Thoughts on Advertising [Part 3]

More on McKinney! This is the last of a three-part post:

Simplify. I love this word because I appreciate the people who can see the beauty in little things. Flowers and random acts of kindness will never be lost upon those few. You can gain a whole new perspective on life when you see how the smallest things are the most meaningful, the briefest moments are the most defining. I will always cherish the beauty in every breath I take.

Believe. This last word summons the marketer to create a deeper, subphysical connection between McKinney’s mission and the client relationship. That’s what successful marketing is all about: building profitable customer relationships and creating value for them and the company. But if you don’t believe in your work, who will? You have to sell the idea before you sell the product. A good agency understands this, so it asks its employees to just believe. A leap of faith is all it takes to bring mediocre work to the level of extraordinary art.

Ideally, my goal is to help VoraciTee aspire to exhibit the same caliber of design, standards, and innovation as this local gem in the Research Triangle.

Thoughts on Advertising [Part 2]

Provoke. I like this value because of its originality and audacity. It shows that this company is not afraid to take risks or to expand in the future. McKinney’s work seeks to provoke consumers to act and the company itself provokes growth in all its employees and ventures. They support young people who can tap into their potential for doing great things.

Love. Plain and simple, McKinney’s work is a labor of love. Each ad they produce exemplifies the brand and love of the brand. Love is the only emotion described by their Five Words, but it is the most wholesome and universal feeling. Love means many things to all people but it creates unity just the same. I’m sure the people at McKinney love what they do, and do it well.

Thoughts on Advertising [Part 1]

In my next few posts, I’ll share some insights about one of my favorite local companies!

The coolest and most refreshing company to emulate would be an advertising agency like McKinney. They combine everything I love about good design, smart people, clean atmosphere, fresh mentality, and creative thinking under one architecturally gorgeous roof. Their Five Words sum up their values: Listen. Provoke. Love. Simplify. Believe. These are the core essence of McKinney’s business of creating and delivering customer value through brand imagery.

Listen. Not only does an ad agency need to listen and respond to their clients appropriately, they must also practice the fine art of internal marketing, making sure all employees are satisfied and supported in their jobs. By listening to their marketers, McKinney fosters a workplace that is also a community. It’s all in line with the physical space of the building in which they work. A beautiful building makes employees enjoy staying to work and increases productivity.

My Rose-Colored Lens

My personal passion is to show the world its own beauty.

Beauty is a powerful concept. It goes beyond aesthetic quality to probe the deep associations we make between things (both tangible and ideas) and ourselves. We can experience beauty. It resides in our precious memories, is manifested in our every interaction with life, can be transcribed into each word we write on a page.

Beauty exists when emotion meets reality in harmony. Advertising agencies are really selling a concept of beauty. Our collective goal is to create this experience of a real brand and turn it into a feeling of customer delight. But the real beauty of marketing is the skill it takes to distill the beauty out of any brand and represent that essence in another medium. And that’s just the beginning of our fun…

Ad activism! It’s the new frindle.

Yes, we’re blogging.

It’s not just for word nerds and high-tech geeks anymore. VoraciTee is here to make tidal waves in the blogosphere with a refreshing take on its mission-driven core businesses. We want to create a forum for discussion about the intersection of the advertising/marketing realm with the social activism world, from the perspective of an upstart, hybrid start-up company.

Ok, you got us there.

Our real goal is to coin the term, “ad activism” to describe such a crossroads. Come on, you know it’s catchy.

Social A(wear)ness: One Tee at a Time

VoraciTee was featured in the September 2010 issue of Blue & White, UNC-Chapel Hill’s premiere monthly magazine! Read the story online at http://www.unc.edu/bw/this2.php or download the print edition.