Technologically Impaired Design.

There are countless reasons to be upset about the constantly evolving technology. Your hardware is outclassed and unsupported mere moments after your 90 day warranty is up. You need a broadband connection to update your daiquiri blender before you can use it. Or how the latest technology is so tiny you've lost it in your couch with countless Skittles and pet hamsters before you can sync it to include the latest Hannah Montana album you secretly adore.

I'm personally glad we've just stepped out of an era of technologically impaired design. Blu-Ray cover art. It has happened before, DVD cover art fell victim to technologic impairment as well. And I was too young, but I'm sure the VHS v. Beta Battle fell victim as well.

What am I going on about? Look at any Blu-Ray case from the previous 2 years. You may notice that the front is littered with swooping banners and invasive stickers selling the technology more than the star of the movie is selling the flick (the star is the person peeking out from behind the "1080p Brilliant image!" sticker). Turn to the back and there is, literally, a 2 sentence synopsis of the movie.



I'm not one to purchase a movie without having seen, and enjoyed it first. But if I were one of the millions of consumers who keep egging Ashton Kutcher on to "hone his craft" by buying his movies, sight unseen, off the WalMart racks; I really doubt 2 lines help anyone decide to spend the $30 they ask for Blu-Ray movie.

One company that does it right (full disclosure, I'm typing this up on my iMac) is Apple. Even though they crank out innovative technology besting themselves year after year (and causing a number of the problems I mentioned in the first paragraph) they never fall victim to Technological Impairment. Their packaging is always very minimalist, and they sell like hotcakes (provided hotcakes start making 100 Apps. a day for free download)

I'm just glad I didn't have to design any of these covers. With everything but the kitchen sink being included (and NONE of it has anything to do about the movie or it's plot) I would have lost my mind. Instead I sit, mind intact, noticing every bit of stubble on Seth Rogen's mug. Thank you technology.

Winning Ideas

Nelson & Company team members and UWS seniors, Meagan Campbell and Kaitlyn Barnard, are one of two, first-place scholarship winners in the Duluth/Superior Advertising Federation’s annual Scholarship competition.

The Advertising Federation Scholarship requires participants to submit an Advertising Creative Strategy, Project Summary, and to design two public service announcements for the campaign. Participants must also submit a copy of their employment, volunteer, and/or community service experience.

Ad Fed selects a non-profit each year to partner with. Heading Home Minnesota – St. Louis County, a non-profit organization, was chosen for 2008/2009. The winning campaign had a simple message: “Choose to See it,” which highlights the lack of awareness of homelessness in St. Louis County. The team designed a billboard, print ad, and wrote and recorded a :30 second radio spot. The Heading Home Minnesota organization contacted the winning UWS team about using their outdoor design for 2009.

Barnard and Campbell will both graduate with honors from UW-Superior this May. Yeah, that’s right…HONORS!

Superior Days

Two members of the Nelson & Company team (Meagan Campbell, Assistant Account Manager, and Kaitlyn Barnard, Awesome Intern) were in Madison, Wisconsin from February 21st to February 23rd for Superior Days. Superior Days is a grassroots lobbying effort that brings attention to the issues faced by residents of northern Wisconsin. This event helps bridge the distance local residents feel geographically and politically from the southern half of the state. This was the 24th year of Superior Days and 250 people participated from Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Iron, Sawyer, and Washburn counties.

Meagan and Kaitlyn, both seniors at UW-Superior, attended Superior Days, along with 5 other students, as part of their public relations course, instructed by Mary Tripp. Throughout the semester, the class had different clients and created communication plans for the various projects they were coordinating specifically for Superior Days. The goal of this course is to provide students with real-world experiences in a professional setting. While in Madison, the UWS students were project managers and had to ensure their event ran smoothly and successfully. They also toured the capitol, networked, attended guest speakers, and lobbied legislators.

“It was a fun and extremely educational experience. I learned so much about how our government functions, and how marketing, public relations, and project management are useful and important across a wide variety of situations. Mary is a great instructor, and because of her dedication we learned so much throughout the semester and during our three days in Madison.”- Meagan

“Superior Days inspired each of us to become proactive in our community and helped us break through the chaos that tends to exist in the political world. As a project manager, I learned how to manage details and work with deadlines among many other experiences that could not have been learned from a text book. Superior Days was an unforgettable experience.” -Kaitlyn

Small Businesses Continue to Shine During Down Economic Times

We’d like to be bearers of great news during a time of gloom and doom business news. Not to downplay the disappointing results of large companies, the mass lay-offs, and bankruptcies that continue to come across the airways, but there are some success stories out here too.

One of our clients, BragGame Rights, not quite one-year old has had some great successes along the way. 30-something entrepreneur Coy Christmas had a vision for a retail location that not only sold video games, accessories and consoles, but welcomed like-minded gamers into an exciting environment to try out games before they were purchased and offered daily and weekly tournaments.



Starting out a new business is risky, especially during the last two quarters of ’08 when the recession was just beginning to hit. With a small marketing budget and a huge amount of energy, Coy came to us to help launch his dream. With little time before his grand opening, (4 weeks to be exact), we put together a marketing plan that fit his budget and targeted his customer. Through the means of radio, television, outdoor, interactive and print advertising, we began tuning his customer into his message.

As the months progressed we looked for additional opportunities involving Public Relations, Cause Marketing, Guerilla Marketing, and letting the public really get to know Coy and his amazing BGR Team. Sponsorships also fit into BragGame Rights marketing plan perfectly. EvVyUs, a nationally rated gaming team is sponsored by BGR and appeared in Las Vegas in November for a national tournament.

BGR now has a loyalty program, a generous amount of text friendly loyalists, and plenty of good news to send out to the media through PR outlets. BGR has recently been named the largest PS3 Gaming Center by iGames, North America’s leading game center organization.

While this new small business didn’t have a large marketing budget to begin with, they definitely had done their homework and knew their customer down to which game each target segmentation would play the most. And he has fun along the way and passes his good humor on to all his customers.

For more client profiles visit nelson-company.com, and see the Work page.

NelsCo Wish List

Happy Holidays! Nelson & Company has assembled a Wish Book for all of your holiday toy needs! Grab an action figure or doll of your favorite Nelsco employee while the sale prices last! If you didn't receive your Wish Book in the mail, we have put it together on the Nelsco web store:

NelsCo Partners to Collect Gifts for Teens

As one of our Pro Bono projects this year, we joined forces with one of our clients, BragGame Rights (BGR) and media partner MIX108 FM, to urge fellow Northlanders to help us gather gifts for area teens. Teens are often forgotten during the traditional toy drives and giving is down overall this season so we wanted to do our part and help out.

We put together a list of items appropriate for both young women and men and got the word out via press releases which were picked up by both print and blog media. MIX108 ran promotional announcements for a week and a half and Coy Christmas, owner of BGR put up posters in his store and around town.

Saturday December 13, NelsCo hit the roof of BragGame Rights (BGR) with BGR owner Coy Christmas and Corry, Laura and Jean from MIX108. We didn't let below zero temps, arctic wind, or sleet and snow stop us from standing on the roof and deck of BragGame Rights.

Live call-ins by the radio personalities were done throughout the 3 hour remote and we heard plenty of honking by the passing cars. WDIO Channel 10/13 and KBJR both showed up to cover our event and climbed the 30 foot ladder to interview the roof-dwellers! We collected items during the day but even more came in after the snowstorm to both BGR and MIX108. Coy and Corry Carter from MIX108 delivered the items to a very grateful Salvation Army! We are already planning our 2nd annual event for next year - and we'll ask for a grill and heater on the roof!

Preparation Begins for 08 ADDY Awards

As we begin 4th quarter, not only do we begin strategic planning and budget preparation for 2009 for ourselves and our clients, but it also brings about the time to reflect back on 2008 client creative projects. In February, most local Advertising Agencies and their talented teams will gather at the DECC for the Lake Superior Advertising Federation 33rd Annual ADDY® Awards.

What we find most often than not, is how difficult it will be to choose among all our creative projects from this past year – as we have a talented team and of course feel all of our work deserves recognition for our clients. We are forced to step back, and look at the impact of specific projects in our community and how they’ll perform against other agency work – being chosen by a team of national and local creatives. Agonizing, yes…

In 2008, our agency took home three awards on behalf of our clients. They came in the following categories: a :30 Television commercial for Twin Ports Waterproofing – Water is Homeless, a Business to Business print advertisement for Baja Billy’s Cantina and Grill, and for non-traditional marketing for the Giro d’Italia Bike Ride for Va Bene Berarducci’s Caffe.

We are proud to represent our clients with marketing that supports brand appropriateness and to have the opportunity to be recognized by our peers for our expertise.