News From The Field

Here’s One For The Bucket List!

intern — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:50:55 +0000

The tiny township of Nindigully is right on the edge of the Queensland outback, located 160km west of Goondiwindi, 530km west of Brisbane, and approximately 70 km north of the Queensland/New South Wales border. Or in simpler terms, it’s in Australia! Nindigully Pub is Queensland’s oldest hotel, located in its original condition and position on the banks of the Moonie River. The license was issued in 1864 after operating as a shearers accommodation for Nindigully Station. The “boom” town has now been reduced to just two houses, the pub, the old general store and the town hall, with a total population of six! Nevertheless, it was voted the Best Country Pub in Australia in 2006 by 44 Australia magazine, and you can see why – it has become famous for its truckie “Nindigully Road Train Burger.” This giant hamburger is served with French fries, onion rings and a selection of sauces, says it will feed 1- 4 people, and costs $36 – the meat patty alone is 1.2kg! If you ever find yourself in Australia check out this historic pub and its infamous burger….we dare you!

Float Like a LEAF Sting Like a Bee

intern — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:01:05 +0000

We are excited to announce that Nissan has created an all electric vehicle called the “LEAF.” The five passenger vehicle features a powerful electric motor, a rechargeable battery, and more importantly is tail pipe free, which means that it gives off zero emissions! Nissan, along with alliance partner Renault, is the only automaker committing to making all-electric vehicles available to the mass market on a global scale.

Nissan has spearheaded a holistic approach to zero-emission mobility by working with states, municipalities, utility companies and other partners, to prepare markets and infrastructure, and has formed more than a dozen partnerships in the United States (including the state of Oregon). What’s even more commendable is that they are dedicated to improving the environment under the “Nissan Green Program 2010,” whose key priorities are reducing CO2 emissions, cutting other emissions and increasing recycling. The LEAF is expected to be launched later this year, see you at the dealership!

World News = Facebook Connections?

intern — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:10:51 +0000

Slate (an online current affairs and culture magazine) created an interactive tool called “news dots.” These dots examine how every story fits together, by visualizing the most recent topics in the news as a giant social network. Subjects are connected to one another if they appear together in at least two stories, and the size of the dot is proportional to the total number of times the subject is mentioned. It works by scanning articles from major news publications and submitting them to Calias, which is a service that tags the content with key words. If two subjects are tagged within a story, they become connected. Ultimately the dots show connections in a way that resembles Facebook friends, and the various networks that are aggregated around school and work. Using this tool is easy! Visit the Slate site and click on a circle to see which stories mention that topic, and which other topics it connects to. Then you can click on any connected dot to see which stories mention both of the subjects. Test it out for yourself, and tell us what you think.

“Man’s Last Stand” Sexist or Realistic?

intern — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:12:40 +0000

The super bowl has passed, but the memory of the Dodge Charger ad still lives on. Dodge was the only American automobile company to advertise during 2010’s super bowl, and they have yet to reveal just how much they had to pay to have their 60 second ad appear during the first half of the game (30 second ads were estimated to cost 3 million). Whatever the number, it’s estimated that it’s the most an automobile company has dished out since 2007. When Chrysler spokesperson Dianna Gutierrez was asked about advertising costs she replied, “Most American consumers do not realize we have emerged from bankruptcy so the Super Bowl is a great way to reach out to our consumers to let them know we are still here. In fact, it would be more costly to achieve the same number of viewers in traditional media placement and ensure the high viewership attention span that the Super Bowl delivers.” I’m not sure I am completely fooled by that statement, but beyond advertising dollars the ad has also stirred up quite a bit of buzz among feminists. The spot itself is titled “Mans Last Stand,” and implies through shots of monotone/expressionless dudes, and a voice over that, because a man does certain things to please a women/work he is slowly demasculinized. His last chance of being a man is driving the tough, fast, sporty, Dodge Charger. As a rebuttal a few feminists got together and posted a spoof video on YouTube. The video although really funny, and from a women’s perspective I would say highly realistic is quite a bit more serious. Both videos make a statement about our society, and what ideals STILL surround gender. What do you think, is the Dodge spot offensive? Or is it merely a reflection of reality? What about the feminists rebuttal, is it offensive to men? Or is it an accurate portrayal of a woman’s “role” in our society?

Glass Harp Commercial

intern — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:36:38 +0000

This spot for Czech automaker Skoda’s new crossover SUV is a beautifully done ad. The ads features Glass harp player Petr Spatina (check out his website here.) It is interesting and captivating. While automobiles and glass harp players seem unrelated, the ad ties them together with ”perfect harmony.”

Harlo Interactive is a website design firm based in Portland, OR.

You a Guerilla Marketer?

intern — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:20:52 +0000

As more advertising penetrates the market it becomes harder to get our audiences’ attention. The amount of advertising you see in a day averages in the thousands. You probably don’t even realize how many advertisements you see, because like a lot of people you block them out, or ignore them. Here’s a challenge: notice every advertisement you are exposed to in a day and record it in a note book. You will be shocked. Because of this, younger audiences are less affected by traditional methods of advertising. However, they are more appreciative of truly creative messages and messages that really connect with them. Traditional methods are not dying, however they have become harder to use. This has created the growing trend of Guerilla marketing. Guerrilla marketing is an unconventional, potentially interactive, way of promoting. It relies on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget. (Read more h ere!)

Because of this, we want to expose our Harlo fans to a few Guerilla Marketing Websites. They are fun to look at and maybe they’ll help get your creative juices flowing. The possibilities are endless with Guerilla Marketing. Check out this site. It features 80 different ideas. Here’s a blog about different guerilla marketing campaigns. Here is another blog featuring Guerilla marketing campaigns. Check out the campaign for Nationwide (left). Let the creative juices flow, any type of company can use a guerrilla marketing campaign.

Harlo Interactive is a website design firm based in Portland, OR.

Drink A Cold One For Harlo

intern — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:00:26 +0000

The much anticipated Migration Brewery website is up and running! The new Brewery just opened their doors to the public last week, and Harlo had the lovely opportunity of designing their new site. The look is simple and stylish, featuring a “beer blog,” “newsroom,” “events,” and an option to subscribe to the MB blog. A sexy new web presence, and delicious beer aren’t the only things that MB is bringing to the table, now their kitchen is up and running as well! Our lunch recommendation for the week is one of their yummy hot or cold veggie/meat sammies, paired with the soon to be famous “Migration pale ale.” Check out the site, check out the dig, and most importantly drink a cold one for us!

Harlo Interactive is a website design firm based in Portland, OR

FAMAMFAM=COOLCOOLCOOL

intern — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:53:27 +0000

The folks at Harlo recently stumbled upon this cool find, a ”silk” (smooth) web icon set created by UK web developer Mark James. The most recent (and possibly final) set called “version 1.3” Posted on Marks website FAMFAMFAM, features 1,000 icons. These include (but are not limited to) report icons, picture icons, small XHTML/CSS buttons, and hardware drive icons. The feed icons have been brought into line with new standard, and all icons have been compressed to lower the file size. Oh and by the way it’s free, so download away my friends!

Harlo Interactive is a website design firm based in Portland, OR

Crappy Advertising

intern — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:58:44 +0000

Towards the end of 2009 the teens of Milwaukee Michigan were being encouraged to prevent pregnancy in an interesting way. At one point, bus stops were being covered with ads that portrayed a poopy diaper and encouraged passersby to take a whiff. The ads created by Serve Marketing for the United Way, turned out to smell like nothing at all, darn it! The copy located strategically in the middle of the brown spot on the diaper read, “This doesn’t really stink, but the consequences of teen pregnancy do.”

To go along with the preventative sex theme, Serve marketing also created a “practice safe text” print campaign. The ad featured a picture of a cell phone with a condom over it to encourage teens to resist sending nude pictures of themselves on their cell phones. Apparently Greg Oden didn’t get the memo.

Recently the teens of Milwaukee have been bombarded by trailers, bus shelters, billboards, radio ads and Facebook and Wikipedia pages for a horror film called 2028. Or at least what they thought was a horror film. It turns out that it was all a hoax, and the fim was actually a PSA to prevent teen pregnancy. What do you think about all of these messages targeted to teens? Do you think they will make a difference, and help lower teen pregnancy rates in Milwaukee Michigan, or is too much? Click here to to view the video.

Harlo Media is a website design firm based in Portland, OR

Project Trio: a new twist on some of your favorite songs

intern — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:01:11 +0000

This energetic group of composers/performers from Brooklyn blend their classical training with an eclectic taste of musical styles to entertain audiences of all ages. Check them out on YouTube, or find their Facebook page! This trio is made up of three incredibly talented musicians, Greg Pattillo, Eric Stephensons, and Peter Seymour. This group takes easily recognizable songs and puts a unique twist on them (like the Nutcracker, the Sesame Street Song, the Mario Bro’s Theme, and the Inspector Gadget Song). Not only do they remix songs, they have originals of thir own, which are amazing as well.

Greg Pattillo (Flute) is recognized throughout the world for his redefinition of flute sound. His groundbreaking performance videos on Youtube, showcasing “beatbox flute,” have been viewed more than 20 million times. Eric Stephenson (Cello) styles range from Classical to Jazz to rock to folk. Peter Seymour (Bass) has performed with a multitude of highly acclaimed artists and ensembles. They all met at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where they received their Bachelors of Music.

I had the privilege of seeing this group perform live at the Old Church in Portland, OR. I highly recommend you check out their performances if you get the chance.

Here’s a little taste of Project Trio:

Harlo Media is a website design firm based in Portland, OR.