(The DONOVAN Creative Cookie Jar)

The Canadian workplace is ever changing. New models of employment and a radically different generation of workers make it a landscape nearly indistinguishable to some (like my mother who loves Facebook but can’t understand why I think it’s important to access it at work, or my uncle who thinks I’m loopy to have my work e-mail synched to my phone so I can reply to messages after hours and on-the-go). With each new employee that joins the ranks of Canada’s working men and women, new demands, challenges, and goals are presented to employers like you.

What you need are some simple tips for improving your own work environment. And, employees, take note. The organizations that follow these rules will be around for years to come. Get on board now. They’re likely great places to spend upwards of 40 hours per week.

1) Communicate Positively and Openly

The first part is simple. Show respect for every idea that comes forth by showing respect for the person who shared it. It’s easy to make a rule that only certain people are allowed to share ideas and opinions on a subject, but it makes for more dynamic work environments and projects when your janitor knows he won’t get yelled at for piping up during a meeting (the real question is what your janitor is doing in the board room – now THAT’S progressive).

The second part is connected, I believe. Speak openly and often. It can be hard to convey tone in an email. So instead of leaving the reception of your message up to fate, stand up and walk over to the person’s desk. Problems will be solved in a less painful way and likely much quicker as well.

Keep the conversation going.

PRO TIP: Make work environments comfortable and accommodating so people don’t mind spending a good chunk of their time at the office. It’s not just about cozy chairs. Find out what your staff wants, do your best to get it to them.

2) Have, Know and Follow the Vision

This isn’t about having one person who sits around everyday and ensures every little thing you do matches up to the company’s philosophical vision (“Jim, that is NOT how we staple RFPs around here! Twice in the corner and once on the bottom!”)

No, but it is important that the business has an established vision. A vision is a lot of different things to a lot of different people. But for our purposes, let’s simplify it to mean: a method for orienting all the members of a team toward service delivery, client relations and internal culture.

Everyone needs something to get behind, something to follow. This way we can all be sure that we’re working toward the same goal.

In an office of more than 100 people, two team members could be working on two radically different projects and have no idea what the other is actually doing every day. But when everyone knows the vision, we can all be sure each of us is seeking to meet it in everything we do.

3) Focus on the Big Picture

“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

Anyone who has ever worked in an office can tell you that it’s easy to get caught up in the everyday politics. Just don’t. Especially in a creative industry, it’s important to stay focused on the big picture and forget about the small, petty things that tend to drag people down (e.g. that comment Wanda made during the last meeting. And did you see the eye roll Burt gave me? Totally uncalled for.)

Whenever I get stressed out by these types of things, I like to remind myself how lucky I am that I get to work in an industry that expects and demands creativity, fun, and sometimes, downright weirdness (We’re making magic here people!).

Focus on creating greatness at all times and watch the not-so-great people quickly fall away.

PRO TIP: Don’t just offer breaks. Encourage them. It’s simply the way the human brain works. We need to step away from work every once and a while to ensure we’re doing our best.

 4) Give and Seek Peer Recognition

I believe appreciation should be horizontally applied, not just vertically. Of course, it’s important to get the “atta boy” from your boss. Of course, a team leader’s “well done” makes us feel warm and fuzzy. But remember, recognition from a colleague — whether they be at the desk next to you or two floors away — reinforces that every task is an essential part of the bigger picture. It also reminds us that we can influence positive performance through just our words and acknowledgment, rather than formal reviews and incentives. So often it is our peers who are the front-line recipients of our efforts, and who rely on us daily, hourly, if not by the minute. Having them give the thumb’s up goes a long way.

 PRO TIP: Smile more. This one might be a little fluffy for you, but it’s actually a great way to encourage positive attitudes. A smile can have an amazing impact on the people around you. (I know several people who spend three to five minutes each morning smiling for the sake of smiling.) Try it and see.

 5) Empower People With Trust

Trust + Room to Work = Success

You hired ‘em. Now let ‘em work. The best thing you can do to help a person achieve success (along with ensuring they have the information, training and tools they need) is to make them see that you believe they are capable of doing the job right.

Micromanaging can sometimes be taken (by the more sensitive types) as a sign of distrust. Some may think it shows you don’t believe they can handle the task you’ve assigned them, and it can damage egos.

Staying on top of projects is obviously crucial, but there are ways to check in with people that won’t crush their souls (I’m a fan of hyperbole) and make them feel incompetent.

We’re a full-service marketing and communications agency. You’re a problem-solver. We work with local, national, and international clients, and we need someone with commitment, motivation, attention to detail, and a passion for customer service to help create effective online marketing and communications solutions. Our clients have problems – your job is to solve them. From website and intranet development to online marketing campaigns to search engine optimization to custom web application development, you’ll be responsible for a wide variety of online solutions. Your job will require you to work closely with project managers, creative personnel, and our clients in
order to determine project scope, conduct technical research, plan solution architectures, gather and organize content & other necessary resources, and implement your solutions in a fast-paced environment. Most importantly, you’ll be responsible for making sure your projects are done right and done on time. You’re in control.

The perfect candidate:

• Project management skills/ability to work independently.
• Organizational skills, including superior attention to detail.
• Must be a HTML, JavaScript, CSS, MySQL and PHP Ninja.
• Experienced with developing sites with responsive methodologies.
• Web application planning and development skill-sets.
• Strives to follow W3C web standards at every opportunity.
• A great attitude and a drive to push themselves to doing better, everyday.

DONOVAN Creative offers a very attractive health and benefits package and unlimited opportunity for motivated people who can get the job done. Send a cover letter outlining how your skills meet our needs and your salary expectations, along with a resume and links to your online portfolio to careers@donovancreative.com. No phone calls please. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

How about building a brand for a new community recreation centre that’s connected to one of the province’s oldest and most iconic sporting arenas? Or building a brand for a community recreation centre that’s connected to the one of the province’s most iconic sporting arenas, AND is located in an area of the city that sometime struggles to find its sense of community AND comes with stakeholders from across the province including those in government, professional sport and local communities. The order just keeps getting taller.

The City of Edmonton brought the task of branding the new Commonwealth Community Recreation Centre to DONOVAN because they know we like a good challenge.

The result is a look and feel that simultaneously evokes the heritage of Commonwealth Stadium and reflects the unique architecture and modern face of the recreation facility. The new positioning creates great difference from all other recreation centres in the market, and offers the promise of personal achievement and excellence on an individual level to all patrons.

“We knew it was important to show off all the amazing new facilities and programs offered, and to really play up the excitement factor when unveiling this new facility. Edmontonians immediately associate Commonwealth Stadium with the Eskimos, football and excellence in sport. We didn’t want to erase those associations, we wanted to add to them.”

Michael Donovan, President and Chief Creative Officer

Part of the task undertaken by DONOVAN was to position the recreation facility as a service provider oriented to the needs and expectations of the customers and create messaging that would speak directly to that audience. ‘What’s in it for me?’ ‘How can it improve my life?’

The answer: Commonwealth Community Reacreation Centre offers you the chance to amaze yourself.

Now drop and give me fifty.

You love interacting with clients; you enjoy managing teams, expectations, and the process; you only deliver your very best work and expect the best from your team. You are confident, resourceful, action-oriented. Responsibility excites you, you have passion, and you always pick up the ball and run with it.

You have worked in an agency, internal group within government or a large organization, or worked within a creative environment before. You also have experience leading teams and coordinating complex, ongoing projects for multiple clients. You have a minimum of 2 years experience – with more considered an asset. You are confident, have marketing or communications expertise, have an eye for design, have excellent written and verbal communications skills, and feel comfortable working directly with clients on a daily basis. You work well under pressure and you know how to drive both internal teams and clients to hit deadlines.

Job Description:

• Create and execute project work plans, work back schedules, contact reports and budget control reports
• Create, co-ordinate and manage the execution of creative and project briefs
• Identify and source resources as needed
• Manage day-to-day client/agency relationships
• Enforce project standards and quality assurance
• Ensure all documents are kept up-to-date and complete and are accessible
• Keep track of all details
• Solve unsolvable problems
• Pro-active in assessing client needs
• Persuasive writer and presenter

Requirements:

• Extremely detail oriented and organized – keep track of all details
• Process oriented
• Previous agency / advertising experience – minimum of 2 – 5 years
• Thorough understanding of the creative process, as well as experience with both traditional and new media
• Strategic thinker and idea generator
•  Ability to understand client requirements and deliverables
• Ability to lead and manage cross functional teams
•  Excellent presentation skills coupled with strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to effectively manage multiple projects/tasks of varying complexities and meet tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Great attitude with excellent creative thinking and problem solving skills
• Strong work ethic

Donovan Creative offers a very attractive health and benefits package and unlimited opportunity for motivated people who can get the job done. Send a cover letter outlining how your skills meet our needs and your salary expectations, along with a resume to careers@donovancreative.com.

No phone calls please. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

President and Chief Creative Officer Michael Donovan accepts award

In addition to Edmonton’s economy being awarded an overall “A-minus”
grade, there were three categories that guided the EEDC’s strategic objectives in selecting this year’s recipients of the esteemed award:

• Innovation
• Leadership
• Recognition

The Recognition Award celebrates organizations that bring extensive positive awareness and sustained name recognition of Edmonton. DONOVAN came out on top in the recognition category by consistently raising the profile of Edmonton businesses, which has helped shine a light on the excellence and opportunities in this market for new business partnership and growth.

DONOVAN achieved this through internationally focused, award-winning branding and strategic marketing campaigns that highlight Edmonton economic drivers and service excellence. Our work in award-winning campaigns for Edmonton International Airports and the Edmonton Public Library has increased Edmonton’s visibility on a global scale.

The Campaigns:

Edmonton International Airport

We’ll Move You

DONOVAN built a globally competitive brand, grew international awareness with customers and partners to attract more passengers, increase non-stops, and new revenue opportunities. Using our brand methodology, our research findings and the goals, mission and vision of EIA, we recommended making EIA a service excellence leader, always striving to ‘Move you.’ This was the genesis of EIA’s brand promise – ‘we’ll move you.’

Stop the Calgary Habit

Edmonton International Airport had a problem: every year, approximately 750,000 flights from a market of approximately one million people that could have flown out of Edmonton chose to drive three hours south to Calgary.

DONOVAN was tasked with changing the purchasing behaviour of 7,500 people in year one — all of whom didn’t see the problem or didn’t care.  Within six months of launch, DONOVAN succeeded in not only reaching the campaign goal of 1%, but exceeded it by three to four times. We had affected leakage by between 3% and 4%, which translated into a drive leakage reduction of between 22,500 and 30,000 (which means 22,500 to 30,000 more people flying from EIA than prior to the campaign). This translated into an estimated $600,000 to $750,000 in new revenues in airport fees alone for EIA in the first six months of the campaign. Traffic to the campaign microsite reached 2,000 visitors a day in the first four months of the campaign. Significantly, there was also a 21% increase in flights for the winter season, a direct result of the campaign.

Edmonton Public Library

Spread the Words

EPL is one of the world’s leading library systems. They needed a new brand and outreach campaign to reflect their modern services and their relevance to Edmonton beyond books on shelves.

DONOVAN built an internationally recognized brand that tells the story of EPL’s modern reality and uses it as a platform to grow greater public awareness of the wide range of digital media collections, programs, services and events offered by this essential community service.

These awards grew EPL’s reputation to the point that libraries around the world are calling on Edmonton’s library to consult with them on how they reinvented the image of the library system in Edmonton.

Further information on these and other award-winning campaigns can be found here.

DONOVAN extends sincere congratulations to Quantium Technologies  in the innovation category and Homeward Trust Edmonton in the leadership category.

The new changes make Facebook pages more visually engaging to your fans since they include an oversize image called a Cover Image and a smaller version of the current Profile Image. To prepare for the switchover, here are optimal specs to develop your new profile imaging:

• Optimal cover image specs: 851 x 315 pixels
• Optimal profile image specs: 180 x 180 pixels

There are a number of restrictions for timeline cover images that are especially frustrating to marketers as this is optimal real estate on a business page.

Timeline cover images may not include:

• Price or purchase information (e.g. “50% off”,or “Download coupon at our website”)
• A call to action (e.g. “Buy now”, “Vote for X”)
• Reference to Facebook elements (e.g. “Like us”, “Share this page”)
• Contact information (email, website, mailing address etc.  – this info is intended for the “About” section only)

The photo is not to be used for promotions, coupons or advertisements, and the photo cannot be primarily text-based; it must include an image of some sort.

Take a look at how Ben & Jerry’s have created a fun, visually appealing timeline:

Aside from the above restrictions, there are other changes that provide smart strategies to benefit from the page to timeline conversion by highlighting featured posts.

Ways to highlight featured posts:

• Pin a post
• Star a post

Pinned Posts

With the new timeline for business pages, Facebook administrators have the ability to choose a post to display prominently at the top of the page by pinning a post.

• A pinned post always appears in the top left of a page’s timeline and has a flag in its top-right corner
• The post will remain at the top of the page for seven days. After that, it will return to the date it was posted on the page’s timeline
• Posts from people who like a page are not eligible to be pinned posts. Page administrators can only pin posts created by the page

Starred Posts

You can highlight any post think are important on your page by “starring” it.

• Hover over a story on your page’s timeline
• Click the star that appears in the top right corner

When you star a post, it expands to widescreen across your page maximizing its visibility.

It is important to note that you cannot star AND pin a post; and you can only pin one post at a time.

Are you finding it difficult to keep up with all of these changes to your Facebook business page, and lost as to how to make the most of the new timeline for business page?

DONOVAN has creative branding strategies to combat the cover image restrictions and utilize their potential, as well as tactics to maximize reach and engagement with your target audience.

We are looking for a key project stakeholder with strong strategic skills and a passionate creative vision.  A leader with experience directing industry-defining creative solutions for both interactive and brand building Clients .

This Creative Leader is responsible for:

• Conceptual Development
• Creating and communicating concepts – internally and externally
• Creating and implementing marketing strategies, along with development of interactive solutions
• Client Relations – an engagement of long-term client relationship building
• Execution of creative deliverables

• Lead, manage and mentor a collaborative team of:
• Art Directors
• Designers
• Copywriters
• Web Developers
• Information Architects
• Content Analysts
• Production team

REQUIRED SKILLS

• Strong design portfolio with minimum  4+years visual communication education
• Minimum 6+ years design/marketing/communications interactive work experience
• Minimum 6+ years Art Direction experience
• Proven aptitude for quick creative thinking with acute attention to detail within demanding deadlines
• Strong organisational abilities
• Natural leadership skills with experience guiding creative teams
• Proven experience in developing and fostering learning, growth and excellence amongst team members
• Effective problem solving skills
• Strong presentation skills, writing skills and effective client relation skills
• Experience leading strategic brainstorms, campaign development, creative brief development, time and resource management

DONOVAN Creative offers a very attractive health and benefits package for the right candidate. Send a cover letter outlining how your skills meet our needs and your salary expectations, along with a resume to careers@donovancreative.com.and

No phone calls please. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

“I’m extremely happy to be part of the SEBA Board,” said Donovan. “With the explosive development in south Edmonton all the way out to the airport, I see SEBA as a vital voice for growth and development in south Edmonton. I’m looking forward to contributing where I can to help SEBA achieve its goals.”

Established over one hundred years ago, SEBA and its members seek to spur new ideas, foster business relationships, and strengthen the business community as Edmonton’s pre-eminent business association. Learn more about SEBA here: http://www.sebaonline.ca/

Responsible for New Client acquisition and revenue growth

• Optimise marketing spend and systems.
• Accountability for growing and managing the business
• Provide strategic consultation for the client
• Assess and develop leading edge proposals, detailed developments, implementation and launch strategies
• Develop and present detailed strategies, tactics and budgets for client approval
• Identify new client opportunities and recommend additional strategies, over and above known business plan
• Develop knowledge of client’s business and operations
• Maintain overall financial management and provide direction re pricing strategy
• Lead proposal development, RFP’s RFI’s etc.
• Driven sales performance
• Identify, document and assign project roles and responsibilities in conjunction with the delivery teams and project managers
• Report timely and relevant information for monthly financials
• Accountable for meeting client contractual obligations
• Excellent understanding of internal processes
• Senior level contacts – client and internal
• Optimise process management with functional groups

Requirements

• 3 – 5 years relevant experience in project management and/or marketing agencies
• University degree in Business, Marketing or related field
• Leadership
• Adept in managing complex, multi-faceted projects
• Ability to understand complex technical and operational aspects of a project/program
• Excellent in relationship building skills
• Excellent communication, written and presentation skills
• Excellent trouble shooting and delegating skills
• Decision making
• Negotiation
• Ability to identify a clients’ strategic issues and needs
• Strong budget management and analytical expertise
• General PC skills
• Team player with proven ability to meet and exceed profit margin targets
• Ability to create compelling presentations and proposals

DONOVAN offers a very attractive health and benefits package and unlimited opportunity for motivated people who can get the job done.

Send a cover letter outlining how your skills meet our needs and your salary expectations, along with a resume to careers@donovancreative.com.

No phone calls please. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

It’s one thing to be inspired by something. It’s something else entirely to be curious enough about something in the first place to then allow inspiration to happen.

In my case, this comes naturally. I’m driven by my curiosity every day. 

From the moment I wake up, to the last blink before I go to sleep, I am in a state of exploration. Always looking, always gathering, storing that knowledge for a later date when it can be put to good use. I am fortunate enough to work in an industry where that curiosity can result in great things. Especially for my clients. 

How curiosity helps clients

Alongside hard work, curiosity might be the biggest attribute that leads to success in this industry. You need to have the right skill set as well as the drive to learn new things, no matter the subject nor the format. And you must have the ability to not only think creatively, but be naturally curious about every aspect of a client’s business and operations.

“Can I see schematics for that big machine over there – the one spitting bottles out at 50 km/hr?”

“Tell me the whole story behind your company name.”

“Can I come down to your office and watch how the secretary picks up the phone?”

I ask a lot of questions. As a creative person, I am not only there to make things look appealing, but I want to solve your problems. The best way of doing that is getting to know the client and the product/service.

How curiosity can help you hone any skill

When I came into this industry, I quickly realized that all of the skills I learned in post-secondary were just grazing the surface of what I needed to know. Just covering the basics. I had the design fundamentals behind me, but lacked the technical knowledge in an industry that was pushing towards online a little more each day. Curiosity cured that. I tried things, broke things, fixed them, broke them again, until I eventually understood how they worked on a fundamental level. This can apply to any role in any industry. Heck, it even applies to baking cookies on a Sunday night (this is how I perfected my chocolate chip and cranberry recipe).

Day in, day out at DONOVAN, I bring my natural curiosity to every project and encourage a curious nature in each member of our Creative Team. I ask the question: “What if we tried this instead, could it work?” The worst answer I’ll get is, “no.”

I push what I know, push what the team knows, and if we learn something new in the process, then the project will always be a success in my eyes.

If you take one nugget of advice from this post, remember to always try. We wouldn’t call it curiosity if we already knew all the answers or the outcome. Trying things is not only how businesses grow, but how we grow as creatives in this industry.