Looking at the metrics (GA’s real-time tools are insane, BTW), we’ve found opportunities to improve the UE and make a few subtle changes to remove unforeseen barriers to interaction. It’s also provided some interesting statistical tidbits, including:

• Our overall site traffic went up 280% This is significant because we use the Gabardine site as a marketing communications vehicle, giving potential clients insight into our people and our work.
• Of the traffic, we had over 63% new visitors, which is great since a secondary objective of the initiative (i.e. site, social platforms, emails, etc.) was to push beyond our network of usual suspects.
• Of the total visitors, ~5% actually interacted with the caption contest, either by submitting their own or voting for others’. We anticipated participation in that range and continue to push for more.
• Of those 5%, 51% actually submitted a caption. Clearly, there is less risk in simply voting. Actually clicking the submit button and displaying your handiwork for all to read is a brave thing to do. We were pleasantly surprised by people’s willingness to be so creative.
• It’s a Facebook world. In order to vote or submit a caption, you need to sign in via FB or Twitter (more on that in another post). The majority of participants used FB. We even checked to make sure the Twitter auth was working (it was). Maybe our audience is a self-selected FB based one. We’ll keep an eye on that over time.

Of course, this is just a smattering of the goodness we’re seeing as the site continues to be shared and people contribute to it. And as positive as the results are, they pale in comparison to the ultimate goal: to donate generously to multiple charities.

Thanks for your help.

Sure the burgery, french fried goodness is positively drool-worthy.

The design, not so much.

And we get it. The remedial red-and-white color scheme and generic decor practically scream “It’s about the food, stupid.” But that doesn’t mean there’s no room for improvement.

Take the plain brown sack in which every order is delivered. Sure, it’s functional and no-frills, like everything Five Guys (save the food). But it also does the brand a disservice in many respects, showcasing the greasiness of the contents and making for a generally unattractive presentation. So we decided to do something about it—you know, just for grins and giggles. Not that we wouldn’t gladly take on the assignment should the Five Guys crew come calling…

First, we gave the bag a (new) look using the bold brand color blocks and celebrating the third-party quotes that are so integral to the Five Guys identity. These helped make the bag meaningful and relevant, rather than just a transportation device.

Finally, we added some touches to help enhance the overall experience, including a wax liner (not seen), a slit in which Five Guys folks can place the receipt (cool, right?), and a perforated front panel, providing greater access to the fries—including those that inevitably, wondrously wind up on the bottom.

The guys at Five Guys might not bite, but this re-imagined bag helped us exorcise some design demons that eat at us every time we enjoy one of our favorite lunches.

One group, comprised of those who came from the traditional, offline world, tried to reconcile their accumulated knowledge with this new media, which didn’t conform to many—if any—of the old rules. They were alternately fascinated and intimidated by the possibilities, and they struggled to make the online world fit into their offline worldview.

Another group, made up of what we’d now call millenials (but who were then referred to as ‘kids,’) were struggling too, but in a very different way. They’d grown up tinkering with Commodore 64s, using Archie, Gopher and FTP to find information and trading ideas on USENET. They were enthralled and inspired by the promise of the Web and endlessly curious. Like most young’uns, they were also irascible, charming, funny and unintentionally insightful.

The third group consisted of clients—people on the ‘brand side’ tasked with increasing awareness/usage/trial/redemption/conversion/etc. for their products and services—who knew they needed to leverage the emerging technology, but for the most part didn’t know where to begin. Moreover, because they worked in what were generally insular environments, they weren’t encouraged to go out and embrace the next big thing so much as they were flogged to beat last quarter’s numbers.

Together, those three groups helped push the commercial Web forward and, in so doing, pull much of the developed world online. Here’s how it went: Clients tasked their marketing partners with helping them increase sales and acquire new customers. In turn, the marketing partners worked with creative and technology peeps to come up with new ways of communicating with target audiences, from toddlers to teens to those with false teeth. The result was some of the most genuinely innovative marketing the world has ever known.

It was awesome.

Of course, a lot’s changed since the heyday of corporate Web sites and inflated IPOs. Marketers have become more resourceful, and the kids have all grown up and found places of their own. But the biggest shift has been on the brand side.

The rise of Web technologies, social media and mobile platforms has made every client a user—posting, Tweeting, blogging, checking in and commenting on the world around them. Like everyone else, they’re more connected than at any time in history. Which means they no longer need to wait for market studies and campaign analyses to find out how consumers really feel; they can just log on and see for themselves. Just a few minutes a day on social media networks, blogs and news sites can tell them all they need to know about what people like—and vehemently dislike—about their product or service.

Is this feedback loop flawed and prone to misinterpretation? Yes and definitely. But that’s not really the point. The point is that by using the same online tools as their customers, clients are smarter and more sophisticated than ever before.

In the next installment: How the evolution of the client has affected relationships with agency partners.

Instead, we figured it’d be more productive to share our wit and wisdom with Maureen Kedes on her weekly radio show, PR Insider.

Now, we know what you’re thinking: Gabardine doesn’t do PR. True that. But the radio show (this is actually Gabardine’s second appearance) covers the full spectrum of marketing communications, featuring guests from a range of brands and agencies on a host of topics.

Our own Jonathan Sawitsky, head of digital experience, and principal Peter Leeds stopped by to talk about social media, emerging technologies, Charlie Sheen and the earthquake in Japan. (Like we said, ‘a host of topics.’)

Have a listen.

Leave a comment.

We’re listening…

The role

We want a mid-level PM who’s great at collaborating with creative types and interfacing with client teams in the course of managing multiple projects at once.

Candidates should have broad experience managing projects (ideally online as well as off), from initial scoping/estimating/planning, to creating schedules, allocating resources, setting milestones, coordinating work across teams, prioritizing deliverables and ensuring delivery.

The right person for the job will be a good communicator and decision maker, and be able to appreciate Keith’s borderline obsession with Coke Zero.

About Gabardine

We bring together creative strategy, design and messaging in a single, continuous thread and then weave it through our clients’ marketing communications—online and off—to help strengthen their brand fabric.

We’re a smart, nimble shop that does the creative stuff of advertising and marketing communications: Creative strategy, concept, design, copywriting, photography, production—the whole shebang.

We’re not focused solely on interactive or, for that matter, on anything else that might limit how we can help our clients improve results and build business. Nope, our goal is to do what needs doing. And we’ve got the experience and expertise to do pretty much all of it.

Qualifications, skills, attributes

To be considered for this position, you must have a minimum 3 years agency experience leading a mid-sized (5-9 person) cross-competency team, across a range of project types.  Additionally, you should be able to…

• Create project plans that set firm and realistic deadlines for each phase of a project, while setting client expectations aligned with their needs
• Track and communicate project progress to all stakeholders
• Identify and mitigate project risk by adjusting timelines and budgets accordingly
• Speak knowledgeably about varying approaches to creative development for the Web (design and IA)
• Act as liaison between Client, Gabardine and 3rd-party teams to gain consensus on priorities and tasks
• Recommend and implement solutions to process inefficiencies
• Prepare and maintain weekly status documentation
• Coordinate and actively participate in client presentations
• Monitor and track hours for all internal resources to ensure project profitability
• Identify future, evolutionary and new business opportunities to help drive Gabardine’s business
• Show proficiency in Microsoft Project scheduling
• Have a current working knowledge of standard Web tools such as HTML, Flash, JavaScript, and database utilization and methodologies

To Apply
Email us at JoinTheGab@gabardine.com with your info. You should also feel free to ask questions or refer us to someone you may think is perfect for the role.

Applicants must submit resume and salary requirements. No phone calls, please.

The role

We’re looking for a Senior AD (initially for freelance work; full-time’s a possibility down the road) who can collaborate with our creative and account teams to come up with strategically sound creative for our clients.

Candidates should have a broad portfolio (of actual work or spec, doesn’t matter) that demonstrates the ability to work across design platforms, from Web sites to print collateral, event signage to branding, direct response to online advertising and more.

We don’t want just another set of hands, but rather someone who can contribute to our brainstorms, improve the quality of our creative product and help us explore interesting new places for lunch (possibly the one area in which we’re running out of ideas.)

About Gabardine

Gabardine brings together creative strategy, design and messaging in a single, continuous thread and then weaves it through our clients’ marketing communications—online and off—to help strengthen their brand fabric.

We’re a (deliberately) small shop that does the creative stuff of advertising and marketing communications: Creative strategy, concept, design, copywriting, photography, production—the whole shebang.

We’re not focused solely on interactive or, for that matter, on anything else that might limit how we can help improve results and build business. Nope, our goal is to do what needs doing. And we’ve got the experience and expertise to do pretty much all of it.

Qualifications, skills, attributes

To be considered for this position, you must have a minimum 3 years of agency experience and be…

• proficient in Adobe Creative Suite, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash (including Action script), HTML
• experienced in both online and offline media, including a combination of direct response, interactive, print and display
• familiar with typography, color, navigation, animation and accessibility standards
• willing to take and execute on creative direction in a fast-paced environment
• able to present creative work confidently and effectively, explaining complex concepts in simple, easy-to-understand terms
• an independent and efficient worker who takes ownership of deliverables
• personally accountability for on-time, on-budget, quality execution
• possess a basic understanding of information architecture
• comfortable documenting interactivity and animation through wireframes and storyboards
• knowledgeable about current print and Internet design techniques/technologies
• part of social media communities, with active accounts on the likes of Facebook/Twitter/Flickr/YouTube/FourSquare
• the kind of person who carries a sketch pad and camera phone…everywhere
• artistically inspired in different ways by at least 10 Web sites that you can reference at the drop of a hat
• capable of describing passionately and convincingly about the one piece in your portfolio that best represents you as a person

To Apply
Email us at JoinTheGab@gabardine.com with your info, or feel free to ask questions or refer us to someone you may think is perfect for the role.

Applicants must submit resume, salary requirements and a portfolio (pdf or Web site) of work. No phone calls, please.

1. The original punk, Johnny Rotten, on letting love rule in the UK.
2. Way on the other side of the universe (i.e., Alaska), Sarah Palin disses her daughter’s baby daddy.
3. Speaking of splits, it appears that 40% of us think the whole marriage thing is obsolete.
4. So rather than take the plunge, OGs and other folks can just kick back with their shorties and chill, yo.
5. In some cases, though, even platonic relationships on Facebook threaten to go too far.
6. Heck,  Harry & Hermione almost let a platonic fictional relationship go too far.
7. Exactly how far is too far? For us it’s sending a bride-to-be to the Shibali River women’s labor camp on her wedding day for a single, innocuous tweet.
8. For others, Like Penn Gillette, it’s a wandering hand at the airport.
9. When it comes to celebrity relationships, it’s not the tweeting you need to worry about so much as the texting (to say nothing of the sexting).
10. ‘Cuase let’s face it: That’s the kind of thing that could send a woman over the edge.

Any links or thoughts you want to share on togetherness are most welcome.

• She is way better at Wheel of Fortune than my nana. Check out the look on the face of the contestant next to her.
• A simple, yet polarizing recipe from Rachel Ray for ‘late night bacon.’ Okay, it’s her who’s polarizing, not the recipe.
• How do you think you would have looked after 26.2 miles? Hopefully as joyful as Miguel Esparza. Go Mickey!
• Love in the workplace and other ways to increase productivity.
• Russian prisoners need more sun. Whales need less.
• Conan is back on TV, as is the beard. (No, not Andy Richter, silly.)
• Bring your daughter to work day is great. Maybe not this day.
• And finally, Thursday was Veteran’s Day. We hope you took a moment to thank the men & women in our armed forces for securing the freedoms we enjoy. If not, do it now; we won’t tell.

Great stuff, in our opinion, but we want to hear from you. Send us your fave links from this past week.

• Still not sure what to be? The possibilities are endless. (Not necessarily good, but endless.)
• If one of your ideas was a time traveling she-male, well, it’s been done.
• Among the top 50 scariest movies is ‘Cat People’ at #41. Based on the title alone, we’d rank it significantly higher.
• Think you carve a good pumpkin? Think again.
• If you run into a zombie, remember: They’re stimulus-response creatures.
• Post-egging clean up tips we hope you won’t need.
• Black Friday on Sunday? This scary economy could make it happen.
• London’s got a ghost in every borough, and none of then sound like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins.
• Lastly, give a listen to The Gab’s own Halloween mix.

Before you get ghoulishly sick on either refined sugar or shots of SoCo, tell us about some terrifying links of your own.

Sometimes the whole client-agency thing doesn’t work out. For any number of reasons which may or may not include some combination of capabilities, personalities, experience and halitosis, it’s just not a good fit. We’re cool with that.

Sometimes, though, there’s more to it. Like when a client perceives Website design and development as a commodity on the order of hand soap or puffed rice cereal. If that’s you, that’s fine. We won’t try to convince you otherwise or bore you with talk of user-centered design and hand-crafted XTHML and CSS. Nope, we’ll just assume that you’re more than okay with paying your wayward brother-in-law a thousand clams and a case of Schlitz to create your site.

Before you he fires up his pirated version of Photoshop, though, make him read this quick primer on how Websites should get built, start to finish. It won’t guarantee you don’t get screwed, but it might help stem the tide of canned templates, co-opted design and inferior experiences. (We do what we can.)

Step 1: Discovery

Put down the mouse. This is thinky stuff. It’s about finding out what the site needs to do, based on a combination of business goals, competitive factors and customer needs. Assumptions are only OK when they are verified by research. Research that doesn’t include yelling a question across a crowded room and guesstimating results by a show of hands.

The business goals come from key client stakeholders; people who can weigh in on what content and/or functionality should be part of the experience, from the company’s perspective. Feedback from relatives of any sort and Magic 8 Balls don’t count.

Do you think they'll like my website? "Highly unlikely"

Customer needs are really the most critical, since users are ultimately in control of the experience. Existing site analytics will provide insight into current user behaviors, but the best audience research includes actual customer interviews to learn what they expect the site to deliver. These interviews often yield incredibly valuable information beyond the questions themselves, because while a user can’t necessarily articulate the functionality they want, they can often describe the kind of information that’s important to them and how they’d like to receive it. If you choose to do nothing else—and that is completely likely—do this.

A comprehensive document known as a Requirements Analysis should synthesize all of this information and clearly articulate recommendations for what the site will be. You probably won’t do this. No, you definitely won’t.

Step 2: Information Architecture

Here’s where the site begins to take shape, by defining the navigation, content areas and functionality elements in the form of two foundational documents: The sitemap and wireframes. Think of these as blueprints; the sitemap provides a high-level, structural view of the main areas of content and how they relate to one another. The wireframes are detailed plans that show the priority of content and functionality on each page of the experience.

You don’t have to get all fancy schmancy here. Feel free to sketch it out on a piece of paper. Just don’t use the back of the FB quiz you printed out—clients don’t care what kind of Pokemon you are.

Pikachu car

Neither the sitemap nor the wireframes are intended to show actual design, but they do inform it. (No, that’s not a haiku. Read on.)

Step 3: Content Audit

Together the Requirements Analysis and Information Architecture will provide an idea of the content that needs to be created. Beyond that, however, an audit is required to evaluate all content that exists to inform the IA, and identify where new content has to be created.

That new information should be developed alongside the visual design.

A word of caution: Don’t rip copy. The Google knows everything.

Step 4: Visual Design

Ideally, several different design comps will be created based on the sitemap and wireframes from step 2. These comps will typically go through a few rounds of revisions and reviews, with the client weighing in on branding, layout, etc. (Or, since you’re ‘the Web guy,’ your sis’s hubby probably just asked you handle everything; in which case, it’s best to use your favorite NFL team’s colors.)

The key is to ensure that each set of comps is faithful to the IA in terms of how information is organized and prioritized. That said, you’ll likely design one page and then copy that for every all the others. If your bro-in-law asks for changes, feel free to ignore him in favor of playing WoW. Who needs the hassle, right?

Once a design is approved, templates are created for different page types and prepared for the development team. This is the intersection of design and technology. It’s like the matrix, only with more Mountain Dew and Skittles.

Candy? Or design inspiration?

Final deliverables for a web project range from a mixture of layered Photoshop files, a comprehensive style guide and CSS files. These documents work together to provide the dev team with clear instructions on how to setup the site’s technical environment and answer any lingering design questions.

Or you can fast-track the whole thing and ship your PSD file to one of those PSD-to-HTML services for $150. Same thing.

Step 5: Development

The technical side of Website development will have to be covered in a separate tutorial (don’t hold your breath), but suffice to say there are a myriad different ways a site can be coded. What’s important is that the dev team’s been involved with the project from the outset, reviewed all the relevant documentation (especially the RA, the IA and the visual design) and has an open line of communication with the design team.

In this case, since you are the team, you know the project inside and out. And if you haven’t already bailed on the project, you’ve purchased a stock template and modified it a little bit to appear less unoriginal. Either way, you’ve got some cash in your pocket, the client has a Website (sort of) and even if he doesn’t like it you don’t have to see him until the next family holiday. We know: Sweet.

The Woz thinks you did a good job!

Next week’s lesson: Advanced banner looping techniques. (Just kidding. Teaching’s hard. We’re going back to creative.)