Friday, March 26, 2010

CGR Creative is certified as a Historically Underutilized Business (HUB)


CGR Creative was awarded HUB certification this week meaning they are now qualified as a Historically Underutilized Business. Julio Colmenares, Partner and Chief Creative Officer of CGR, was excited that the HUB certification process was completed. Julio said, "I am glad that we can now offer an extra benefit to our clients, many companies out there are looking to partner with HUB Firms and I am happy we bring that added value to our clients." Julio went on to explain that, "this really doesn't change anything here at CGR. We have always been focused on providing top quality results with phenomenal service, and that remains our mission."

CGR's HUB vendor information can be found here.

According to Bridget Wall-Lennon, Director Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses, in her post titled "HUB OFFICE PREPARES FOR NEW OPPORTUNITIES," North Carolina business owners were understandably optimistic when they heard the state would receive $6.1 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUB) is working to ensure that minority-, women-, disabled- and disadvantage-owned businesses will enjoy an equal opportunity to participate in providing state government with the goods and services it requires. 

To help level the playing field, Governor Perdue recently signed Executive Order 13, which tasks the HUB Office with assisting certified HUB firms in identifying and obtaining ARRA contract opportunities. As with all state government contracts, the aspirational goal for goods and services is 10 percent (by dollar amount) of purchasing to be derived from HUB firms. 


For more from Ms. Wall-Lennon visit this link.

About CGR Creative
CGR Creative is a full service marketing, design, advertising, and interactive marketing agency. CGR Creative prides itself on supporting their customers in a way that larger agencies can’t, often times committing all their resources to ensure the success of their client’s projects. CGR Creative’s fundamental belief is that the client’s success is their success. The agency, with an office in Charlotte, North Carolina, is fully bi­lingual, with a Latino marketing division that offers a variety of marketing channels that are specifically targeted to reach the Hispanic market. 


www.facebook.com/cgrcreative  -  www.twitter.com/cgrcreative  -  http://www.cgrcreative.blogspot.com/

Thursday, March 18, 2010

CGR Partners with LiveWell Homes


CGR Creative recently partnered with LiveWell Homes on a print campaign centered around a presentation folder and collateral describing their philosophy of high quality features, modern materials, eco friendly products, and amazing upgrades as STANDARD on all their homes. This is the type of company we get excited to work with! CGR was also responsible for the branding video that is the centerpiece of their website.

Other work includes: Collateral, Infographics, Sub Plans, & Multimedia.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Advertising Can Go Wrong

Bad advertising is nothing new. It has always been there.  After all the first newspaper advertisement ever was an attempt to sell property in Oyster Bay, Long Island. This ad for Pet Evaporated Milk is banking on the fact that Tuna Pizza would be a big hit. Hmmm... I don't remember seeing it on the menu at Spago.

Sometimes the ad itself is fine but the context is bad. Like if your magazine ad for Valvoline Motor Oil is next to an article about the War in Iraq, or, worse, a story about electric cars. The McDonald's billboard below the childhood obesity billboard couldn't be much worse.

Sometimes ads are just ugly. The product or tagline or even the copy can just seem off, wrong, off-putting, or unsightly. Rarely, however, is it the models in the ads that are the offending party. However, it does happen, and the Pallas Athena ad is a perfect example. Just about everything in this full page magazine ad is awful.

Then there are the ads that try to be bad. Those maverick art directors who want to push the envelope until something pushes back. What they don't realize is that often their client pays the biggest price for running a bad ad. I wonder how many advertisers would run intentionally bad ads for their own agencies or better yet their children's businesses.

Absolut vodka is a product that often pushes the boundaries with their ads. There was the infamous one where Mexico retained most of the Southwestern United States, and there is this one which is just in poor taste. Absolut is a great brand, and they can get away with running the occasional bad ad, but why? An argument can be made that it attracts attention or that any publicity is good publicity. Unfortunately, Tom Cruise and Britney Spears proved that old chestnut 100% false.

The issue here is that advertising can go wrong, and your business needs to question your creativity BEFORE it gets produced. Sure, you trust your agency; as an agency we appreciate that, but do parents who trust their kids still ask, "Where are you and that kid with the piercings going?" You should ask your agency what their intentions are with your brand as well!

Do you have any examples of advertising gone wrong? If so, post links to those, and we'll use them in a future post, and of course we'll give you credit for the discovery!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Security Guard Exchange Goes Live


SecurityGuardExchange.com is the only online portal for all aspects of life as a security guard

March 8, 2010 - Charlotte, North Carolina - Jason Ramsey & Julio Colmenares, Partners at CGR Creative, are pleased to announce that their client Security Guard Exchange has launched their new website and services.
Security Guard Exchange provides: information on individual state licensing requirements, a Job Board to find security guard assignments, links to training schools around the US, discounts on gear & equipment, as well as the latest industry news.

“I am pleased that SGE has launched. We put a lot of hard work in their online presence because we believe they have a revolutionary vision.” said Ramsey. “SecurityGuardExchange.com will change the face of the industry. They are now the hub around which all things security guard related will orbit.”

Security guards or those interested in the field can visit the site securityguardexchange.com for discounts on training, notifications of new job listings, and the SGE Job Alert Email. You can also visit their blog to keep current on the industry and to pick the brain of experts in the field.

About CGR CreativeCGR Creative is a full service marketing, design, advertising, and interactive marketing agency. CGR Creative prides itself on supporting their customers in a way that larger agencies can’t, often times committing all their resources to ensure the success of their client’s projects. CGR Creative’s fundamental belief is that the client’s success is their success. The agency, with an office in Charlotte, North Carolina, is fully bi-lingual, with a Latino marketing division that offers a variety of marketing channels that are specifically targeted to reach the Hispanic market.

www.facebook.com/cgrcreative  -  www.twitter.com/cgrcreative  -  http://www.cgrcreative.blogspot.com/

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Breakfast Grind

One of B-towns best - Big Daddy's Breakfast Rocks! You're welcome for the plug. Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and staying creative.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

“Extinct” Species Found in Jason Ramsey’s Coffee Mug


Charlotte, North Carolina – In a world saturated by images of polar bears adrift lonely icebergs, it seems rare to have a day of celebrating in the environmental community. But yesterday, animal rights activists and earth-huggers everywhere cheered at news that a species once thought to be extinct was found alive and well. The cheers quickly turned to confused grunts when it was revealed that the species was indeed found in Jason Ramsey’s coffee mug.

The species Madiup-ous Frogious, or Dillworth Spotted wild frog, is a tiny purple frog that was thought to have died out in the late 1980s. They once thrived in the dusty slopes of Southend’s trolley line. Overpopulation in the area and special protections made by hunters for the blue winged table grouse, a common predator of the spotted wild frog, decimated the species. Or so we all thought.

Published in the New England Journal of Anthropology last week was a second-hand account of a frog spotting.

As if this revelation was not shocking enough, the nature of the frogs’ reproductive processes is so strange that it has been Wikipedia-ed more times than “Clay Aiken.” The frogs are of the “gastric brooding” variety, meaning that they lay eggs in their own stomachs. They then turn off their gastric juices, birth the eggs, and carry them through the larval and tadpole phase. The bizarre creature then births the young frogs, fully formed, out of their mouths.

Scientists asked to comment on the finding shared shock, dismay, and in one case, an eerie knowing. “It is quite strange,” conceded Dr. Theisel Soundwright, “and yet it makes total sense. I can’t think of anywhere one would be more likely to find a frog vomiting out other frogs than in Jason Ramsey’s coffee mug.”

Since the discovery, rumors have been flying that Columbian drug lords want the frogs in order to smuggle cocaine over airplanes. Rouge “biochemists” supposedly possess the technology to reverse engineer the genetic makeup of the frogs so that their stomachs will support large amounts of cocaine, while hiding it from drug sniffing dogs. These rumors have mostly been ignored by the Jason Ramsey camp.

Mr. Ramsey, the man himself, held a press conference Friday morning to announce that while he is extremely honored to possess the chosen sole ecosystem for this species, he simply cannot allow them to continue to exist due to the threat they pose to International security and American liberties... Plus he already put on another pot of coffee.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Marand "Rebrand"

One of CGR's long-term CLIENTS & FRIENDS Marand Builders came to us for a corporate identity overhaul. CGR’s task is to maintain the original essence of their established brand while giving it an updated aesthetic with a unique cosmetic twist.

Some of the work includes: Website Design and Program Development; Brand; RFP Presentations; Signage, Search Engine Optimization (SEO); Collateral.

Lunchtime Grind

Tay finally mastered the chopsticks

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

IMG00044-20100303-1443.jpg

I was just about poisoned just now - be careful with the pete...