The ideal candidate will have the following experience:
- Completed (or entering) the final year of a 4-year graphic design degree or related program
- A strong portfolio/demonstrates a strong sense of design and typography
- A willingness to learn and work within a team environment
- Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite
- Proficient in Microsoft Office

Who to Contact
If you think you’re G/L material … Submit your résumé and/or work samples to:

Adam Arriola
Principal // Associate Creative Director
adam@geileon.com

Advertisements heavily saturate the market – so many words! While Instagram is certainly an avenue to connect with a businesses’ audience, it’s an indirect advertisement. The image-driven purpose of Instagram  for brands is to sell by storytelling. Or, inadvertently advertise by creating a visual connection. Every B2B company works to create this customer connection and with Instagram, they’re allowed to present their product or service in a different light, with little words or description.

Creating compelling content on Instagram may actually be quite simple. Strategically, the visuals shared should be a peek into your operations, whether that is concepting or manufacturing or end-use. These images should be a new way to look at “what” you’re doing and specifically “why” it is important.

If you’re ready to kick-start your Instagram campaign or reenergize one that may be lagging, adopt the following habits.

1. Show Off Before/After Shots: Customers probably have a good idea of what your product or service does if they’re following you on Instagram, but you can take it to another level. Approaching an image in a problem/solution (before/after) way allows customers to see in what ways your product has been brought to life.

2. Give a Behind-the-Scenes Look at Your Company: Understanding the way a company works or how they create, helps explain “why.” It strengthens your company’s position as the best solution for the customer. People appreciate a transparent look to know exactly how your process works and what the outcome will be.

3. Show Off Products in Different Environments: When you have a beautiful product, photos are easy. But if your product isn’t so attractive, put it in thought-provoking environments. Customers want to see a product in action, fulfilling its duties, in as many scenarios as possible.

4. ENGAGE with Your Audience: While it may not be content you’ve created yourself, invite your audience to post photos of your product in use. Potential customers are motivated to buy when they see people like them successfully using those same products. Take it one step further and create a custom hashtag so you can group the fan photos. Better yet, make it a contest to increase engagement.

5. Use Geo-tagging: Geo-tagging can serve a number of purposes. Maybe it’s to convey your company’s multiple locations. Maybe it’s to show your audience all of the places that your product is being used. Either way, providing physicality to your company makes you appear more attainable.

There is no failing at Instagram if you create compelling content. Ask yourself what you’d want to see if you were in the audience. Why are you interested in some images more than others? If you want your customers to buy what you’re selling, show them why it’s worth it.

If every word spoken from the stage were logged and cataloged, I would guess that the five most oft-spoken words were conversation, community, genuine, content and social.

My overall takeaway from listening to these leaders from across the country and across industries is that advertising as you and I know it is dead! And that’s okay with me. I started out in this business late in the Mad Men era, and this new attitude of community, conversation and genuineness is refreshing. I remember hearing E.E. Norris of BBDO tell a story back in the day about his young son. The boy approached Norris with an open magazine in hand and said, “Dad, is this true or is it an ad?”

That story has stuck with me my entire career, and I have always tried to advocate for my clients’ customers — even going as far as to say to clients, “It really doesn’t matter what you want or even what the agency wants. It’s only important what your customer wants.” I have not always been the most popular girl in the room.

Today’s consumers will get to the truth, because they can — through social media, community and genuine conversation. Brands will be content providers, and they will craft stories that are relevant to a profoundly changed and more sophisticatedly demanding audience.

The old advertising model where brands simply told consumers what they have and why consumers have to have it has given way to brands actually conversing with consumers to make products that are meaningful in their lives. Sheryl Connelly, Manager of Global Trends and Futuring at Ford Motor Company, says that Ford has moved from manufacturing to being a consumer-driven company. And that accounts for the success they are experiencing in the marketplace.

Conversations with customers are happening wherever the communities of brand believers gather, and they are changing the way brands create and market products. Brands are building community not just with consumers, but with supply chain companies as well. Blair Taylor, Chief Community Officer at Starbucks, identifies vendors who share their values and align with them to build leaders in their communities.

Diane Von Furstenberg, Founder and Co-chairman, DVF Studios, also observes that people are just tired of the old BS. And they don’t have to take it anymore. She says when she is her authentic and genuine self in her tweets, the response is overwhelming. When she tries to sell something, not much happens. Jack Dorsey, Co-founder of Twitter and Co-founder of Square, concurs.

The social experience is all about content and community. Social is going on when TV spots are airing. Bonn Bough, VP of Global Media and Consumer Engagement, Mondeléz International, shared that the Oreo Super Bowl hit was the result of a carefully architected social media strategy that made the brand ready to respond to whatever the Big Game threw its way. Oreo created a social media command center, so that they could respond in real time to comments and buzz.

Did innovation cause this? Or just enable it? Are we more in tuned with each other today, or have we finally learned that the truth will win out? Either way, it’s all good.

Ever since its transition from college campuses to workplaces and cubicles everywhere, Facebook has been viewed as nothing but a huge timewaster for employers. The Huffington Post had it ranked as the #1 website blocked by employers in 2010 with one simple goal in mind; increase productivity. However, a recent article by Forbes cites two separate studies that show that being on social media actually greatly improves employee productivity and performance. In fact, productivity rose by nearly 35% when an employee used 5 or more social networks in a day. Can you imagine raising your office’s productivity by 35%? Most managers would be decorating their new corner offices if they ever achieved those results.

When I heard about these results, I assumed it was a classic case of correlation not necessarily proving causation. I’ll explain; I figured that white-collar jobs that didn’t block sites like Facebook simply had more employees that took ownership of their positions and therefore always put work above social networking. Basically, if you took away social media across the board, the same group would still be more productive.

Nope.

Evolv, one of the primary researchers for the Forbes article, focused on hourly workers in the U.S., such as call center staff. Those who regularly used more than five social networks demonstrated higher sales in less time than their colleagues. So blue-collar or white-collar, social media makes your office more productive. But why?

Regardless of your position at a company, a constant need for businesses is the ability to gather and use information. And where can someone find more information than ever before? Social media. Whether it’s learning about new tricks and tools in your industry, finding information on clients, or simply being connected with current events in the news, social media makes your employees more in tune with the world around them.

Instead of searching through articles that may be months old for industry information, employees can get the up-to-the-minute info served directly to their news feed. If they want to see a demonstration about a product or service for a client, they can just watch a YouTube video. They can also find and communicate with customers and other professionals more quickly and easily through platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.

So maybe the social media fight shouldn’t be how to keep your people off of it, but how to get them to use it more effectively. Social media is here to stay and is being incorporated into businesses more everyday. Isn’t it time you stopped fighting and started posting, tweeting, blogging, favoriting, liking and …well, you get the idea.

You probably agree that Facebook and Twitter are far more mainstream and understood when it comes to the do’s and don’ts. As businesses are now more eagerly adopting additional forms of social media, it’s important to be on the up-and-up of these sites’ rules. Instagram is no exception, and boy, does it have some rules that I strongly endorse.

While some are (and should be) blatantly obvious, others may not be. That’s why I compiled some of the most important and relevant rules to share.

1.  Don’t Sign Up and Go Dormant: I had to share this rule because I think it’s imperative to any social site. It’s one thing to sign up and correctly utilize and benefit from a social site. It’s another when you’re only jumping on the bandwagon because you think you should. Commit yourself!

2.  Don’t Go Overboard with the Posts: Facebook and Twitter are revolving doors of status updates and tweets. Instagram, however, is singularly focused on images when you’re scrolling through the app. If your followers see incessant posts and feel it begins to bog down their stream – see ya later.

3.  Don’t Just Advertise, Please: Instagram should provide followers a view of your business that they can’t see anywhere else, a closer look into your operation. Consumers see enough advertisements throughout their day. They begin to try to tune them out, so provide access to information that they can only see via your Instagram account. There’s intrigue to behind-the-scenes visuals that will peak interest and keep them engaged.

4.  Don’t Go Crazy with #Hashtags: It’s one thing to toss in a couple to categorize your posts as a means to recruit your target. But be strategic in those hashtags. When you throw in 37, it’s obnoxious, it looks like a desperate plea for attention, and it also confuses your audience and followers. Focus on a few hashtags specific to your industry and the content of your photo.

5.  Don’t Repost to Every Other Social Site: Sometimes it’s ok, but be selective! First, how are you going to garner followers on Instagram if they can just remain a Facebook fan or Twitter follower and get the same info? Second, you aren’t providing exclusivity to your Instagram followers when you go with the ‘blanket’ share approach. And finally, you should be segmenting your content based on your audience anyway, right? There’s no exception here.

It’s important to realize that not every social network is alike and each needs to be approached strategically. Cater your content and methodology to the Instagram audience, and treat the site as an individual effort (just as you should be with your other social accounts).

Looking for some examples of noteworthy Instagram accounts? Check out accounts like Cisco Systems, Sharpie, Starbucks and General Electric, and examine the themes of their posts – and then do your best to adopt some of their habits.

Now that we’ve covered some guidelines on what not to do on Instagram, stay tuned for our top suggestions on how to maximize your account. And in the meantime, keep up with behind-the-scenes happenings on Geile/Leon’s Instagram account.

In 2011, Clayco approached Geile/Leon with a need to update their company website. And when they tasked G/L with designing and developing one, I was intrigued at the opportunity. I was familiar with the Clayco brand and knew that they were one of the nation’s top design-build firms. But even more so, I love their business. They build some absolutely incredible structures — hospitals, factories, office buildings, residential towers, you name it … Clayco designs and builds it. More importantly, they do it unlike any design-build firm in the country.

For me, Clayco goes even deeper than that — there is something about architecture that has always struck a chord. It ignites something inside me, a curiosity, a sense of wonder and excitement at its pure grandeur. For as long as I can remember, I have marveled at buildings, large and small, and I’ve felt inspired by the spaces they shape and create. As a creative director I’d like to think I have an appreciation for all arts, but it’s the science and engineering behind the art of architecture that puts it on a higher level. Needless to say, when this opportunity with Clayco came around, I couldn’t wait to get started.

The task presented seemed simple enough. But as our team dug into the Clayco brand, it soon became obvious that there was an opportunity to go deeper … to go beyond the stated scope of work and really elevate the Clayco brand to a higher level. How did we do that? The same way we do it for all our clients. We looked beyond the surface to “Find the Why” — to find the driving force behind the Clayco brand. What we found was a company of greater vision and purpose, a design-build firm that approached each development in a unique fashion. Clayco doesn’t just build; they create. They do it with a holistic, intelligent balance of art and science that is replicated nowhere else. Why? Because it can’t be. They view structures through the eyes of their owners. They don’t see buildings; they see centers of healing, technology, science, research, manufacturing, entertainment and progress. They are the builders of people’s lives — because without people, buildings are without purpose. By tearing down obstacles, Clayco builds powerful structures. And they replace those obstacles with solutions that reach far beyond the walls of the structures they create.

Great work requires great clients — clients with the vision and drive to push agencies to create the highest level of work they are capable of. We shared Clayco’s vision by taking a website refresh project and building it into a fully integrated strategic branding platform that, in the end, helps Clayco better market their services. A year after completing the Clayco “Beyond These Walls” project, I see and feel the impact of the work G/L developed in the community every day. I drive by the Missouri Baptist Hospital expansion project on my way into work, and when my daughter was born there last February I saw firsthand the scope of inspirational work done by Clayco. The hospital site is full of signage, trucks and banners that carry the brand elements G/L created. I go to Cardinal’s games and see the incredible transformation of Cupples Station—from an abandoned warehouse to state-of-the-art office space. All while clad in the “Beyond These Walls” iconic graphics. I see the new St. Louis University Law School building downtown undergoing a complete renovation to become a center of higher learning; it’s exterior facade banners bearing the same message. Seeing all of these monuments of progress happening within the community I live in humbles me and makes me proud of the brand architecture we built for our design-build client.

At G/L, we have a mantra of our own that aligns with “Beyond These Walls.” Here, “Make It Mean Something” drives us. We make it our purpose to find our client’s “why” — that secret sauce that gives greater meaning to their products and services. Those four little words capture a mindset and focus that keeps our client’s best interest above all else, and fuels our desire to make every interaction, relationship and piece of work mean something.

For more pictures:
Joe & Loretta Scott Law Center at Saint Louis University
Cupples 9
Missouri Baptist Hospital

If you have been around advertising, marketing or seen one episode of “Mad Men,” you know copywriters have a way with words. But, what if they could only use one word to describe themselves? Things would get a little more interesting. “If I had to describe myself in one word, it’s orange. Oranges are always good. You rarely get a bad orange. I’m really consistent and always try to be at my best — both in my work and my personal life.”

At G/L, Travis reflects this belief and passion for meaning on a regular basis. He works with both B2B and B2C clients to develop brand identity, construct digital strategy, generate messaging, create content and improve their brand using all platforms. On top of that … this guy can cook. If there is a fresh, homemade treat up for grabs on the high top near the kitchen, he’s one of the select few from the agency that could be responsible. How did he hone his cooking skills? “I like to cook because copywriting is such an abstract, creative endeavor, and baking is just following instructions and much more scientific. It’s also nice to be able to taste your results,” he says. No complaints here.

Travis came to St. Louis, and eventually G/L, after growing up in the small town of Oran, Missouri— population 1,294. Needless to say, the two cities lend themselves to very different lifestyles. “It was great to grow up in Oran, but city life definitely has its advantages,” he says. “Our closest McDonalds was like 20 minutes away in a different town, and going to Cardinals games or to the airport were all-day events.” A guy by the name of Brennan Huff said it best … “There’s so much extra space to do activities!”

As with most St. Louis residents, Travis loves everything Cardinals — just another thing that makes him a perfect fit with the contagious G/L culture. After his initial interview, he found himself wondering, “How do I get to be a part of this?” True, over five years of experience writing copy across all mediums for business-to-business, healthcare, finance, not-for-profit, government agencies, consumer goods, as well as PR and employee communications helped. But, we knew he would be a great fit for G/L because he believes in doing great work. He believes in thinking strategically. And he believes in building, strengthening and maintaining genuine relationships. “I know it sounds cliché, but I genuinely care about the work I’m doing. I can definitely drive myself crazy trying to come up with an ad campaign or a headline. I really want my words to convey exactly what a business is trying to say.”

That drive is how you become a part of what we’re doing at Geile/Leon. And that’s why we’re excited to welcome Travis (and his cooking) to the team.

Beer-Thirty Drink of Choice: Pabst Blue Ribbon

Advertisers pride themselves on making ads more personal. We’ve gone from valuing reach to focusing on accuracy, so when you get a banner ad, it’s less likely to annoy you and more likely to interest you. The problem? According to a recent poll by Enliken, 49.6% of what companies think they know about you is completely wrong. Emphasis on completely. Responders to this survey said that half of the information gathered on them didn’t describe them AT ALL. That’s troubling news for marketers who spend millions targeting the right audience.

Don’t believe me? Try it.

I love advertising. I watch commercials, read print ads and pay more attention to billboards than any man should. Online surveys, I take ‘em. A website wants to ask me a few questions, no problem. I would have been surprised if I scored below an 80% on this quiz. I mean, I’m a willing participant, how off could their information be?

53% of what they knew about me was wrong.

53%! From a willing and active participant in online marketing research! Imagine what they know about a person that ignores all the pop-ups and splash surveys that I value so highly. And when I say wrong, I mean way off. I’m a single male who hates shopping and rents an apartment. But here’s what they had me pegged as:

• Trendy homemaker (Do movie posters count?)
• Astronomer
• Oil Industry Worker
• Finance Aficionado
• Suburban Homeowner (I rent in the middle of St. Louis)

It’s not just “what” advertisers are missing, but “how.” Last year alone, over 5.3 trillion display ads we placed on websites around the net according to Digiday. The typical Internet user was served over 1,700 a month! That’s a lot of focus on banner ads, but they weren’t effective. The typical banner ad had a .04% open rate. How low is that? You’re more likely to survive a plane crash than click on a banner ad. Oh yeah, and over half of those clicks were accidental.

You’re more likely to survive a plane crash than click on a banner ad. 

So what should you do?

• Ask about the latest technology to target users. Methods are constantly improving to accurately track data. Just because it’s bad now, doesn’t mean it won’t be more accurate tomorrow.
• Get your marketing and advertising teams’ input on how to best target your audience. Just because you’ve used a method in the past, doesn’t mean it’s the best way to reach an audience today. Find out what the most effective mediums are to reach your base.
• Keep using traditional media with your online efforts. People are more likely to read and believe a print ad than a banner ad. Don’t shun the old ways if they’re still effective.
• Evaluate and re-target. With all the analytical tools out there, you can find your own mix of what works well in reaching your clients. Look at your numbers and experiment to get the best results. “Set it and forget it” is not an effective strategy.

What are your thoughts on online targeting? Do you think it’s an effective way to reach an audience, or is it just misguided attempts to try and figure you out?

Take the survey yourself and post your scores in the comments. I’d be interested to see how high and low some of the scores clock in.

For those of you that missed this insightful event, here are the speakers and a brief overview of what was discussed:

Mark Sawyier: Co-Founder & CEO. Bonfyre App
- St. Louis startup that launched 6 months ago
- Platform allows people to use events as a framework for sharing — real-time photos, chats & video (everyone’s content is in one place) and you don’t have to directly connect with each attendee.

Dave Lewan: Vice President Public Sector & Sales Operations, ForeSee
- Big data is puzzling for companies
- “Offline we don’t compare banks to restaurants to retail, but online we do compare their websites.”

Ellen Shiflett: Regional Marketing Executive, IBM
-You have to pay attention to what’s going on in this digital age, but measuring everything is a whole different battle
- “Talk to me, not my demographic”

Jerry Bernhart: Principal-Digital Marketing Recruiter, Bernhart Associates
- The future for digital marketing jobs is incredible; the only way is up.
- “The internet is like electricity. It’s part of everything.”
- “What is digital marketing? A life-long learning experience.”
- “Soon digital and online won’t be areas of expertise, they’ll be fields of knowledge everyone is expected to have.”

Todd Budin: Vice President of Product Management, Nielsen
- Advertising effectiveness is measured by Reach, Resonance & Reaction.
- TV is still king, but digital’s role is starting to be solved — the two-screen experience, browsing a laptop, phone or tablet while watching TV
- Businesses need to realize that people are still watching TV, just not necessarily ON a TV

Scott Meyer: CEO & Founder, Evidon (Ghostery)
- In the three years since Evidon bought Ghostery, they’ve grown from 700,000 users to 16 million
- The privacy issue online is something that needs to be paid attention to
- You have the right to control what trackers can/cannot do
- “Data is the new oil.”

Andrew Grinch: Associate Athletic Director, University of Missouri
- A case study for the Mizzou Athletics awareness & excitement campaign for joining the SEC
- Built awareness in one market (bragging) and excitement in others (without boasting)

Kevin Murphy: Google
- Coming in live from a Google event in Las Vegas, he stresses the importance of digital in everything Google does & avoids Google Glass conversation
- “Keyword advertising still very successful, but advertisers have so much to work with”
- My favorite tweet of the day: “@Atomicdust: “Google Hangout with Google rep from the Google Conference. #thatssometa UMSLdigital”

Katie Krum: Nickelodeon
- Walks us through a case study for what Nickelodeon was able to accomplish with last year’s digital campaign efforts for the Kid’s Choice Awards
- “I watch, therefore I tweet”

Marshall Sponder: Author, Social Media Analytics & Proffessor, Rutgers University
- Dispersed a wealth of knowledge regarding big data & digital trends — what’s the most important when looking at social media analytics
- Big data is new and exciting: people know they want to use it, but they’re not sure how

 David Laird: Director of Research & B2B Insights, Yahoo
- Talked about digging deeper into numbers and realizing that your biggest results can come from unexpected places
- “Find the environment that works best for your company and maximize it.”

Overall, the afternoon provided a wealth of information from each speaker trying desperately to stay within their allotted time. They hoped this would be the first of many conferences of this nature, and we couldn’t agree more. The information above is a quick recap, but for more information on any of the speakers or their topics, stay tuned as more resources are made available.

Resources:
Recap via tweets on Storify:
Storify

See every tweet that took place during the event:
Epilogger

Video Link of entire conference:
UMSL Video Presentation w/ Time Stamps

Download each speaker’s “deck”: 
Viewable & Savable PowerPoints/PDFs

Even the promotional artwork for the series’ upcoming sixth season was meticulously thought out. So much so that after some of the original drafts weren’t cutting it, Weiner’s team sought out the artist whose stylized illustrations they were trying to replicate. Brian Sanders, at 75 years old, is still actively creating artwork and was able to put brush to paper and match Weiner’s vision. Clues about what the artwork foreshadows in the upcoming season, however, is left up to the viewer’s imagination.

Though most things are cyclical, the show’s popularity is inspiring more than just artwork. For modern clothing with a vintage design you can visit Banana Republic and peruse their Mad Men Collection, which is made available for the second year in a row. Maybe some Mad Men inspired furniture will help to spruce up your loft. Lamps or alarm clocks from the 60′s are readily available on eBay and, if in good working order, can go for a high dollar. The series is even influencing our happy hours! AMC’s Mad Men Cocktail Guide is helping “The Manhattan” and other drinks make a comeback thanks to ingredients and instructions for recreating the popular beverages from decades ago.

No matter how far you take your obsession and preparations for the upcoming season, be sure to set your DVR for the 2-hour premiere this Sunday, April 7th at 8PM(CT). Feel free to share what inspires you when it comes to everything Sterling Cooper Draper Price.