning fast, 100 percent of the time.  Take these thoughts into consideration the next time you’re thinking of putting together a budget and timeline for a project. Most people know that it requires significant time and effort to turn nothing into something—and anything worth doing is worth doing right. The same applies to graphic design.

Think about the point you’re trying to make, to the audience you’re trying to reach. 

What is your vision for your piece? You don’t have to picture it perfectly in your mind, but do have a general sense for what you like (or don’t like). Think about colors, available logos, basic layout, a page count, document size, the use of infographics, pullout info or quotes, and the messaging that you will be trying to communicate.  Remember that less is always more. No matter how great your content is written or the terrific meaning behind it all, nobody is going to endure an entire page of nothing but words. Everyone is drawn to visuals, colors, and pretty pictures—so consider the use and placement of these, as well as call-to-action items, to break up your copy. You want to engage an audience immediately and keep them there, not make them run away. Remember, white space is a good thing.

Avoid terms such as “make it pop” or “surprise me.” 

During brainstorms and pre-design conversations, it’s common for a designer to hear these words, but not gain anything useful from them. Maybe you don’t know exactly what you want, but try to be somewhat specific and organized with your general thoughts and ideas.  Do you want your piece to resemble something else you've seen or done? A designer loves to have “creative freedom,” but he or she also needs a few limitations, or at least what the client doesn't want. They may seem like little things, but let the designer know colors you hate, types of photos to avoid, or fonts that you don’t like. This will help the designer in a few small ways, which will result in less wasted time later.

Give the designer final copy and don’t make revisions piecemeal later. 

Basic design and copy edits are a given with any design job and a couple extra rounds of revisions are normal and expected, but try to limit it to no more than two to three. Also, try to collect and send revisions in one email, or discuss during one phone call. Avoid sending John’s revisions separately from Jane’s, not to mention the other three people’s changes involved in the reviewing and approval process.

Know some basic designer lingo. 

While it’s not your job to be the designer, it helps when you can communicate with basic terminology. When you speak a designer’s language (even just a little bit of it), he or she is more likely to create and deliver the end product that you want, because they will have a better idea of what you want.  Having some basic knowledge about color systems and low and high resolution photo use will also help you understand what a designer has to take into consideration, sometimes before even starting work on a project.  Familiarity with the following will make a designer happy:

• Try to avoid grabbing a logo or photo off of a company or organization’s website. Images pulled from the Web are low-resolution and do not reproduce well on printed pieces. They may be OK to use in a digital piece, like an HTML newsletter, but not in a print product.  • Know the color modes that designers work in. They’re rather simple to understand. RGB stands for (red/green/blue), and it’s used in electronic or Web formats. For example, a website would be setup in RGB mode. CMYK stands for (cyan/magenta/yellow/black) and is used in most printed materials. You might also hear a designer call this “4-color process.” • Remember that certain colors stimulate specific types of emotion. Cooler colors such as blues and greens evoke a sense of calmness. Warmer colors such as reds and oranges will make someone feel more of a sense of energy and passion. Think about these theories when considering and choosing a color palette. • Understand that “bleeding” is not a bad thing. When a designer asks you if you want your artwork to “bleed,” he or she is simply referring to the description of images or colors that run off the edges of a page. For example, if a big photo doesn't bleed all the way off a spread or cover it’s laid out on and is left with space around its edges, it may have a less-powerful impact on a viewer.

Most of the time, a designer has a good reason for doing something. Maybe you never considered the effects that certain typefaces, colors, space and photos have and the way they all work together in design, but they’re the basic ingredients that a designer cooks with every day.  Put trust in the designer and give that person creative freedom—but don’t send the designer into battle unarmed and unprepared. Communicating your basic ideas, visions, and target audience, and giving him or her a few references will benefit both of you.  Understanding and respecting what a designer does, the time and effort that goes into what they do, and speaking (just a little bit of) of his or her language will result in a better quality end product, which will only make both of you happy.

Facebook unveiled a revamped News Feed today. Here's how you can join the waiting list to get early access to the new look.

In case you hadn't heard, Facebook held an event today to announce that your News Feed is going to look completely differentin the coming weeks. The new feed features bigger photos, quick access to all of your feeds, and a unified look across both Web and mobile.

The Facebook team said the new News Feed would slowly begin rolling out today, with tweaks being made along the way to ensure a solid user experience. If you're the adventurous type and want to try it out, you can join the waiting list to get early access.

Signing up is easy:

Visit Facebook.com/newsfeed and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Click on "Join Waiting List."

That's all there is to it. While there's still no promise of how soon you'll see the update rolled out, hopefully it speeds up the process for your account. Then again, I signed up for the Graph Search beta at the time of announcement and I'm still waiting.

  IN THE ERA OF THE OVERSHARE, BANG WITH FRIENDS ALLOWS DISCREET CONVERSATION (AND SEX) WITH YOUR ENTIRE SOCIAL NETWORK.

The open-source Ubuntu OS is coming to a smartphone near you. (Credit: Ubuntu)

  It's been said that Ubuntu's open-source operating system would be available on smartphonesby the end of the year, and now it's confirmed that consumers can get their hands on such devices in October.

Ubuntu is made by Canonical, and according to the Wall Street Journal, the founder and CEO of Canonical Mark Shuttleworth said that Ubuntu OS smartphones will be available in October and app developers will get access to the OS later this month.

It's not yet clear which smartphones will run Ubuntu's OS, but app developers will be able to work with the OS on Samsung's Galaxy Nexus.

Ubuntu OS is long a favorite open-source platform for computing. And now, as it gets ready for a smaller screen, the OS will use the same drivers as Android smartphones and will also be able to run on entry-level smartphones.

Ubuntu for phones will use native apps, which means that developers can create a single app for both the desktop and the PC. This will let users easily move between devices. The OS also favors swiping gestures to reveal navigation strips and overview pages.

According to the Wall Street Journal, several carriers are interested in the smartphone, but it's still unclear which ones Canonical will partner with.

When the stadium went black during Sunday’s Super Bowl, Oreo pulled off a social slam-“dunk in the dark” with a quick-thinking Twitter ad that made the company out to be one smart cookie. The sudden Super Bowl blackout during the most-watched TV event of the year only inspired Oreo’s bright idea that showed how the rapid response of social media can be even more powerful than a multimillion-dollar ad campaign. Buzzfeed.com explained how the company’s well-timed Oreo tweet was a shot in the dark that got glowing results. The first secret behind the success of the Oreo ad was the quick wit and immediate execution of their advertising agency 360i. The second was their savvy use of Twitter and the real-time nature of tweets that makes it an ideal social media platform for such unplanned instances. Together, their marketing team leveraged both the opportunity and the social channel to create an ad that has since been retweeted more than 14,000 times to provide Oreo with the kind of free viral advertising that all companies crave. “We had a mission control set up at our office with the brand and 360i, and when the blackout happened, the team looked at it as an opportunity,” explained agency president Sarah Hofstetter. “Because the brand team was there, it was easy to get approvals and get it up in minutes.” According to the Brand Builder blog, this on-the-spot Twitter ad was only possible due Oreo hiring the right people, to act at the right time, on the right channels, and with the right level of trust to give their advertising agency control of their social media efforts. Unfortunately, too many companies try to micromanage their marketing teams or entrust their social media presence to unqualified staff. Instead, brands need to hire capable marketing specialists who understand the brand and are skilled at social media marketing, and then let them do their jobs. Only then can brands achieve the kind of effective brand management and savvy content development that let Oreo turn a blackout into a white-hot success.