Coolio stops by Hair By Charlie’s pop-up barber shop

Hair By Charlie’s pop-up barber shop this weekend at Three Sheets in Dallas was a big success. Such a hit, in fact, that Coolio, who performed this weekend at McKinney Avenue Tavern, plopped down in the chair on Friday afternoon for a nice and relaxing (to say the least) shave from Charlie Price himself. Check out the pics below, taken by our very own Jason Perez.

Coolio poses with Travis Selcer (of Tractorbeam) and Charlie Price of Hair By Charlie after getting his shave

Charlie Price putting Coolio to sleep

Coolio, completely passed out

Travis Selcer (Tractorbeam) taking his turn

Eric Benanti (Tractorbeam) getting started

Pretty stylist (Hair By Charlie)

Lauren Chambers (Hair By Charlie)

Lindsey Henrie (Tractorbeam)

Girls like to look pretty too - Lindsey Henrie (Tractorbeam)

Charlie Price (Hair By Charlie)

Charlie Price (Hair By Charlie)

Eric Benanti (Tractorbeam), cleaned up

Pete Freedman (Central Track)

Tools

Chalkboard for pop-up shop and the Boot Campaign

All images Copyright © 2012 Tractorbeam

Sissy’s Southern Kitchen

How do you create a brand and image (that merges pin-up girl style of art with vintage seed packets) for a celeb chef opening a restaurant in Dallas? Go look at the Sissy’s Southern Kitchen project on our site and I assure you we won’t post another bragging blog entry until at least next week.

And if you’re in Dallas, you MUST stop by Sissy’s. The food and bevs are something to write home about, and you’re likely to see one of us Tractorbeamers shoveling down yet another one of those delicious deviled eggs…

Ostroblue Topaz

We just updated our website to show off some more great client work. This time, it’s Ostroblue Topaz, an engagement that has involved strategy on all fronts: product, merchandising, marketing, the works. Head on over to the Tractorbeam website to check it out the Ostroblue Topaz case study.

Tractorbeam to host Tony Bones art show on 3.22.2012

Come join us on Thursday, March 22nd for DJs, drinks, and the fantastic work of Tony Bones!

Long Gone
Tony Bones
Opening: March 22nd 7-10pm
Show runs: March 22nd - April 19th

325 Cesar Chavez Blvd.
Dallas, Texas 75201

About the work:
Tony Bones grew up in DallasTexas. He began his artistic journey in 1997, writing graffiti in the back alleys of east Dallas. He eventually graduated to the streets of that fair city and beyond. Traveling the country leaving his signature simple characters behind. In the early 2000s he started showing in galleries, exploring a range of mediums from printmaking and neon signs to jewelry making and leatherwork. He has spent the past few years based in Brooklyn new York but has recently taken to the road once again.

Hotcan, Hot Rebrand

Posted by Lindsey Henrie

Hotcan is a meal-in-a-can, on demand. The self-heating contraption that says sayonara to microwaves and campfires. I’d eat this, no question. Of course, that doesn’t really say much, because I’d probably eat cold Spaghettio’s out of a can. With a butter knife.

I’m not going to explain how the thing works – because that’s not what grabbed my attention. It’s certainly a novel, curiosity-piquing concept, but it’s not a new one. self-heating meals have been around for many years and are a commonplace concept in the military.

Here’s what heated me up:

Hotcan recently underwent a rebranding, and it shows. It almost makes you forget that this isn’t the first time the microwave-in-your-pocket has been produced. In fact, Hotcan claims to be the original. They’ve taken a difficult-to-digest concept (no pun intended) and made it desirable — or at least compelling. Taking a look at where they’ve come from, and where their competitive counterparts still reside, it’s easy to see why the Hotcan rebrand is impressive. From the website to the packaging, the brand’s look-and-feel is distinct and well executed. It communicates what it’s supposed to, and doesn’t lend itself to cluttered, ambiguous messaging.

Here’s a couple of basics that Hotcan seems to understand well:

Confidence builds belief.
Hotcan is unapologetic and states very clearly the reasons you should choose their product. It’s delicious, nutritious, heats to a perfect temperature, and has a five-year shelf life. You’d be a fool not to.

This doesn’t mean you have to kick down doors and Macho Man Randy Savage your product to folks, but if you believe in your product and show it, it’s a lot more likely that others will believe in it too.

K.I.S.S. (Keep It Succinct, Stupid)
A rep from their UK headquarters told me, “We wanted to keep things simple but light-hearted as I always think it is easy to fill a site with a lot of information which actually nobody is really interested in.” Point made. Time to move on.

Know who you are.
Branding doesn’t begin with design. A brand is built on identity and promises, and communicated by language and design. Before you say who you are, you have to know who you are. A brand is essentially a personality that informed by the product, the customer, and the people behind it all. You’ll need no more than 15 seconds on the Hotcan website before you’ll know exactly who they are. It’s because they know who they are, and are intentional about how they communicate it.

The brand is the first point of consumption, and if you don’t make it count, it could be the last.

UPDATE: My shipment should be arriving from the UK any day now, and I no longer buy groceries.

Battle of the Brands

As the creative industry continues to evolve, new digital platforms are being launched nearly every day. A platform that caught my eye, Pinterest, is a virtual pinboard that allows users to organize and share all the beautiful things they find on the web. Users can also browse public pinboards to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share their interests.

Seems pretty cool.

But how are corporate brands using it differently from middle school art students? According to Mashable, some brands have already colonized the land of Pinterest.

Companies like Whole Foods, Bergdorf Goodman, and West Elm are capitalizing on the platform by using it as a visual-digital extension of their brand.

Whole Foods

Bergdorf Goodman

West Elm

Publications like Real Simple, Martha Stewart, and Better Homes & Gardens are using the network as an editorial brand extension, allowing fans to view even more content, like recipes, how-to guides, and collections of beautiful photographs that didn’t make the cut for the print issue.

Real Simple

Martha Stewart

Better Homes & Gardens

Even big guys like the Today Show and the Travel Channel are jumping onto the Pinterest bandwagon. These networks are using Pinterest as a means of visual storytelling for anyone who might not have time to sit down and watch the entire show.

Travel Channel

The Today Show is truly wrecking shop on Pinterest—with specified pages for images from “anchor antics” and the Today Show Plaza. For the TV networks, Pinterest makes viewers feel included without having to actually invest in the brand.

Today Show

The most important aspect of Pinterest (for branding professionals at least) is the network’s ability to allow members to visualize any given brand. The most unique aspect? Members get to contribute to driving the evolution of the brand(s) that they desire.

Image collages, like those found on Pinterest, ultimately inform how we shape brands, essentially allowing people to see the world through a the eyes of that brand. Pinterest is an opportunity for people to step inside and take a peek at brand personality. And, so far at least, it has proven to be a strong method for reaching your community and having them engage with your brand.

But engagement isn’t always the most significant factor in the equation. My colleague Lindsey offered a wise, albeit opposing, perspective about branding in the digital age.

The marriage of technology and human interaction today is such that almost every platform of interactive communication now has an opportunity for some type of brand presence. So I don’t feel like it’s a new story that companies are utilizing Pinterest in their efforts. But there’s still so much chatter about that, especially from branding and creative agencies. Pinterest is a channel and a tactical implementation of a strategy, not a strategy in itself. Same goes for other social media platforms.

A more interesting idea to consider is whether or not brand marketing ploys are diluting the human conversation. I don’t necessarily feel one way or the other, as ultimately, all interaction is one giant conversation driven by the people. But not everyone takes too well to having a company (especially with an agenda) jumping into your interactions.

The lesson is that if you’re a brand that wants to engage in this big conversation of human interaction taking place (in an infinite number of ways), you HAVE to be smart about it. It’s one of the easiest things for brands to fail at. Know your voice, know your audience, actually listen to the giant conversation, and respond relevantly.

Google [plus]: Whatup with that?

Although discussions of the search engine trailblazer’s social network abound, the general public is still swimming in mass confusion regarding Google+. Being the curious, problem-solving intern that I am, I decided to conduct a little research on the matter and reached out to a handful of friends and colleagues to get their thoughts on Google +.

Caitlin: Thoughts on Google+?

Everyone else:

Here’s an actual sampling of the responses I received:

C: Thoughts on google+?
Trey: I signed up for it, but never use it. it seems cool, but I don’t think to go there because there’s just not as many people on it.
C: So it’s the social network for antisocial folks?
T: exactly…. sounds like doom.

C: Thoughts on google+?
Alex: I feel like I’m missing out because I hear people talk about it all the time but I still don’t know what to think about it. I tried using it a little bit, and I gave up. It doesn’t seem very intuitive from a user’s standpoint, and from a business standpoint, it’s difficult to understand what the actual value is.

After sorting through loads of ambiguously-worded research, I finally figured out what all the fuss is about.

Google vs. Facebook

First and foremost, this social network (like others) relies heavily on the sharing of content. Adweek’s Ki Mae Heussner notes the striking differences in content sharing on Facebook versus Google+: “Google counts shares [on Google+] the way it does on its other products. Items shared don’t just include a piece of content sent but also the number of people who receive it”.

So, what exactly does this mean? Say for example, you share a video link with ten of your friends on Facebook, and then with your mates on Google+. Google would count this as “ten shares” (+10) whereas Facebook would count it as one shared item (+1) of content.

The amount of emphasis Google places on the specific number of shares has some citizens of the Internet alarmed, but the reality of the matter is that the industry is evolving and personalization is where it’s at (two turn tables and a microphone).

The goal here is for Google to enhance your search results and give you a more personalized search experience by showing you things that are likely to be more relevant to you. Matt Rhodes, Client Services Director at FreshNetworks, claims that this strategy will have the heaviest impact on brands because it gives a clear reason for them to engage in Google+, and also impacts both the search and social strategies brands should adopt.

This is where the confusion comes into play. My colleague, Wyatt, offers an insightful perspective on the matter: “Google was never in the social media game and they are jumping into it specifically in response to Facebook, rather than addressing a genuine need in the market. Facebook’s overall philosophy is connecting people and easing the flow of communication. Everything [Facebook] does is built on that principle in some form or another. They’re passionate about one thing and they do it really well. Google was the same way with searching and Google+ has always seemed like a back burner project for them. Rather than coming up with something new and innovative that fits with their company, Google wants a piece of the Facebook pie.”

What’s the catch?

Brands that have a strong Google+ presence will greatly benefit from this strategy. “By having a clear and well-used presence on Google+, sharing content with those who have you in their Circles, you are actually benefitting your search engine optimization (i.e. bumping your brand closer to the top of related Google search results) and, almost certainly, increasing clicks through to your site”.

Let me get this straight. What you’re trying to say, Google, is that by being more active on your social network, I increase the likelihood of search engine users visiting my company site?

The reasoning behind Google’s inability to disclose this information sooner (and in basic language) still remains a mystery.

Posted by Caitlin