To all friends of the zone, have a safe and Merry Christmas, and a happy new year!

So New Zealand beat Australia in Australia for the first time in 23 years last week. Is this the dawning of a new era for New Zealand cricket? Can we rise from the doldrums of 8th place in the international test rankings? Will our opening batsman magically become the stubborn “I will not get out flailing to a crap delivery” stalwarts that test opening requires?

The answer I say is a resounding NO! Our batters still have the astonishing ability to collapse for bugger all runs and I truly believe I can bowl faster than the majority of the Black Caps bowlers. One test win does not a great test nation make. We need to create some consistency and start winning on a regular basis. You know you are a team under fire if you struggle to beat Zimbabwe…

However – does it really matter? I know the cricketing purists like our Mr Tattershaw believe that test cricket is the only form of the game that matters. Personally, after living in America for so long now I am starting to agree with their perceptions that any game that goes for 5 days is just silly and hard to support.

I hope New Zealand does indeed move forward and become a top tier nation once again (hang on – were we ever in the top tier?) We certainly have youth on our side.

Bring back Shane Bond (and Buck)

Hamish

So we had our first snow fall here in Chicago today – apparently the 5th latest snow fall on record. We are heading from one of the largest snow fall winters in Chicago history according to the weather experts. So the woolies are out and the fires are burning as we make our kids behave with threats of Santa’s naughty list.

Christmas in New Zealand is a bit different than here. For one, it’s hot, so people tend not to stay indoors around a fake pine tree. Instead, families head to the beach where they camp in droves, eat ham, play cricket, drink a bit of this and that and swim at the beach. Also, the Pōhutukawa tree (NZ Christmas tree) is in bloom, painting bursts of bright red stamens all over the place. It’s the quintessential sign that it’s Christmas in New Zealand.

My Kiwi family is packing up to head to Matarangi Beach on the Coromandel Peninsular. Santa will visit wearing shorts and gumboots, his sleigh pulled by sheep. He will get to enjoy a beer and pie left by hopeful Kiwi kids.

Hamish

As our digital marketing drive continues I thought I’d share the differences and challenges of managing digital projects.

Websites are fluid things. As such it is extremely important to have an air-tight and approved scope of work at the beginning on any digital project. However, rigidity with regards to project management can be counterproductive. You do have to be able to go with the flow.

In today’s business environment, a website needs to be so much more than simply an electronic brochure. The Zero Moment of Truth has made the website an essential sales and marketing tool. So it is important to first converse with clients to get an understanding for what they are trying to achieve with any website redesign project. An effective project manager will also be able to help educate potential clients on website best practices, SEO/SEM opportunities and digital marketing in general. After all, websites are marketing tools. We must be able to link digital products to clients’ marketing strategies.

So the process begins with immersion into the clients business, learning as much as we can. If there is an existing site, a careful analysis/audit of this will be provided. The project manager will then develop a plan/timeline for project completion that adheres to client budgets (if available) and required timings. They will look to coordinate the efforts of the creative team, search specialists and development team ensuring that the integrated elements come together on time and at the desired quality.

Of course – throughout this process the project manager must liaise with the client. TimeZoneOne breaks up the process by providing the following elements (in this order):

• Website audit (current site, CMS requirements etc)
• Keyword strategy and copy platform (including meta descriptions etc)
• Information architecture recommendations
• Wireframe recommendations (user experience)
• Site design
• Development (site build, CMS, content incorporation)
• Testing
• Launch

During any of these steps, scope creep can occur that can derail the effective/efficient completion of a project. It is an extremely important role of the project manager to keep this in check using clearly defined deliverables at each step in the process. Active and constant communication with the client and the team is a must.

So – you can see its quite a process managing these digital marketing initiatives – but it is exciting and particularly rewarding when sites go live and are fresh on the front page!

Better than staring at tiles and good for the advertiser – everyone’s happy. ‘Don’t cross the streams Venkman!’

Matt

Every once in a while a product comes along and POW!, the game has changed, the way we work and play… altered forever. The iArm is such a product. Of course it’s not real, just a box to put your real present inside to get a chortle this holiday. My personal favourite (and actually a fine idea for festival goers and sports fans): the beer beard.

Matt

Everyone in advertising has their ear to the ground for the next big thing. These chaps may just have found it…

Matt

Crazy talent from Villfane Studios in the uncrowded category of high-end pumpkin carving. Fantastic work.

These ‘lightpainting’ images are the work of photographer Fabrice Wittner, lending his talent to the rebuild effort in Christchurch. Handmade stencils and a long exposure technique create the ghostly figures in memory of the city’s February 2011 earthquake. See more development shots here.

Matt

Today I was going through my business cards and I found this curious card.

This is the card for Dr Regina M. Benjamin. TimeZoneOne was luckily enough to work with her a few years ago on an assignment for the American Medical Association. We were creating marketing communications to explain the value and great work of the AMA.

At that time Dr Benjamin was the doctor in a small health clinic in Bayou La Batre, Alabama. We went there to photograph and her learn her amazing story.

Dr Benjamin is now the 18th Surgeon General of the United States.

Her job is to now provides the public with the best information available on how to improve their health. Dr. Benjamin also oversees 6,500 public health officers.

For more information please go to:
www.surgeongeneral.gov
wikipedia.org/wiki/Regina_Benjamin
www.ama-assn.org

TimeZoneOne is privileged to have worked with Dr Benjamin.

Cheers

Richard