FreeThink

Braving the Bike with the BTA

In an effort to be more sustainable, healthy, and to avoid my morning dose of road rage, I have recently become very interested in biking to work. However, the thought of braving the city streets on two wheels scares me to death. In an effort to better educate us all, last Thursday Stephanie Noll, Programs Manager from the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA), came and spoke to our office about the "rules of the road" as they apply to bicycle safety. (Side note - Stephanie road her bike here in a skirt! Who said you can't look great while you ride?!)

In the words of the BTA, the workshop "tells new and old riders alike about the laws, skills, and basic gear and basic maintenance that they need to know about to be safe and comfortable biking to work." Stephanie brought maps of bike routes, and taught us the basics of bike riding from hand signals, and easy ways to mount your bike to public transportation, to the best way to stay dry in our oft-times rainy climate. One of the biggest topics covered though, was how to share the road and pathways with cars and pedestrians alike, giving all of us novices a bit more courage to brave the road ahead.

Thanks to byCylce.org (a bicycle trip planner, similar to mapquest) I now have my safest and easiest route to get to work. With my helmet on and my lights lit, I plan to soon be brave enough to face the traffic (and the weather!) and truly enjoy the outdoors on my way to work.

-Hannah Hasbrook

posted on March 16, 2009

Maxwell Lunch Bunch

Because today was such a beautiful sunny day, we Maxwellians were inspired to stroll through our neighborhood and lunch at the Sellwood Food Carts. After soaking up the sun and enjoying the yummy entrees procured from Garden State Foods and Kiko's Taqueria Uruapan, we sauntered over to Staccato Gelato for homemade Italian ice cream. Sated and then some, we returned to the office with renewed appreciation for our little pocket of Portland.

- Vicky Hastings

posted on

Consulting Your Cabinet

Like a lot of women, I rely on word of mouth for recommendations, news and gossip. My boyfriend calls my close group of friends my "cabinet." When we are discussing something, he will often ask me if I have "consulted with my cabinet." While this can be annoying, it's true. I have found great hairdressers, clothing lines, sales and recipes by talking with my friends or reading their blogs - almost never by watching commercials or reading ads in newspapers and magazines.

Engage Moms recently shared some interesting facts about marketing to moms that totally validates the "cabinet" mentality. Some tidbits:

There are 35.3 million moms online with children under the age of 18 - a number projected to reach almost 37 million by 2012.
- There are only about 40 million moms, total, with children that age, across the U.S.
- Of the 36.2 million women actively participating in the blogosphere weekly, as either publishers or readers, 46% - or just over 16.5 million - have children at home.
- 67% of moms online look for advice from others when making a purchasing decision.
- 78% of moms who blog review products.

Engage Moms also reports that "Studies show that moms are increasingly losing trust in established 'experts' - institutions and the like - while trusting more in what other moms have to say."

It's nice to read this article, and confirm that I am not the only one that uses a "cabinet" of family and friends to navigate the world and discover the best (and worst) products to buy.

-Hannah Hasbrook

posted on March 05, 2009

Where's the Beef?

Why I'm on the board of the Food Alliance.

-Jen Maxwell-Muir

posted on March 04, 2009

Journalism 2.0 - The NY Times Gets It

Our team tipped off the New York Times to Astoria-Warrenton's colorful Fisher Poets Gathering last month and was happy to see an article run in this week. While it was a reminder that old school journalists still exists - reporters who don't like to work with the PR people who pitch a story because they want to unearth their own contacts/experiences - the result was still great. What I'm most impressed with is that the reporter not only captured the gritty, authentic essence of the event, but what they did with it online. Check it out: full interactive coverage that includes a slide show and sound bites of sea shanties and poetry, in addition to a traditional article. The New York Times could give a clinic to other publications for how to leverage the Internet to deliver news.

-Jen Maxwell-Muir

posted on

AMA MAX Awards

Maxwell cleaned up (to put it humbly) at the AMA MAX Awards, taking home more trophies than anyone else. While it was fun to win Best PR Campaign (Travel Oregon/Oregon Bounty), it was especially rewarding to be recognized for our work beyond media relations. In the category for Best Single Medium Advertising - Non-Traditional, our Seed the Day consumer engagement campaign for Dagoba Organic Chocolate was up against Henry V's work with KEEN on the STAND campaign - a project that we've always admired. Competing against other digital media firms, our Kettle Foods Death Valley Chipotle Facebook application was selected Best Single Medium Advertising - Interactive.

Although each campaign is distinctive in its own right, all three reflect important characteristics of Maxwell work. They authentically brought the clients' brands to life in ways that consumers could emotionally connect. They generated strategic results against modest budgets and measurable objectives. And they were for great clients willing to experiment with new ideas.

Apparently this approach doesn't only resonate with consumers; Oregon's AMA judges dug it too!

- Vicky, Sam & Molly

posted on March 02, 2009

Green Grannies

Once upon a time, retirement homes didn't exist. Elderly grew old with family and friends and were integral and valued members of society. They passed down years of skills, knowledge and stories. As much of the western world has closed elderly out of our modern everyday life we've lost their tricks of the trade. And until recently, their absence has largely gone unnoticed.

But when times get tough we suddenly miss our grandparents' depression-era know-how. Thanks to Green Grannies, a project from Oxfam's new lifestyle campaign, Good Ideas Unltd, the older generation is spreading their wise words once again; not around the kitchen table, but on YouTube. From how to get the most out of stale bread to mending clothes, these grannies know it all. This project is brilliant on many levels. It allows elderly a contemporary outlet to be relevant and respected, even in our tech-heavy, youth-obsessed culture AND encourages sustainable lifestyles. Perhaps soon we'll go beyond watching grannies on our computer screens and we'll welcome their canning, sock-darning, story-telling, re-purposing, non-car diving knowledge back into our personal lives.

-Molly Cooney-Mesker

posted on February 19, 2009

Numbers Don't Lie

We've all been watching the decline of newspapers but the hard facts are tough. My colleague Erica pulled current circulations figures from Cision for a handful of newspapers and compared with 06 data. Note the freefall, as high as 30+%:

Atlanta Journal Constitution
2006 = 365,011
2009 = 274,999
-90,012

Houston Chronicle
2006 = 521,419
2009 = 448,271
-73,148

Los Angeles Times
2006 = 907,997
2009 = 739,147
-168,850

Miami Herald
2006 = 312,811
2009 = 210,884
-101,927

The Plain Dealer
2006 = 476,424
2009 = 305,529
-170,895

The Oregonian
2006 = 342,040
2009 = 283,321
-58,719

posted on February 18, 2009

Celebs on (for) Sale

We recently learned that due to these trying economic times, celebrities now come at a new low, low price. Like everything else, famous spokespeople, celeb endorsements and star appearances are now ON SALE.

And I'm only half joking... in many ways this is a great time to inexpensively explore the realm of celebrity marketing. If you're so inclined.

In one "offer" we recently received, a company will survey celebrities about issues related to your brand and the reduced-rate responses are yours to use in press materials and announcements. You pay for the number of celebrity respondents and costs depend on how "big" the celebrities are. Y'know, fame-wise. Soap Opera actors, reality stars and "stars of yesteryear" come at the bargain rate of $3,500... but many will "work" for less (yay?). Bigger stars (the ones still working, I presume) still fetch higher figures.

So the question is - when does it make sense to reach for the stars?

-Erica Erland

posted on

Starbucks Creates a Buzz

Starbucks' new ~~instant coffee~~ "water soluble caffeine product," Via, caused quite a stir last week. Via, which has been in development for the last 20 years, will be available in Starbucks cafes next month. Howard Schultz, chief executive of Starbucks, believes that Via provides "innovation, competition, and value." Hmmm...

With Via entering the market, Starbucks is presenting a coffee beverage that we will both have to schlep to a Starbucks cafe to pick up and prepare ourselves. It baffles me that Starbucks sees this as an opportunity for growth. I will admit, every Saturday morning I pour boiling water into my coffee grounds to make a great cup of coffee - it's called a French press. It costs me far less that $1 per cup and I would wager that it may actually taste better, too. So, my initial reaction is to question their rationality. To be fair, I will soon be one of the masses that will try a complimentary sample. Maybe this will change my mind - after all a packet wouldn't break on camping trips. I can't say as much about my French press.

That said, in the last month Starbucks has added a "value-menu" to their offerings (though they refuse to call it that) and now instant coffee. Initially people were willing to pay $4 for a latte because they were buying the "Starbucks experience," in which one could get a consistent cup of coffee wherever Starbucks was sold. However, in this struggling economy many have found the cost of coffee from Starbucks to be beyond what their tightening budgets can handle. Starbucks' cafes are closing all around the world, "partners" are getting laid off in record numbers and Starbucks is seemingly trying anything to get people to walk through their doors. Is the Starbucks brand, which once thrived, now dying?

-Hannah Hasbrook

posted on February 17, 2009

Watch Out

You will get totally sucked in. Check out an effort by Orange wireless in the UK to promote unlimited texting. While you're there, sign up to learn a new language!

-Jen Maxwell-Muir

posted on February 12, 2009

A Rare Find

Although wine tasting is one of my favorite things to do any time of year, I had forgotten that winter is an especially good time to pursue this hobby. Harvest is over, winery people have time to chat about their wines, and this leisurely pace makes it easy to discover new wineries and varietals. Touring the Yamhill Valley area on Saturday, our group was delighted to stumble across Daedalus Cellars in downtown Dundee, Oregon. Newly located on Highway 99 near Tenth Street, the tasting room is a bit hard to find, but definitely worth the effort. Having the opportunity to chat with direct sales manager Sara Shaw, taste Daedalus' Gruner Veltliner, and learn more about Aron Hess' low-intervention winemaking was the highpoint of the day. Daedalus is only one of two U.S. wineries that make "Gruner," an Austrian varietal.

There are so many tasting rooms in Oregon Wine Country that it's easy to find something new and amazing on every outing. On your next visit, I encourage you to check out Deadalus.

-Vicky Hastings

posted on February 06, 2009

Will Blog for Food

It's an interesting concept. Can an outreach effort to a legion of bloggers help raise $5,000? We hope so, because the effort is for the Oregon Food Bank, the hub of a network of 915 hunger-relief agencies in Oregon and SW Washington. The organization has been hard hit by the recession, where families who have never known hunger are turning for emergency food. The problem is, demand is so the agency is struggling to keep up with community needs.

"Layoffs, foreclosures and other economic disruptions are taking a terrible toll on our neighbors," they say. We all know it's true. Who doesn't personally know someone affected by these tough times?

So we've joined in tandem with other bloggers this month to spread the word about this modern-day food drive (please manually enter 'blog for food' in the tribute section on the Oregon Food Bank donation page in order for your donation to count toward the campaign). As the Oregon Food Bank's slogan says... because no one should be hungry.

-Jen Maxwell-Muir

posted on February 04, 2009

Where have all the writers gone?

As print publications feel the effect of tightened ad spending and trim the editorial mastheads, many newly unemployed (or less reliably employed) mainstream journalists are making their way to the World Wide Web.

We already know that blogs are driving purchase and now, with experienced journalists flocking online to continue their reporting work, the digital media is continuing to grow its credibility and influence. For clients with a soft spot for print media, there's another upside to reaching out to Web-based writers now - many of the friends we make online during these "trying economic times" will ultimately go back to work for print publications... taking their new-found brand affinities with them.

Additionally, as newsroom staffs and editorial teams shrink, journalists are tasked with doing more in less time and with fewer resources. We're now seeing editors turn to blogs for research and sometimes even expert sources. The result? Food, fashion and beauty bloggers are showing up quoted in the pages of glossy magazines recommending products and highlighting trends.

For an agency already well into the work of "blogger relations" it's nice to see the new energy infused into existing online media as well as the creation of new blogs and Web sites. Our recommendation is that now, perhaps more than ever, it's important to build and nurture relationships with bloggers and Web writers... you never know where they'll go!

- Erica Erland

posted on January 20, 2009

Happy Birthday, Oregon!

Can you say "sesquicentennial?"

Christina and I attended an AMA luncheon today about "Marketing on a Shoestring," related to Oregon's 150th birthday coming up this February 14.

To kick things off, Governor Ted Kulongoski assigned a smart, driven team of marketing professionals with the enormous task of creating a grassroots, partner-driven campaign with the lofty goals of 1) making sure everyone in the state knows 2009 is Oregon's birthday and 2) making sure everyone has at least one positive Oregon experience during 2009.

I don't know about you, but rarely do marketing professionals go along with goals that require reaching everyone.

Luckily, the team lead by Lee Weinstein and Saga Shoffner were up for the challenge. To date, they've been incredibly successful gathering partners and sponsors, navigating some tough waters to unite public and private groups and exploring a variety of marketing avenues that seem to be on track to actually reach every Oregonian.

If you're not sure how you're going to celebrate, the Oregon 150 team has also made it easier to follow all of the sesquicentennial events. Meet Seski, the lovable and mysterious sasquatch mascot, who enjoys showing up in unexpected places like the Oregon Zoo and Civil War football game, and who also happens to be quite good at social networking. Check him out on Facebook, Twitter and his very own blog.

(Not to worry -- Christina and I were just acting scared for the camera. He really is very polite. And very tall.)

So whether you're a native Oregonian or an Oregonian in training, find something to do this year that celebrates our great state. And who knows, maybe you'll see a sasquatch along the way.

-Laura Herbert

posted on January 13, 2009

	This spirited, open forum by Maxwell PR staff members, studio mates and colleagues features people who are, in our opinion, doing the right things to get people talking. You'll see us rave about organizations building communities and rant about those who are missing obvious opportunities. We sprinkle in a little marketing and PR rhetoric from time to time for extra vigor and enthusiasm, and will share observations and insight based on our own experience honing our craft every day.

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