Interactive & Internet-based Marketing Emerging at AGC!

Technology has fundamentally changed how brands and their audiences communicate, not just online but across all channels. Consequently, interactive thinking or cross media outreach needs to be at the core of all marketing strategy and multiple touch points at the heart of all marketing delivery.

Marketing today is not a single execution but rather a strategy that reinforces and enhances the brand message and experience.

A unique advertising approach that immerses the customer with the brand and allows the customer to reshape the marketing message to suit her/her own unique preferences.

Stay tuned for some very exciting and emerging technologies to be available at AGC!

More CIFF Films to check out

HERB and DOROTHY
You will be enchanted by Herb & Dorothy Vogel. And even more enchanting is the art collection they have amassed since their first purchase in the early 1960's. A labor of love, the collected works now number thousands of pieces (enough to fill our five moving vans when transported to Washington D.C's National Gallery of Art in 1992) and are, perhaps, the most comprehensive representation of New York-generated modern and contemporary art in the world, especially when you consider their limited means. Herb was a postal worker and sometimes art student and painter; Dorothy worked as a librarian...
Watch the trailer here.
Friday March 27th @ 7:15 PM.



HOMEGROWN
These inspiring films portray young people working for a greener tomorrow. THE ROAD AHEAD tells about the Green Long March project in China, where hundreds of enthusiastic university students fanned out across the disparate geographic regions of China to spread the good word of environmental awareness. HOMEGROWN features an ultimate green family on the other side of the world, the Dervaeses of Pasadena, California. This enterprising father and his three adult children have built a working farm on their city plot of land, and they are almost completely self-sustaining. They harvest 6,000 pounds of fruit and vegetables yearly, both for their own consumption and to sell to local restaurants.
This film is preceded by the screening of The Road Ahead: The First Green Long March.
Thursday March 26th @ 2:00 PM
Sunday March 29th @ 4:40 PM

Cleveland International Film Festival - something for Artists and Eco-Friends

The Cleveland International Film Festival is at Tower City Center in downtown Cleveland through Sunday March 29th. Below are a few films that our artist and eco-friends might enjoy:

ART & COPY: Somewhere out there right now, giant satellites are about to launch into space, the better to blanket the airwaves with more commercial images. ART & COPY is a stylish film about the creative heads behind ad campaigns that have changed not only how we view commodities, but also how we view ourselves. No matter what your perception is of advertising agencies, their stories are intriguing. And the groundbreaking ad executives pictures here come across as thoughtful artists with a genius for catching the spirit of the times before the rest of the world realizes what's happening...

Friday March 27th @ 2:15

Saturday March 28th @ 7:15

BETWEEN THE FOLDS: Who knew a movie about paper folding could be such a work of art? Filmmaker Vanessa Gould studied astrophysics and architecture at Columbia University, which may begin to explain her fascination with the engineering marvels accomplished by contemporary wizards of the age-old art of origami. Gould has fashioned a mesmerizingly beautiful paean to a number of visionaries who possess the dedication and ability to make incredible shapes out of a single sheet of paper. Following ten artists and theoretical scientists from Cal Tech and MIT to France and Israel, she tells the story of curious beings who see potential where most don't. They use origami to experiment with movement and light, assail our concepts of realism, teach math to children at risk, and even design better air bags...

Thursday March 26th @ 7:15

Saturday March 28th @ 2:15

POLY CULTURES: In POLY CULTURES, local filmmaker Tom Kondilas describes the thriving effort in Northeast Ohio to bring back small scale, sustainable organic farming. In contemporary society, which is based on industrialized agriculture, food is typically moved 1,500 - 1,800 miles from place of growth to place of consumption. This results in the use of a huge amount of hydrocarbon fuels, not to mention a reliance on often harmful growing technologies. Advocates of a return to ecological agriculture who give testimonials in the film include the proprietors of the George Jones Memorial Farm, a 70 acre sustainable farm owned by Oberlin College and operated privately by a group of alumni...

Wednesday March 25th @ 6:45

Thursday Mach 26th @ 11:30 AM

USPS Requirements for Flat -Size Mail are Changing

On March 29, 2009 new address requirements for flat-size mailpieces go into effect. The affected classes are (first class mail pieces are excluded):

• Periodicals
• Standard Mail
• Bound Printed Matter
• Media Mail
• Library Mail
  

The new address requirements include placement, dictating where the address can be located on the piece and format, including type sizes of fonts.

The address must be located in the upper half of mail pieces. The address can be either parallel or perpendicular to the top edge, but not upside down as read in relation to the top edge.

The delivery address must be at least 1/8" from any edge. Distributors should note addresses that straddle the midpoint of vertically oriented pieces may not meet the new standards.

Flat-size mail pieces are usually catalogs, envelopes, magazines, large cards and newspapers that exceed at least one of the letter-size dimensions: 6-1/8" by 11-1/2" by 1/4". Flats cannot be larger than 12" by 15" by 3/4"

AGC Earns NAPL Marketing Excellence Award

AGC Earns NAPL Marketing Excellence Bronze Award: A National Distinction as a Leader in Marketing within the Graphic Communications Industry and the Cleveland Community.

(Paramus, N.J.; Cleveland, OH) March 19, 2009 - AGC and integrated marketing communications firm in Cleveland, has earned NAPL's 2009 Bronze Marketing Excellence Award for Green/Sustainable Marketing. The national award distinguishes AGC as a top company in its field providing outstanding marketing capabilities as part of its full complement of graphic arts and printing services.

The Marketing Excellence Awards were started by NAPL, the National Association for Printing Leaders, to highlight the high caliber of marketing work being conducted by its members across the country. Made possible through a generous sponsorship by Xerox, the awards showcase those companies who demonstrate superior marketing services both in distinguishing themselves within the industry and in assisting clients in meeting their own business goals.

AGC's award was received for its submission entitled, 52 Weeks 52 Works 2009 Desk Calendar. The concept of merging our capabilities brochure with a weekly desk calendar while highlighting the talent of our local community is the essence of being more environmentally conscious. 

"We consider the entire life-cycle and purpose of a printed product from design, to raw materials and natural resource use, to end use and disposal. This award recognizes that achievement, and how implementing a sustainability program within your marketing  campaign can be very simple," said Candice Champion, AGC's vice president.

"We at NAPL are very pleased to congratulate everyone at AGC for earning this significant industry honor," says Joseph P. Truncale, NAPL president and chief executive officer, in announcing the award. "Their high level of achievement exemplifies their ability to achieve long-term prosperity and growth for their customers."

AGC is a family-owned business that has become one of the most dynamic privately held marketing service providers in Cleveland, OH. An integrated marketing communications firm, AGC assists clients in advertising, promotion, production and other marketing related services. Further information can be found at VisitAGC.com

Matching Position with Practice: Step Four

Step Four: Matching Position with Practice

It's through your practices that you bring your brand to life. Your positioning strategy points the way to your destination, but your practices are how you get there. Branding starts from the inside out, it's reflected in 5 important areas of your business:

• Your Product
• Your People
• Your Promotion
• Your Process
• Your Place of Business
  

To be successful we must align our practices with our position. Truly distinct companies have a strong alignment between what they say and what they do, between their brands and their practices.

Validating Your Position: Step Three

Step Three: Validating Your Position

There are three critical criteria for a strong positioning strategy:

• It's authentic. The position is an honest reflection of what your company is capable of. This element acknowledges your company's strengths. This can aspirational, but only if you have the knowledge, experience and firepower to truly deliver the promise.
• It's exclusive. The position excludes as many prospective clients as it includes. Focus on what your company does best. This reflects an understanding that you can't be known for everything, but you can be know for something - something that you do best!
• It's polarizing. The position is designed to appeal to a limited group of prospects - your best potential clients.

Connecting Value & Audience: Step Two

Step Two: Connecting Value & Audience

In branding your firm, the goal is to be exclusive, not inclusive. Appeal to somebody not everybody.

• What value to we provide?
• Who do we deliver the value to?
• How do we deliver it?
  

At the intersection of these three questions lies a differentiating position: "We offer (your service) for (your market) by (your method)."

Discovering Your Brand: Step One

Step One: Discover Your Brand

Your brand already exists, deep inside the soul of the company in the form of natural strengths and core competencies. Consider what has made your company successful thus far and answer these key questions:

• What kind of clients have you been most successful in attracting?
• What types of assignments have you completed over the years?
• In what areas do you have superior knowledge or expertise?
• What do you do particularly well, perhaps better than most agencies?
• What do you most enjoy doing? What do you hate?
• What target audiences have you come to know and understand?
• As a result of your experience with the clients you've served, what distribution channels do you know best?
• What methods, approaches or philosophies is the firm known for?