Advertising > Print

So the new logo we made for Continuum projected communication company reliability, know-how and strength. But everything else had to communicate “We’re your local choice.” Early on we thought about having the advertising feature well known locales around each town with our Continuum service bands flowing through and around them. I still think that would have been kinda cool, but in the end it was really problematic for one hilarious reason. Continuum’s footprint covered three towns that don’t necessarily like each other! Davidson thinks Mooresville is full of low-class hicks and Mooresville thinks Davidson is full of snooty buttholes. Nobody thinks about Cornelius. Crying laughing emoji.

FINAL: Folks, meed Amber, Steven, and Jorge. All real people making Continuum great on a daily basis. It was so fun to draw out everyone’s personalities you can see more from the shoot here. — **FINAL:** Folks, meed Amber, Steven, and Jorge. All real people making Continuum great on a daily basis. It was so fun to draw out everyone’s personalities you can see more from the shoot here.

HOW SHITTY IS THIS? Right? Yet communications companies persist in feeding us this crap. Oh, and yes, I stole this image so I could purposefully leave all the Shutterstock watermarks all over it. This is Continuum’s competition so the bar was set pr… — **HOW SHITTY IS THIS?** Right? Yet communications companies persist in feeding us this crap. Oh, and yes, I stole this image so I could purposefully leave all the Shutterstock watermarks all over it. This is Continuum’s competition so the bar was set pretty low to beat it. Trick is, how? What do you replace it with? Well, if you have a good story to tell, use that.

It all ended up working out for the best. We got to focus on what being local really meant, which was more than location. It was about familiarity. It was about being a company staffed with your neighbors. It was about proximity. If you had a problem, just call Amber. She’ll tell Jorge, and your problem will get fixed that day by someone who’s glad for your business. Heck, Leslie will even follow-up later with a phone call just to make sure you’re good.

And in the end that’s one of the reasons why we featured Continuum’s employees so prominently. But it wasn’t the only reason (and this is my favorite part about doing what I do). I don’t like solving one problem – I like solving all the problems with one solution. These employees were (and still are) lovely people. They’d been through a LOT of public scorn since the company was purchased and they deserved to be heroes for a change. Also, how do you differentiate yourself from the big, faceless, out-of-town providers? Put a face to your business. I love, love, love hearing stories about how Continuum’s employees get recognized in at the grocery store, or that someone’s girlfriend doesn’t want him in so many ads because all her friends’ hearts get sent aflutter. That tells me the ads are working AND that these folks are being rewarded for being awesome at work in a way they never were before. Win, win, win, win.

FINAL: Here are some print examples of how we used our fun employee photos. We also bought pre-movie slide show space at the local indie theater in Davidson. So imagine sitting there in your comfy chair and seeing your neighbor larger than life on t… — **FINAL:** Here are some print examples of how we used our fun employee photos. We also bought pre-movie slide show space at the local indie theater in Davidson. So imagine sitting there in your comfy chair and seeing your neighbor larger than life on the big screen? We made these folks celebrities and that turned them into brand ambassadors. I love how this one solution solved so many problems, including ones we hadn’t even thought of it solving.

And this brings me to measuring the success of a campaign. Go to any agency website and tell me if their ads did anything more that bring down CPCs or increase CTR. Good advertising should do more than you can ever measure.