Just Let Me Riff

Connie (Conster, Connezy) has been a part of WITH/ for about a year and a half and she is, in the words of DJ Khaled, a MAJOR KEY to the team. She is an Account Manager and (basically) the official Birthday Planner of WITH/. Coincidentally, her birthday was this past week - Happy Birthday Connie! To celebrate her 1404th week of life, we thought it would be a great time to Catch Up WITH/ Connie while we had some time in between all of her amazing travel adventures!

So, what’s up Connie? Nothing much! Just trying to rethink how to strategically pack my suitcase next week.

Where are you traveling to? The good ole desert valley of Southern California for Coachella!

That’s incredible! Who are you most excited to see? …can I say EVERYONE? But if I had to select just a few: LCD Soundsystem, Of Monsters and Men, Ice Cube, G-Eazy, Beach House, Miike Snow and James Bay. A full spectrum of music! 

What a variety of genres! When you are traveling, what is your go-to genre to listen to? Definitely indie folk or indie electronic. For instance, it was all indie folk when I was bicycling through the Tulum Ruins last week… and last month, you could fine me listening to indie electronic while hanging out with my girlfriends in Punta Cana. 

Since you are a Yelp Elite, do you like to Yelp a lot when you travel to new places?  Yes! It’s a complete must. The reviews aren’t always correct but it gives me a general direction on where to go (Yelpers usually leave good little tidbits)

Now, you’ve only been living in Atlanta about a year and half now right? What’s your favorite part of the city? It’ll be two years in August! Out of all Atlanta, I really love Inman Park! Aside from how cute it is, I love the fact that I can bring my little dog Dexter, just about anywhere.

“4 Lessons Through the Eyes of a 4 Year Old” 

by Blair Brady

To me, WITH is still brand new… and then last month, we turned 4. WHAT?!?!  Sometimes it feels like we started 4 days ago…sometimes it feels like 486038075388650364 days.  But WITH has been WITH/us for 4 years now.  Most people might take a deep breath and say, “wow…we’ve arrived”, but the truth is, we haven’t. And, I don’t ever want to.  

In our 4 years, we have soared with successes and stumbled with challenges.  Along the way, we’ve learned a LOT of lessons - some easy, lots hard.   

So, here are 4 of those lessons thru the eyes of a 4 year old (agency).

1 - The Golden Rule is still the Golden Rule.  Treat others the way you want to be treated…and even a little better wouldn’t hurt.  And by others, this means everyone - clients, employees, the UPS man (you can ask him - he came to our 4th birthday party), partners… everyone.  Great work is built from great relationships.  And great relationships take constant attention, not just when you need something.

2 - The right talent is hard to find.  Notice I didn’t say “Good talent is hard to find”. Because it’s not. We can bring on the smartest people in the world, but they might not be the right fit for us.  That intangible thing called “culture” is a big deal.  It’s easy to have great culture when there’s free lunch and happy hours. But when you’re staring wide-eyed at your co-worker across the project table because you have a deadline coming for a major client project that’s gone sideways, you need to know the person you’re looking at is WITH you.  THAT, my friends, is where it counts.  And that person across the table isn’t WITH/us based on intellect or work history - it’s because they’re one of us.  They are WITH.

3 - Understand which work is the right work.  Great work comes in all kinds of packages… recognizing the right work takes understanding your skills (and limitations) and your clients needs and expectations.  And when the right work comes along, over-deliver every time.

4 - Keep digging.  Think that campaign you just wrapped was AMAZING?  Upset because you didn’t get that new project you wanted? Celebrate or commiserate for 5 minutes and move on. Because better work lies ahead and the only way to uncover it is by digging.  Dig deep and find the next great story to bring to life.

With our mind set on always making things better and finding an even more creative approach… making each story better than the last means we’ll never arrive. But it also means we’ll never stop…and THAT’s what it’s all about.  And that’s why I never want to look around this place we’ve created and say “wow…we’ve arrived.”

#cantstopwontstop

#WITHwords

Also, IF YOU CAN’T TELL WHO IS WHO in old pictures…  Here are the answers ( Left to Right ): 1. Jamie  2. Jess  3. Lindsey  4. Jon  5. Connie  6. Blair  

THE STATS:

Marketers are creating more content year over year.

76% of B2C marketers are using content marketing, but only 37% have a documented content marketing strategy.

56% say that producing engaging content is the top challenge faced by content marketers today.

And more than a third of them say that time is the biggest challenge in creating effective content.

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

What makes content production and strategic distribution (their powers combined create content marketing) so hard?  Maybe there’s a scientific, rational answer for this. But I’m not a scientist nor am I the most rational person you’ll meet, but I do have opinions. So, that’s what I can give.

In my opinion, the reason marketers are struggling with content is because its one of the only pieces of work product left that technology can’t solve. Think about it.  You can automate your email and lead nurturing campaign, you can automate the push of your digital content.  There’s a million tools for social media publishing, and even more for analytics.  There’s even fool-proof technology for video and fast creative.  BUT, there is no tool for STORYTELLING.  Crafting the narrative that creates the content to fuel all of those media types still takes a human brain with the gift of storytelling.  To create a meaningful piece of content, regardless of the topic, we’re required to think, relate and communicate in a way that cuts through the rapidly shrinking filter of today’s attention spans. THAT’s what makes it so hard.  There’s no quick and easy tool for powerful content.

ON TO TOMORROW:

So now that the spotlight is on content marketing, what’s next?  I believe that content marketing is here to stay because, regardless of how media evolves, the story still lies at the core. The story is the good stuff - the media is just the candy-coated shell.  The good story-tellers will always find a way to be heard and cut through the clutter to deliver results.  And even creative irrational story-tellers know that results drive our business.

And this is why I say, damn it feels good to be a content marketing agency.

Jessica (we like to call her Jess) has been a part of WITH since June 2015. She graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Graphic Design in May 2015 and then immediately started a design internship here the following summer. We liked her so much, we asked her to hang around with us a little longer and now she’s our Junior Designer & Account Coordinator at WITH. Since she is one of the newest additions to the #WITHsquad, we asked her to be our first feature of “Catching Up WITH/ …”

So, What’s up Jess? I’m good! I just moved into a new apartment last week! So I’m a little overwhelmed, but very excited!

That’s exciting! What kind of apartment is it? It’s a studio in Garden Hills! Only 5 minutes from work! Yay!

What’s your favorite part about Atlanta? You can always find something new to do and see! There’s so many good restaurants and murals everywhere. My hobby for instagramming is totally fulfilled here! Hah!

So, what’s your IG handle? @jessicajacksongrams, follow me, hey!

Haha! What’s your most used hashtag? Probably #girlgang. I love my closest friends and it’s a hobby of ours to all go out and experience new things in new places and take pictures along the way.

What’s the last thing you listened too? This morning as I was getting ready, I played Justin Bieber’s new album. If you’ve ever doubted JB before, you won’t after you’ve heard this new album. So, so good.

What are your plans for this afternoon? I hope to do some adulting activities, like grocery shopping, unpacking a few boxes, and maybe running by a gym to look at memberships!

They like us….they really like us!  It is WITH/excitement (dangerous amounts of excitement) that we share with you our 2015 Content Marketing Award for Best Use of Facebook in our Colorize Your Classroom campaign!  

Its only possible WITH/client Astrobrights Paper (by Neenah), that we were able to make this campaign happen. 

WE MADE THE FINALIST LIST IN 2 CATEGORIES OF THE 2015 CONTENT MARKETING AWARDS!

We are thrilled to brag about our amazing clients who work with us to make these campaigns from Southworth Paper (landthejob) and Astrobrights Papers (colorize ) come to life.

We are grateful for the opportunity to tell brand’s stories through impactful content-driven campaigns…and having a blast in the process.

July is looking BRIGHT!!!! 

WITH/excitement we are launching another COLORFUL campaign WITH/client, Astrobrights Papers called 25 Days of Color.  Led by the creative and talented ASTRO Bright Minds brand ambassadors, this content series will feature a different Astrobrights color each day for 25 days.  

Follow the campaign using #25DaysofColor

@colorize.tumblr.com

The beacon is out - we’re looking for new talent to work/WITHus.  If you dream about great content, amazing people, and a dynamic work environment - then WITH could be your new home.  In addition of being one of the nation’s top content marketing agencies, we bring creativity to many of the greatest brands who we’re fortunate enough to call our clients.

Talent of all levels - come WITHer.

We’re celebrating National Small Business Week by launching an amazing campaign called #ColorizeYourBusiness WITH/client Astrobrights Papers.

This content series is Colorizing #NSBW15 by encouraging small business to dream big with color by giving them tips and content with easy ways they can make a different in culture, productivity and design at any business.  The series includes videos featuring 3 key businesses who are experts in using color for branding, office design and overall business growth.