Searching for lost Simmons College alumni/ae

Eymer Design has been working with Simmons College on a marketing campaign designed to generate a reconnection with “lost” alumni/ae. As you might imagine, this reconnecting of former students to their academic institution is incredibly beneficial to both parties. There is great deal of extremely valuable information to be shared.

The campaign itself involves various components including a blogazine, event displays, targeted social networking efforts, as well as print advertisements, etc.

We have posted a couple of examples of the print advertisements.

There is a little John Simmons in all of us.The first, includes a portrait of college founder, John Simmons. The actual painting of Mr. Simmons, hangs in one the administration building’s main conference rooms. John’s straightforward, no-nonsense approach to life is something that the school has emphasized since its founding in 1899.

A (female) undergraduate, “Wears flats and walks with a purpose.”

We thought that it might be fun to create an ad where visually, it was obvious that the founder’s approach had rubbed off on specific individuals–representing graduates, undergraduates, faculty and staff members, and alumni/ae.

All roads begin at Simmons. All roads return to SimmonsThe second ad specifically addresses an audience of alumni/ae that left Simmons in the 1970s and have now returned to the school. In other words, they have given up their microbus for a hybrid minivan.

A third ad (not shown here), repeats the phrase: “There is no place like home.” This is followed by the phrase: “There is no place like Simmons.”

We couldn’t agree more. If you would like to reconnect, now is a great time to do so! – Doug.

Here's the Dirt

Over the years, we have worked for some pretty glamorous clients. We created Hasbro Corporation’s first, Mr. Potato Head website. We have worked for world-class jewelry designers and high-end art galleries. We have even worked to promote some incredible photographers and marketed some bleeding edge high-tech companies. However, Selene and I owe a great deal of our success to the industrial sludge dewatering company, JD Meagher, our first (paying) client.

We first met Jim and Debbie Meagher, in the late 80’s, Selene and I had informally set up a business. She had recently left her senior designer position at Bose Corporation and I was working as design director at high-tech public relations startup, McGlinchey & Paul Associates.

Also a husband and wife business team, the Meaghers ran their operation for corporate headquarters, located in the finished basement of their pristine suburban colonial home.

While Jim was drying up lagoons of industrial waste, Debbie ran the business operations, including all the corporate marketing. Although they were involved in a business that dealt with the dirty remnants of industrial manufacturing, Debbie saw their marketing requirements through the same lens that she used at her previous job as marketing director of a high-end plumbing fixture manufacturer.

All marketing materials needed to be clean, concise and directed to an audience that was sophisticated, intelligent, and had to make some very important decisions.

Here we have posted, three small print ads that JD Meagher ran in various trade publications. Although the layouts are fairly simple, the “splat” graphics, tongue-in-cheek headlines and concise body copy provided just enough information to make the JD Meagher phone ring. And ring, it did!

The success of the company was capped in the mid-1990s when they were successfully sold to a Houston-based diversified industrial and environmental services company.

Jim and Debbie moved to the Maine seacoast where they enjoy their family and friends. At some point, I will discuss the used 1990 Jeep Grand Wagoneer that we willingly bought from them, and how many mechanics’ children we have put through college with the associated repair bills.

For now, thank you Jim & Debbie – Doug (and Selene).



Eymer mention by longtime client & "New Marketing Superstar," David Meerman Scott

David Meerman ScottCheck out BostInnovation with a generous mention of our work. Thanks David!

Tiny Mind Chronicles: “Maybe they're just not that into you?”

Happy New Years! header, Tiny Mind GazetteOur other blog, the Tiny Mind Gazette, is not only a recreational playground for creative outbursts, but it is also a test kitchen for social media marketing concepts. Tiny Mind Gazette started with a silly Facebook conversation involving town politics between copywriter, Sally Sisson and myself. Over the past 14 months we have used the blog as a client-filter-free, creative outlet and (hopefully) a business-generating communications piece for our marketing communications businesses.

From time to time, I would like to provide short entries describing what secrets we have uncovered in terms of blogging, social media and attracting attention. Here we go.

eMail Drastically Increases Pageviews | Learn To Thrive On Rejection

When reviewing pageview data, it is really easy to detect when an email has been sent out.We sporadically send out emails announcing a new Tiny Mind posting. On every occasion, we have witnessed a significant surge in the number of blog pageviews. From an audience response standpoint, our studies have shown that, for our blog, readers are more likely to respond to an email than post a comment.

What is the Bad News?

As responsible marketers, email recipients can easily unsubscribe from our mailing list. Growing up, my mother constantly reminded me that, if I were on television, she would turn me off! She said it jokingly but her sarcasm has had a significant impact on my life. Recently, I grew up and came to the conclusion that working with Eymer Design is an acquired taste. We wouldn’t be quite as successful, if we tried to please everyone!

For email delivery, we rely on MailChimp. I truly appreciate the tongue-in-cheek humor of the program. The UI is very well designed and the retro/chimpanzee theme makes the system fun to use. What is my favorite MailChimp detail? When I receive an “unsubscribe notice,” the bottom of the email simply states, “Maybe they're just not that into you?”

click to ZOOM!click to ZOOM!A few weeks ago, we attempted to turn the tables and challenged our email recipients to unsubscribe. Yes, we lost a few. But better yet, we picked up a few new subscribers that are…

“…really into us!”

-Doug.



iPad Styli* Review

Ten One Design Pogo Sketch Stylus for iPad (left), Acase Apple iPad Capacitive Stylus (right)For those of us iPad users lacking bird-like talons for fingers, the whole touch screen experience can be greatly enhanced with the use of a stylus (pencil-like stick with rubber or foam tip). Our original top choice was the Pogo Sketch Stylus, which we purchased from our local Apple Store.

Our new favorite is the Acase Apple iPad Capacitive Stylus. The weight feels much better in the hand. The thickness feels more natural (like a pencil rather than an aluminum swizzle stick). The padded rubber tip 'writes' better than the Pogo's foam tip.

The Acase stylus receives the Eymer Design Laboritories + Think Tank, 5-pixel rating! We'll give the Pogo a 3.5.

–Doug.

*plural of stylus