Our team is extremely proud to announce that we have been selected to participate in the Baltimore Urban Forest Project.

The Urban Forest Project is a growing national outdoor exhibition of banners centered around a ‘tree theme’ that is now coming to Baltimore, thanks to our friends at Tilt Studio. The project brings together designers, artists, students, activists, non-profits, schools, city officials, businesses & volunteers for a two month exhibition. The banners created will lead visitors to four Baltimore City parks where four design and marketing firms will host events. At the end of the exhibition, the banners will be recycled into a product and sold, with the proceeds going to scholarships & parks.

As a design and marketing communications firm that is serious about sustainable business, this is a great event to be a part of. While I don’t want to get into the details of our banner, we have picked our concept and are developing the design right now. It’s very exciting.

I will for sure keep everyone posted on our progress, and even post it here online for everyone to see once it’s finished.

Update!  Here’s our finished design:

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

Did you guys see THIS article on CNN today?

I thought it was worth passing along just in case. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has just announced that the 84 foot tree that is lit ceremoniously each year to ring in the Christmas season will be lit using 30,000 low energy LED bulbs this year, cutting its energy consumption by more than half!

I think this is a great PR move by the city and Bloomberg’s office. It looks like New York is really jumping on board with marketing their green initiatives.

Oh, and as icing to the proverbial cake, they also used the same press release to announce that this year’s tree will be cut down and turned into building materials for Habitat for Humanity homes. Well done, NY.

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

The team here at Orange Element took some time out of the office a few days ago to do some research for a new client of ours in the golf industry. It was probably the most fun we’ve ever had doing research, because this research involved 18 holes of golf at one of the Middle Atlantic’s finest public golf courses, Queenstown Harbor.

We played a full round at The River Course at Queenstown Harbor and enjoyed it immensely. Just in case you were curious about our ‘process’ for this research, here are some pictures of our outing:

We want to send a special thanks to the team out at Queenstown Harbor for making our day so enjoyable. I am sure we’ll be back to visit again soon when the weather turns…

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

I recently read about this in an article written by Sustainable Life Media, a company that specializes in consulting for companies looking to enhance their green business. They reported that Shell Group was recently cited by the Advertising Standards Authority for running a misleading advertising campaign in which they claimed that they were using their carbon dioxide emissions to grow flowers.

It turns out this claim hasn’t actually been qualified, so Shell voluntarily pulled the campaign. While they may actually have some merit to their claims, this is an example of how it’s really crucial for companies to be specific about their green claims and not leave much open to interpretation.

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

Gone are the days when we’re building complex 100 page web sites trying to sell almost everything imaginable a company offers. Today’s Internet browsers don’t want to get lost in a maze of information or mess with complex navigation. Consumers are becoming more and more impatient every day.

Micro sites (also known as Mini-sites) are fast becoming the new marketing method to drive traffic and sales up for marketers of all kinds.

So, what is a microsite, you ask?

A micro site is simply a targeted Web site for a component of a company’s offerings. Many times they are only one page and include a call to action and a link back to the corporate site. There aren’t any banners ads, or advertising links or multiple product selections. The micro site focuses on selling one product or service, directing the potential customer to the action item that allows them to buy an item or take advantage of a service.

The reason why many micro sites are becoming so effective now is because they’re “direct response sites” and the visitors are usually targeted individuals who have a genuine interest in what the site has to offer.

Many new Internet marketers sometimes make the mistake of setting up massive web sites and try to keep the site updated with fresh content-content that is relevant to their numerous target audiences. But remember, consumers only want information that is important to THEM.

Micro sites work because they are quick and to the point. No messing around with fancy graphics or a gazillion of links. They’re simple and to the point - often with an entertaining quality. But the most important thing is that the content speaks directly to their wants and needs. The quicker the better.

Another component about a microsite is that you can register a domain name that corresponds to the content. For example, instead of using the companyname.com/alt/memberbenefits/copy~~00956.html, you could register a domain name like www.memberbenefits4u.com.

Here are some modern examples of microsites:

www.gtrnissan.com
http://www.dice.com/BeingIT/
http://www.oceanicflight815.com
www.simpsonizeme.com
http://www.sundancechannel.com/thegreen/#/homePage
www.campaignforrealbeauty.com
www.hammerandcoop.com
www.greenisuniversal.com

Micro sites are soon to become the call-to-action of choice for traditional advertising. The time has come to become even more specific with your messages online. Your target audience will thank you.

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

It’s true. Hiring Orange Element as your creative communications firm could just save your life. Picture this: We’re in a lunch meeting discussing your 2008 marketing budget and figuring out some innovative new ways to market your company when all of a sudden, a piece of food gets lodged in your throat. You make the universal symbol for choking and start to hope someone around you knows what to do.

Orange Element to the rescue.

Recently, our group took a few hours out of our day to become certified in infant, child and adult CPR and first aid. Luckily for you, that course included extensive Heimlich Maneuver training! I’m proud to report that our entire team passed the certification exam at the end of the course, so we are all fluent in CPR for adult, children and infants. 100% pass rate - not bad!

Here are some pictures from the event:

I think we may be the safest design and communications firm in Baltimore and beyond…

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com