thought you should know

BANG! creative is an Industry Game Changer in Canada

BANG! creative is a client-focused provider of design solutions that enables SMEs to find the perfect voice for their branding. With a laser-like focus on determining the most optimal marketing solutions, we empower startups and experienced brands to effectively grow and scale.

In our mission to lead our partners, we’re always looking back to feedback and what our partners think of our work. As a service provider, we put great emphasis on the relationships we build with our partners. Because of this, we value ratings and reviews greatly because they serve as a reflection of the quality of our services.

Today, we’re excited to share that we’re among the top designers on Clutch that have received an overall rating of five stars, the perfect average score!

If you’re new to Clutch, it’s a B2B ratings and reviews platform committed to connecting small, medium, and large businesses with the service providers they need to excel in their industries. Clutch aims to streamline the review process to help researchers in their decision-making when it comes to choosing their next service provider.

In our latest 5-star review, Skön Laser Clinic, a cosmetic company, detailed what it’s like to work with us. In 2018, the client engaged us for branding solutions to help them break away from their old image in an effort to refresh their overall look. The client wanted a modern feel to their branding, and we were up to the challenge.

In just a few months, the client has seen numerous changes in their engagement, especially in terms of digital visibility.

“I appreciate their overall commitment to our success as a small business. Not only do I see them as an extension of my own team, but they also make everything easier on a day-to-day basis. The team is knowledgeable, skilled, and helpful, which takes most of that stress off of me.”

— Kylie Riggin, Owner, Skön Laser Clinic

Thank you to Kylie for sharing such positive feedback about our solutions. Check out the full review for a complete overview of our partnership with them.

Ready to revolutionize your marketing? Get in touch with us today to get started!

About BANG! creative – Strategy by Design

BANG! creative®, a multi-disciplined, award winning brand marketing and corporate communications design studio. BANG! creative specializes in the development and complete execution of brand strategies for local, national and international clients. Since 2005, the team at BANG! creative have successfully developed thoughtful, well-designed solutions from healthcare to manufacturing to consumer goods, within the public and private sector. BANG! creative has successfully established brand awareness, driving customer engagement and sales through a full range of creative & strategic services on-line, in-hand and in-mind utilizing traditional and new media. Our goal? Make it meaningful. Make it memorable. Make it simple. It’s what we do.

For more information contact:

BANG! creative
224 Main Street E., 2nd Flr
Milton, ON L9T 1N8
Canada
+1.905.636.9393
learnmore@creativitygoesbang.com
www.creativitygoesbang.com

Connect with us on:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

BANG! creative Designs Shop Local Milton Logo

Athena O'Connell design thoughts, thought you should know

BANG! creative is proud to assist the Milton Chamber of Commerce with the Shop Local Milton campaign in the design of the Shop Local Milton logo.

Shop Local Milton is a government funded program run through the Milton Chamber to support local businesses and to encourage everyone to shop local.

“Supporting Milton businesses is always a necessity, but especially throughout the pandemic,” said Scott McCammon, President & CEO of the Milton Chamber of Commerce. “The #ShopLocalMilton initiative, a partnership with the federal government and Ontario Chamber of Commerce, is a great way for us to showcase all Milton has to offer.”

The Shop Local Milton logo has appeared in local newspapers, publications, online and at events throughout the town to help boost the economic recovery for Milton businesses.

When you shop locally it helps to boost the economy, creates more jobs and is an opportunity for personal investment in the Milton community. Let’s all support local and #shoplocalmilton!

-BANG! creative Team

About BANG! creative – Strategy by Design

For more information contact:

BANG! creative
224 Main Street E., 2nd Flr
Milton, ON L9T 1N8
Canada
+1.905.636.9393
learnmore@creativitygoesbang.com
www.creativitygoesbang.com

Connect with us on:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

BANG-creative-communication-strategy-by-design

BANG! creative Celebrates 15 Years

David O'Connell thought you should know

We are proud to share that BANG! creative commemorates 15 years of helping businesses, entrepreneurs and service providers take their brand to new levels and expand their marketspace.

We love what we do and extend a special thank-you to our clients, friends and family for all the support and encouragement over the years and for trusting us and committing to our process.

We’ve laughed, we’ve cried, bled, won awards, set benchmarks, shifted paradigms and had a whole lot of fun along the way.

As we celebrate our 15th year of business, we wanted share that we appreciate you and wish you continued success in the future!

Peace and love! Stay creative friends.

-BANG! creative Team

About BANG! creative – Strategy by Design

For more information contact:

BANG! creative
224 Main Street E., 2nd Flr
Milton, ON L9T 1N8
Canada
+1.905.636.9393
learnmore@creativitygoesbang.com
www.creativitygoesbang.com

Connect with us on:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Wear Your Mask. Keep Your Distance. Stay Safe Friends.

Athena O'Connell thought you should know

The way we do business has changed due to COVID-19 in order to keep our team and clients safe:

?Masks, frequent sanitizing and social distancing is required within the studio
?Client meetings are being held virtually
?Even though our team may be working remotely at times, we can be reached via phone, email or virtual conference.

We are here for you! Connect with us online for all your creative branding and marketing needs. Wear Your Mask. Keep Your Distance. Stay Safe Friends.

About BANG! creative – Strategy by Design

For more information contact:

BANG! creative
224 Main Street E., 2nd Flr
Milton, ON L9T 1N8
Canada
+1.905.636.9393
learnmore@creativitygoesbang.com
www.creativitygoesbang.com

Connect with us on:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

David O'Connell, Founder, BANG! creative

RGD Designation Recognition

Athena O'Connell design thoughts, marketing thoughts, thought you should know, web thoughts

November 21st, 2020 – BANG! creative congratulates David O’Connell on receiving his RGD (Registered Graphic Designer) designation.

The Association of Registered Graphic Designers is Canada’s largest professional Association for graphic design professionals, with 4,000 Members, including firm owners, freelancers, managers, in-house designers, educators and students.

The RGD and Registered Graphic Designer designations are signals of quality and competence to the profession, public and government. Successful candidates have met a rigorous set of standards that includes documented levels of relevant, professional education and experience as well as competence in the areas of business, design principals, research and ethics demonstrated through the successful completion of RGD’s certification process.

About BANG! creative – Strategy by Design

For more information contact:

BANG! creative
224 Main Street E., 2nd Flr
Milton, ON L9T 1N8
Canada
+1.905.636.9393
learnmore@creativitygoesbang.com
www.creativitygoesbang.com

Connect with us on:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

BANG! creative Wins Two Summit International Creative Awards!

Athena O'Connell design thoughts, marketing thoughts, thought you should know, web thoughts

September 12th, 2020 – BANG! creative is humbled, honoured and excited to announce we have been awarded two Summit Creative Awards this year, a Gold and a Silver for our work with Crozier Consulting Engineers and Priya & Associates.

Crozier Consulting Engineers – BANG! creative developed biodegradable seed paper coasters to promote research Crozier Consulting Engineers was conducting to improve the future of stormwater management at the TRIECA conference in 2019.

The coasters got the Crozier name out there and was in-line with the messaging at the event – vegetation being a key, but often over- looked component of stormwater management ponds.

Seed paper is a biodegradable eco-paper made with post-consumer materials and embedded with wildflower seeds.

Priya & Associates – BANG! creative developed a complete rebrand package, from a new look and style, website and printed material, we developed a strategy and story for Priya & Associates.

Focusing on the wordmark PRIYA, a unique and contemporary design was developed; the addition of a friendly colour palette created a professional and approachable sense to this accounting firm. The natural triangle shape between ‘I’ and ‘Y’ in the wordmark anchors elements throughout the brand design.

Summit International Creative Awards

SCA Gold Winner – BANG! creative: Crozier Consulting Engineers
SCA Silver Winner – BANG! creative: Priya & Associates
Summit Creative Awards

The 2020 Summit International Awards had over 4100 entries from 27 countries. Celebrating big work from boutique creative agencies and studios. The international panel of judges range from agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi, Shigeo Fukuda Design Museum, Barrett and Welsh, WhatsApp-CreativeX, and McCann Worldgroup. Entries are judged “blindly”- without the name of the design firm indicated – based on originality, creativity, craftsmanship, effectiveness, and overall experience.

About Crozier Consulting Engineers

Founded in 2004, Crozier is an engineering consulting firm focused on the private sector. Crozier provides engineering services include land development, water resources, site servicing, structural, transportation and mechanical/electrical. Working collaboratively with planners, developers, private landowners, municipalities and regulatory agencies, engineers at Crozier play an early and key role in residential, recreational, commercial/industrial, condominium and First Nation projects.

About Priya & Associates

Priya & Associates provides accounting, tax, payroll and bookkeeping services for personal and small business. Owned by dedicated and detail oriented professionals with over 15 years of experience, Priya & Associates can accommodate your personal and small business accounting needs and and provide complete resources for your financial success.

About BANG! creative – Strategy by Design

For more information contact:

BANG! creative
224 Main Street E., 2nd Flr
Milton, ON L9T 1N8
Canada
+1.905.636.9393
learnmore@creativitygoesbang.com
www.creativitygoesbang.com

Connect with us on:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

The Customer Is Not Always Right

Athena O'Connell marketing thoughts, thought you should know

The Customer Is Not Always Right

In some professions, the popular opinion is that the customer is always right… In fact, Harry Selfridge himself coined the phrase “the customer is always right” more than a century ago. As the proprietor of London’s Selfridge’s department store, he built a business around the idea that retailers should listen to their customers and provide excellent service. It was actually a novel notion at the time, when many businesses actively sought to mislead customers to make a sale!

The thing is, this phrase was never meant to be taken literally. The customer is decidedly NOT always right. We think even Selfridge himself would have (politely) told a customer who walked in and asked for a 85% discount to get lost?

The same is true in #Marketing. While a good agency owner will always seek to fulfill a client’s desires and incorporate their preferences and ideas into the mix, the marketing agency is the ultimate authority on marketing matters – no matter what. We devote our careers to the ins and outs of the ever-evolving marketing industry. Trust our expertise, and keep your focus on managing your business while we focus on making you look good!

#StrategyByDesign #ThinkFirstDesignSecond #Branding #Creative #Agency #BANGcreative #WeMakeYouLookGood

Own Your Audience

David O'Connell design thoughts, marketing thoughts, thought you should know Agency, BANGcreative, Branding, Creative, Email, Marketing, OrganicReach, SocialMedia, StrategyByDesign, ThinkFirstDesignSecond

Own Your Audience

Many people would argue that social media is the best, hottest, most relevant place to promote your brand. And while platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn are fantastic touch-points to grab new customers and to grow your fan base online – always remember that they are all rented property.

What do we mean? Think of it like renting an apartment. It’s owned by your landlord (let’s say in this case, Facebook) who collects your rent, handles all maintenance, and has final word over what goes on within that apartment. You have some say about how to decorate and live, but the landlord ultimately has control. Any small change by the almighty Facebook, and all of your audience engagement could go down the drain overnight. Or rent (ie. ad spend) could go up dramatically. There are no rules these social platform giants are obligated to play by!

When Facebook changed its algorithm to limit organic reach last year, many businesses felt the burn of having their audience reach cut, some by over 50%. What does that mean in practical terms? It means to stop putting all your eggs in one basket and diversify. You need to own your audience.

Your email list is the only audience that you truly own, and it’s the only place you can truly control what your audience sees. It’s generally more stable and full of customers who are far more likely to convert than your online audiences because it’s a warm list of people who have already expressed interest in your brand. So when someone tells you email marketing is dead – don’t listen to them! Just smile and nod, then continue to to grow your email list with lots of value and engaging content and watch the customers roll in.

PS – Your social content may not be getting the same kind of organic mileage as it once did, and reach could continue to decline or change. But simply cutting the budget and leaving your page to gather dust is unlikely to do you any favours either. Have a strategy in place that integrates social with your other marketing channels for a strong brand presence.

StrategyByDesign ThinkFirstDesignSecond Branding Marketing SocialMedia OrganicReach Email Creative Agency BANGcreative

7 Tips to Help You Find the Right Creative Agency

David O'Connell marketing thoughts, thought you should know, tips-n-tricks

Hire The Right Creative Agency by BANG! creative strategy by design

7 Tips to Help You Find the Right Creative Agency

Finding the right creative agency is essential to creating an effective marketing campaign to promote your brand and products. However, due to the sheer volume of creative agencies in the market, it can be hard to sort out the good from the mediocre and unfortunately the bad. Thankfully, there are a few simple things to look for to help determine which creative agency is the best fit for your business’ needs.

I am often asked “what makes us different?” and I usually respond with, when looking, do not focus on the tool, focus on the house your trying to build. Don’t think of the brochure or website as what you’re buying but the process to develop the right solution to promote your brand, product or service. Sometimes you may not end up with the brochure or website you thought you wanted but something you needed. A good creative agency will take you down this path, work with you, and not just try to sell you a “cookie-cutter” solution.

Here are 7 other tips to help you narrow down the choice:

Strong Portfolio

It is imperative that you ask to see each respective creative agency’s past work. While some work is naturally going to be protected by legal agreements, you should still be able to gain access to a few samples that provide a clear demonstration of the standard that each creative agency works towards. Usually, the agency will have an online portfolio, but you should look deeper than if it looks good. Some companies rely heavily on templated pieces that they just insert the next client’s info into. We will cover what to look for in a portfolio in a later article.

Digital Presence

Considering the amount of penetration that technology has in people’s everyday lives, a creative agency needs to have a noticeable online presence that is characterized by a well-designed website that consistently posts high quality content to interact with.

Social Media

In a similar vein to the above point, you should look for a creative agency with well-made and established social media profiles. This can provide you with a rough idea of the online size and reach of the agency, and serves to highlight the agency’s skills in online marketing techniques. Just because they have more followers does not mean they are better. Social is about engaging and informing not just vanity clicks and likes. We have a saying in our studio “it’s better to have 20 followers that we engage with than 2000 that we don’t”.

Awards and Associations

Check to see if the creative agencies that you are looking at have won any marketing or design awards, either at a local or national level. While these are not a guarantee of a good marketing campaign, they are a good indication of high quality work and original ideas. See if they also belong to industry associations and professional groups.

References or Recommendations

While this may not be immediately noticeable, you should read around through marketing publications and online blogs to see if there are any references to the agencies you are looking at. Accomplished and well-established agencies will have produced work that has created discussion within the marketing community. Ask friends and colleagues in similar industries to your own to see if they have any recommendations or referrals. This can help you find a creative agency that has worked in your field before, and can bring that experience to the table. Alternatively, you can ask for client contact information from creative agencies and give past clients a call to hear their thoughts firsthand.

Costs

Once you have narrowed down the list of potential creative agencies, you should develop a detailed budget for your potential project and communicate clearly with the agency you have chosen to prevent surprises later. Campaign budgets can range from $5000 – $150,000 you should know and be honest about how much you are willing to invest in your marketing. Creative marketing services are not a commodity and should not be bought as such. There is a process that is followed and one of the main factors to determine the right solution is budget.

Personality

While it may seem like a minor consideration, you need to make sure that you get along well with the people working in the creative agency you wish to hire. Having personalities that meld well together can help strengthen communication and ensure a better working relationship in the long term.

Overall, we hope these tips will simplify your search for a creative, brand marketing, and design agency. The most important thing is to make sure your company, or marketing department is ready to use an agency. If you are, you will be well on your way to executing effective marketing campaigns to promote your brand and products.

Bonus Tip, Just call us BANG! creative – Strategy by design

BANG! creative®, a multi-disciplined, award winning brand marketing and corporate communications design studio. BANG! creative® specializes in the development and complete execution of brand strategies for local, national and international clients. Since 2005, the team at BANG! creative® have successfully developed thoughtful, well-designed solutions from healthcare to manufacturing to consumer goods, within the public and private sector. BANG! creative® has successfully established brand awareness, driving customer engagement and sales through a full range of creative & strategic services on-line, in-hand and in-mind utilizing traditional and new media. Our goal? Make it meaningful. Make it memorable. Make it simple. It’s what we do.

Let’s work together and grow your business:

BANG! creative | 16 Hugh Street Milton, ON L9T 2C6 Canada | +1.905.636.9393

learnmore@creativitygoesbang.com | www.creativitygoesbang.com

Connect with us online:

Facebook: facebook.com/BangCreativeCommunications
Twitter: @BangCreativeCom
Instagram: @bangcreative

BREAKING BAD THE MOVIE *sheds tear of joy

David O'Connell thought you should know

Breaking Bad BANG! creative strategy by design

Breaking Bad the Movie *sheds tear of joy

We all loved the story of mild mannered high school chemistry teacher Walter White. Down on his luck, trying to make ends meet, when the universe threw him another curve ball which set in motion one of the greatest stories to grace the small screen.

We watched as Walter became Heisenberg. Cheered at the classic scene when, standing in the desert, Walter in his pork pie hat says “Say My Name?”

Heck, I even programed Siri to say my name was “Heisenberg” using the nickname function in my iPhone.

We often talked about re-watching the series from the beginning – which we will- but there is also a plethora of great television out there now. We don’t always have the time.

Then along came this… this genius… this scholar among us… this hero

Someone spent the time to edit 62 hours – of pure awesome – into a 2 hour movie

Breaking Bad – The Movie from Breaking Bad – The Movie on Vimeo.

So if you don’t have a few weeks to spare to watch the entire series. But you should, take a vacation, and watch Breaking Bad. You can watch this two hour movie, catch up, re experience or experience for the first time. Before it gets removed. But still nothing compares to watching the whole series from start to finish. Available on NETFLIX or OnDemand.