Sells Agency honored as 2011 Safe Places Magic of Vision award recipients

Recently, the Sells Agency was presented with the ‘Magic of Vision Award’ by local non-profit, Safe Places, at their annual Cinderella Ball. The award recognized work the agency did to help bring awareness to Safe Places and its mission.

Our work included updating the Safe Places website, www.safeplaceslr.org, as well as producing marketing materials and executing PR tactics. The video we produced as part of that work is included below. But, the work we did for the organization pales in comparison to the work they do each day for children in violent and abusive situations. They are the only resource in central Arkansas that provides long-term help and counseling to victims of family violence and abuse, and we want nothing more than to see their good work continue.

However, Safe Places survives on grants and donations, and is always in need of support and funding. We encourage you to visit their website, read their story and help this much needed organization in any way you can.

We are so glad we got to be associated with such a wonderful organization like Safe Places.

"Teamwork" isn't just a bunch of hot air.

Recently Jon Hodges, one of our “co-rockers” (as we like to say around here), was on a relaxing, week-long vacation. So what were we doing while Jon was enjoying his trip to Yellowstone? Obviously plotting a little prank.

More than 600 balloons later, this is what Jon returned to find stuffed in his office on Monday morning.

For those wondering, the clean up from this stunt was also a team effort and went surprisingly quick! Just another day at the office!

So what exactly does it mean to be tactically agnostic?

Right there on the home page of our new website we call ourselves agnostics. Are we making some comment on our faith? Not at all, actually. What it means to us is that we don’t place our faith in one or two specific marketing tactics.

Perhaps the best way to explain a tactically agnostic agency is to explain what it isn’t.

For instance, much is being written and discussed lately about how great social media is as a marketing channel. There are literally hundreds of social media agencies popping up all over to help companies market through this new channel, which promises great returns for small investments and the ability to really “connect” with customers.

How about digital agencies? Hire a digital agency and they promise to bring your marketing into the 21^st century with robust websites, mobile apps, promotional microsites and more.

Then you have the traditional agencies that are stubbornly clinging to the mantra that every client needs to be on network TV. True story: in two different meetings with potential new clients recently, both started the meeting by saying, “don’t come back and just tell us we need to run a bunch of TV.”

Add to these direct marketing firms, PR firms, design firms, telemarketing, CRM, email marketing, etc., etc., etc.! We could go on and on with what being tactically agnostic isn’t…but here’s the main point.

The Sells Agency is a marketing firm. We solve marketing issues and help clients get a return on the investment they make with their marketing budgets. We employ a specific and precise process to arrive at a marketing approach that will help our clients achieve business and marketing goals – and we do not predetermine what marketing tactics the client should employ. Not until we have an understanding of their industry, business, competition, marketplace, products, culture, customers and prospects can we arrive at marketing goals, objectives, strategies and tactics.

It’s called our Marketing Clarity process, and it’s why we say that we are tactically agnostic. When you truly believe in the marketing process you cannot put your faith in one specific tactic.

Arvest Continues Commitment to Free Checking

When it comes to free checking, free debit cards and debit card rewards, most of the news hasn’t been good lately. Contrary to what banks around the country are doing, our client and the largest Arkansas-based bank, Arvest, announced this week that it will keep checking and debit cards free. Additionally, Arvest will continue to provide free online banking, free mobile banking and a debit card rewards program to its customers, while also lowering their overdraft fees. For thousands of Arvest customers and Arkansans in general, that’s some good news!

Our PR department has been working with Arvest on a public relations plan in order to announce this information, which bucks the national trends and influences other Arkansas-based banks to follow suit. Along with the plan we conducted research, created a release and comparative charts that highlight the trends in free checking and debit card fees, produced a fact sheet and talking points for Arvest associates, and worked with the media and bank executives to execute coverage in a four-state footprint.

To see one example of the coverage generated from this exciting Arvest announcement, click here to read the Arkansas Democrat Gazette’s coverage in central Arkansas.

Think Before You Post

It is common sense to most of us to think twice before posting anything on Facebook, or anywhere on the web, especially if that post could lead to trouble at the office. As social media becomes an ever-larger part of our lives, people seem to struggle with what is and what isn’t appropriate to say to their online audiences.

This month, the National Labor Relations Board, ruled that employees have the right to share their personal opinions about their jobs online. The NLRB determined that employees who were fired for allegedly harassing another employee about their work performance on Facebook must be rehired. Can you say awkward work environment?

The lesson in this situation is that just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. In today’s age of social media it is important to remember that online conduct reflects not only on yourself, but also on your company and your clients.

Spectacular Diptacular!

Last week marked a very big event here at the agency. We would have blogged about it sooner, but most of us are still recovering from a severe overdose of cream cheese, or just now waking up from a food coma. That’s right, food was involved. Are you even surprised? It was an event we declared the 1st Annual Sells Agency Diptacular.

What exactly is a Diptacular? Well, as you can imagine, it is a very serious competition in which dips were prepared by all and then eaten in mass quantities and judged. To determine a winner, we used a very scientific method of each using five $1 dollar bills to cast our votes into paper cups.

We had quite the spread, including rueben dip, chocolate chip cookie dip, pimento cheese, onion baked dip, corn dip and turtle cheesecake dip. The winning dip, coming in with a whopping $14.00 victory, was sadly, a dip with no name. For the purposes of this blog, we will just call it “Gaea’s Dip,” as our accounting guru Gaea Miller made it. The recipe for this simple and delicious dip is below.

2 Packages cream cheese

1 can Rotel

1 package sausage

Simply brown the sausage, drain, and combine all ingredients in a crock pot. Heat on low until warm and ready to eat! Enjoy the pictures below from our new favorite annual event!

"New haircut?" "Nope." "Different shirt?" "Nope."

Notice anything different about us today? The Sells Agency website has a new look. After our big move and new office look, we decided it was only fair that the website got an update too. Our new website is easier to navigate and tells you a little bit more about us here at the Sells Agency. As before, you can also see the clients we're working with and some examples of the work we're doing for them. Enough talking about it though, go check it out here!