The Direction

Seventeen years...

noreply@blogger.com (Navigation Advertising) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:21:00 +0000

It's hard to believe we've been in business for seventeen years. We started out in the Nashville music and publishing industries—providing basic design for jobs their in-house or out-of-state agencies didn't have time to do. I remember working on a 500 page children's coloring book on an overnight bus that was driving through the cornfields of Illinois because it was steady work. We never turned down a job, worked many all-nighters and made many late night trips to the FedEx station at the airport to ship color proofs to a client out of state. All that hard work paid off in many ways—most importantly in relationships. From friendships with employees to mentoring from vendors, it has been a wonderful experience in every way. We've traveled the world shooting documentaries in China, Israel, Liberia, England and all over the United States.Working directly with big stars like Peyton Manning or humble entrepreneurs such as Bill Taylor have been rich experiences. Why the retrospective? As our economy struggles, we've all had to adjust our approach to business. In many ways we've had to revisit how we did things when we got our start. While it's not been easy, it has been fun and we look forward to what the future holds for our business, families, clients, vendors and community. We're very grateful for every person, experience and met deadline!

A Few Good Tips for Good Audio

noreply@blogger.com (Navigation Advertising) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:36:00 +0000

A picture can tell a thousand words, but what if that picture is accompanied by bad audio? Will it be able to tell anything at all? It does not take years of experience as a "sound guy" to record quality audio for your video presentation. By planning ahead you can produce a project you'll be proud to show.

Always be prepared for outside, uncontrollable factors such as wind, industrial sized air conditioners, trains, cars, ham radio interference, hums, etc. You can plan ahead and prevent these kinds of annoyances from ruining your production by utilizing a professional windscreen (known as a "possum") for your lavaliere (lapel) or boom mic and scouting all locations before you shoot. Windscreens reduce wind velocity, which minimizes wind noise, pop noises and breath sounds from your interviewee. By taking advantage of a location scout you will have the chance to notice any unwanted noises and find ways to work around them or the opportunity to find another location that better suits your production needs.

Once while shooting a video project in Dallas we encountered radio interference on our lavalier mic that was coming from several possible sources such a nearby tv station, cell phone towers or a ham radio tower. No matter what channel we switched the mic receiver and camera transmitter to we got a nasty "hummm" in our audio feed. Having exhausted our known solutions we were forced to use a hand held mic taped to a steel rod that was kept out of the video frame. It worked. The moral of this story is to always take as many back ups as possible. Tape, cameras, mics, batteries, etc.

Audio is just as important as video in any production. A clean audio track will take any video project to the next level. Try listening to just the audio track from any program you currently like then imagine it without the audio. Plan ahead and make the effort to scout all locations before your shoot.

Navigation professionally produces a variety of audio and visual needs. http://www.navigationadvertising.com

Big Sales Boost with Email Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Navigation Advertising) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:23:00 +0000

Big Sales Boost with Email Marketing

By Tiffany Vance

E-mailing company newsletters and announcements are a great way to generate more business...when they are used correctly. Sending out e-mail blasts via an e-mail marketing service will allow you to successfully manage your contact lists and measure your results. They can show you how many were opened and which key content was clicked through to so you can gauge the effectiveness of your strategy. Your email list must be accrued through "opt-in" subscribers, not through bulk email lists sold through brokers. A smaller number of subscribers who care about your product or service is much more effective than thousands who have never heard of you.

One of the most important ways to get your newsletter or announcement read is through the subject line. Considering the how people think and react is essential. You may think you are announcing something that no one in the world will want to miss out on, but the reality is that people may be weary of being "sold". You must pay acute attention to those very few words in the subject line. One company that deals in stock investing found that when they would e-mail what people considered positive news, the unsubscribe rate was in the single digits and they received positive feedback. When they sent negative news, however, they received record single-day unsubscribers and little-to-no feedback.

Valuable content is another essential to receiving the proper response. While many subscribers may want to know what the latest sale is they may also appreciate helpful content derived from your expertise.

Another way to boost sales through e-mails is to resend the same blast. Many companies have found that by simply resending the same e-mail one week later to the addresses that did not open the original message increased response dramatically. Some choose to change the subject line and others do not. The beauty of using an e-mail marketing service is that you can experiment with your messaging and actually track your success rate with tangible numbers. Navigation Advertising has been providing email marketing services to clients for several years. We understand that the proper mix of creativity and strategy garners the results companies and organizations are looking for through Internet advertising. There's not a magic wand - it takes consistency, repetition and valuable content to succeed in email marketing.

The Ever Changing World of Advertising and Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Navigation Advertising) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:11:00 +0000

The Economy. Those two words are on the tips of everyones tongues these days. It's amazing how quickly things can change. Just a few years ago we were all talking about terrorism. Every industry has it's own "ese", i.e., words and phrases that are specific to that industry and the people in that industry understand, but others don't. In the world of advertising the phrases such as "branding", "direct response" and "demographics" have been part of the advertising "ese" for several decades. We are experiencing a profound change. The new "ese" includes words and phrases such as:

"Tweeting", "Behavioral Targeting", "Keyword marketing", "Mobile media", "Rich media", "RSS", "Search Engine Optimization", "Social media", "Third-person recommendations", "Unique users", "Viral marketing", and "Wiki". These new words and phrases don't necessarily eliminate the "ese" that has been used for decades but they do provide insight into the new approach to promoting a product or service. There isn't one learning curve, there are several and the challenge for client and agency is to keep to the fundamentals while intelligently exploring progressive methods. Just because it's new doesn't mean it works, just as it doesn't always work because it worked in the past. Thoroughly confused now? Many are, but it's our job to use cutting edge technologies and methods without falling off the edge :) <---- "emotioncons" is another word in the new "ese".

Exploring Ad Design Philosophy with Chris Mabry

noreply@blogger.com (Navigation Advertising) — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:49:00 +0000

Designers love to create the best work possible. It doesn't matter what or who the work is for. We want it to be the best. In order to achieve the greatest success with our work we study type trends, what this season's newest hottest colors are and what next season's will be. We analyze what photography styles are relevant for the products and brands for whom we are designing, and then make the appropriate decisions that will achieve our clients desired results.
Good work may look ok and get a small a bit of attention but great work will be engaging and memorable. Great work can actually gain a percentage of the market share for our clients. Great work will make a difference for our clients and the services their brands offers.

An old mentor once told me, "to be a player in the game you must be a student of the game." Designers must constantly remain diligent about the current climate of our industry and how to take advantage of the new tools provided but never forget the basics. Great design achieves a desired result. It keeps the audience coming back.

Some basic principles we live by:

1. Readability is the most important issue in commercial advertising design. Too often we see attractive designs that can't be deciphered by the viewer, which defeats the purpose of commercial advertising design. For example a billboard should have no more than 8-10 words because most viewers are traveling past the board at 70 mph and need to get the message quickly - they don't have time to read several lines of copy.

2. Less is More. The typical print ad is seen for less than 2 seconds, which means the designer must create the ad to capture the viewer's attention immediately. If the ad is stuffed with too much content the viewer has too much to focus on and ultimately sees nothing. This principle applies to most things in life - consider the design of home décor, clothing or automobiles. Often a client wants their ad to say everything they offer - which is a tragic mistake because no one, including them, looks at advertising to educate them selves on every aspect of a service or product. We look at advertising to determine if we want to pursue the product or service further. Ads are like road signs - or should be.

3. Form follows function. The color palette, fonts styles, use of positive and negative space and images must all work together to support one thing - the message. What do you want the viewer to do when they see your ad? Call an 800 number, visit a website, remember your brand, rush to your sale? We first ask our clients, "What is the purpose of the ad and what do you want the viewer to walk away with after seeing your ad?" After that is determined then we design with that purpose in mind. All elements should support the ads purpose. We use hero images, headlines, subheads, line, color and positive and negative space to direct the eye to the main focus of the ad - the message.

- Chris Mabry
Art Director / Designer

So much more than an office job!

noreply@blogger.com (Navigation Advertising) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Plane rides, car accident scenes, body builders, politicians, restaurants and more restaurants, history, music, weddings, real estate, children homes—you name it I have probably been involved with a video about it!

The past three years of my life have been spent working for Navigation Advertising and Adventure Video Services to produce videos of all kinds. I have traveled to from Washington D.C. to Montgomery, AL as well as small southern country towns.

Each video production has been unique and opened my eyes to different places and people. Not everyone is fortunate enough to get paid for doing what they love. Visual story telling through video is my primary gift and I enjoy every minute of it.

One of the most recent video projects I shot and edited was a demo reel for motivational speaker, Dale Smith Thomas. Dale's presentation at Murfreesboro's newest hotel and only convention center, The Embassy Suites, was my first time shooting in high definition. Our multi-cam set up included three Panasonic AG-HVX-200’s that recorded directly to P2 cards. Wow! This made “capturing” the footage in Final Cut twice as fast! While editing her speech into a 10-minute demo reel I was not only able to practice editing and exporting high definition video but also truly became inspired by her encouraging words. What a great way to start 2009!

- Kristen Archer, Video Production Manager

Ecommerce: Custom Shopping Cart vs. Paypal

noreply@blogger.com (Navigation Advertising) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:43:00 +0000

Cost
One of the main deciding factors between using Paypal and a Custom Shopping Cart is going to be the number of items for sale. With few items, it is more economical to simply use Paypal (they charge a small fee per transaction, and setup is free). A shopping cart will require the purchase of the cart engine ($299-$???) and an SSL certificate ($149) which must be renewed yearly.

Management
The advantage with a shopping cart is that if you have lots of items it can (literally) manage those easier, were-as using Paypal (each item by hand) would be tedious and inefficient. When we create an online store for a client we ask, "do you want to manage your products, pricing, shipping, discounts, inventory, image posting, and most importantly, how many products will you ultimately be selling?" These basics pieces of info are absolutely vital to developing a proper online shopping cart experience.

Look
A shopping cart is typically more advantageous because it's easier to keep a consistent graphic look by designing it to look like the parent website; thus, it looks more professional. However, there is a lot of time spent on the front-end doing the custom styling to match the parent website. When using Paypal, the user clicks a button which will redirect the user to a Paypal purchase window (leaving the parent website) where they will select the amount of the product they want, and proceed with checking out. Yet, a shopping cart is self-contained in that all the information and confirmations are handled within the parent website.

Examples
For a visual, we refer you to the Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra and Secure Product Sales (MSO uses Paypal, and SPS uses a custom Shopping cart).
SPS: http://www.secureproductsales.com/
MSO: http://www.murfreesborosymphony.com/tickets/

Happy Online Shopping!
—Josh Morrison, Senior Web Designer, Navigation Advertising

Video Production Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Navigation Advertising) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:38:00 +0000

Visually telling a story through video is one the most effectively ways to reach desired audiences. But if your video production value is low due to poor videography, your message may be lost in translation. By following these three tips your production value will inspire and inform rather than distract and disappoint.

1. The first step to improving your video is to ensure visual stability by using a tripod, jib/crane or steady cam. While some camcorders come with built-in image stabilization, it can only compensate for so much movement and will not give you the clear, you want. Don't skimp on your video equipment—nothing is more expensive than having to reshoot poor video. Note: some producers want the "shaky camera" effect, but make sure you stay on your shots long enough for the viewer to follow the story.

2. A common video mistake is making constant movements and adjustments while shooting. Be deliberate when making adjustments; don't make changes without a reason. Take a shot of something and leave it there for several seconds, stop the recording and take another shot. Don't quickly pan the camera from one subject to another. When panning and zooming, use slow, smooth, and deliberate motions. This will make your videos much more pleasant to the viewer. Note: We make sure that our entire video crew is constantly looking at the camera to make sure it is ON. Yes, we like other video production companies have made the mistake of forgetting to hit "record".

3. While the viewer will typically never know about your production organization, this is a crucial step to take to ensure proper video production. Organizing your shots in pre-production will save headaches and hours of time in post-production. Slating and making useful comments on each shot allows for more creative time in post. By purchasing a small dry erase board for slating and legal pads for making comments about each shot, digital capturing time in post will be limited to just capturing necessary shots. This will also save tons of hard drive space and make finding wanted shots quicker. Make sure to always allow at least 10 seconds of pre AND post roll for each shot. You'll get smoother transitions and easier batch capturing in post-production.

While everyone has their own way of shooting video, the three tips above will ensure a smoother production from beginning to end. From keeping it simple and stable to maintaining organization throughout your production—you and your viewer will experience a better product. Anyone can use a video camera, but few can get professional results every time.

Kristen Archer, Video Production Manager
Navigation Advertising, LLC

noreply@blogger.com (Navigation Advertising) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:46:00 +0000

Navigation Advertising launches sister company, Adventure Video Services. As the need for professional video production increases in middle Tennessee, we decided a new company that is solely focused on video production was needed. Adventure Video Services is located at 111 West College Street in Murfreesboro, TN and can be reached at 615-512-3624 and http://www.adventurevideoservices.com.

Video is the most effective communications tool available. It is dynamic, engaging and full of sound, color and life! Make sure your event or project is as successful as it can be with our creative video services.

We've Got You Covered
Conceptuals, scripting, storyboarding, set development, filming, editing, casting, lighting, audio, mastering, duplication, distribution, sales (secureproductsales.com), and even website design and development, we can do it.

We Film Just About Everything

Special Events: weddings, graduations, funerals, birthday parties, retirement, award ceremonies, sporting events, athletics, concerts, Bar Mitzvahs, fundraisers, theatre productions, anniversary, court trials

Human Interests: news packages, dedications, athletics, museum exhibitions, political, fundraisers, fitness, special interests, court trials
Documentary: historical, political, social, family reunions, athletics, personal interests, public awareness

Commercials: branding, local businesses, political, restaurants, banking, medical, legal, church, events

Corporate: sales tool, seminars, conferences, trainings, conventions, economic development, quality of life videos, recruitment and retention videos, insurance fraud, surveillance

Missions (non-profit): awareness, fundraising, highlight video from mission trips/work

Educational: seminars, conferences, instructional, orientations, high school and college reunions, athletics, competitions, plays, recitals, concerts

http://www.adventurevideoservices.com

Web Marketing 101

noreply@blogger.com (Navigation Advertising) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:23:00 +0000

Navigation Advertising recently conducted a Search Engine Optimization and Web Marketing seminar for a prominent Nashville-based corporation, solidifying our position as regional web marketing experts. Our internet-based marketing skills are extremely important to the overall success of our clients advertising and marketing campaigns. We provide the expertise our clients need to succeed on the web.

As with traditional advertising there are numerous elements to web advertising and marketing. Search Engine Optimization, pay-per-click campaigns, email blast campaigns, and linking strategies are just a few—but all are growing in importance and advertisers are wise to fully engage their audience through the web. Remember web marketing is extremely organic so what worked a year ago may not work now. It's vital to stay on top of the technologies, strategies and tactics to make sure your results exceed your expectations.

Most have heard terms such as keywords, meta tags, and banner ads, but trust us this is just the tip of the proverbial ice berg and we'd like to help your company make the web work for you.

For more information about how you can succeed with effective web marketing please contact us at 898-1496.

Overview of Analytics vs Awstats

noreply@blogger.com (Navigation Advertising) — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:45:00 +0000

When checking your monthly web reports, many will notice a discrepancy in Google Analytics' numbers and those generated by Awstats (the web-based Web Stats available to our clients--if you are a client of ours and are unsure how to access your Awstats, please contact us and we will be happy to show you).

So what gives, why are the stats different?
Well, it's because Google Analytics and Awstats generate their statistics differently. Here is a brief overview of how each tool generates and logs visits to your website and you can decide which tool(s) is right for you.

Awstats records visits based on the server's logfile.
Every new visit is recorded by the server to a logfile which Awstats reads. One downside to this method is, webcrawlers and other automated bots are also counted in your stats when they crawl your site. This can vastly skew your page-views per user. Also, returning visitors that have web-caching enabled on their web browser (most people) will instead view a local copy of your web page from cache. Therefore, the web server will not be sent a request for the file and no update to the logfile, thus no stat increase.

Google Analytics records visits based on page tagging
As you may know, Analytics are setup by appending a small snippet of javascript to every web page that you want to be tracked. This javascript acts as a browser session cookie. The benefit of this is that every load will be tracked even if loaded from the browser's cache. Things to note with Analytics are:

Users with javascript or cookie collection disabled will be invisible to your web count
Webcrawler and bot activity are not tracked since they cannot run javascript
Sometimes slows page load

So which one do I use?
Well, there's no doubt that Google Analytics has the upper-hand in visual appeal with its beautiful and intuitive user interface. Awstats has the advantage in technical data available. Like in all other areas, you can choose which tool is best for you based on your intentions. Marketing folks generally won't be concerned about a Yahoo bot at 3 a.m., but instead focus on tracking conversions which is one of Google Analytics' main strengths. Webmasters on the other hand, might not need to know how successful a landing page was in selling blue sprockets over red ones, and instead rely on traffic sources, an area better suited for Awstats. However, some of you will want all the information you can get, so, for those of you like me, it's a good idea to use both. Google Analytics may be more attractive and perhaps even more accurate in measuring true visitor counts, but Awstats will let you keep an eye on how search engine bots, or even spam attacks are navigating your site.

Happy tracking!

For more interesting reading on Google Analytics vs Awstats, goto: http://www.webmasterworld.com/analytics/3227679.htm

Teamwork

noreply@blogger.com (Navigation Advertising) — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:31:00 +0000

Teamwork. We're all familiar with that word but seldom do we actually practice it. One of the most important aspects to teamwork is being open to ideas and input from others while participating completely in your teams effort. It's too easy to either dominate or be passive in the team process. I'm writing about "teamwork" because it's a very important element in how we serve our clients. Recently I took note our how our specialists were interacting, discussing campaigns and feeding off of each other's creative input. Much like a beehive we don't just work together, we need each other to ensure we are developing the best ideas for our client's projects and campaigns. Whether it's developing a new corporate identity, writing copy for a tv commercial or discussing the most effective placement of a billboard—we all participate in the process. Besides providing different perspectives it also provides a system of checks and balances. It's as if we have a rolling focus group that provides valuable input on all of our advertising, marketing, and design strategies and tactics. As a business owner and creative director it's very satisfying to see our company not just get projects done, but getting them done creatively and efficiently. — Christian Hidalgo

Reel News

noreply@blogger.com (Navigation Advertising) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:48:00 +0000

Navigation Advertising’s video department recently joined the fight to stop partial-birth abortion in Tennessee. In collaboration with David Fowler, President of the Family Action Council of Tennessee, the video department co-wrote, filmed and produced a dramatic, 5-minute informational video in the effort to get the word out about Senate Joint Resolution 127. SJR127 would allow the people of Tennessee to vote on an amendment to our state Constitution that would allow partial-birth abortion to be banned as well as other common state abortion laws to be enacted. The Family Action Council of Tennessee is endorsed by James Dobson’s, Focus on the Family organization. This video project will be distributed to Tennesseans throughout the state to encourage them to contact their legislators and request that SJR127 be passed into law. Please visit www.lifepetition.org to view our video (bottom video) and learn more about Senate Joint Resolution 127 and what you can do to help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3UJ_X4C19M&eurl=http://lifepetition.org/

Stay the Course

noreply@blogger.com (Navigation Advertising) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:35:00 +0000

With the myriad of tactical options available to promote products today, and more options appearing almost daily, it is hard to know what will and will not be effective. That's why we spend a considerable amount of time developing a strategy to plan out who we're reaching for, the tactics that need to be utilized, why each tactic is the best use of our client's dollar and how we tweak the message so it all fits together. Like a puzzle, the individual components may not fit our needs, but as you add the pieces together you find that the solution is in the symbiosis of those tactics.

Take for example Home Buyer University, an offering of Ole South Properties, Tennessee's largest independent home builder. A cooperative print, direct mail and email campaign brought nearly 70 Murfreesboro home buyers to this free class on preparing to buy your first home. Ten attended the first class and the second was cancelled due to inclement weather, but only then did the fourth component of the strategy come into play: word of mouth. Navigation started the buzz with marketing and allowed the chatter to reverberate through the community. Our follow up advertising served as reinforcement to entice those who had "heard" of the class to act and sign up. By the third and fourth class, participants filled the presentation until it was standing room only.

So successful, the four class "semester" has been extended to every six weeks throughout 2008, and being offered to a wider geography of potential home buyers.

This success story is one of many that can be attributed to smart planning, consistent messaging and repetition. And once again it proves that mature brands who are willing to stay the course and continue to promote during slow economic times will prevail with consumers when they reengage in commerce.

Welcome!

noreply@blogger.com (Navigation Advertising) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:47:00 +0000

Welcome to our first official blog entry. One of the greatest tasks is to make these entries not sound like press releases. After developing thousands of promotional tasks for clients over the past 14 years we tend to think in a certain way, but we'll do our best to just communicate about our industry, community, families, experiences and projects. We enjoy our position as Murfreesboro and Rutheford County's premiere advertising and marketing company. We look forward to serving our community by helping our client's put their "best foot forward" through effective advertising, marketing and public relations. We understand that when businesses and individuals are successful they have the funds necessary to pay employees, provide for their families, eat at Toots, or buy a home from Ole South Properties. This blog will provide interesting information about the world of advertising, marketing, public relations, website development, print design and video production. At Navigation Advertising we practice The Art of Persuasion. http://www.navigationadvertising.com