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Defining Your Brand Personality Doesn’t Have to be Hard: The Simple Key to Making More Intuitive Marketing Decisions

If you’ve ever had a baffling interaction with a social media strategist, agency or freelancer where you feel like they just don’t get your brand, then this is the article for you. Making more intuitive, sensible decisions for your brand really is as simple as better defining your brand personality — and documenting it in a way that’s easy to share.

In this article, we’ll cover why this easy-to-overlook exercise is so important, how it can benefit your marketing decision-making and what you can do to get the process started.

Defining your brand personality makes everything easier

Onboarding a new team member or outside resource. Finding your footing in a new technology or a new media channel. Simply defining what’s on-brand or off-base. All of these things become dramatically easier when you have a simple definition of your brand personality.

In an upcoming article, we go into greater depth about how brand personality can help you find your fit in new technologies. But suffice it to say, the same way that understanding your personal values system, identity and personality help you navigate a world of decisions, having that same guidance for your brand makes your marketing decisions more straightforward.

Here’s an example of how a well documented brand personality makes decisions easier

We have a Starmark client in the marine industry whose guiding phrase is to behave like an Empowering First-Mate. This comes from an identity as an open-minded, aware and confident company and a personality that is relatable, supportive and always current.

This client uses this North Star, as we call it, to guide every marketing decision they make. It’s easy to determine whether an Empowering First-Mate would run a TikTok dance account (newsflash: he or she wouldn’t), how that first mate might sound through a website or a voice assistant (relatable, supportive and always current – for a start!) and what that first mate might do to provide value to the captain of a vessel (hint: everything possible to bolster confidence and awareness).

Once your brand personality exists in simple words that defy misunderstanding, evaluating previously subjective marketing decisions becomes a much more objective prospect. It’s a much more efficient way to explore new marketing technologies and new media.

How to get started defining your brand personality

Before the advent of user-centric design and online testing, brand development processes were daunting, costly and time-intensive. Here’s our advice for the modern world: don’t overcomplicate the process of brand development. Just focus on defining your core brand experience to start.

At Starmark, we use a process called North Star to define the important elements of brand identity and brand personality in a way that’s easy to use for decision-making. The half-day session results in a brief that can guide everything from naming to brand mark creation to design to copywriting.

The session helps a team of stakeholders find the core of their brand experience and define the characteristics that must always be true about an interaction with the brand. We provide the expertise and outside perspective to guide the process of self-discovery in a way that’s fast and efficient. Then we validate the resulting work with real users in nearly real time.

Many clients who have been through this process place their North Star at the center of their brand guidelines and content strategy documents. This simple framework gives their entire teams the ability to make more brand-consistent decisions from the start.

We love helping brands discover themselves

We’ve helped define brand personalities for major companies looking to better refine their experience and for startups just beginning their journeys. So, if you’re looking to move more confidently into new marketing technologies or emerging media, contact us, and check out our article: Five tips for adapting your brand personality to new media.

Welcoming Visitors Back to Florida’s Enchanted Island

Starmark and Amelia Island Convention & Visitors Bureau partnered to launch the destination’s comeback campaign from COVID-19. No easy task considering the pandemic’s staggering impact on the global tourism industry.

The Challenge

When travel began to slowly resume during Florida’s phased reopening, Amelia Island CVB needed a plan to welcome visitors back to their sunny shores. As travel behaviors changed, it became clear it was time for a refresh. Starmark was tasked to develop a new campaign that would build on the “Come Make Memories” tagline and communicate the safe attributes of the destination — wide-open spaces, outdoor activities and beautiful beaches — without the crowds.

Three concepts, one comprehensive testing approach

The Starmark creative team developed three concepts utilizing Amelia Island’s existing imagery of the peaceful, uncrowded beaches, so as to not require a new photo/video shoot during the pandemic. The UX team then tested the themes with both loyalists and prospects in drive-market regions. After various rounds and combinations of tests, the “Moments” concept was declared the winner.

The “Moments” campaign resonated the most with copy that spoke to the moments in life that are heightened by extra-sensory experiences so powerful, they become lasting memories. The concept captured those new-found moments in stunning Amelia Island locations, reminding consumers they needed to experience those moments, and come make new memories — now more than ever before.

A roll out that went all out

An open invitation to visit the destination, the “Moments” campaign was leveraged across all of Amelia Island’s media channels. Elements included broadcast spots, out-of-home, print, social, animated and static banners, and a landing page where all assets would drive to.

For social, the team developed several ad units to engage target audiences who were dreaming about their long-overdue vacations while scrolling through their feeds. Units included animated story ads, carousel ads with cinemagraphs, various in-feed ads targeting families and couples, and an in-depth Instant Experience ad.

A 360-degree portal was deployed to take viewers on a journey through the natural beauty of Amelia Island.

The team also developed a Facebook Messenger and website chatbot campaign to facilitate a conversation between readers and the destination, where they could inquire about safety, what’s open and general information about the island. The chatbot linked to the CVB’s online travel guide, where users could explore the best of the destination.

Turning moments into memories

With a fully integrated, timely campaign, Starmark helped ensure Amelia Island would be ready to welcome visitors from drive markets throughout Florida and the Southeast U.S. Whether they were first-timers or frequent guests, the message was clear: Amelia Island was a welcoming, safe choice for a much needed, well-deserved vacation — where new memories were waiting to be made.

And that message clearly resonated with travelers. Here’s what we achieved.

Revenue for August was up 12% over the prior year, thanks to the Recovery Campaign.
In only the first week of running, the AR experience ad had an average view time of 24 seconds, well above industry averages.
The AR experience also garnered an impressive 138 shares, 139 post saves, 160 post comments and 2,054 post reactions.
The click-through rate for the AR portal was 6.5x’s higher than the industry average.
A total of 19,730 people engaged with the chat bot.

NSU brand essence video brings home PRSA Radiance Award

NSU Florida (Nova Southeastern University) was awarded a prestigious PRSA Radiance Award for 2020. The award goes to the newly created NSU Brand Essence Video.

This repositioning for the university is truly a labor of love, and we’re so incredibly honored to be recognized by our peers throughout the state of Florida for what we are doing. – Kyle Fisher, VP for Public Relations and Marketing Communication, NSU

The video was part of Starmark’s repositioning and rebranding exercise for the university to bring to life The NSU Edge, a lifelong competitive advantage that comes from an immersive, career-based curriculum and a network of supportive faculty and alumni. The work has already been honored by distinguished alumni, students and the local American Advertising Awards.

About the Radiance Awards

The PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) Radiance Awards are operated by the PRSA Sunshine District, honoring work from Florida companies that has dramatically shaped public opinion. This submission for NSU was awarded the top honor over all video work submitted throughout the state of Florida.

We’re thrilled with this latest win for our rebranding work. It has been a joy to help NSU rediscover itself through this process – and it’s clear that new positioning resonates with others. – Dale Baron, Executive Creative Director, Starmark

About NSU

NSU is the largest private, not-for-profit university in the state of Florida, providing tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of economic activity to the state.

Starmark has worked with NSU for several years. Together, we created a new website and recruited the medical school’s first class of MD students, developed a chatbot-driven appointment scheduling program for NSU Health Clinics and launched the grand opening of it’s Tampa-Clearwater medical campus.

This most recent rebranding effort is designed to reposition the institution to attract and recruit top students nationwide and internationally.

Launching a digital transformation for an electronics leader

Starmark helped launch a new digital experience for engineers and a new intranet for employees in partnership with KEMET Electronics. The comprehensive internal and external launch strategy ensured that the entire KEMET team and its engineering customers were excited about the next steps in the transformation roadmap.

Overcoming Resistance

KEMET Electronics is a worldwide B2B provider of electronic components for technology companies. Their products are used in products that shape the future of healthcare, computing, automotive, telecommunications and consumer electronics.

The company approached Starmark to develop an Agile project roadmap to launch its digital transformation initiative — designed to overhaul the entire digital experience engineers have with investigating, sourcing, evaluating and working with KEMET components. With more than 12,000 worldwide employees and multiple autonomous product teams, launching a company-wide initiative at KEMET would be a challenge. The goal was to involve a broad swatch of KEMET employees with three new offerings: the new KEMET.com, K-SIM and KEMET World.

KEMET.com and K-SIM offered overhauled user experiences to make it easier for engineers to explore applications, find the right parts and examine performance specifications. The new KEMET World was designed to provide a company intranet with more collaboration, sharing and utility.

Further complicating the three-product launch was a staggered timeline where different products were scheduled to go live at different times.

Amping up the Approach

Starmark created a high engagement launch program that spanned multiple social networks, email marketing, as well as presentation content and a manifesto for company-wide town hall meetings and internal communications. In addition to inspiring early product adoption, the approach also solidified the visual and verbal approach for social media and the new KEMET.com.

The Starmark team really made this launch a success for us. Making a great first impression and engaging our audiences from the start with our new digital experience was paramount. This is just the first part of our digital transformation journey and we look forward to making the experience with KEMET best in class. — Jennifer Escobar, Director of Branding and Communications, KEMET Electronics

Starmark started this effort by developing manifestos, campaign concepts and a design language to help tie the digital transformation to the overall company position Built Into Tomorrow. The objective was to further develop the position into a visual language and tone of voice to keep all launch communications cohesive, regardless of what product launch they related to.

Using these building blocks, the team created a series of teaser graphics for each launch to build excitement. Following launch, each product was supported by infographics, animated videos and posts tying into popular social holidays. These assets were used across channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, the KEMET World intranet, internal presentations and customer emails.

To manage staggered go-live timelines and multiple media channels, the Starmark team created a shared rollout calendar so that activities, post dates and changes stayed in sync between the two companies.

Charging Forward

After the success of this initial launch, the next phase of this effort is to roll out optimizations across all of KEMET’s digital properties and throughout its main site. This includes creating visual, verbal and experience consistency across all application sections of KEMET.com, rolling out new user features, migrating Engineering Center tools to the new platform — and communicating all of it using the internal/external launch framework Starmark created.

We look forward to adapting the work to mesh with the Yageo family of brands as the acquisition of KEMET as part of an even larger global enterprise proceeds.

Models can help flatten your business losses curve

Reprinted from South Florida Business Journal.

As the curve of Covid-19 cases rose, businesses’ losses also increased. And throughout this pandemic, we have heard more about predictive modeling than most of us will ever understand.

I was trying to explain to one of my friends that no model can predict the future with certainty. After a few questions, she said: “Oh, it’s like predicting the weather.” Weather forecasters have sophisticated technology and hundreds of years of historical information, but things change. And, if the variables change, their predictions have to change. Like any model, weather forecasts provide a percent of confidence, and we adjust our lives by their predictions.

Both virus models and weather predictions impact our human behavior—and human behavior is what we try to predict when we evaluate business performance. This is particularly true for marketing. And in light of the current situation, last year’s marketing predictive models need to be recalibrated.

Marketing data since January can help

To give you guidance on a losses curve, you can probably compare January and February 2020 data to March, April and May 2020. According to modeling expert Andrew Russo, those five months can potentially give you the foundation to determine a path to how fast your losses curve can flatten. Without current data, the models can’t be accurate. We saw that demonstrated with Covid-19 models that became more accurate as more data was collected, he explained.

“It seems to me,” Russo says, “that it’s initially going to be up to consumers versus business marketers to create the demand that results in consumer buying confidence. And that demand can help determine how fast businesses can get back to some level of profitability. Consumers drive the business curve, whether you are a B2C or B2B organization.” And that gets back to the importance of marketing data.

Models for purchase probability

A predictive model can also be built to calculate probability for prospects to purchase. One recent model’s test results, based on purchase data, indicated 85% of the sales would come from prospects with at least a 30% probability to purchase. Using this model to target customers, the purchase rate exceeded past results by 70%, while the cost per acquisition dropped by 30%. That’s a significant margin increase that goes directly to a business’s bottom line.

“A model is nothing without data that supports the business objectives that spawned the modeling project,” Russo advises. Most B2C companies have troves of data. If you’re keeping your data in a customer data platform, it will lead to more accurate model performance.

Keep common modeling errors from foiling your efforts

There are three main mistakes that can cause models to fail. First, if the data used to build the model is incomplete, biased or of poor quality. Second, if the model was built to address a specific objective, but then used for a different purpose. And finally, if the model’s design was not closely aligned with well-defined business objectives.

These mistakes will likely not occur if the predictive modeler has experience in building and implementing models, and has a clear understanding of the business goals and objectives to which the models must align.

Avoid rain on your parade

It is vital to have models that can segment target markets in several ways, including near-term and lifetime value, loyalty and retention. Applying these models will give any business a clear view on how and where to grow sales and focus marketing efforts.

The most important thing to remember about modeling is that it helps you manage downside and waste. Just like a forecast helps you avoid rain on your parade, a model can help you focus your marketing budget where it will make the most impact. It’s a great way to flatten your losses curve and improve your return on marketing—definitely a competitive advantage.

Attracting appointments with a benefit-driven health care campaign for veterans

Starmark helped Nova Southeastern University (NSU) launch a multi-channel campaign for NSU Health Clinics, attracting new patients to their health care facilities in various locations throughout South Florida.

The Consultation

Contrary to what some people may assume, NSU Health Clinics is not solely for students; they mainly serve the public. They even have a Veterans Access Clinic attending to veterans and their families’ health concerns. When NSU came to Starmark, patients were finding clinics and services by word-of-mouth and referrals. The Starmark team was tasked with informing veterans and their families about NSU’s services — open to all — and increasing the number of appointments made.

“With the 360 Care campaign, Starmark did a great job of connecting with our audience and capturing what NSU Health Clinics is all about. They truly encompassed our mission of giving the South Florida community the gold standard of care. ” – Leonard Pounds, Vice President of NSU Clinical Operations

360 Care You Can Count On

NSU is a school first and foremost, and getting care from those that teach it is a stand out factor. NSU offers many same-day appointments, affordable care and a large variety of health services throughout Broward and Miami-Dade counties. It became clear that highlighting NSU Health Clinics’ many benefits was the right way to pique audience interest.

After rounds of testing headlines, calls to action, layout and photography, the team landed on “360 Care” — a central campaign theme that encompassed NSU’s full spectrum of care.

COVID-19’s Impact on Advertising

As we were crafting our campaign concept, the coronavirus pandemic abruptly changed the world. We quickly emphasized telehealth appointments in our messaging. We also made sure our campaign imagery featured doctors and patients with masks on, a necessary move to reassure prospective patients they were in safe hands.

Memorial Day Print Ad 1

Memorial Day Print Ad 2

Extra, Extra!

The veterans campaign launched with a series of print ads in the Sun-Sentinel newspaper. Since it’s a time to honor those who served our country, we strategically placed them to appear during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

More off the Press: Veterans Access Clinic Brochure

The Starmark team wrote and designed a four-panel brochure to promote NSU’s veteran health care offerings. The piece could double as a direct mailer inside an envelope with a letter as a personalized invite to learn about NSU’s services.

Introducing NSU’s Virtual Health Care Coordinator

Starmark created another way for patients to learn all about NSU Health Clinics: a Facebook Messenger Bot Campaign. With a friendly robot inside an animated in-feed ad to draw them in, patients could respond to a “Virtual Health Care Coordinator,” request appointments and explore locations and services. We were able to anticipate customer needs and provide a rich experience at the right time.

Giving the Campaign the Digital Treatment

In addition to the chatbot, 360 Care was promoted through animated Facebook ads and banner ads with benefit-focused copy. All campaign components drove to a landing page, where they could fill out a form and request an appointment.

A Regimen with Reach

From campus openings to rebranding makeovers, Starmark had already produced a variety of work for NSU. The 360 Care veteran campaign was another one to be proud of; it targeted new patients in the South Florida community and promoted NSU’s rewarding characteristics that make it a renown health care and research university.

Augmented reality in construction and development: How AR can build support for your project

It’s a persistent challenge for real estate developers and capital campaign fundraisers: how do you build support for something you’re trying to build? We’ve covered how AR can help fundraisers, and in this article, we’ll talk about how you can build support for your real estate development before you break ground.

Architectural renderings and fly-through videos are two popular tools used to help potential investors understand a project before it’s built. But watching a video is still a passive action. We think it’s time to reimagine these fundraising and development efforts with the addition of augmented reality.

Augmented reality makes your building project more real

Imagine using a tablet to show your proposed residential building construct itself on a conference room table. Envision your donor using a portal on her phone to step into your future hospital operating theater.

This is the kind of wow factor that turns skeptics into supporters for your building project. You’re allowing your audience to more actively experience the project by moving around it and through it — instead of passively watching a video or viewing a 2D rendering. It’s a more realistic realization of your vision that helps your supporters make it their own.

Augmented reality is only a step removed from your current tools

The architectural renderings and CAD models already created for most projects are the perfect building blocks for an AR experience. These textured, dimensional tools can be turned into animated, interactive AR more quickly and easily than you think.

And once you create your augmented reality experiences, they can be deployed almost anywhere.

AR makes your fundraising efforts more mobile and portable

The suggestions above are just two real possibilities to use AR to recruit capital more effectively. Not only are they more interactive, they’re also more portable and shareable.

Augmented reality experiences are accessible on all modern mobile devices. Portals and tabletop models can even be deployed through Facebook and Instagram as content or AR ads. Now your fundraising efforts don’t have to wait for the big meeting. They can happen during a chance encounter at an event, through an online remote session or even on social channels. It’s a sea change from the old-school approach of boardrooms and handshakes that will set your project apart from other organizations competing for your supporters’ attention.

Ask an expert how to get your AR effort out of the ground

At Starmark we’ve created AR experiences for convention centers, major airports and our own events. We were one of the first agencies to run AR ads, and we’ve written about what we’ve learned in the South Florida Business Journal.

Our team of experts sees a promising future for augmented reality in real estate and fundraising, so contact us for tips on how you can get started. And for a complete walkthrough of everything to consider when jumping into AR, check out overview — Sell that first augmented reality project: Our 8-step guide to getting it done and getting promoted.

Starmark’s Sizzlin’ Summer Recipes

Welcome to our kitchen of curiosity. From BBQ masterpieces to side dishes with star power, our team members have whipped up some of their favorite recipes for your summer palette. Have your pick at one of theirs, and let’s get cooking!

Carly’s Tinto De Verano Jacob’s Picture-Perfect Pulled Pork Nicolle’s Grilli Chili Lime Salmon Catherine’s Mean Green Bean Casserole Will’s Nacho Business Chicken Nachos Dex’s Summer Spring Rolls Kaire’s Saucy Summer Dessert Brett’s Vegetarian Big Idea Burgers Jamie’s Creative Corn the Cob Dale’s Guac’n On Sunshine Yami’s Spicy Summer Cuban Spare Ribs Dan’s Backyard BBQ Sauce

Carly’s Tinto De Verano

Carly Kaplan | Account Manager

WHAT YOU NEED

Half a 750ml bottle of your favorite spanish red wine
15 oz of citrus soda, sparkling lemonade or sparkling water
2 oz sweet vermouth, optional
Juice of 1 lemon plus lemon slices for garnish, optional
Juice of 1 orange plus orange slices for garnish, optional

HOW YOU DO IT

Fill a pitcher with ice halfway.
Add the red wine, citrus soda, vermouth (if using), lemon juice and orange juice.
Garnish with lemon slices and orange slices. Drink on!

Jacob’s Picture-Perfect Pulled Pork

Jacob Edenfield | Associate Creative Director

WHAT YOU NEED

1 boston butt/picnic shoulder (anywhere around 6-14 pounds)
4 tbsp coarse-ground kosher salt or sea salt
3 tbsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp paprika
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water

HOW YOU DO IT

The night before, thoroughly mix all dry rub ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Apply liberally to all sides of your shoulder. Place in the fridge, in a pan, uncovered overnight. Prepare your spritz in a food-grade spray bottle.
The next morning, start by building a ring of hardwood lump or briquette charcoal around the interior of your firebox chamber or the bottom of a kettle-style grill. Fill up a chimney starter with additional charcoal and light.
Soak several chunks of applewood, cherry wood, or hickory in a basin of water. Use a plate to hold them underwater. Once all the coals in your chimney starter are white hot, arrange the soaked chunks of wood evenly amidst your ring of charcoal in the grill or firebox.
Dump your lit coals in the middle. Make sure your airflow baffles in the bottom of the grill are on 1/4 open. This is low and slow cooking, hot coals are your enemy.
Using a temperature probe on the grill grate, close the smoker and watch for the temperature to stay steady at 225 to 250 degrees F. You should see thin white-blue smoke out of the top vent (which should be fully open.
With a stable smoking temperature established, add your pork shoulder to the grill grate, and close the lid. If you have it, use a second temperature probe placed in the middle of the shoulder but not touching the bone.
Keep an eye on the grill temperature. If it starts going up, close your baffles slightly to restrict airflow. A little goes a long way, so don’t overdo it.
Depending on the amount of water held in the muscle and its overall weight, your shoulder can take anywhere from six hours to 15 hours to finish cooking.
About every two hours, quickly open the grill lid, and give your pork a liberal spritz with your cider vinegar/water mixture.
Remove your meat from the grill around 160 or 170, and wrap it in butcher’s paper. In about an hour, you’ll be sitting around 180 degrees internal temperature.
When your temperature probe inside the pork reads at least 204 degrees, your cook is over – but the work isn’t. Lug that lovely cut of meat inside to place it in a cooler or in your cool oven for at least an hour.
After an hour, if you’ve done the job right, the shoulder bone ought to slide out clean from your cut of meat. Use two forks or any other pointy kitchen gadgets to shred your pork (this is what makes it pulled pork). Now just slap it between some bread or buns to enjoy.

Nicolle’s Grilli Chili Lime Salmon

Nicolle Franco | Account Manager

WHAT YOU NEED

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (or juice of 2 limes)
1 1/2 teaspoons of red chilli flakes (adjust to your preference of spice)
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt or garlic salt
1 tablespoon of honey
4 salmon fillets

HOW YOU DO IT

Dry the salmon with a paper towel before adding all the ingredients.
Sprinkle cumin, garlic salt, red pepper flakes on the fillets. If your salmon has the skin removed, feel free to add spices to multiple sides of the fish.
Heat up the grill to medium to medium-high heat, spray or wipe down the grill grates with high heat cooking oil if you are not using a grill mat to prevent the fish from sticking.
Place seasoned fish on the grill, skin-side down. Resist the temptation to flip multiple times to avoid the fish breaking apart. When it is getting close to the desired temperature (medium is around 125 degrees) flip once to sear the top of the fish.
Remove from the grill and while the fish is still hot, pour honey over each fillet followed by lime juice.
Serve hot, and savor every bite!

Catherine’s Mean Green Bean Casserole

Catherine Tavarez | Digital Marketing Specialist

WHAT YOU NEED

4 cups of cooked green beans
1 cup of homemade cream of mushrooms or 1 can of store-bought cream of mushrooms
2 cups of french fried onions
Salt & pepper to taste

HOW YOU DO IT

In a bowl, add the drained, cooked green beans.
Add the cream of mushrooms, half of the French Fried Onions and salt & pepper.
Mix and then spread evenly in a baking dish.
Sprinkle with the remaining onions.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Serve in style as a side dish with your favorite summer entree.

Will’s Nacho Business Chicken Nachos

William Lukach | Senior Art Director

WHAT YOU NEED

1 can of black beans
1 can of sliced black olives
12 oz sharp cheddar or monterey jack cheese, or a combination (3 cups shredded)
1 small roma tomato
8 medium scallions
1 small jalapeño
1 pound rotisserie chicken meat (from a 4 to 5-lb chicken)
1/2 cup salsa
1 (16-ounce) bag restaurant-style tortilla chips
Sour cream, for serving

HOW YOU DO IT

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Drain and rinse one can black beans. Drain one can sliced black olives. Grate 12 ounces sharp cheddar or Monterey jack cheese on the large holes of a box grater (about 3 cups). Chop one roma tomato. Thinly slice eight scallions and one small jalapeño.
Shred cooked chicken into a medium bowl. Add 1/2 cup salsa and toss to combine.
Get the party started, and build the nachos! Arrange about half of a 16-ounce bag of tortilla chips on the baking sheet in an even layer. Top with half of the seasoned chicken and a handful of shredded cheese. Layer the remaining chips on top, followed by the remaining chicken and cheese. Sprinkle with the black beans.
Bake the nachos for about eight minutes. Just before serving, garnish with the black olives, jalapeño, tomato, dollops of sour cream and scallions. It may be cheesy to say, but bon appetit!

Dex’s Summer Spring Rolls

Dex Mission | Senior Experience Director

WHAT YOU NEED

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium yellow onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium carrot, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1 lb ground pork
12 oz water chestnuts, 1 can, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons soy sauce
¼ cup green onion, minced
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced, plus more for garnish
1 ½ cups canola oil, for frying
25 lumpia wrappers, or spring roll wrappers
1 egg, beaten
Sweet chili sauce, for serving

HOW YOU DO IT

Make the filling: Heat the oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat.
Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and carrot. Cook for 4 minutes, or until the onion is slightly translucent.
Add the ground pork and cook for about 6 minutes, or until cooked through.
Add the water chestnuts, salt, pepper, and soy sauce. Stir for 2 minutes, then mix in the green onion and cilantro. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool.
Heat about an inch (2 cm) of canola oil in a deep, medium frying pan until it reaches 300°F (150°C).
Lay out one lumpia wrapper in a diamond shape and spoon 2 tablespoons of filling at the bottom of the wrapper, leaving about an inch and a half (3 cm) of space from the bottom point.
Fold the bottom point over the filling, then fold in the edges to create an envelope shape. Roll the wrapper toward the top point. Brush the top point with egg wash and finish the roll to seal the end.
Carefully place four to five lumpia at a time in the hot oil. Frying on each side for 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown. Note: If the lumpia are cooking too fast or burning, reduce the heat.
Remove the lumpia from the oil and drain on a wire rack or paper towels.
Are your taste buds excited yet? Ours are! Sprinkle with a garnish of cilantro and serve with sweet chili dipping sauce. Mmmmm.

Kaire’s Saucy Summer Dessert

Kaire Lindpere | Account Director

WHAT YOU NEED

1 part softened cream cheese
1 part lemon curd

HOW YOU DO IT

Mix until smooth.

Serve as a dipping sauce with a selection of summer fruit: strawberries, apples and pears, oh my! When it comes to cooking, there’s no place like home.

Brett’s Vegetarian Big Idea Burgers

Brett Circe | Chief Digital Officer

WHAT YOU NEED

Portobello mushroom caps
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Beefsteak tomato
Corn on the cob
Mozzarella cheese
Burger buns

HOW YOU DO IT

Marinate large portobello mushroom caps in EVOO, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.
Reality check! Flip and stir about half way through marination.
Put the mushroom caps and corn on the grill first, as they will take longer.
Pour EVOO, salt and pepper on sliced tomatoes. Add tomatoes to the grill after about 10 minutes.
Flip and grill the caps until they shrink in size and are soft in the middle.
Add the cheese a minute before removing the caps.
Fix ’em up like burgers, with the caps and tomatoes inside the buns and the grilled corn on the side.
And there you go! An Agile way of making “burgers.” You are now the Big Idea Burger King.

Jamie’s Creative Corn the Cob

Jamie Weller | Junior Digital Marketing Specialist

WHAT YOU NEED

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 medium garlic cloves, minced (2 tsp.)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper 4 ears fresh corn, husks removed

HOW YOU DO IT

Preheat oven to 425°F. Stir together butter, parsley, garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper in a bowl until evenly combined.
Spread 1 tablespoon herb butter on each corn cob; wrap each individually in aluminum foil. Place foil-wrapped corn on a baking sheet.
Bake in a preheated oven until corn is soft, 20 to 25 minutes, turning once halfway through cook time. Remove corn from foil, and serve. Let the corny jokes commence!

Dale’s Guac’n On Sunshine

Dale Baron | VP, Executive Creative Director

WHAT YOU NEED

5 ripe avocados
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of pickled banana peppers
1 medium-sized tomato
1/4 medium-sized onion
Mayonnaise

HOW YOU DO IT

In an 8 x 8 coverable dish, peel and slice the avocados (for mashing later)
Dice Banana Peppers and add to the dish
Sprinkle salt to taste
Mash together with a fork. The more you mash, the creamier it gets.
Dice the tomato, removing the seeds and gel as much as possible (if you don’t, the mixture has too much liquid).
Dice the onion and add to the dish
Mix and smooth out, then add a thin layer of mayonnaise over the mixture. (Just needs a thin layer to cover the guacamole)
Cover with glass or plastic wrap and refrigerate three to four hours or overnight.
Mix in the mayonnaise and enjoy!
Garnish with your favorite tortilla chips and voilà — you’re a Guacstar.

Yami’s Spicy Summer Cuban Spare Ribs

Yamileth Medina | Content Manager/Web Developer

WHAT YOU NEED

Spare ribs
1 bottle of la lechonera mojo criollo sauce
Sea salt
Olive oil
Garlic powder

HOW YOU DO IT

Put the meat in a large pan with a little bit of water to boil.
Add the mojo sauce to the pan. (A true family favorite.)
When the meat is soft, take it out of the pan and drain the liquid.
Put a pinch of sea salt on the meat.
Place the meat on the grill at low heat.
When the ribs start to get brown, brush them with a combination of olive oil and garlic powder.
Take the meat off the grill when you’re satisfied with the level of doneness.
Your Cuban-style BBQ awaits!

Dan’s Backyard BBQ Sauce

Chef Boy ‘R Dan | Dan Estes, our co-founder, was a hobby chef who loved BBQ and entertaining Starmarkers, their families and business associates. He loved formal great cuisine and casual events almost as much as fishing for billfish on vacation! He wrote three cookbooks and left a legacy of great photographs of entertaining! We all have fun continuing the tradition!

WHAT YOU NEED

1 bottle of Sweet Baby Ray original bbq sauce
1/2 cup of ketchup
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 ripe mango (optional during season)

HOW YOU DO IT

Short, smoky and sweet. Gather all ingredients inside a blender, and blend together.
Kick back, relax and smear the sauce on top of your favorite grilling meats. It’s that easy!

How paid search advertising is affected by COVID-19

As COVID-19 shakes up our entire way of life, causing us to enter a new era of social distancing, sanitation and crowd control, businesses around the world are also feeling this sudden shift in their paid search advertising. Many are already taking the initiative to readapt in order to stay connected and relevant to their audiences during this transition.

With this global disruption to the economy, companies are already making dramatic strides to adapt to the fluctuating changes of consumer behavior, especially when it comes to managing PPC marketing efforts.

Discovering new ways to stay relevant while being ahead of potential obstacles will separate businesses from failing or sailing moving forward.

Search ad clicks are slowing

The first shift to be aware of is that Google Search Ad Clicks are starting to show signs of slowing down. A recent U.S. study indicates that in comparison to the 2020 weekly average, impressions have dropped by 7%. A decrease in engagement during holidays or national events is to be expected, but as the pandemic continues to affect consumer behavior, companies should anticipate seeing inconsistencies in results.

One of the major changes that has recently become evident in these unsteady times is the sharp decrease in conversions. The same study shows that since the start of this global pandemic, the U.S. conversion rate has dropped an average of 21%.

This decline can be attributed to consumers using SERPs for search inquiries that aren’t relevant to keyword bids, causing a waste in ad spend. It can also simply be due to the fact that audiences are less inclined to convert in this economic climate.

Steps to get started pivoting your digital spend

With certain industries such as travel and tourism declining, and others such as nonprofits, charities, health and medical services on the rise, it is important to assess your business’s position within your industry in order to plan next steps in this dynamic landscape. Not sure where to begin? Here are some easy ways to get started:

Decide how you plan to respond: Look into how other businesses and organizations in your space are choosing to react to the shifting changes with consumer behaviors. By creating a game plan on how to move forward, you can better prepare for sudden fluctuations or new industry trends.

Explore options to rebuild: Reevaluate your current marketing strategy and see where there is room for improvement. Utilize the tools and metrics at your disposal to sharpen your insights on future strategies.

Recover and maintain steady growth: Make corrections to your current models and PPC practices based on the knowledge you have been able to gather so far in the realm of COVID-19. Create a long term recovery strategy that will prepare your business for any fast approaching changes.

While no one can fully predict any sudden shifts that come with navigating your business within this COVID-19 landscape, the best thing to do is to be ready to adapt and pay close attention to the needs of your consumers while monitoring industry trends. Take the time to analyze your efforts, develop new strategies, explore new ways to communicate, and focus on connecting with your audience so that you can learn and improve your marketing efforts in the long-run.

A Destination Marketing Campaign That Empowers Meetings Planners and Secures Bookings

Starmark helped the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau (GFLCVB) create a multi-channel “Powered by GFL” campaign that enticed meeting and group planners to book their next event in the destination.

The Challenge

The Greater Fort Lauderdale / Broward County Convention Center District is undergoing a transformative $1 billion renovation and expansion project. Because the convention center construction is expected to take several years, the GFLCVB Group Sales team needed help laying the foundation and maintaining momentum for a successful opening. Starmark was tasked with implementing a strategic selling plan to secure bookings throughout each phase of development, especially early phases while the convention center is completely closed.

This Campaign is a Go

The Starmark team knew that planning meetings takes a lot of work. In order to attract leads, it was essential for this campaign to reassure meeting planners that GFLCVB had their backs. Thus, the “Powered by Greater Fort Lauderdale” idea was born. Using lively, empowering headlines like “This Meeting is a Go” and showcasing all the cool features of the new convention center energized the entire meeting planning process.

10 Million Reasons to Meet

To add even more appeal to meeting in Greater Fort Lauderdale, the team created the “10 Million Reasons to Meet” sales messaging, where GFLCVB planned to give away $10 million in meeting space for events booked during eligible dates at the convention center. The offer was featured in digital banners, in emails, in print and in a two-sided handout meeting planners could read.

“Power Up” Printed Meetings Guide

The team wrote, designed and produced a printed meetings guide to accompany the campaign. The booklet gave meetings planners an in-depth look at everything the destination had to offer, from venue listings to team-building activities. Renderings of the new convention center, editorial photography and a bold design brought the text to life.

Augmented Reality and 360° Experiences

Starmark created an AR portal, giving planners a sneak peek of the convention center expansion. Users could access the portal through Facebook and the printed Meetings Guide via a QR code to transport themselves to the future, and walk into the courtyard of the new convention center.

The team also developed an AR model of the new convention center. This virtual selling tool became a game-changer for future bookings, as it provides prospects with the full experience while the center is closed for construction until a phased reopening begins.

The guide also included a second QR code that gave meeting planners a skyhigh 360° view of the destination in from the heart of the downtown business district in Fort Lauderdale.

A Successful Launch: Powered by Starmark

“With a combination of thought leadership, creativity and technology, Starmark helped Greater Fort Lauderdale launch its meetings initiatives,” noted Starmark President, Jacqui Hartnett. “We are proud to have played a part in its success.”

As of February 2020, a multitude of groups had already been secured after the phase one opening, further cementing Greater Fort Lauderdale as a premier meetings destination for the new decade, and beyond.

Promoting staycations and drive-market visitation with Lauderdeals

Greater Fort Lauderdale has always featured seasonal promotions, which traditionally included deals on hotels, spa, dining and things to do. When the Starmark team was tasked with creating an umbrella campaign to house it all, “Lauderdeals” was born.

The Challenge

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau (GFLCVB) needed an overarching marketing campaign that promoted the best of the destination’s offerings not only for visitors across the U.S., but also for local residents to enjoy. Additionally, GLFCVB’s travel and hospitality partners needed a streamlined way to join the program and include their individual offers in the mix. Starmark created an integrated campaign that would accomplish all of the above, and more.

What’s in a Name?

Starmark began concepting names for the program with the goal to make it memorable, ownable and easily recognizable to residents and visitors alike. The team utilized an extensive testing approach to narrow down their options into two buckets: experiential and value oriented. Ultimately, users chose the value-driven “Lauderdeals” name as the winner, calling out the fact that they liked its connection to savings in the destination, and that it made them want to learn more.

Off and running with a campaign name, Starmark developed an eye-catching campaign graphic, headlines and images, all of which were tested online with the target audience. The winning assets were then incorporated into digital and print ads that cheerfully invited consumers to enjoy the many ways to save in Greater Fort Lauderdale.

Video and photography needs were established, with spa and dining highlighted as the main activities to be featured. The team cast two models for the shoot to depict a girlfriends’ getaway scenario at an oceanfront hotel, and the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Pompano Beach Resort & Spa happily agreed to be the location.

Illustrate. Animate. Invigorate.

Starmark concepted a vibrant animation treatment, so the videos would stand out in the always-crowded social media landscape. The Lauderdeals campaign graphic was brought to life in custom illustrations that depicted each scenario—spa, dining and things to do. The illustrations transformed into live action footage for the reveal. Special care was taken when shooting the sequences because they had to match.

“We had to match every angle, every detail on the set exactly to each custom illustration,” noted Starmark Executive Creative Director, Dale Baron, “while capturing content for all of Greater Fort Lauderdale’s channels.” The videos were edited and formatted for optimal usage, with 18 versions in all.

Love to Locals and Beyond

Campaign extensions included OOH, strategically placed by the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, radio and custom digital executions. Tailored community messaging was created to increase awareness of the program in the local market among residents and local businesses. To help facilitate partner participation, a toolkit was also developed—where restaurants, attractions, spa and hotel partners could learn about the benefits of the program, easily register and submit their listing information, and obtain Lauderdeals-branded assets to help promote their individual business through summer and beyond.

The Real Deal: A Campaign for Post-Pandemic Visitation

As Greater Fort Lauderdale began its COVID-19 recovery phase, promoting staycations and drive market visitation became a top priority for the GFLCVB. It was also imperative that the entire community be on board with welcoming visitors back to the destination. With a fully executed Lauderdeals campaign, GFLCVB had the tools needed to raise awareness of the various in-market promotions. Assets could now be released to align with each phase of Broward County’s timeline for reopening in an effort to drive demand back to the destination. The campaign’s combination of cheerful graphics and much-needed money savers offered the perfect invitation to visit.

Play dead or race ahead during a pandemic?

Reprinted from South Florida Business Journal

An article that I wrote in the early ’90s recession had this exact headline. The first paragraph was the fable of a frog comfortably sitting in tepid water not noticing that he was in a pot that would soon boil and he would be dead. While this is a somewhat gruesome analogy, it also holds a message for the business environment we are in today, during the coronavirus pandemic. Doing nothing is rarely, if ever, an option for survival in business.

The disruptions experienced before stay-at-home orders will be even greater now. But is that a bad thing? Way back in the ’90s, William Edwards Deming was teaching the value of “total quality management” in manufacturing. Japanese and South Korean car companies caught on quickly and rushed their “quality improved” cars into the U.S. auto market with gusto, while U.S. carmakers worked to catch up.

Yes, we now have more competition, but we all also drive superior cars.

The human needs and wants of our prospects and customers haven’t ceased to exist now that we’re living and working from home. If anything, new needs are emerging to consume product and marketing ideas. Those that make life and business better in this new normal will become the norm. The time is now to race ahead to protect and grow your market share. Here are some tools you need to stay top of mind among your target audiences.

Voice and video

Whether as a customer or leader of an organization, there has never been a better time to investigate the opportunities of voice assistant devices. According to surveys, there are over 150 million such devices in U.S. households—and we’re all at home right now.

You probably already ask Alexa to give you the weather, play your favorite music or find recipes. You may have already figured out how Google Home can order food from a favorite restaurant or manage your grocery list. But have you ever asked a voice assistant to clean your house or pick up your dry cleaning? It’s possible, and it’s easier than hopping on your phone to do it.

Start thinking about how voice can help you work more seamlessly or propel your business ahead. Promoting customer engagement is a long-term benefit that will exponentially grow in value over time. Voice marketing is one of those unique marketing investments outside of your website that can both deliver the offer and potentially close the sale. It’s a great pivot for these times when in-person sales and call centers aren’t as viable.

In-house business intelligence

To create a great voice assistant strategy, your sales, customer service and CRM may provide you excellent information about what customers ask about your company most often. You might also do an audit of what voice assistants may already be telling your target audiences about your competition. Some companies are going so far as giving their sales or checkout people specific questions to ask customers so they can get information in real time. This information is incredibly valuable to upgrade search engine optimization for your voice search. After all, voice assistants aren’t like text search. Voice offers the one best answer to a question, instead of a page of high-ranking options.

Voice marketing requires collaboration of marketing, IT, customer service and C-suite understanding of what’s needed to help increase revenues. Agile Methodology can make this collaboration through telecommuting more productive—allowing you to access and encourage the best from your staff.

Live video

Real estate agents are hosting walk-throughs via Facebook Live. Conferences are being held on GoToWebinar. Video is a social distancing-friendly way to create human connection in today’s environment.

And Google recently announced Google Hangouts Meet video conferencing is free and open to all G-Suite users until July 1. Based on its G-Suite edition, an organization can host a remote meeting of up to 250 participants.

Last Sunday, I attended a video conferencing dinner with friends and family from both coasts of Florida and the U.S. while we traded screens to view vacation pictures and chat about our lives. It’s also a great way to enjoy cocktail hour with friends. And, whether business or personal, you can record the sessions to show friends or business associates who couldn’t attend.

Technology has given us many options to race ahead, survive and thrive in our personal lives and in business during this time of great change. It makes sense to learn to use applications that enhance engagement in new ways to maintain and build relationships—definitely a competitive advantage.

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