Iridium Pure Reach: Engagement, Pure and Simple

Clean water is critical for the health and survival of individuals, families and communities – everywhere on the planet.

With your help, Iridium Communications is donating to GlobalMedic. The non-profit organization brings emergency relief to devastated areas all over the world – and right now with just a few clicks, you can help the cause. For each social media interaction – including @testsatphone on Twitter, liking Test Your Satellite Phone on Facebook, sharing relevant photos and stories, and more – Iridium will make a donation to GlobalMedic, supplying water purification units to families recovering from disasters in Haiti, Japan, Pakistan and beyond.

Developed by BSL, the Iridium Pure Reach program is running in conjunction with Iridium’s annual Test Your Satellite Phone emergency preparedness initiative. It highlights the flipside of emergency preparation, and addresses the pressing need for emergency response.


BSL designed the program to be simple, effective and to harness the power of social networks to meet this real need in the aftermath of a disaster. But beyond the cause itself, the program is also effective at achieving greater interaction, which drives the relevance of Iridium’s Test Your Satellite Phone initiative. What’s more, the invitation for users to provide stories and photos gives Iridium insight into those who interact with their brand.

The Pure Reach program is simple. All you have to do is get engaged, and you can help give clean water to those who need it most. So what are you waiting for? Follow @testsatphone on Twitter, like Test Your Satellite Phone on Facebook, and visit www.iridium.com/purereach for more information.

Get Your Business Blogging (Successfully)

For many businesses, a blog is considered an absolute marketing asset, and is treated as a long-term investment toward driving traffic and leads over time.

To truly make the most out of your business’ blog, there are a few important points to consider:

What are your resources?

Who will be blogging and how much time can they dedicate to the initiative? Knowing this up front will help you plan your blogging approach in terms of topics and frequency. It will help you to set realistic goals and expectations.

Who is your audience?

Your blog can achieve success if you have a clear understanding of whom it is you are writing for. Tailor content to meet the needs of your readers, so that it is relevant and helpful to them. Take time to understand what they’re interested in. Test and tune. Try out different subjects and track the results in terms of visitors and comments. Be sure to note, however, that sometimes posts with the lowest traffic will generate the most leads.

How are you going to promote your blog?

To existing customers

If you are writing for a community of existing customers, use existing internal channels or client communications such as emails and e-newsletters to cross-promote your blog. It is also wise to take advantage of your website and social media pages such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Don’t be shy to push out blog post links to networks of people you think it might be relevant to.

To new customers

If the aim of your blog is to acquire new customers, try to determine influencers that already exist by becoming active in online communities. By participating in spaces where potential customers are, you will be more successful in driving traffic back to you. Playing an active role in their world will make them far more likely to support you.

It has also been proven quite effective to integrate online and social media activities with other traditional marketing activities. You can inspire action by promoting the opportunity to get important news first through your blog, or win a prize in an online contest. For campaigns, you can carry messaging across all media, and incorporate a call-to-action to visit your website or social spaces in offline communications.

All in all, building an effective blog requires patience and persistence. It can take one to two years to establish successful blog readership. So keep at it! And stay tuned for more posts about B2B blogging, including content generation tips, editorial calendars and more.

Three Thumbs Up for BSL

Together with our clients, BSL is thrilled to announce that we have been awarded three trophies from the 17th Annual Communicator Awards, judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts.

Our work on the ng Connect Program’s Solutions Concept Video Series won us a Silver Award of Distinction in the category of Online Video: Technology. While our work on Alcatel-Lucent’s LTE Video is still getting recognized two years later, achieving a Gold Award of Excellence in the category of Film/Video: Visual Effects. For both projects our responsibilities ran the gamut from initial creative approach and scriptwriting to casting, shooting and final production.

BSL was also fortunate to be given a Gold Award of Excellence in the category of Outdoor Advertising: Tradeshow Exhibits, for our work on the Iridium Communications booth displayed at SATELLITE 2011. A striking, two-level structure with several dynamic features, the Iridium booth was a testament to maximizing space, while simplifying the message.

BSL is very grateful for these three distinctions from the Communicator Awards, and would like to thank everyone involved who worked tirelessly on making these projects a success.

About the Awards:
The Communicator Awards are judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an invitation-only body consisting of acclaimed media, communications, advertising, creative and marketing firms. IAVA members include executives from organizations such as Alloy, Brandweek, Coach, Disney, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Estee Lauder, Fry Hammond Barr, HBO, Monster.com, MTV, Polo Ralph Lauren, Sotheby's Institute of Art, Victoria's Secret, Wired, and Yahoo!

Congratulations to ng Connect and BSL!

We are very pleased to announce that the ng Connect Solutions Concept Video Series has earned a Telly Award, in the category of Online Video.

The Telly Awards honor the very best television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions, and work created for the Web. Since 1978, the Telly Awards has existed to strengthen the visual arts community by inspiring, promoting, and supporting creativity. The 31st Annual Telly Awards received over 13,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents, and are judged by CEOs, executive producers, creative directors from corporations, media and production companies across the United States.

In this new world of network-driven content, the Solution Concept Video Series illustrates how demand is the driving force behind emerging opportunities in consumer technologies and solutions. Each video details how the multi-partner, multi-discipline ecosystem approach of ng Connect is ideal – not only for conceiving and developing solution concepts, but for quickly evolving them from ideation to market reality. If commercialized, these solutions have the potential to revolutionize many industries, from professional photography to advertising, to perhaps most critically – our health sector.

A tremendous thank you to everyone who helped make the ng Connect Solutions Concept Video Series an award-winning success!

How to Survive a Press Check

Whether you are a Production Manager, Designer or even an Account Executive, a time will come when you are needed at a press check – the final and all-important step in the print production process. But does the thought of a press check make your heart race, and not in a good way? You are not alone. It can be pretty intimidating walking into a pressroom with the huge presses humming along at a fast pace, with everyone waiting for your sign off. If you break it down to a few simple steps it won’t seem so daunting to sign off that press sheet.

By the time you get to the press, the pressman should have the sheet pretty much ready to go based on the colour proofs that you approved earlier in the process. These proofs should be at the press. Once the pressman is happy he will pull you a sheet for your approval. Oh and feel free to bring another pair of eyes, it doesn’t hurt to have two people reviewing things and it can take a bit of the pressure off. Now for the checklist…

• Is it the right stock? Seems obvious, but mix-ups can happen.
• Take a good look at the overall sheet, for a first impression of how it looks.
• Check for registration and trapping, and ensure everything is lined up properly (and that any knocked-out type is legible).
• Does the overall colour need an adjustment? If it does – give honest, straightforward feedback (e.g. looks too red or whites look dirty) and let the pressman worry about how to fix it.
• Are you using spot colours? If so check against a PMS book for accuracy.
• Make sure no copy is missing and that the images are all positioned correctly.
• Is the colour consistent throughout the sheet? Colour match the proof and determine if it’s what you expected.
• Check for flaws, hickeys, imperfection, hairs, or broken type.

If you do make changes to the press sheets it is a good idea to number them so you can keep track of where you have been. Once you have a sheet you are happy with, sign it off and ask for a couple of sheets to take back to the office and you are done!

Want to learn more about graphic arts production? Choose from one of the many helpful books available on the subject, like this one.

QNX Celebrates Launch of the Playbook

There is never a dull moment for QNX. As we’ve mentioned, our clients at QNX Software Systems are responsible for powering most of the world. From in-car entertainment to commercial airlines, pharmaceutical production and even what we’re up to in space – QNX develops many of the operating systems that make these things happen.

QNX was in the news again last week, as Research in Motion (RIM) announced the much-anticipated global launch of the new Blackberry Playbook. There is certainly no shortage of buzz around this new device (as a worthy opponent to the all mighty iPad), and our client has a lot to do with it. The Blackberry Playbook runs on the QNX Neutrino® RTOS, which is largely responsible for the tablet’s impressive capabilities.

Critics are praising many features of the Playbook, like its seamless navigation and superb ability to multitask. It has been said that the Playbook stands to be the top choice of tablet for the corporate market. With a smaller, sleeker form than other tablets available – and boasting Flash-compatibility – the Playbook could cause some devout Apple fans to question their faith. Who knows, we could end up seeing more and more user feedback like this:

“If/when they put QNX in their phones I may very well trade my iPhone for a Blackberry.” Navid Boostani, Toronto Sun Reader

In tandem with the launch, BSL put together a video for QNX, highlighting just some of the things that the new Blackberry Playbook can do.

For Your Inspiration: Digitizing Nostalgia

Pine Point, Northwest Territories was a mining town that existed for 30 odd years, long enough for a generation to make its way through. A joint venture between the Canadian government and Cominco (the mining company), the townsite was built to service those working in the open pit mine. At its peak, it had a bustling population of 1200 residents. It had an airport, a hotel and no shortage of archetype characters. Residents went to school, formed bands, grew mullets, drank at the legion or anywhere they could. When the mine closed in 1988, so was the town. Most of it was hauled away, buried or burned.

"Welcome to Pine Point" is a NFB website documentary that tells the story of the town and it residents. Part memoir, part research project, part design piece, the story is put together by Michael Simons and Paul Shoebridge, the creative team "The Goggles", responsible for such things like Adbusters Magazine.

You can flip through the site in about 10 minutes or a full hour to take in all the details, which where in lies the beauty of this story. It is a documentary on the challenges of capturing memories and documenting life; the evolution in photography and the vanishing custom of keeping photo albums (when was the last time you got a roll of film developed?) but also the shift in media that is being used to document history. With the creators background being in print, they admit that this was originally suppose to be a book but were convinced to make it digitally, into a sort of narrated scrapbook. They bring to life the story of Pine Point through a collage of pictures, graphics, video and audio. As opposed to being a more passive experience of flipping through a book, they have made it into an enriched visual, audio and interactive experience, allowing the reader to dig through layers and get deeper into the story.

"Welcome to Pine Point" is a great piece of design, stylistically it captures an era and structurally it looks forward to the next. Is this where books are going (the new incarnation of the coffee book)? Does a project like this reinforce the statement that "Print is dead", that print is evolving into new media forms in our shift on how we consume information?

The New ‘Must-Have’ Accessory for Social Media Strategists

Every day more and more companies are joining the brave new world of social media. As this trend continues (to the point where it can’t be called a trend any longer) it’s becoming more and more challenging to stand out from the clutter. Concentrating on our own social networks, as well as those of our clients, BSL has uncovered some interesting challenges.

A good social media strategy is about more than just joining a network. It takes a careful combination of strategy, creativity, content and timing to effectively reach readers wth your message, and encourage them to engage with it. While we can control the first three, the gamble lies in timing. For many, the world of social media is a mysterious mix, and begs the question: Is there an optimal time of day to send an update, when people are more likely to respond? Is 11am better than 2pm?

Enter Arkli, a new social media management system. BSL recently sat down with Mike Potter, owner of the Ottawa-based start-up.

Arkli is a Social Engagement Platform where companies can schedule multiple posts on their social networks, to coordinate a message on several different channels at the same time. Say you want to post a blog that features a video you plan to upload to YouTube. You may then decide you want to push this content out on your Facebook and Twitter. All of these updates can be done on Arkli. What makes Arkli unique? You can share these posts with key influencers before they go live.

We love this concept and so BSL has recently become an Arkli beta-tester. We will be providing feedback on new tools and features, and posting any updates on our blog as they happen – maybe even before they go live.

How I Became the Mayor of BSL

It took me three days, but I now don the crown as Mayor of BSL.
In what universe am I a Mayor? In the universe of location based services – more specifically in the universe of Foursquare. What does that title mean exactly? Not much at the moment. But here is a quick rundown of what I’ve learned during my recent rise to power:

What LBS options are available?
I found a list from Mashable counting down the best of LBS. I decided Foursquare (rated number one) would be my LBS application of choice.

What exactly do you do in Foursquare?

I think this video does a good job of explaining what Foursquare does.

Key Terminology

Check-in
Similar to a check-in at a hotel, you simply register with Foursquare that you are at a certain location. If you check into a location more than anyone else in a given month, you are crowned the Mayor of that establishment. This status can wield some inviting benefits, such as free coffee at a participating Starbucks.

Tips
A Tip is a bit of insider information that you leave behind for the next person, once you exit a location. For example: Order the burger and ask for the secret sauce! As you check into a new location, you can view other people’s tips, potentially influencing your decisions for the better.

To-Do List
You can add Tips and Places to your To-Do List, and can check them off whenever you’re in the neighbourhood.

Friends
Your Foursquare friends can see most of your personal profile and location information, while the wider Foursquare community (including Facebook and Twitter) sees more limited information, due to a set of choices you are given in the check-in process. Even among Foursquare friends, you can still choose to check-in off the grid, if you don’t want anyone seeing your location.

Badges
Similar to Boy Scouts and Girl Guides – as you achieve specific requirements, you unlock new badges. Some badges are earned by checking into multiple locations in a single day, week or month, while some require checking into a certain type of location, a certain number of times. Badges provide added value and give incentive to explore new places and frequent familiar ones.

Stats
Foursquare does a pretty efficient job of tracking all of your check-ins. Each user gets a “Stats” page that breaks down your activity and information in many different ways. Here is a look at my stats page.

My First Impressions of Foursquare
The primary hurdle of Foursquare is the concept of publicizing one’s location – which to some can seem frightening. But you don’t need to submit your location to participate in Foursquare. Security settings offer users pretty good control. You can still collect badges, see local tips and get recommendations from other users. But of course, the experience is enhanced when you do check-in publicly – because you get to run for Mayor.

Foursquare seems to have a lot of potential from both a social and marketing standpoint. You can link to Facebook and Twitter, with the option to publish check-ins to all platforms. You can also keep your check-ins completely private. Stay tuned to the BSL Blog as I continue my adventures in Foursquare, and explore more opportunities for marketers. Look up BSL on Foursquare and check-in the next time you stop by!


Are you using any LBS applications? If so, what are they and what has your experience been like?

New Campaign, New App and New Season for Place d’Orleans

No one experiences spring fever quite like the fashion industry. Shedding our winter wardrobe in exchange for the light and bright is an event that truly gets its own countdown.

As we approach this monumental switch to spring, BSL has been working with Place d’Orleans on the debut of their new campaign. In recent years we have developed a more fashion-forward image for the shopping centre – one that features a real focus on the latest trends, must-have items and inspiring styles of the season.

Our team hit the road to Montreal once again to stage a full-day shoot for the new campaign. Our feature model breezed into the studio where we draped her in whites, florals and animal prints – just a few of the hottest looks you’ll be seeing this spring. Not only did the day produce a batch of super hot shots for the campaign, but BSL has also put together a video that captures the fashion magic from behind the scenes.

While you may have seen previous Place d’Orleans campaigns whirring past you on bus wraps throughout town, or hitting your doorstep in the mail, this campaign marks a shift in the media mix. Interior bus ads and transit shelter ads will feature a special QR code, taking users directly to view the campaign video (which lives on the Place d’Orleans YouTube channel). To support this new media effort, the campaign also encourages audiences to download the new Place d’Orleans app for the iPhone, which hooks users up with the latest trends, tips and promos happening right now in the mall.

The new season may mark an increase in temperature, but for the fashionistas – the arrival of spring is enough to give chills. Be on the lookout for the campaign launch on April 1st.