Featured trends include:
• Mobile marketing is hot, hot hot.
• Web design has a new trick up its sleeve.
• Let the content flow.
• Advertising dollars move to digital.
• Color is bright and playful.
• Strategy = social media success
• YouTube delivers more than entertainment.

Susan Sigworth is a communications strategist at Big. In another life, she served as a Taylor University professor, managed the corporate communications department at Brotherhood Mutual and freelanced for some of America’s best-known brands. A gifted teacher and trainer, she holds a master’s degree and the Accredited Business Communicator (ABC) designation.

But the one constant that my mom will tell you that she’s seen over her 90 years is change. You can count on it. Things will change. And you can embrace it and leverage it, ignore it, or run screaming in fear from it.

Our world and the “normal” technologies that are now a part of our lives offer us incredible communication experiences like never seen before. We can get a message across the globe – literally, in seconds. We can know when a message has been read (online) and where that individual went (online) after they read the message. Some may say it’s all too “Big brother-ish,” but I say, “Bring it on!”

I love this. As a marketing guy and business manager, I consider the available digital communication options, testing capabilities, measurements and analytics, and the ability to reach a target audience so effectively as a huge business benefit for any organization wanting to sell something to someone, somewhere. What’s truly priceless is the opportunity to manage your spend precisely along with the timely capability to revise a campaign or strategy based on factual user experience and data. And don’t even get me started about ROI!

Yes, there’s still a place for traditional marketing media outlets like print, outdoor, P.O.P., direct mail, radio and television. But the control and flexibility digital marketing provides is amazing compared to those traditional outlets. The provision to go so much further than just “getting leads” pushes us all to consider digital first, and then ask, “How do the other tools fit in to my marketing program?”

btw – Mom’s getting an iPad for her birthday!

Mike Motherwell is a senior account director at Big. His stellar marketing résumé includes over 20 years of experience in public and private business sectors. He’s not only worked in but has also held senior management roles in product development, marketing and sales, strategic planning and acquisitions, and general and executive management. Mike holds a marketing degree from Indiana University and another one from Purdue University in business management and supervision.

It’s that time of year again. Time to barbecue, swim in the pool, golf, go on long walks with the family… But most importantly, it’s time to start thinking about my Big Fantasy Football League (BFFL?) team name and logo!

For the past few years the team here at Big compete in Fantasy Football – you know, football for those less physically gifted. Now that the rich players and richer owners have almost agreed to make themselves richer this season, I feel it is now time to begin brainstorming my fantasy team name and logo. You see, when you work with some of the best creatives around these parts, who also happen to be extremely competitive, your name and logo are just as important as how many points your team scores each week. And based on past seasons, I need a really strong name & logo.

This is where I shamelessly solicit your help. This is your chance to pitch creative for a change! Give me your best shot at a team name and logo concept and I will feature you on an upcoming blog post. Just submit your ideas below in the comment area. To get your creative juices flowing, here are some of the past year’s Big Fantasy Football League teams. Good luck!

Returning from a recent vacation my daughter and I stopped at a store that is over a 100 miles away from home. For the first time I purchased a favorite brand of shoes from them. The experience was pleasant and the staff great. After only a couple times of wearing them, the seam was coming undone. Contacting them via their online “customer service” I was told I had to take them back to the store. “No, you can’t send them to us for a refund. You have to go back to the store.”

Finding @DSWShoeLovers on Twitter, I expressed my frustrations. “You won’t take returns for defective shoes via mail from store over two hours away. First & Last purchase for me.”  Surprising how fast I heard from DSW. All of a sudden a label could be provided in order to return the shoes. A replacement pair was even found. Previously this was not an option. But after too many emails and follow-ups, a replacement pair has finally been received.

Why did I have to jump through hoops? Why would I want to shop there again?

Can you really call it customer service when it comes after a public complaint and doesn’t keep the consumer in mind from start to finish? Social media is another key reason why organizations need to have a great customer service strategy in place. And many do. Especially Southwest Airlines, who recently assisted some of our team in making changes and refunds to flights painless.

The campaign started with a promotional Tweet to one of my friends, who, per the social media handbook, passed it on to me. I in-turn clicked the link and was directed to a beautifully, simple micro site. And, in 3 clicks I had reservations made for a free breakfast entree. 1 week later, I showed up at my local Chick-fil-A and enjoyed a friendly conversation with the manager; who complimented me on my selection, did a little cross-selling and sent me on my way with a delicious meal.

In retrospect, everything went off without a hitch. Social media got me to interact them. The micro site introduced me to the new product category as well as captured my personal information. The in-store experience was enjoyable and I ended up with quality product. Absolutely perfect.

The big question is “Will I choose Chick-fil-A for my next fast food breakfast?” Breakfast is a meal of convenience and habit. Lunch is a meal of choice. Did the experience move me enough to change my behavior? Can a great campaign answer the age old question of which will comes first-the Chicken Bagel or the EggMcMuffin?

How could something so simple be so captivating? It reminded me of the old adage that “less is more.” The images are cool, but you have to see it in person to really appreciate it. I am amazed that the only word I can use to describe something so simple is, spectacular.

Big Time Rush. Miranda Cosgrove. Victoria Justice. What do they have in common? They are all a part of Nickelodeon and Disney’s evil plan to brainwash us into thinking that all you need to be a singer (not a musician, they play instruments) are good looks and an auto-tuner.

Can anyone stop this mindless horde of bubble-gum-auto-tuned-sound-alike zombies? Meet Murdoc, Noodle, 2D and Russel –“The Gorillaz.” This band is the brain-child of British musicians Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, who realized that “if you watch MTV too long, it‘s a bit like hell.” The two set out to create a virtual cartoon band, complete with an entire fictional universe. By 2007, the Gorillaz had sold more than 20 million albums and earned six Grammy nominations.

The true genius of the Gorillaz is that every album expands their universe and adds to their story. Animated videos explain what has happened to the members of the band since the last album. For example, between the second album (Demon Days), and the third album (Plastic Beach), the lead singer Murdoc had swindled some arms dealers, and is forced to hide on an island made of trash – a “plastic beach.”

Best of all, every album has its own unique personality. Listeners are challenged to explore new instruments, sounds and emotions. And while the Gorillaz openly embrace technology, they are at their core real musicians, capable of singing and playing with real voices and instruments. Their latest album, The Fall, was actually recorded on an iPad while the band was on the road with their Autumn 2010 Plastic Beach tour. Each track is titled for a destination on the tour, and the music reflects the unique mood and personality of the destination.

As a guy who lives branding every day, I see the Gorillaz as pure genius. They have created a thoroughly unique musical brand. They constantly evolve the brand to keep it fresh, yet never lose sight of their original story. The next time you’re looking for something to listen to, give the Gorillaz a whirl – otherwise, I hear Disney has discovered a 14-year old with the face of a super model, and the voice of a rabid badger.

My kid’s are involved in a variety of sports – hockey, soccer, figure skating, and competitive swim & diving. The most recent season has been summer swim and dive, and they just recently completed their respective city swim and dive competitions. The teams, and the kids placed really well this year. And we’ve been really proud of them in how they’ve stuck with the sport, endured the early morning practices, a more “focused” professional coach, and persisted in improving their individual times and dives. But it’s also been slightly nerve-racking watching our kids do these flips and turns off the high dive.

My daughter has shown some real diving talent for her age, and her coaches  pushed her this season to some more advanced dives. And she did really well off both the 1 and 3 meter boards. Until the city competition, that is. During her warm up’s on the 3 meter board she over rotated on a flip, came too far forward, and did a “face – smacker.” She hit hard.

Now, not only does this hurt quite a bit, but it’s fairly embarrassing in front of all of the city’s best divers, parents, friends, family, coaches – and her little brother.  My first instinct was to jump from the stands and scoop her out of the water, console her, and just have her stick with the low dive. Keep it safe and stick with what she’s used to doing.

But I sat on my hands (literally) up in the stands and watched her pulled herself out of the pool. Her face was wet – and red, and I could distinguish the tears from the pool water.  Her coach and teamates made sure she was physically alright, along with doing their best to raise her spirits. But she was shaken. My wife and I could see it.

So warm ups continued, and my daughter took her place back in line, looking up at the high dive, dreading her climb up. Although she had every confidence coming into the meet that she had learned and conquered these new “high dives”, she took a hard hit (literally) and in her gut was ready to just go back doing the “low dives.” The problem with that is that the “low dives” don’t rack up as many points for your team or individually. And she wanted to medal in this meet. And she wanted her team to be in the top 3 at least.

So she climbed up the ladder apprehensive as all get out. She looked down at her coach for guidance and reassurance. She looked over at us for courage and possibly some magical way out of this. And she looked back at all those kids, her competition, behind her waiting to dive. And then she walked out to the end of the board – and stood there.

I know it wasn’t actually that long that she stood there, but it started to feel like a long time. There were kids encouraging her, and there were kids who were not so encouraging (as kids can be). And she still stood there looking at the water contemplating victory or “death.”.  I heard people around me saying things like “oh no” and “she’s not going to make it.” I sat there praying, staring at my little girl and asking for divine intervention.

And then she took two steps and went for it! And she dove perfectly. She medaled in the city dive meet, and her team placed in the top 3. She achieved all of her objectives by focusing on her goals, trusting the methods and executing on her plan. And all I had to do was “let go.”

All proceeds from the event fund the clinic, providing free medical, dental and vision services to the uninsured, low-income residents of Allen County.

In the 10K run, the dynamic duo of Andy Barnes, interactive developer (left), and Aaron Hockemeyer, senior interactive developer (right), set the pace, while other employees opted for the 5K fun walk.

These included (left to right) Chad Stuckey, president and creative director; Marlas Robrock, office & project coordinator; Greg Becker, art director; and Tom Carroll, client development director. Not pictured: Janie Kaminer, project manager. (She was probably answering client emails and missed the pic.)

Susan Sigworth is the senior communications strategist at Big. In another life, she served as a Taylor University professor, managed the corporate communications department at Brotherhood Mutual and freelanced for some of America’s best-known brands. A gifted teacher and trainer, she holds a master’s degree and the Accredited Business Communicator (ABC) designation.