By: Nicole Graham, RGD

With the online community growing at a rapid rate, businesses are flocking to the web to build better and flashier websites. The web is becoming more competitive, and it is easy for companies to get lost and feel like another average site. So in turn, they revamp and build new sites that look more exciting and engaging. This is all well and great, but one essential thing that can easily be forgotten is usability.

By: Nicole Graham, RGD

In today’s world of ever growing technological advancements, I often wonder if it is hurting more then it is helping. In our pursuit of engaging customers, are we actually missing out? Most companies today are working hard to make their businesses more online and doing whatever they can to use technology instead of people. Although, I do believe this is a positive step, I worry that most are missing the boat and going too far.

By: Nicole Graham, RGD

With Canada being on track for the lowest voter turnout on record (check out Lawrence LeDuc's study that was posted on Samara), Canadians have turned towards social media sites to encourage people to get out and vote on May 2nd. One of the main demographics that we see shying away from the democratic process is indeed Canada's youth. This is definitely frightening considering the old cliché that they are our future. WIth this in mind though, it only makes sense to hit them where they spend most of their time. Viral videos have sprouted up in great numbers, new Twitter hash tags are being created each day, and Facebook campaigns and groups have emerged all with one goal, to get out and vote...

By: Nicole Graham, RGD

I stumbled across a website the other week called Clients From Hell. I then of course spent the next half hour dying from laughter as I read through some of the ridiculous things clients had said. I also teared up at how much I could relate to some of the posts. As any designer knows, once in a while you get a client who just doesn't understand the value of what we do. With technology growing at a rapid pace, and design software becoming more accessible as well as the poor state of the economy slashing marketing budgets to shreds, it is easy to see graphic designers as button pushers who play with a computer to make things look pretty.

By: Nicole Graham, RGD

Twitter has been around for awhile now, but one question we frequently get is "I don't get it, what's the point?" With short 140 character messages, and constantly being exposed to celebrity nonsense, it is easy to overlook the benefits of Twitter. Here is a quick overview of how Twitter can be a great asset to any business.

I was having a conversation with a Senior Marketing Director of a prominent educational institution recently – their organization had just gone through a vendor review. They had been with an AOR for a number of years, but recently found that this relationship or the services provided by the Agency weren’t matching up with their requirements.  There has been a major shift in the ad industry and it seems that some agencies are getting left behind.

Here’s a few thoughts from our conversation:

“Having just gone through this process, I can tell you that digital and web is where we are spending most our money, so that piece of the puzzle was critical.”

“Most traditional firms have been slow to adapt to the change in the marketing mix and resulting spending and find themselves in a place where they need to acquire or partner with smaller "boutique" firms to stay in the game.”

“Strength in digital and web is driving our decision followed by the ability to demonstrate that they can help me keep our brands integrated and consistent.”

...

This is a timely and personal story that happened to my family this Christmas regarding Target. It’s timely because they just announced that they plan to open 150 stores in Canada over the next two years. What are they really bringing to Canada and is it the type of brand we want?

Welcome to the new Shepherd web presence for 2011! We look forward to providing you with interesting and entertaining industry information and other cool stuff. We welcome your comments – good or bad, we can take it.

Cheers,
Paul