Here's another survey...

Marketing experts tell us we live in a service economy. Today, major corporations continue to hone their service skills just to make sure they will surprise and delight customers at every turn. Their aim is to make us brand-loyal while the maddening crowd of competition lurks just a mouse-click away. And what's the quickest way to gauge how they're doing?...customer satisfaction surveys!

After working for years in the marketing field as a writer and designer, I applaud companies who want feedback from their customers, and use it to improve their products and services. But when those surveys become barometers for bonuses and salary compensation, the customer loses. Especially when they feel harassed into filling out the survey with glowing scores. I always bristle when I pick up my car after servicing at the dealership and receive a sales pitch to complete my customer satisfaction survey when it arrives in the mail...along some not so subtle encouragement to give them a high rating.

So when it was my turn recently to write a similar script for a home builder (who will remain nameless to protect my cash flow) I felt compelled to create a more honest version. Although it never saw the light of day, it was good therapy!

Dear New Homeowner:

As you probably know from other major purchases you have made, the sales and production team's compensation package relies heavily on the answers to the customer survey you will soon receive. Please don't take this letter as our way of begging for great marks so that we can keep our jobs, but in fact we're screwed if you don't give us a passing grade. So please take a moment to fill out the survey when it does arrive and make sure you give us the highest marks available on the survey. Remember, we know where you live...because we built your house.

Open wide and say ahhh...

Here's a first for James Klein + Associates, a corporate identity program for a dental office.  We worked with Clever Marketing to develop a fun approach to this Newport Beach dental office.  Although settling on just the right mark was like pulling teeth (sorry...), the results were surprisingly very Tommy Bahama.  The pineapple, the Hawaiian symbol for friendship, hospitality and welcome, was added to provide a different twist to a place that for most people is not high on their list to visit.  We used an existing font, then customized it to give the dentist's name a unique and recognizable look.  Our ultimate goal was to make sure that Dr. McKinley's corporate image focused on how a welcoming environment can make one's visit to the dentist a more comfortable and pleasant experience.  Next up on the Dr's to-do list are business cards, name tags, forms and a website.

Here's something Clever.

I always thought of Jann Rowe as a marketing person who was always up to something clever.  Little did I know that would eventually be the inspiration for her new marketing company.  Clever Marketing, based in Tustin, California, is a metaphor for how I have always thought of Jann, a person who looks for solutions that tickle people's imagination.  And that is why I am excited about developing her new corporate identity.  Instead of looking stuffy, we took her love of the mid-century modern aesthetic and ran with it.   The result is this circular logo, a color palette plucked from the pages of Atomic Ranch Magazine and a font based on the whimsical style of Alexander Girard.

When a place feels right, even your toes know.

Driving north from Los Angeles my car started to beg for some sea air at the point where Highway 101 meets the coast in Pismo Beach.  The sand was smooth and peppered with sand dollars.  It was the perfect place to let my mind wander, and the sand tickle my toes.

A company focused on your back-end

Finally a company that is worried about your back end.  I'm referring, of course, to the back-end programming for sophisticated websites and business enterprise software platforms.  James Klein + Associates, a corporate communications firm located in Irvine, California just finished the copywriting for Taigle's new website.  Taigle not only provides cutting edge expertise on the tools that work behind the scenes for financial and e-commerce sites, they deal in the world of mission critical software solutions that are the backbone of a company's operations.  You know, the kind of software systems that make grown adults cry if they ever fail.  Taigle's primary focus is on the healthcare, financial services and entertainment media sectors, but they promised to deal with my low-tech site if I ever get a break to redesign things.

OCTA Annual Report hits the streets, freeways, Express Lanes, rail lines...

After months of hard work, design revisions, chasing bus and Metrolink passengers during the rush hour commute, and countless copy revisions, James Klein + Associates is proud to announce that the 2008 Annual Report for the Orange County Transportation Authority has finally hit the streets.  The theme, Concrete Results, speaks to the achievements the transportation agency made in 2008, including moving forward with important freeway projects during trying economic times.  In an effort to be economically, and environmentally sensitive the report was scaled down in size, and printed on an uncoated and recycled paper. A cool interactive version of the report (complete with animated page flips) is available online. 

Chihuly Glass exhibit in Scottsdale, a visual feast for your creative soul

In Julia Cameron's book, The Artist's Way, she suggests that to rejuvenate your creative soul, you should take yourself on an "artist date" as much as possible.  I find myself sadly forgetting this treat most of the time.  However, on a recent trip to Scottsdale, Arizona, I discovered a wonderful art exhibit by the renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly in the heart of town at the Desert Botanical Garden.  The exhibit is called Chihuly: The Nature of Glass, and it weaves his breathtaking glass sculptures around some of the areas most dramatic desert scenery.  You'll find art imitating nature and towering saguaro cactus interacting playfully with the vibrant glass.  There are three, four-hour sessions each day to choose from.  If you want the most visual bang for your $15 admission fee, I recommend that you select the 4 p.m to 8 p.m. time slot so you can see the works of art in the dramatic late afternoon sun, and then at night when they are beautifully illuminated.  The exhibit will be at the Desert Botanical Garden through May 31st, and if you are craving a really cool "artist date," I highly recommend escaping to Scottsdale and enjoying this show.