Andy Young

Cricket Save Team

2011-10-14T11:34:00.000-07:00

When Cricket Mobile said they wanted to increase employee morale and “customer saves” at their call center in Nicaragua, they came to Targetbase asking for a solution. There was one catch: We had three hours to create it. The starting place we were given was “Maybe a mouse pad?”

From my perspective, when you have a group of people that are experiencing low morale, the most important gift you can give them is a voice. That is why I, along with my art director, concepted and executed “Greetings from Nicaragua.”

A simple, retro postcard with a photo of a Nicaraguan beach on the front was handed out to team members. Each time a team member saved a customer from leaving the company, they were awarded a playful sticker to help them decorate their own personal beach. When team members reached 12 stickers they wrote how they were feeling about the job on the back of the card and mailed it to Cricket headquarters. The information collected from these cards was used to gather a better understanding of how morale could be boosted throughout Cricket’s international call centers. Along with this, the cards were posted for public viewing at Cricket’s corporate office in Denver, CO, adding another level of pride and accountability for the team members that all involved could appreciate.

Oh, and everyone got a new mouse pad as well.

52 LTD Blog Writing

2010-07-22T19:41:00.000-07:00

I'm super stoked to have this up. 52 is an amazing company with a great staff, and I feel super fortunate to be a part of what they are doing with their blog. Click the link above to check it.

Gatsby Events Branding

2010-06-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

In late summer 2009, I was a part of 12 copywriters and designers at Switch Creative Group that were asked to individually concept a single idea for the branding of a wedding. Through a spoken presentation, four of the twelve concepts would ultimately make the cut and move on to the creation phase of a new division of the company: Gatsby Events. Idea's ranged from 8 bit weddings to film noir, but I simply chose wine. I chose wine because it has gained massive momentum as a cultural pastime and passion in America in recent years, and because it is a deep and wide metaphor for our lives, and has been since ancient times. I entitled the project Terroir, which at it's most basic, can be translated as "a sense of place." I wanted to let couples explore in depth why the person they had chose for their husband or wife was their sense of place in this world.

Using the terroir of wine and the grapevines as metaphor was key to making this project a success. Wine that has great terroir means that individual elements have come together to make the relationship harmonious. The root structure of the vines can reach more than 30 feet into the ground, struggling to find water. It is in this struggle that the berries acquire character and flavor from the minerals in the ground.

During the presentation there were four small trays on the table. These contained dark chocolate, blueberries, small fragrant flowers and espresso beans. I asked the participants to pass around the trays and take in the scent of each of the elements. I then asked them to think about the individual attributes that each of them enjoyed in their partner. With this in mind I opened a bottle of wine I had selected that contained all of the individual elements that had been passed around the table. I asked the participants to smell and taste the wine to find those individual elements and to see how they had been formed together to make a wonderful marriage of flavors that was greater than the sum of it’s parts, and how that sensation related back to their own lives.

It was then time to move onto the practical aspects of branding the wedding. Some of my ideas were

1. To have the save the date printed on wine corks and sent out as part of the invitation. At the wedding there would be these same corks that would be signed by the guests and put in a glass bowl that would double as the couples guest book.
2. Many wineries will now partner with event planners to create custom labels and even custom blends. These would be served at the reception.
3. Sachets of elements such as flowers and espresso beans would be given out to guests in a gift bag.

I am proud to say that this idea was accepted and is currently in the design phase at http://www.gatsbyevents.com

NX35 Program Print Piece on The Walkmen

2010-03-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

Exploring The Past to Reinvent The Future

For the Walkmen, it looks like it's going to be a good year

By: Andy Young

The Walkmen's rise to fame was sparked though the ashes of Jonathon Fire*Eater, the highly influential New York group known not only for their visceral live shows in the mid-nineties, but for their influence on other NYC bands such as The Strokes. When the smoke cleared from the hype and the deals, the rumors of that breakup subsided and the reality of the situation came shinning through: three members of Jonathon Fire*Eater still had more to say. Together with two ex-pats of The Recoys, they became the Walkmen.

When Bows + Arrows dropped in the winter of 2004, there was one song that you heard everyone playing, humming and talking about: “The Rat.” Even though it was a venomous break up song, people everywhere, no matter what their romantic situation, loved it. This could be explained with relative ease. A great melody can carry the darkest of lyrics, or that even if the listener was happy with their personal life, the country was dealing with an affair that was growing more sour by the minute: the presidency of George W. Bush. No matter the reason, the Walkmen had made their mark with a blend of their native DC hardcore, the sweeping melodies of U2 and the dance-filled beats of 80’s, all filtered through a vintage mindset, from the instruments they played to the musicians' throwback style.

The vibe began to take hold even more with the follow up to Bows + Arrows, A Hundred Miles Away, released in the spring of 2006. From the first notes of “Louisiana” the Walkies might as well have been the Velvets, channeling something so reminiscent of “Sweet Jane” that you begin to think Lou Reed himself is about to make a cameo. As soon as the young gravel of Hamilton Leithauser is introduced, though, you immediately forget about influence and are transported to the world the Walkmen have built. It’s a world in which the sum of a song’s parts is bigger than any piece that came before the last. Wall of sound drums indigenous to the '60s, bar room piano and flamenco horns fill out the arrangement and transform it into the one thing that really matters when creating something new: originality.

It was exactly that originality that led the band to not only the most commercially successful long player of their career, but also their most critically acclaimed: 2008’s You & Me. The most striking thing about this album is that although the songs themselves are wonderful, it’s more about texture and feeling than about the traditional song structure that was so well represented early in their career. It’s an album based in the breath of what they actually are, and what they are is band that plays instruments older than themselves, turned up completely in the red, wearing clothes that not only imply status and style, but that are contrary to the dank bars and clubs their music seems to sound best in. The Walkmen make music not only influenced by an older time, but by a place and time that only exists while you’re listening to it.

With an upcoming album due out this spring, make sure not to miss a live preview of that place and time that the Walkmen so solidly own, in the kind of environment they're meant to be heard in.

The Walkmen play Hailey's on Sunday with Jookabox, Pomegranates and Follow That Bird!.

Lines for a New Secret Project

2010-03-10T13:45:00.001-08:00

Sorry I’ve been out of touch. I disabled my account.

I blogged about us. It was very personal.

I drew a profile picture of you. You don’t look natural.

I’ll never unfriend you. At least not in real life.

I changed my relationship status for you. I hope I don’t have to change it back.

Sarah Jaffe Bio/Smile Smile Video PR

2010-02-19T08:02:00.000-08:00

I'm pleased to say that I was recently asked by Sarah Jaffe and Kurtland Records to write the press bio for Sarah's new record Suburban Nature. As you may know, Sarah is just another person to drink too much of the water in Denton, TX, thus leading to amazing albums and tours with the likes of Midlake and Norah Jones.

The process of writing it went really well for everyone involved, so I was invited last week to write the press release for Kurtland artist, Smile Smile for their video Truth on Tape.

As soon as I get a copy of both with the proper letterhead on it I'll throw them up for people to read.

Blogging

2010-02-13T10:08:00.000-08:00

I've been doing something I never saw myself doing on a regular basis. Blogging. I've never liked the word. Kind of how I've never liked the word noshing. It's just gross. Despite my disdain for the word, when given a platform through a company, I actually have a really good time with it.

The creative services firm 52LTD in Portland Ore. has been having me do "free blogging" for them recently, giving me total control to write about whatever I want to concerning advertising, SEO and just being creative in general. I wish I could show them off, but they have not been published yet.

Something that is ready to read now is the first of many blogs I am writing for the NX35 music festival. Aside from the "Five Primer" stuff I'm writing, I will be doing some long form pieces for them as well. View this work here.

Urban Daddy

2010-02-13T09:59:00.000-08:00

Recently I was asked to be a guest editor for the online men's magazine Urban Daddy. Here is my favorite piece I wrote for them.

She'll Get a Crush on You

Fact - Women like wine.

Fact - Bring a truly unique bottle to the table and you can get away with cheese and crackers...which means you don't have to cook.

So if you’re like us and culinarily challenged (or just looking for something exclusive) Sacred Cellars is your new solution. Located just north enough of Uptown to lose all pretense, you’ll know your there when you see nothing that could possibly resemble a storefront. And then you do.

A former loading dock plays host to an outside seating area that has been implemented with enough charm to make your date swoon before you even get to the door. Oh yea, we forgot to mention you have a date with you because you signed up for Sacred’s secret email list that keeps you in the know about their premium wine tasting nights.

Come in, grab two glasses and introduce yourself to the owner Paul. Then let him pour your date a sip of something blasphemously good. Don’t worry; the tear that just formed on her check is only the regret of not meeting you sooner.

After you’ve tried four or five, grab a bottle or two to take back home with you. And just remember…

You may not can cook, but you’ve got skills.

Wilder on the Taylor

2009-10-27T09:05:00.000-07:00

Wilder on the Taylor is an exclusive shared ranch community built in collaboration with Jackson-Shaw and Swift Property Company. Switch Creative Group was hired for all web and print materials. Print materials were written by myself and web materials were a collaboration between myself and our lead content director. The web site can be found here.

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Wilder on the Taylor continued

2009-10-27T09:01:00.001-07:00

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The Spice Rack

2009-10-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

When Food, Friends and Fun Inc. came to Switch Creative Group, they were looking to brand a new restaurant concept that incorporated beautiful servers with high quality Mexican food. Everyone at Switch started this process by submitting two to four names. In the end, one of the names I submitted, The Spice Rack, was chosen for this new venture. After this we developed their brand internally to help define what the culture of The Spice Rack would look, feel and sound like. The Spice Rack will be opening their doors in Knoxville, TN, this fall.

SEO Writing and Results

2009-10-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

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The Result

The Result

So Print, Web and SEO walk into a bar together…

2009-10-26T12:19:00.000-07:00

What kind of drinks should you send over?

Print wants a big nosed red wine. Print wants to linger and become entrenched in your mind. It takes desire to connect with something physical. Something tactile. You engage print differently because you make a conscious choice to become involved in it by picking it up, feeling the weight and style of the paper, the foil stamping or embossed markings. You are in a monogamous relationship with print, even if for a moment at the start, but if done right that moment can last forever.

Web wants a beer. In a chilled glass, plastic cup, funnel, whatever, cos Web has 1764 Facebook friends and a Tweet Deck to make your head spin. Web can hold your attention for 20 minutes even when it knows there are billions just like it working the room, trying to scratch your back button.

SEO wants a shot. It needs a shot. Shots are direct. Shots get the job done. What!?! You don’t want a shot? SEO will take your shot for you and do it’s shot to boot.

NPR Sweeps Webby Awards

2009-05-05T10:44:00.000-07:00

I feel pretty proud about being a part of this.

Muratec

2009-04-17T12:23:00.001-07:00

Below is a selected section of copy doc for Muratec America's updated website. There were 32 web pages of original copy written for this site. Please email if you wish to view more of this work.

Muratec Site Page Eleven
Title: Muratec Legacy Products
Description: Introductory paragraph with individual machine descriptions
Keywords: Legacy Products, F-560, F-520/F-520D, MFX-2830, F-300, MFX-1430/1430D, MFX-2030

[Header]
Muratec Legacy Products
A foundation of excellence with an eye on the future.

[Content]
We’ve been there since the very beginning of the faxsimille revolution, helping your projects reach their destination. Our legacy series machines are built on the same principles that made Muratec a success from the start. Friendly design coupled with cutting edge technology that makes your life easier, not harder. Take a look below to see which machine is right for you.

F-560
The F-560 provides a large, back-lit touchscreen to that is as intuitive as it is practical, joining your networks, e-mail servers and digital communication lines at one station. No matter the destination – e-mail inboxes, FTP sites, fax terminals or network folders – this Network Gateway Platform (NGP)-enabled multifunctional delivers with consistently and ease. And with on-board directory assistance keys, help is just a click away.

F-520/F-520D
We are proud to introduce the first NGP-enabled devices, the F-520 & F-520D. More than your traditional fax machine, the F-520 & F-520D are a true digital document delivery solutions. With them you can directly route documents to network folders, e-mail addresses, FTP sites, remote Internet fax terminals or traditional fax machines. Truly a new direction in the way desktop fax machines are perceived.

MFX-2830
The MFX-2830 will exceed all your expectations if you are looking for an MFP for your small business or workgroup. Featuring an interactive voice guidance system and single pass duplex scanner, as well as digital connectivity options as powerful as they are affordable, the MFX-2830 is a productivity powerhouse.

F-300
At Muratec, we view simplicity as an exercise in elegance, not a way to skimp on the things that are most important to your needs. With 8 MB(Shared) standard copier memory and a maximum paper capacity of 1,050 sheets, this Energy Star Rated classically produced machine is prepared for your most important needs.

MFX-1430/1430D
Out-of-the-box thinking right out of the box. That’s the philosophy behind our new MFX-1430 and MFX-1430D, the first segment 1 multifunctional devices built on the Network Gateway Platform (NGP). DHCP compliance, Ethernet connection and a 33.6 Kbps fax modem make speed and technology at the forefront of this easy to use, but yet extremely powerful document-based business solution.

MFX-2030
Our newest edition to the Legacy series, the MFX-2030, is a segment 1 multifunctional device built on the Network Gateway Platform (NGP). It is the most intuitive and innovative workgroup device on the market with features that allow for color or monochrome document mailing to any network folder, e-mail inbox or FTP site on the machines network. Add to this an ultra-compact footprint, and you’ll start to understand what the idea of exceeding expectations is all about.

Muratec Site Page Thirteen
Title: Support Overview
Description: Two paragraphs about support features provided by the site
Keywords: Support, Web Jetadmin, drivers, manuals, network management tools, brochures

[Header]
Support Overview
Because your solution is our service to you.

[Content]
At Muratec we believe that service and support starts long before you may encounter a problem. We understand that your time is at a premium, and that a service support phone call/email isn’t always an option when it’s crunch time. That’s why we are below you will find all drivers and manuals for our entire product catalog, as well as network management tools for machines equipped with HP’s Web Jetadmin package.

Also for dealers needing a solution for clients that wish to have more information when making their decision, you will also find a full selection of brochure and product sheets to use at your convenience. Of course we always want to hear from you personally, so if you need further assistance please feel free to contact us anytime. At Muratec, your solution is our service to you.

The Renaissance at Turtle Creek

2009-04-17T12:14:00.000-07:00

Copy for print and web brochures.

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The Doug Fir Lounge

2009-04-17T11:50:00.000-07:00

Here are two examples of the opening paragraphs of Log Love, The Doug Fir Lounge's email newsletter which reaches over 10,000 people weekly.

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NPR Song of the Day

2009-04-16T18:54:00.000-07:00

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Portland Mercury, Up and Coming Clips

2009-04-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

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