KiamichiLink Ranch Book:

Pause CD:

Hello:

Yokozuna Menus:

Drum role please… Here are some of the winning projects:

Gold ADDY Award:
Yokozuna Signage for environmental graphics.
Want to see more? Visit their website.

Silver ADDY Awards:
Yokozuna Menus for menu design.

Marshall Brewing Co Website for website design, B to C.
Want to see more? Visit their website.

Tulsa Performing Arts Center for Cover Design
Want to see more? Visit their website.

Bronze ADDY Awards:

Tulsa Performing Arts Center for brochure for the arts

Book(ed) 365 for book design.
Want to see more? Visit their website.

The Tulsa Metro Chamber isn’t just one of the first Tulsa organizations to get an application on the iPhone, it is the first chamber of commerce in the country to do so.

The application, simply called Tulsa Metro Chamber, recently went live on Apple’s App Store. The feature, which can be downloaded for free, includes a searchable directory of chamber members, news and a calendar of events.

Chamber officials credited Cubic, a local creative firm, for coming up with the idea and developing the app.

“Cubic proactively did the research and sought out the programming approval,” said Sheila Curley, vice president of communications.

Billy Kulkin, Cubic’s president and managing partner, said the app is a way to keep the Tulsa chamber ahead of the curve.

“We want to train the members to use the iPhone app in order to obtain the right information at the right time,” he said.

Work on an update already has begun.

Louis C.K. talks on Conan O’brien about technology from Nathan Lunde-Berry on Vimeo.

We Cubicans are quite obsessed with technology. Here is a funny (and regretfully accurate) video with Conan O’Brien and guest Louis C.K. about how people in today’s society take things for granted. The best line: ”We live in an amazing world, and it’s wasted on the crappiest generation of spoiled idiots.” Burn.

Overall, our goal with the new Web site was to keep it simple and functional while showcasing more of our current and upcoming work. From sneak peeks into the creative experimental projects we are working on, to information about upcoming marketing and design conferences and  events, the new Cubic Web site will help you stay in the loop on all things Cubic.

Please visit us at www.cubiccreative.com and let us know what you think.

On an unassuming, cold January morning in 2007, a man began playing a violin at the Washington DC Metro Station. He was a young, white man dressed modestly in jeans, white long-sleeved t-shirt and baseball cap. It was rush hour, and most of the 1000+ people who would pass by in the 43 minutes he played would hardly notice him or the music he played. Most were on their way to work and accustomed to seeing an occasional street performer in this urban area dominated by government workers. A few would slow down or stop for a few seconds and then rush away to keep their schedules.

Four minutes into his performance, he received his first dollar from a woman who threw the money in his case as she walked by. 10 minutes in – a small boy stopped, but was hurriedly pulled away by his mother. He could only turn his head to catch a few more notes as his mom dragged him along. This played out several more times with other children and their parents.

The man played for roughly 45 minutes. His audience comprised of 7 people who stopped long enough to enjoy part of his performance and 27 people who donated money. His total – $32.

By now, I’m sure you’re wondering how this story could possibly apply to Branding. Here is the segue.  Of the 1000+ people that passed, only one recognized that the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with an 18th-century violin that once belonged to the great Austrian-born virtuoso and composer Fritz Kreisler worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell had played at Boston’s Symphony Hall where average seats were $100.

True story. This social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities has many lessons. However, for the basis of this piece, the question raised is, “In a common place environment, do we perceive value? Do we stop long enough to appreciate it? Do we recognize value in an unexpected context?”

Here’s another example of how important Branding is in our times. I recently attended a breakfast event where Pattye Moore, former Sonic Corporation President, spoke. As a member of the Board of Directors for a particular company, she was trying to convince the Board that they needed to move forward with a Branding Proposal that they had received. To a fault, most Board members felt that spending money on branding was a waste of money. She struggled to find an example to illustrate the importance of branding. As with most great ideas, her revelation came most unexpectedly. As she was rushing to her child’s 3rd grade party, she picked up some Oreo cookies as her contribution to the party. Upon arriving to the party, she placed the Oreos next to the only other cookies – a generic brand. As the children began eating she noticed that all of the Oreos were gone before the other generic brand cookie was even opened. This was the spark. She offered to host the next Board meeting. She bought a mix of name brand drinks and snacks (Coke, Pepsi, Nature Valley, etc.) along with an equal number of generic brands (Sam’s Choice, Great Value, Always Save, etc.). As the Board meeting began it didn’t take long to notice that her Board members were acting just like the third graders. All of the name brand drinks and snacks were eaten first before they tried the off-brand items. When she let the Board in on her little experiment, they quickly realized the point they had been missing.

The lesson is simple: Whether it’s a conscientious decision or not, consumers choose items based on the perceived quality of a Brand and are “manipulated” by Brand presentation whether it occurs on television, on the Internet, in print advertising, or by the packaging. As well, the context in which you present your Brand is equally important (i.e. The DC Metro station is not the best venue for a world-renowned musician, nor the right target audience for the Joshua Bell Brand).

Your company’s Brand is important. The way you present your Brand, whether it’s a service or product, will determine the perception of your current and potential customers. Having the best product or service in the world is not enough. Companies have to show that they know their target audience, understand their brand and value it enough to present it in a positive light.

The bottom line is clear: If you don’t invest in your Brand, consumers won’t either.

Footnote:
The story of Joshua Bell came from an excerpt of a 2007 Washington Post article. The article described the details of what amounted to a stunt which shed a lot of light on human perception. The stunt was the brainchild of Washington Post writer Gene Weingarten. You can read Mr. Weingarten’s original article, “Pearls Before Breakfast” to see how it all transpired from the original idea. It’s a great story.

I called  Dell’s support number and had a difficult time trying to get through to a person.  The automated system kept asking me for a number that I didn’t have since I had only bought a monitor.  ( I had the serial number but not this other number they were asking for.)  After about 20 minutes of getting passed around from menu to menu and finally to a person who told me I was in the wrong area, I got irritated and hung up.  Frustrated, I posted a comment on a Twitter account that I use to rant about things from time to time.

This is where things started to change.  I got a response from a person who asked if they could call me to resolve the issue.  I replied with my phone number, and a support rep from Dell called me.  (Yes he called me!) The rep asked me for my serial number and upon giving it to him he said that he saw I had purchased the unit on XX/XX/XXXX date, to which I replied, “yes that’s the one.”  He walked me through some steps to try to resolve the issue, and we ascertained that in fact it was a hardware issue and the unit was still under warranty and they would replace it.  (This was late in the day on Thursday mind you.)  The support rep then informed me that a new unit would be shipped to me and explained the return process to me.

This is the awesome part .  I worked from home on Friday, and at about 10 AM I heard a knock on the door.  It was FedEx standing there with a new monitor box.   I opened the box and there were simple to follow instructions on who to call to schedule a pick up after switching out the monitor.

Bottom line… this was a customer service issue that could have been a lousy experience, but it was resolved quickly and easily due to a simple posting on Twitter.  I just wanted to pass a good experience on.  Thanks Dell.

Billy Kulkin, Cubic

Billy Kulkin is president and managing partner of Cubic. He has more than 15 years of experience in advertising, marketing and interactive strategy development and implementation. Before forming Cubic, Kulkin worked for Littlefield inc., Dallas-based Belo Corp. and the Super Bowl host committee.

1 Can you describe what Cubic does?

Ask me in an elevator and I’ll tell you Cubic is a creative agency. Ask me over your favorite beverage and I’ll tell you we’re a creative team that builds and promotes brands through trans-media innovation. We focus on delivering sales opportunities and building stronger relationships with clients’ audience.

When we talk about trans-media, we’re referring to the difference in the way we think about marketing communications.

For us, it’s not about developing and placing ads or TV spots, it’s about a seamless integration of your brand message with your audience’s life habits.

We don’t sell process. Every one of our clients is different, so every client receives a creative strategy custom-built for their business and for their specific goals.

2 Are there advantages to operating a tech-savvy business like yours in Tulsa rather than in Los Angeles or New York?

Yes. The two biggest advantages are profitability and sanity. Fortunately, with our business, we can live anywhere we want.

The cost of doing business in Tulsa helps us stay competitive — it’s an affordable city for growing a business. However, what is most impressive to me is that underlying feeling that Tulsans want other Tulsans to succeed. Having come from the LA area, I can tell you that is not the case everywhere. As a business owner I am not sure how you put a value on that, but it sure is a good feeling.

3 Social media is the current rage. What advice are you giving your clients?

Breathe.

Here’s where most people have it all wrong. Social media is not a “thing” that you can own and have. It’s a water cooler conversation that reflects what people think about their lives, their activities and the companies whose products they buy.

The content, tone and location of the conversation changes every day, so it is certainly not for everyone to jump into like the next gold rush.

At Cubic, we keep our sight on the goal: to connect our clients with their audience in a meaningful way, no matter who the audience is or where they are.

So, if your audience is spending more time in social media land, our job is to find them, then change the way our clients communicate with them.

Social media is a two-way dialog instead of a one-way sales pitch. Hearing in real time what your customers and prospects have to say about your brand is a powerful tool.

4 You’ve said there’s an “uprising” in customer satisfaction. What do you mean?

Now more than ever, consumers have some control over a company’s image.

Whether it’s “cold coffee,” “my mechanic didn’t fix the car right” or “the delivery guy needs a bath,” customers will let their networks know about it.

Conversely, customers also will let their networks know about a “great flight,” “great new smoothie” or “easy-to-use Web site.”

The power of the conversation has shifted. The trick is to recognize this shift in power and be smart about it.

Companies that want to succeed will embrace the uprising.

5 With digital media changing every day, how do you keep up with the trends and still be able to run a company and have some work-life balance?

First of all, it’s part of our DNA. We love new technology and applications, and we enjoy keeping up with it. Second, our social media lab has helped propel our understanding even further. We hire students and young graduates to run the social media lab. These are people who grew up with the Internet and have been engaged with social media from the beginning. Tapping into their knowledge and way of thinking has allowed us to stay ahead of the curve on trends and topics.

Regarding work-life balance, we don’t think they are mutually exclusive. The secret is to embrace what you are passionate about and find ways to integrate it into your everyday routine. By JOHN STANCAVAGE World Staff Writer

What do these brands have in common? They are just a few of the world’s most famous logos: symbols that are meant to instantly identify a brand. Clearly, logos can be powerful signatures for companies. But how can we summarize a whole brand in one relatively small design? Cubic’s team faces this challenge every day, creating designs that accurately express the identity of brands.

But where should you start when designing a logo? Cubic’s own Creative Director, Winston Peraza, shared insight into this process. “When it comes to logo design, clients have high expectations. A logo can be the epicenter of a brand, but it is also simply a signature. The logo is important, but it is not the brand. It is a part of the brand.” With a deep understanding of the overall picture of brands, Peraza and the team at Cubic take this into account when designing logos for clients. “We enjoy the challenge of designing logos, but we are always looking at the bigger picture. How is this logo going to exist in the broader world of the brand? How is it going to print and reproduce? Does this logo express the identity of this company? These are all essential questions we ask when designing a logo,” Peraza said.

As a multilingual visual artist and graphic designer, Peraza provides insight and direction into this whole- design process at Cubic. Recently, his work was featured in Logo Lounge 5, a leading graphic design book focusing on logo design. Selected from more than 33,000 logo submissions from designers across the world, three of Peraza’s designs (shown below) were included in the compilation of 2,000 designs.

When creating a logo, Peraza suggests looking at the big picture. “Spend as much time as possible researching the product and culture of the brand. Understanding the identity of the brand is key. The more you know up front, the easier it will be to create the visual expression.”

Congrats to Cubic VP/Partner, Jeff DeGarmo, for being selected for the Tulsa Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40