We’re excited and honored to be heading to New York again next week MediaPost’s Creative Media Awards, where our work for multiple facets of OpenConnect‘s brand and business is up for an award in the Business Media Category. Yalo helped this client develop a strategy, marketing calendar and assets to support both brand and product campaigns and other initiatives with the goal of bringing a more cohesive message and look to each piece of their communications. Below, check out just some of the work that helped produce 32% quarter-over-quarter growth in site visits and 70% increase in LinkedIn clicks and see the complete list of finalists here.

When you’re up for an Oscar for the year’s top-grossing film, you know you’ve done something right. Nominated for Best Costume Design, Black Panther costume designer, Ruth Carter, has spent nearly 30 years creating the looks for television and film, with over 40 films to her credit, including Selma, Love & Basketball and most of Spike Lee’s joints. She’s a master at bringing to life the overall appearance and clothing to imaginatively represent multiple periods and genres . . . and, just maybe, her third time being nominated is the charm. Learn more about her vision and the process behind melding the ancient and the futuristic for a few of Black Panther‘s 1,500 costumes.

I’ve noticed a distinct change in my experiences at brick-and-mortal retail stores lately, and I think we have Amazon to thank for it. 

As recently as 2-3 years ago, it was easy to find stores that weren’t trying very hard to deliver a positive customer experience — long lines, messy stores, no help from associates — it’s a long list. So I started buying almost everything on Amazon, and the love that has developed between us is strong. She has never let me down, but she knows that relationships require work, and she’s constantly finding new ways to spice things up (like Sunday deliveries and free 1-day deliveries). I love her. Now, I think retailers are finally starting to adapt their in-store experiences to try to woo me back. 

On Christmas Eve, I learned two things about Best Buy — that BestBuy.com offers an abysmal eCommerce experience, and the Best Buy near me is much nicer than it used to be. I wouldn’t want to compete against Amazon in the eCommerce game, and I don’t think BestBuy.com is even trying. Long story short, I found out from BestBuy.com at noon on Christmas Eve that my wife’s only big gift wasn’t coming. So I sprang into action, jumped in my truck, and headed to the chaos of Christmas Eve shopping in a large suburb. I felt like Jason Bourne — driving towards the fight. But then my in-store experience was fantastic. I was greeted within seconds of entering the store by a helpful associate who knew what I needed him to know about Apple Watches. He clearly described my options, and gave me a recommendation that wasn’t the most expensive watch. Then he checked me out at small desk, and I was done. I was in the store for maybe 8 minutes, which is exactly how long I want to be in a Best Buy.

On the way home I stopped at a spirits store to stock up for the long week ahead. I went to a big store with a huge selection of wine, beer and liquor — and it was busy. To my surprise, there was a sommelier working the floor. I like to bring a bottle of wine to a party, but I don’t drink enough wine to know what I’m doing. Having a wine expert choose a few bottles for me saved me from wandering the aisles and making bad decisions. It seems like an obvious move to have a salesman on hand to help customers buy more wine on the busiest alcohol sales day of the year, but this store hadn’t done it before.

Fast-forward a couple weeks, and I decided to try Walmart Pickup for the first time. It’s great. It might be the first time I’ve ever thought that anything at Walmart was great. (When I go to Walmart, I treat it like a job — get in, get out, and remind myself that I’m there to save money). Walmart Pickup was great, from start to finish. I filled my cart online and chose a pickup time — super easy. When I left my house, I clicked one button in the app to let them know I was coming. When I arrived at the store, my phone immediately notified me that I had arrived, and my order would be out in a couple minutes. I entered the number of the spot where I was parked, and in less than 5 minutes a really, really helpful associate brought me my groceries. We reviewed a couple substitutions they had made (Ex. bigger pack of bottled water for the price of the smaller pack I ordered), I accepted all the subs, and he loaded my truck. When I tried to tip him, he refused the tip and asked me to give him a positive review online, which I did (similar to rating an Uber driver).

In the world of in-store experiences, Nordstrom’s customer service is legendary, but providing a great customer experience was always their niche. It’s worth repeating: great customer service was (maybe still is) a niche offering. But, based on my recent shopping trips, more brick and mortar retailers are stepping up their customer service in terms of both style and substance to better compete with our online options and their real world peers. And they’re killing it.

I’m not saying things are over between me and Amazon, but I’m a little more interested in playing the field again now. Competition forces companies to adapt and improve and, ultimately, consumers are the winners. Thanks, Jeff.

It’s an exciting time of year for football fans and ad nerds. Super Bowl ads are starting to leak and we can’t wait to see more! From regulars like Anheuser-Busch InBev (that’s Budweiser to most of us) and newbies like P&G’s beauty brand Olay, the roster of brands representing will cover a range of products and approaches to making an impact. Check out a preview of some of the ads that have already been released and start picking your favorites.

Table for one? Why yes please. More and more of us are eating alone. Not just in restaurants but also at home. What’s driving this growing trend and how big brands are adjusting to satisfy the pleasure of eating alone.

As a small organization, I believe you must acknowledge the good days and successes, as well as the tough days and challenges. 2018 presented Yalo with both good days and tough days. However, we were fortunate to have an abundant number of good days and successes in 2018. We amped up our 2017 TAG Agency of the Year award, and it served us well. We pushed the boundaries of our tag line “Defy. Fly.” with our clients and it served us well. So well in fact that we had matched our 2017 numbers by end of June, which positioned us for a breakout finish to 2018. We finished 2018 at a very successful +43% YoY!

So, when it came time to plan our 2018 end-of-year offsite, I wanted to celebrate our team, their resilience, and their tenacity for a resounding rebound from 2017. What better place to celebrate than New Orleans? We all shipped out in early December from OH and GA and planted our New Yal’ins flag in the French Quarter for two days of hard work and soulful inspiration. Like all our meetings, New Yal’ins was no different than previous meetings . . . they are wide open, all comments welcome, no holding back type of gatherings. I believe in full transparency, and so we covered a lot of ground, including both the good days and tough days.  This way everyone knows exactly where we have been, what we accomplished, where we are going, and that everyone has their share, their workload to pull. We rely on every piston firing as one team at high capacity, packing a powerful punch into every client and every day of work. For Yalo, we were a well-oiled machine in 2018.

I am very proud of the team and culture we have built. Everyone trusts each other, everyone supports each other, and everyone is DIY GSD (Do it yourself, Get sh*t done — which is our company motto). I believe our culture allows every individual to excel in their own way, putting their best foot forward every day to create unique, atypical marketing solutions for our clients.  And when all pistons are firing as one team, that makes each day exciting and exhilarating.

So as Yalo heads into 2019, we are positioned for growth, for strength. We have hired additional powerful pistons onto the team to accelerate our growth and strength. We have great relationships (even partnerships) with our clients. We have a strong tailwind driving us forward. We have a clear outlook for 2019, and when we have done our job to the best of our ability, we will grow again by 40%-50%. The Yalo Tribe is poised to kick a lot of ass in 2019.

So our new hashtag for 2019 is . . . #HereWeCome

Fiji Water won the Golden Globes last night with a poto-bombing “water girl” who kept the brand front and center on the red carpet, but there were also some other shareable moments worth a shout-out. Which one would you cast your vote for?

First Man composer Justin Hurwitz just added a Golden Globe for Best Original Score to his awards cabinet, alongside two Oscars and two Grammys for his work on 2016’s La La Land. With a focus on detail and talent for tapping into the true emotion of a film, this up and comer seems poised for greatness. Listen to more of his work on Spotify. 

The numbers are in! 2018 shaped up to be a pretty awesome year for Yalo, statistically speaking. We’re excited for more challenging work, more amazing clients and more opportunities to defy and fly in 2019!

CES week in Las Vegas is basically the Super Bowl for tech-heads. It’s a week that always seems to deliver a perfect mix of weird and wonderful; your typical and your not so typical tech products. This year is no different. On one side of the spectrum, you have a sea of TVs on display, and on the other side you have the slightly more . . . unique showcases like BreadBot. 

But make no mistake, CES never fails to preview some of the hottest up-and-coming tech of the year. Here are 5 trends to watch in 2019.

IoT

Sure, IoT isn’t exactly a new trend, but when a major player like Bosch uses their CES appearance to introduce an entire campaign dedicated to IoT then you know it’s a category to pay attention to this year. Smart home will dominate this segment but look for other industries like healthcare and auto to amp up their IoT efforts in 2019.

LiDAR

This technology is a key ingredient in autonomous vehicles. Pulsed laser light is used to measure distance to a target, which helps detect the edges of roads and identify lane markings. However, 2019 will bring us expanded use cases for LiDAR technology. Quanergy’s LiDAR tech for example is branching out to address border security,  while companies like Microvision envision more indoor, consumer based applications for their LiDAR technology.

Digital Health

The Apple Watch seems to have started a bit of a digital health trend in recent years. Expect to see a big boost in products aimed at promoting overall healthier lifestyles in 2019. Everything from smart mirrors and sleep aids, to medication management and heartrate monitors. Lots of the wearables being shown at CES all have a focus on health and wellness.

Augmented Reality

Mobile AR might be the second hottest tech trend of 2019. ARKit and ARCore set the mobile AR wheels in motion last year and things will only continue to heat up in that space. But with Microsoft set to introduce their next-gen HoloLens this year, I would guess that the race to mass adopted, consumer based AR wearables will officially begin in 2019.

5G

While the switch won’t happen overnight (or even by the end of 2019), this massive upgrade has already started to take shape, and will no doubt be the biggest, most important tech trend of the year. Why is the 5G upgrade so important? This 5^th generation of wireless technology will be BLAZING fast, have SUPERSONIC responsiveness and will allow for ENORMOUS capacity. It’s going to have a huge impact on pretty much all connected devices. Check out the video below if you want to geek out on 5G.

Watching future trends and keeping an eye on inspiring technologies is part of what keeps us sharp like ninjas here at Yalo. While not quite augmented reality, virtual technology that empowers digital virtual events such as virtual trade shows or even virtual cocktail hours is certainly another tech trend that is fully upon us, and we’re excited to offer it to our clients as part of our experiential marketing services. Find out about our Virtual Events service and all the ingredients that Yalo adds to the mix. Please communicate with us here for more info, or email our virtual guru, Scott Efferson, at Scott.Efferson@digitalyalo.com.

Website Development

The Challenge

Logimethods is a highly-specialized consulting firm providing Enterprise Architecture, Enterprise Integration and Business Intelligence services. Their website had become outdated, lacking responsive design, intuitive navigation, strong SEO or analytics. So, the company called on Yalo to help upgrade their web presence to reflect the innovative set of technical solutions they provide.

Our Solution

Yalo developed a new site that implements a clean, modern, responsive design with breakpoints for tablet and mobile. Updated content is streamlined and re-organized to make the site easier to navigate. Meanwhile, SEO best practices and updated keywords make the site easier for prospects to find. We added a few bits of new functionality, including a blog, a contact form specifically geared toward requesting resources for staff augmentation and data capture for visitors downloading white papers.

Climbing the Charts

With Google Analytics implemented, Logimethods is now gaining better insight into site traffic and adjusting its marketing efforts accordingly to hit new highs.

Here at Yalo, we celebrate Defy and Fly thinking and creativity. Last week, we were impressed by the Glitter Bomb. This week, we celebrate the mayor of Elk Grove Village, Illinois, for thinking out of the box and then making it a reality. His crafty thinking led to his town being the sponsor of the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl, including on-field branding, commercials and live-feed cutaways from the game to a bar in Elk Grove, packed with its proud residents. And it has generated significant buzz, with the goal of pulling in new businesses to the town to increase tax revenues. Well played, Mr. Mayor. Read about it here.

If there’s one time of year it’s totally okay to get emotional over TV spots, it’s the holidays. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, when brands put on their sappiest, cutest, most magical shows in hopes of capturing our attention, our hearts and our buying power. Personally, I’m all over it. And yeah, I might just cry.

Conan O’Brien may have been in the late-night game for over 25 years, but he’s anything but set in his ways. He’s changing up his format and content, and using digital to stay relevant and reach new audiences starting in 2019. See inside Conan O’Brien’s digital reinvention.

Willingness to fail. Passionate vision. Intense self motivation. Constant networkers. Sound like the traits of an entrepreneur, right? Artists also possess these characteristics and often approach their business in a way more traditional entrepreneurs could learn from. See what lessons artists have for entrepreneurs.

Cleveland Video Production & Marketing Agency, Yalo, shares fascinating facts and titillating trivia about a local film project turned national Christmas classic and holiday treasure.

Here at Yalo, we love to celebrate local projects and events that have turned into national success stories for Cleveland – the Cavaliers’ 2016 NBA Championship, yes!  

“A Christmas Story” was a low-budget film created by writer Jean Shepherd that was about a family’s dysfunctional and hilarious mishaps during the holiday season, set in the vintage late 1930s. The funny lines and the relatability to families across America have made it the ultimate holiday classic that keeps fans craving the movie year after year. 

Here are 10 fun facts and trivia about “A Christmas Story” that you probably didn’t know. 

1. “A Christmas Story” is based on Jean Shepherd’s novel, “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash.” It was originally created as a radio show that turned into a series of short stories published in Playboy magazine. 

2. Cleveland, Ohio was chosen as the main location to shoot the film after visiting twenty cities. The decision was based on Higbee’s store allowing then crew to film inside the store. Parts of the film were also filmed in Toronto, Canada. 

3. The film now plays for 24 hours straight starting on Christmas Eve and runs through Christmas Day, which started as a promotional stunt by TNT cable network. It is now a tradition. 

4. The actor Jack Nicholson was interested in playing the role of Mr. Parker, AKA “the old man,” but the film’s low budget couldn’t afford him. Darren McGavin ended up landing the iconic role. 

5. One of the funniest scenes – where Ralphie goes to see Santa at the mall – featured characters played by local extras – including Santa, the elves, the wicked witch from “The Wizard of Oz,” and the weird boy standing by Ralphie in line. Writer Shepherd also appeared in the scene – playing a grumpy store customer! 

6. The famous (and excruciating) scene where Flick sticks his tongue to the ice-cold flagpole featured a hidden suction tube to create the illusion that his tongue was frozen to the metal. 

7. There was not enough real snow to film the wintry scenes so potato flakes, firefighters’ foam and nearby ski resorts’ snow were used as supplements. 

8. In the Chinese restaurant scene, Ralphie’s mother – played by actress Melinda Dillon – was purposely given the wrong script to capture her real reaction of the cooked duck still having its head! 

9. Three actual leg lamps were made for the movie and all were broken during the filming. 

10.  The “A Christmas Story” house is now a functioning museum for anyone to visit, located in Cleveland’s now-popular Tremont neighborhood. This house was bought by fan Brian Jones, who purchased the house, sight unseen, on EBay for $150,000 in 2004.  

As a Cleveland video production agency – among our many capabilities – Yalo thrives on locations that generate and resonate exciting, meaningful “vibes.” Cleveland, one of our two hometowns and headquarters, had the one-and-only “A Christmas Story” filmed in its beautiful post-industrial splendor. We take this accomplishment and run with it, seeing possibilities for all of our clients to find inspiration and meaning which helps to define new stories that celebrate brands with soul and style.  

Contact us to learn more about what Yalo can do for you as video production marketing professionals! We operate out of Cleveland and Atlanta but we get around and we love to travel! 

It’s that time of year again! Yalo is hitting the road this week for our our annual fall offsite. Since our team is spread out, it’s always a good chance for some overdue team bonding, as well as reviewing wins and and losses for the year and getting pumped up for what we’ll do next. We typically take a road trip to somewhere outside Atlanta and do something like cozy up in a cabin, but this year, we’re mixing it up and going to New Orleans. I firmly believe a change of scenery is one of the keys to sparking fresh thinking. And while we will be looking at PowerPoints in a conference room for some of the time, we also have a lot of fun activities planned that will get us exploring the city’s unique cultue, world-renowned food and famed watering holes. The couple days always ends up being a really good balance between work and play that benefits us each individually and Yalo as a whole — and it’s never boring. 

How does your company do offsites? Check out these 4 Ways to Run an Offsite That Won’t Become a Snoozefest. 

Marketing Assessment

The Challenge

The $1.5B Facility Solutions segment of Veritiv Corporation was engaged in numerous marketing activities, but did not have a well-defined picture of its audience, a broad view of all its ongoing marketing efforts or any way to measure success. Yalo helped them put all the puzzle pieces in place with an assessment of their marketing operations and overall campaign effectiveness.

Our Solution

Yalo provided persona and content reviews, campaign planning and execution and overall marketing analytics. We analyzed and audited the most utilized content in a library of over 500 unique assets. Then, we generated 4 new marketing personas for the business segment, as well as content calendar planning and execution tactics that can be applied moving forward.

Climbing the Charts

The personas we developed are actively being used by the business segment and our calendar planning and execution tactics were so valuable that they have been adopted by other larger business segments across Veritiv.

Not our typical AOW, Alex’s craft consists of mastering both mind and body to be the first person to climb Yosemite’s El Capitan alone and without a rope. His preparation, focus and tenacity are something to behold. He left nothing to chance in his climb, except of course, the risk of being tethered to . . . nothing. He was able to block out all distractions including fear, nervousness and doubt to accomplish his goal. Free Solo captures the nail-biting beauty of his journey perfectly. A must-see.

Most of us here at Yalo South will be 100% on top of the Atlanta @ New Orleans game on Thanksgiving night (no pressure, Falcons!). But there always seems to be a lot of time between football games over the long weekend to snuggle down and watch a great flick. Esquire‘s list of 20 Great Thanksgiving Movies covers classics to re-watch and some cool outside-the-lines picks for the whole family. Enjoy and happy Thanksgiving from the whole Yalo tribe!