Rick Howard

Who has the best insurance commercials?

I think the answer to that is pretty easy, everyone loves Geico’s commercials. From the cavemen, celebrity endorsements, nostalgic characters to the almighty gecko himself. There is no shortage of creativity from their ad agency.

Recently, I was in a car accident, my insurance company who I won’t mention but says they take a stand. They do take a stand for themselves. I had nothing but issues with them during the process. They wanted me to take a lower price for my car, pay for my rental and I wasn’t even at fault. I have since switched to Geico, they were the other guys company.

They called and kept contact with me, paid for my rental in full, sent me a check for the car and followed up to make sure I was receiving the right information. This is why people switch to Geico. They pull you in with their commercials and follow it up with great customer service.

They realize the importance of great customer service as opposed to just having an image. An important lesson for all businesses.

You may be flashy and offering a great service, but if people can’t use it, then what purpose does it serve. If no one is going to offer guidance then why should your customers refer you or come back to you.

So the Question is “What are you doing to elevate the image of your company?”

* note 1 - By switching to Geico I saved $220.
* note 2 - Geico’s greatness is only the opinion of this guy. ARCdesign does not promote or endorse them as the auto insurance company of choice.

There has been thinking in the office about how to gain new ideas.

Today, Adam, recommended weekly chats about design. The idea is simply for everyone to come together with an idea and then discuss it. Our initial chat will be about Magazine Ads so all of us are bringing a magazine ad we like and then after a few days of having them in a public area (near the water cooler) we will discuss them. A good way to learn about why certain advertising works for different demographics.

This is not only a good team building activity where we can learn more about one another, it is also a chance for us to broaden our design eyes, get motivation and learn more about graphic design as a whole.

Perhaps your business could use a Water Cooler Chat.

Although some may say Foxnews is not a reliable source, they have an interesting article on swearing.

More specifically swearing in the workplace.

It is said to relieve stress, which I could understand. Holding in any high-powered feelings such as Anger, Depression or Bliss could cause one to go mad. If the best way for you to deal with Anger is to swear, I say have at it. Just make sure you aren’t going to offend those around you.

Otherwise, your stress relief may turn into additional stress for someone else.

Strike That. Reverse it.

The above is courtesy of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory which is a wonderful movie. I love everything about it. There is much wisdom to be found in watching it and a lot to laugh at as well.

This week flew by due to the holiday, already it is midweek and several sites must get moving. We are dealing with definitive deadlines on a few projects and I would like to project that we can project them out of our possession this week.

Gotta love english.

One of my favorite things to design are holding pages for websites. Mind you I love designing websites, but a holding page relies on minimal information and minimal graphics. Therefore the attractiveness of the design becomes more important. I have done two of these pages recently, one for World Impact Ministries and another for On Point Paralegal.

Soon I will be doing a one pager for a new organization, but more info on that when it comes to fruition.

This week represents a challenge, we have 2 days left to attempt to launch 8 sites all with one arm behind our back (One of our developers, Adam, has to zone in on 2 specific projects).

I know we can do a lot together, but this will push us to the edge. Mainly because our copywriter, Amanda, and our part-time developer, Landon, are also centralized on specific projects. So that leaves Ashley and I to really work it out.

Not a problem.