create / April 27, 2012

JouJou Documentary

Last week our mini documentary for the making of JouJou premiered on Brand New.

The documentary explores how creativity and curiosity brought to life one of the most fantastic retail experiences at The Grand America Hotel.

There were tons of craftsmen behind this project. Here’s a list of all who helped make JouJou happen:

Watts Architects - ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES

Plastik Banana - FLYING MACHINES, SPINNING BALLS & CONES, LIGHTNING BOLTS, DRAGON & STOREFRONT SIGN

Christopher DeMuri - ROBOT & PAPER WATERFALL

Craftsman Kitchens – CANDY ORGAN & GAME LORE WALL

Chase Studio - DRESSING ROOM ANIMALS

Joanie Hartman - EAST WINDOW DISPLAYS

Créations Didier Legros - KINETIC SCULPTURE

Lab Partners – ILLUSTRATION

The Second Artist - MONSTERPIECE THEATRE FRAMES

MONSTERPIECE THEATRE MONSTERS - Jon Minori - WeLikeSmall - Plenty

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By: DrRahlf
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think / April 20, 2012

The Pitch = Reality TV

Well. I finally saw The Pitch last night and I (like some others) feel compelled to post some thoughts. So, here we go. Apart from the show’s obvious editing-for-dramatic-effect, there were more than a few realities in AMC’s latest reality show.

Reality 1: Of the two agencies enlisted for this showdown, one had an original concept that, though slightly uncomfortable, was probably right for the target audience. The other didn’t have much. Just an “inspired-by” idea and presentational—yeah, I’m just gonna say it—gimmick.

Reality 2: *SPOILER ALERT* The client, for an unseen/unexplained reason, chose the agency with the unoriginal concept.

Reality 3: I wasn’t surprised. As the new biz guy here at Struck, I’ve heard these exact words: “You won the pitch, but we’re giving the business to someone else. We’re too chicken to go with your idea.” As we saw in full living color, the better concept isn’t always the winner.

Reality 4: I’m grateful to have clients who *get it* and who have recognized cool, original ideas from the moment they were pitched. And I’m thankful that I work for an agency that really puts things like smarts, guts, craft, openness and solidarity in the forefront.

Will I watch The Pitch again? Probably. I’ll be taking plenty of mental notes, recognizing the realities… and praying that not every episode ends with agencies presenting snoozer TV spots.

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think / March 30, 2012

It’s Still the Golden Age

I don’t believe that the Golden Age of advertising is gone and past. With such a wide canvas and seemingly endless channels of opportunity to engage with consumers it seems brands have a true opportunity to have more meaningful conversations with their audience than ever. But at times we are so eager to be the first one to use a new technology, we don’t think about the relevance to our brand and our market. Great work from the past and great work today both have one thing in common. Great strategy.

Long before any code is written, any logo is designed or any story board drawn our creative compasses need to be set to true north with a sound strategy. Understanding people and how they interact with the world is what keeps us and our work relevant and effective in the industry.

David Droga, creative chairman at Droga5 commented, “The average consumer doesn’t want to be advertised to. We have to earn it. So there’s a lot more thinking into the strategy of how we advertise, when we advertise and when we don’t.” (Creativity)

His point is, if an ad runs in the world and no one wants to listen to it, did it make any sound at all? Strategy leads us to the unique insights that help us decide if your audience needs an app, or if it’s smarter to create a mobile website. Will your audience really scan QR codes or is a location-based service better? There is a big difference between creating an experience people can have and one they want to have because they truly need it or connect with it.

It’s no secret that social and mobile technologies are critical to effectively interacting with today’s consumers. Again, we need to earn their attention, not interrupt it—especially because everyone is creating content these days. The social world is a place where everyone is invited to create something then share it. Technology continues to become more affordable and more attainable which means more people are using the same equipment we use. So how can we make sure we are creating and delivering messages that will break through? With strategy.

Strategic thinking will filter out great creative from the bad. It always has. We cannot solely depend on throwing something out in the world just because the technology exists to do so. The core of brand strategy lies in how we align the needs of our consumer to what our brand offers. And with today’s technology that means strategic planning should be an on-going process.

We used to think of it as: Brand Planning, The Creative Process, Execute. Then after 6 months we’d re-evaluate. With so many compressed creative channels and immediate feedback we find ourselves in a constant cycle with strategy as the driving force. Campaigns that consistently follow and update their insight will produce award-winning creative and drive results that make clients sing.

All of Struck’s best creative has been based on consumer insight. We’ve been fortunate to grow as an agency despite a struggling economy. Our work load is increasing and our goals are set high. So instead of hiring more creative talents we first hired a new Director of Strategy and recommitted ourselves to what makes “Greater Than” work. Watch for more posts on our strategic process by our very own Jennifer Hughes who brings over 20 years of experience including work with 3M and McCann Erickson.

We can still be in the Golden Age of advertising if connecting with our consumer is still our main priority.

Nobody Loves Me

By: Pauline Ploquin
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think / March 15, 2012

Retail Imagination

Recently, while watching Piers Morgan Tonight I found myself mesmerized by the design of his set. Everything gave depth to his show from the pulsing green, blue and orange textured walls which enhance the HD programming, to the monitors that displayed images or video relevant to his conversation.

If a studio set can have this much impact on me as a viewer, hundreds of miles away, imagine how much stronger retail locations could connect with their consumers if their location were designed specifically around this appreciation between space, brand and product.

Understanding how the context of your brand defines the physical space is key in the consumer experience and is revolutionizing consumer engagement on-site. These days brands are obviously focusing on their interactive engagements with their consumers through websites, apps and games. There’s still an incredibly strong opportunity to connect with your consumer through your location. The on-site brand experience can be as impactful and beautiful as its digital counterparts.

It’s no coincidence that the brands who use their location to extend their voice are the most effective in their space. An obvious example is of course Apple. Apple Stores are simple, open, functional and friendly. The store is the product, manifested by simplified design while forward-facing and engaging in its function. You needn’t be a brand phenomenon to make your space equally as powerful and impressionable, but you do need to be thoughtful from the start.

A brand is not a liquid that takes the shape of its container. The brand’s location is more than an address—it’s where the story lives and breathes.

Don’t let your brand, or the product, fall flat at its location. It’s more important than ever to connect people to your brand in its space and in their minds. As we designed the JouJou toy store in The Grand America Hotel, we built it to be discovered and explored by our guests. We filled it with color and imagination so each visitor would see something new everywhere they looked.

We created interactive installations, custom sculptures and unique musical experiences inviting them to uncover what else the store could do. In the end, people just felt happy being there. They weren’t in a store, they were in JouJou—a place they had been so many times in their imagination. And all the products inside were an extension of that same desire to play, which they could take home and relive.

Brands that learn to create an environment as unique and as custom as their product will find a surge of consumer involvement and a lasting brand following. So ask yourself, is my company a product with a space? Or is it a brand with an experience?

This is your chance to call "first."

By: Brent Watts
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think / March 7, 2012

Very Pinteresting…

Pinterest was publicly launched just over two years ago at the Alt Design Summit right here in downtown SLC. And within those two short years, it’s skyrocketed to become one of the fastest growing social networks around. The real power of Pinterest is that it’s a tool first and a network second. Now you might be thinking, sure it’s a fantastic tool for digital collectors to find, categorize and share the content they love, but how can a social pinboard work for brands?

Everyone’s heard the phrase “Creative is King.” We’re seeing more and more that great brands expect that great creative is a given and in 2012 I suspect that content will actually be the new royalty, especially within social spheres. Thanks to technology like Pinterest and Flipboard, brands need to start thinking like publishers and create quality, original content—images, videos and thoughts—to feed thirsty social sharers.

I love how the Gap, whose branding drama we all watched with bated breath not too long ago, is now taking their fashion photography and consciously making it socially-mobile, well-branded content. Their latest site by AKQA called Styld-by builds Pinterest’s pinmarklet functionality right into each and every piece of content right along with other sharing avenues.

One of our own clients, an energy gel brand we recently developed for a start up called GungHo, is also launching a new promotion leveraging Pinterest. By embedding the pinmarklet directly into their content, they’ll send free samples of their product to anyone who pins their video via the GungHo site. Sure this is an incentive for sharing, but it was also important to GungHo to have funny, relevant content that’s worth sharing in the first place.

We’re currently advising our own clients to begin being way more open about what inspires them. We recommend highlighting what their own employees geek-out about and Pinterest is an excellent way to do just that. With this in mind and since openness is one of our brand pillars, we’re going to put our money where our mouth is and begin highlighting what inspires our team. From design to decor, from fashion to food—we’re going to start repinning our team’s inspiration. So check it out and enjoy at: pinterest.com/struckinc.

The bottom-line is this: the power of Pinterest can allow your business to tap into fresh audiences who crave great content and provide a new window into your company’s culture, people and brand.

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think / February 29, 2012

You Don’t Need an App

Yep, I said it. Struck makes them. In fact, we’ve made ridiculously good ones, like here and here. So why would we suggest cutting off a potential business opportunity? Because there is a glut; there are too many bad ones and most seem to be the result of some terrible decisions.

Am I nuts? Likely. But before we jump into a medical diagnosis, indulge me a few questions. How many screens of apps do you currently have on your smart device at this very minute (self-disclosure, I have five)? And how many folders do you have on those screens? Even if you keep it pretty pared down, it’s likely you have over 20 apps at any given time. And if you’re the average iPhone user, that number can be as high as 37.

Now, how many do you use those apps every day? Every week? According to a study by Localytics, 26% of all apps downloaded were used just once. And even once an app is downloaded, regular usage isn’t guaranteed. In fact, 68% of all smartphone users will open five or fewer apps more than one time a week.

Yet, download statistics are consistently flaunted as a measure of the effectiveness of apps. It’s a complete fallacy. Given the stats above, the focus should be on actual engagement stats. Unfortunately, those numbers aren’t nearly as impressive. Couple that with the sheer saturation of apps in both iTunes and the Android App Store and it’s only getting more and more difficult for any brand’s app to breakthrough without significant investment. Which begs the question: Is there an alternative?

Read More »

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By: johngross
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create / February 23, 2012

We’re Struck.

After a couple years of sweet marital bliss, we’re pleased to announce that the StruckAxiom family has united under a single banner and a new URL. StruckAxiom is now simply known as Struck. May seem like an old name, but it’s new and fresh for all of us and we couldn’t be more (in the words of our CEO, Daniel Conner) fired up!

Why are we so excited? For us the name StruckAxiom was a great way of honoring the legacy of two great companies: Struck Creative and Axiom Design Collaborative. Now, more than ever before, is a moment for us to look forward. And Struck’s future is bright. We’re moving forward with a simplified name and a simplified mission: Struck is a digital-forward creative agency making brands greater than.

Our team has never been both this unified and this diverse all at once. Our amazing graphic designers, interactive designers, developers, art directors, copywriters, producers and account directors have recently been joined by a slew of new faces. These new additions include brand and digital strategists as well as information architects and quality assurance experts. Struck continues to grow in a way to support all of its ‘greater than’ clients.

So, if you’re keeping track at home, here’s how our history breaks down:


1995 – Axiom Design Collaborative is founded in LA
1996 – Axiom expands its operation to SLC


2003 – Struck Design starts up in SLC
2006 – Struck Design merges with W Communications as Struck Creative
2008 – Heightened flannel and plaid quotients as Struck Creative opens its PDX office


2009 – Struck Creative and Axiom join forces as StruckAxiom with offices in LA, SLC and PDX
2010 – StruckAxiom gets new digs in NYC


2012 – Still making memories simply as Struck in LA, SLC, PDX and NYC

Even if you don’t have questions about all of this, we’re going to answer them. Let’s get to it.

Where are all the octopods?
They’re still around. Just a little bit sneakier. You might find more than a few octopod posters on our walls and you may even spot a few eight-legged business cards from time to time (snag ‘em, they’re collectors’ items!).

Are you going to change your name again?
In a word, no. We’re anxious and excited to be moving forward simply as Struck.

What’s next for Struck?
Lots more ‘greater than’ work for some seriously ‘greater than’ clients.

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think / February 8, 2012

Storytelling in Advertising

It’s been a long time since high school. But I still remember an ad for a baby powder-scented perfume that probably graced the pages of Seventeen magazine circa 1991. I remember the ad not because I pined for the perfume or the cute boy who hawked it. I remember the ad because it told a little story. “Why I love lending Nicole my jacket,” read the copy. “When she gives it back, it smells incredible. Like she’s right there, wearing her Love’s Baby Soft.”

I’ve always been drawn to stories, and I’m noticing a clear trend right now toward longer-form and more literal storytelling in all forms of advertising. What do I mean by “story?” Conversational language, a sequential unfolding of events, raising a question and then answering it in an unexpected way.

Video lends itself naturally to a narrative approach, especially with the enhanced capabilities of new media. Storytelling in advertising is nothing new, and even branded webisodes have existed since at least 2002 with BMW’s seminal internet film series The Hire.  But even more now, we’re seeing an explosion of narrative, with companies of all kinds embracing story-driven content in the form of TV commercials, branded films, online photo essays and viral videos. A far cry from Love’s Baby Soft, luxury perfumer Dior recently harnessed the power of story with a series of online branded mini-films helmed by big name Hollywood directors and stars, like the David Lynch-directed Lady Blue Shanghai starring Marion Cottilard and the Guy Ritchie-directed Un Rendez Vous, featuring Jude Law.

One of the most evocative television commercials from the past year is the two-minute Chrysler ad from the 2011 Super Bowl. The ad, which stars Eminem, deserves all its hype and its Emmy for telling a story of rebirth and renewal that transcends Detroit.

J. Crew has embraced narrative, too, with catalog advertising that highlights real little moments in the life of its creative director, Jenna Lyons, as well as a a series of behind-the-scenes videos that highlight the making of J.Crew products in Italy.

Pottery Barn’s hipper sister, West Elm, rolled out one of the year’s clearest examples of narrative advertising in this catalog intro. The inside cover and the following page are dedicated to a detailed first-person story about a four-year old and a dog wreaking havoc on a living room, ultimately resulting in the purchase of new slipcovers and a feeling of triumph in the narrator mom.

So what makes a story stick? The best stories combine an anecdote with a moment of reflection. Ira Glass, host of NPR’s This American Life, says anecdote is so powerful because “you can feel through its form [that it’s] inherently like being on a train that has a destination…and that you’re going to find something.” Simply relating a sequence of events is not enough, though. In order for the message to hit home, brands need to wrap up their anecdotes by explaining what it all means and why we should care.

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By: Alexandra Fuller
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