Some Things Just Go Together

This is the only time of year you can get away with combining a drinking game and a children's game under the guise of good times. So have a Happy Holiday and cheers.

Happy Birthday Rhinoceros!!!!

Rhino emerges from the darkness to consume his bday treat...


(doggy safe) cupcake for the birthday boy!


He's a bit of a piggy.

Rhino, Frank's #1 troublemaker, turns 1 today. People say when he hits 3 years old - he'll calm down. Only another 2 to go. To make up for all his "mistakes" Rhino bought his co-workers (and himself) some delicious miniature cupcakes from cupcake jones.

The Frank Holiday Chain Letter!

(Click the image to read the Frank Holiday Chain Letter)

Here at Frank Creative we wanted to wish everyone on Earth a Happy Holiday Season. Unfortunately, we don't know everyone on Earth. But we wouldn't let a silly thing like that stop us from trying. So don't break the chain...or else! Happy Holidays to all.

The Outcome...

The Civil War

Sometimes #2 feels better than #1

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After coming up a little short in a recent soccer pitch, Frank is packing away the voodoo dolls and pouring out the holy water. We’re not sore losers here. We don’t need to cast spells or wish ill will on the winners…Right?


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We can forget about the multiple late night refinements that led to the early morning printing and binding session. We can laugh off the hours spent on three unique graphic executions and fully flushed out 18-month marketing plan. And we’ll simply digest the countless pots of coffee that kept the creative juices flowing because this is the life we chose.


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Besides, we watched “The Bachelor” last season. We know what happens to #1s and #2s. You see, Melissa was picked #1 and offered a proposal while Molly was rejected and left asking “why?” on national TV. Of course a couple months later, #2 Molly was asked back and #1 Melissa was dumped, making her the actual #2 and Molly the new #1. And when “Dancing with the Stars” heard about the now #2 Melissa, they asked her to be on their #1 hit show where she made bank. And the first #2, who eventually became #1, is still in love, which is worth more than money - kind of like ideas. You can’t put a price on good one.


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So sometimes #2 feels better than #1. And at the very least, 2 is twice as many as 1, which seems like a step up if you’re still doing the math. You know what I mean?

Rhino

Frank's Newest Designer

Meet Rhino. The newest addition to the Frank Creative team.

Green Frank

In a continuing effort to improve the sustainable business practices at Frank Creative we partnered with the Zero Waste Alliance to build out our new office space in Portland. Throughout the process we recycled over 50% of our demo materials, applied low VOC paint to the walls, utilized rapidly renewable resources, and improved our office recycling policies. Other small steps include:

1) Tyler now takes mass transit due to his fear of traffic jams after living in L.A. for 5 years.

2) Keo cut his daily commute drastically by moving from Corvallis. The smell in Albany was just too much.

3) Carter has upgraded his 1992 Bridgestone bike to withstand monsoon season in Portland.

4) Sue now receives a light slap on the wrist every time she throws out a piece of paper instead of recycling it.

5) Lisa and Heather car pool together because living and working together just wasn't enough.

6) Dave drinks his daily cup of coffee from a porcelain replica of a take out cup. It's like a fake cigarette except he is not trying to quit.

7) Lucas rehashes and reuses any and all ideas and copy whenever possible.

8) Steve has lead the charge in purchasing recycled office paper. The math was too much for anyone else to handle.

9) Denis met his wife at Burning Man. Enough said.



In recognition of all these efforts we have received an award from the City of Portland Office of Sustainable Development for having a High Performance Green Workspace.


Oscar sporting his new bling

*Please note all copy for this post was dictated to Lisa by Carter.

Nothin' but Net!

A few weeks have gone by since the NERF hoop was installed at FRANK. The idea to make the addition came during a late night game of Moon Ball played between press checks on the AND1 footwear catalog. Initially, the hoop was used for Moon Ballesque friendly displays of trickeration Think MJ v. LB McDonald's commercial from the early 90's. This quickly evolved into a series of down-to-the-wire PIG games.

It comes with great pleasure to announce that today, Monday, March 2, 2009 Lucas Burt became the last co-worker to win his first official outright game of PIG.

Congratulations, and may your first also be your last.

Pugsta is BORN!

Frank's newest mascot, Rhino the pug, was born on Feb. 4th, 2009. Technically, Rhino belongs to me, but the Franksters will be seeing him around quite a bit, as I hope he will be hanging in the office. Check out the cuteness!

Pug Pup Update

The pup isn't born yet...but Carter has now officially won (seeing as how he picked the latest date).
Along with garnering the "godfather" status to the unborn Pup...an un-named/undecided prize will still be his...

Pug Pupdate

For all of you who don't know, I am getting a Pug. That's right. Pint sized perfection will soon be mine. I'm impatiently waiting for the 'lil guy to be born so that I can name her, and more importantly, so I can declare the winner of the "Frank Pug Poll" (a poll predicting the birthday of my soon-to-be Pug-ette). So far, 3 people have been eliminated: Steve (1.14), Keo (1.19), and Dave (1.20--the pugsta and I woulda shared the same bday! a terrific theory!).

Still in the running are:
Tyler: 1.23
Lisa: 1.25
Heather: 1.27
Carter: 1.28

The suspense continues!!!

Perfect Season

I’m sad to say that the 2008-2009 NCAA football season officially came to a close. Although Florida will retain the #1 spot until the pre season polls begin to service this summer, something truly magical happened this season. Of course, I am talking about the perfect bowl record executed by the Conference of Champions and an impressive 5-2 record* for the in house Frank crew.

It all started off when the, unlikely, Arizona Wildcats put a double-digit dent in the BYU Cougars’ post season at the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl. I’ll be honest, I’m not a big ZONA fan, nor have I ever been a big supporter of the Stoops family. PAC 10: 1-0 / FRANK: 0:0

Next the California Golden Bears secure a win over the ‘Canes in what could be considered a home game at the Emerald Bowl at AT&T Park. A bittersweet win for the Duck fans in the office, as Coach Tedford was a tough loss. PAC 10: 2-0 / FRANK: 0:0

Then it was the Duck’s turn. A civil war match up at the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl between U of O and OSU… no, not that OSU…not that one either…that’s right Oklahoma State. The Civil War of Donors. Phil Knight 42, T. Boone Pickens 31. PAC 10: 3-0 / FRANK: 3:0

To finish off 2008, I present to you the Brut ‘disappointment’ Sun Bowl. Beav’s thought they smelled roses, and viewers expected more than 3 points. Would this be the last team from PA to lose to a PAC10 team? PAC 10: 4-0 / FRANK: 4:0

Nope. The Granddaddy of ‘em All. Joe Paterno vs. Pete Carroll. The 95th annual Rose Bowl Presented by Citi Bank. A new year, and the largest margin of victory (2 TD’s) by a PAC 10 bowl team this season. Fight On! PAC 10: 5:0 / FRANK: 5:2

I guess its safe to say that the best thing that comes out of the end of football season is the full coverage of basketball season.

* It should be noted that a win for Oregon was counted 3 times, once for every alumni in the office and that the 2 losses came from a very heated in house rivalry between two tradition programs.

The Storm of the Century...

Okay, so it might not have been the storm of the century, but it was enough to shut down Portland, Ore. for an entire week. Sure, the 8-12 inches of snow that covered the city streets paled in comparison to the 30+ inches my hometown in Montana received over the same time period, but when the Metro area is only used to 1-2 inches, that extra white stuff causes quite a ruckus. That’s right, I just said “ruckus.”

Streets shut down, cars were snowed in, and businesses stayed closed. Schools started their winter vacations early forcing many parents to work from home. It was Frank’s first serious taste of what the Northwest is capable of. And even though winter storms of this magnitude don’t hit the city that often, when they do, they do so with tenacity.

(A table for two?)

Thank you for reading the thoughts of Lucas.

String Wall Kicks Off!

It's official, the string wall is now underway! Maggie and her assistant, Heather stopped in today and have begun to set up what is sure to be an awesome piece of art. I plan on trying to shoot their progress in the early morning when the lighting is better.

It’s Official

Okay, we can no longer ignore the economy. In fact, I just read that we are officially in a recession according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. The National what? Yeah, don’t worry. I’ve never heard of them before either. But apparently they get to make the call. I’m just glad they figured it out. Rumor has it that this recession thing has been going on since December of 2007. Of course, now that it has officially been labeled, we can all put our ears to the tracks and listen for the collective exclamation of “oh no” that will be heard across the nation.

In all seriousness, a lot of companies will have the same knee-jerk reaction of cutting advertising budgets here and promoting low prices there. Sounds like a good short term fix, but what is it they’re really fixing? It’s important to remember that you’ve worked hard to earn a certain amount of goodwill towards your brand – goodwill that isn’t lost simply because the National Billibee Boo says that we’re now in a recession.

The key to keeping a cool head is to remember that even during a recession companies will continue to do business and consumers will continue to consume – both will be just a little wiser about how they do it. You may be able to even use this time to your advantage. Without getting all “look at how big my brain is” on you, let’s just assume that some of your competitors cut their advertising budgets due to the recession. Just because they start limiting their advertising doesn’t mean customers quit listening. They are simply listening for a more convincing reason to part with their hard-earned dollars.

So instead of cutting off the dialogue you’re having with your consumers, you might want to consider digging deeper into your brand strategy and shining a brighter light on its benefits. Your diligence may not only keep your company comfortably afloat during the recession, but it can also pay off huge when people start throwing their money around again.

Thank you for reading the thoughts of Lucas.

String Wall Project Underway

Here at Frank we are excited to announce that our "string wall" is officially underway. Due to the diligent research of our intern (Jessica) we found a local string artist named Maggie Casey. Dave and I met with Maggie initially in October and she presented us sketched designs in early November. Since then the string has been ordered and construction has begun (in Maggie's studio). She is hoping to install before she heads back east for the Holidays, so check back for pictures of Frank's first (of many I hope) in-studio commissioned art!

Till then, check out some of Maggie's creations at: www.maggiecasey.com

Tug-O-War

The Microsoft/Apple advertising tug-o-war continues. Oddly enough, Microsoft is only slightly tugging, and Apple is warring.

In recent ad campaigns, Microsoft has tried to connect to its consumers on a more emotional level. Their first attempt included several ads featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. After the ads fell short, they were replaced with a series of spots that try to show consumers that PC users encompass all professions – most of which aren’t boring. You know the ads “I’m a PC, and I’ve been made into a stereotype.”

It’s nice to see Microsoft trying to build their brand beyond the corporate juggernaut that they are. For so long, they have been thought of as a greedy, numbers and figures company. And after the recent success of Apple’s “I’m a Mac” campaign, they are finally starting to realize that there is something to this whole branding thing. Your product doesn’t simply live on 6-square-feet of shelf space in Wal-Mart.

What I find interesting is Apple’s rebuttal campaign. Perhaps it’s because we’re in the middle of the political season, but Apple is using their recent ads to attack Microsoft’s tactics rather than promote themselves. Even if what they are saying is true, it still comes across as being on the defensive, which I find interesting.

I’m not advocating PCs over Macs, but I am intrigued with the ideology behind the recent change in tone of the Apple ads. Most of their previous spots included some sort of comparison where the Mac always came across as being hipper and more user friendly. Their last two spots, however, leave the direct comparisons on the cutting room floor. Instead, Apple is simply pointing out the flaws in Microsoft’s thinking. So let the politickin’ begin.

Thank you for reading the thoughts of Lucas.

Happy Boss' Day

The overall spread:

Close up on the mini cupcakes:

Gratitude Beer and Chocolate (and Gummi Bears)