AREA203 Digital’s very own Chief Creative Officer Tavis Salazar has been named one of the 20 most influential individuals under the age of 40 in Chatter magazine’s “20 Under 40″ list for 2013.

Chatter magazine, June 2013 edition

Chatter, an upscale Chattanooga city magazine started their “20 Under 40″ series in 2011. This yearly ‘class’ of influential Chattanoogans all under the age of 40 have something in common (and no, not just their ages): They have all extended their passions past their chosen professions to represent our community in countless ways. The 2013 class is making an impact that will be felt by generations to come.

“Being able to use my creative talents to give back to non-profit organizations across the nation is pretty rewarding,” Tavis told Chatter when asked about his proudest professional moment. “But I’m most proud of the team that I’ve had the privilege of developing at AREA203.”

Tavis Salazar, Chief Creative Officer for AREA203 Digital
Photo Credit: Steven Ratajczyk of Chatter Magazine

More About Mr. Salazar

Tavis is known around the AREA203 office as the guy with the tattoos, record collection, and trucker hats. But he is also known as the guy who challenges his employees to think outside the box, run with the riskier ideas, and do things that have never been done before. Originally from Miami, FL and holding a degree from Miami University of Art and Design, he has 15 years of experience in the creative/design field, working with big name brands like: Bloomingdales, Bigelow Teas, Macy’s, Crabtree & Evelyn, and Dillard’s, to name a few.

Tavis has been with AREA203 Digital for nearly four years and leads a team of more than 20 creative individuals, including creative directors, art directors, designers, writers, and UX developers. If that isn’t enough to show you he’s achieved greatness all before turning the big 4-0, he has also been a driving force in helping the agency win seven gold ADDY awards (including two District 7 awards, covering creative work from Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee), 14 silver ADDY awards (including two District 7 awards), and a “Best of Show” ADDY award—all within the past two years.

Tavis Salazar at the 2013 Chattanooga ADDY Awards, holding a “Best of Show” honor for the Cloudswell logo

We are very proud about your accomplishment, Tavis! We can’t wait to see what your leadership and creativity will spark in the coming years!

Check your local newsstand for a free copy of Chatter.

→ Brooke Fontana, PR Specialist, AREA203 Digital… @Brookie_Fontana

Last weekend, Chattanooga hosted the USA Cycling Professional Road and Time Trial National Championships, which was lauded as a tremendous success by many people involved. NBC Sports commentator Kristin Armstrong said that “ever since I’ve been here I feel like I’ve been home. It’s just a great town.” USA Cycling President and CEO Steve Johnson said that Chattanooga “knocked it out of the park.”

I must admit: I missed it because of Memorial Day travels. Afraid my Chattanooga street cred would be forever damaged if I didn’t know what was going on, I watched much of the race online and frequently checked the hashtag #USPRO to see images from the event. A lot of the shots that came out of the event were great, showcasing the fast pace of cycling, the enthusiasm of the crowds, and the fantastic scenery around Chattanooga. Here are my eight favorite shots from the race:

PHOTO NUMBER 8

Great shot from the Tennessee Riverwalk

(Photo by @sauceboxink)

PHOTO NUMBER 7

Thirsty? Enjoy the High Life, Mr. Cyclist.

(Photo by @brittneycarnell)

PHOTO NUMBER 6

Volkswagen’s great social campaign

(Photo by @mandajbloom)

PHOTO NUMBER 5

A little snack for the road

(Photo by @thepauld)

PHOTO NUMBER 4

Tennessee Aquarium frames the leaders.

(Photo by @chattanooga)

PHOTO NUMBER 3

Chalking the Race: Chattanooga Style

(Photo by @xtremeterrain)

PHOTO NUMBER 2

The Moment of Victory: Jade Wilcoxson crosses the finish line.

(Photo by @jenk135)

PHOTO NUMBER 1

Why We Call It “The Scenic City.”

(Photo by @alexworthy)

→ Ryan Russell, Social Media Strategist, AREA203 Digital … @ryanwprussell

If you know her or follow our Sr. PR Specialist Louise Elliott on Twitter, it comes as no surprise that when when Victors & Spoils, a Colorado-based agency, crowdsourced a name for their new conference room, Louise was ready with a peculiar idea. It will also come as no surprise that when they selected the winning name, her’s was the one.

This crowd-sourcing solution to this (surprisingly) involved dilemma of naming a conference room garnered the attention of Ad Age. Louise’s submitted name of “Tater Tot” was even mentioned in the first sentence of their article. Ad Age went on to give more examples of famous brands’ approaches to naming their meeting space:

Twitter has been known, unsurprisingly, to name its rooms after birds. At Square, every one is named after a famous Square. At Apple, it’s been said that the conference rooms are named after a mythical land, known as Disney. (Read the full post here)

At AREA203 Digital, our conference room naming ranges from mental giants like Einstein and Newton, to the more “trendy” and higher fat content variety, such as “Bacon.” Ok, in reality it’s named for Francis Bacon but I choose to ignore that. In my previous life, one of the most interesting things I saw was on a meeting request by a contact listing “Conference Room C.” After much confusion and wandering around their office I found it was “C” as in “Connolly’s,” the local Irish pub.

As for ‘Tater Tot,” how exactly did Louise come up with the name? When asked if there was a specific reasoning or logic behind it, she replied “of course not.” Via text. And using hashtags.

True to form, she changed her mind about her answer a few hours later saying “tater tots are like a good meeting: short, crisp, and usually leading to better things. Like a cheeseburger.”

Louise’s minute of fame hasn’t changed her a bit.

We don’t know why, but we know we love it. Our new conference room is officially named Tater Tot. #gotatertot twitter.com/VictorsnSpoils…

— Victors & Spoils (@VictorsnSpoils) May 10, 2013

Adding Conference Room Namer to my CV “@victorsnspoils: Our new conference room is officially named Tater Tot. #gotatertot

— Louise Elliott (@geez_louise_) May 11, 2013

→ Craig Ray, Manager, Social Media and Content Marketing, AREA203 Digital; follow… @LeggoMyCraigo

When was the last time you traveled outside of your Wi-Fi zone to purchase music? I don’t mean going to a local coffee shop and streaming Justin Timberlake’s newest release, but actually stepping foot in a music store and getting excited about unwrapping the plastic from a CD or vinyl album. Most of us probably can’t remember what that truly feels like. I’m not saying that being able to open my laptop and quickly download or stream music online isn’t a luxury, but you just can’t beat the feeling of holding a pressed vinyl in your hand.

Consequently, due to the advancements in mobile technology, stand-alone record shops’ profit margins have taken a huge blow over the past 10 years. Between 2004 and 2009, over 500 independently owned record stores and most all music store chains closed their doors, permanently. The decline in demand for tangible music among the general population unknowingly sparked a major grassroots movement that has the support of thousands of musicians and many major record labels.

Enter Record Store Day

In 2007 a group of brick-and-mortar music store owners got together, wanting to find a way to preserve the legacy and art of music. And Record Store Day was born. Record Store Day was officially kicked off at Rasputin Music in San Francisco on April 19, 2008, with Metallica playing a small show and signing autographs for fans. Record Store Day is now celebrated the third Saturday of every April all over the United States and parts of Europe.

The first year Record Store Day had approximately 300 record stores participating and a few special releases from bands like Death Cab For Cutie and R.E.M. This year, there were over 700 stores in participation, with more than 400 new special Record Store Day releases and limited numbers of most of these.

Each year since the launch there has been a celebrity Record Store Day ambassador. Iggy Pop, Ozzy Ozbourne, Joshua Homme, and the 2013 ambassador Jack White, all promoted Record Store Day through their websites, social media, and guerrilla marketing. The Record Store Day Facebook page as of this week has nearly 175,000 fans and thousands of social interactions in the months leading up to Record Store Day.

The Chattanooga Record Store Day Experience

I attended my first Record Store day this past Saturday at a local Chattanooga music shop, For the Record. I woke up before the birds were chirping, and before Panera Bread had poured its first pot of coffee. I stood in line with other music lovers in hopes of getting some special releases and potential collector items. Once the gate opened I pushed and shoved my way to the bins hoping to find a 7” grey Phoenix vinyl and Mumford and Sons live at Bull Moose release. I was lucky enough to find both of these and some extra-exciting gems like David Bowie’s Drive-In Saturday 40^th anniversary picture disk and a 7” Avett Brothers vinyl featuring Randy Travis. All in all, my first experience with Record Store Day was a success, and I can’t wait to hear that raw sound of vinyl on my turntable.

The age of digital downloads and file sharing is only going to continue to advance and grow over time. However, without the help of social media, documentaries like Last Shop Standing, grassroots marketing plans, and the support of high profile musicians and major record labels, Record Store Day would have never taken flight. So for all you music lovers out there, keep on streaming and loving iTunes, but don’t forget to show some vinyl love every once in a while.

→ Brooke Fontana, PR Specialist, AREA203 Digital… @Brookie_Fontana

Baseball, said former commissioner Bart Giamatti, breaks your heart.

It is designed to break your heart. In the fall, fans of 29 teams are left thinking, “Wait ‘til next year.” And every spring, hope returns to fans everywhere, even Chicago.

How do you create advertising to sell a product designed to break its users’ hearts? How do you keep fans coming back to something that logic says will most likely disappoint them? That’s no easy task, but in an attempt to do just that, this year, MLB rolled out an “I play” campaign for opening day.

• MLB I Play Commercial: Mike Trout

This campaign obviously ties into fans’ eternal optimism: watch now, because yes, this could be the year your team goes all the way. It’s a smart campaign, dangling the lure of October when it seems most attainable.

Baseball: We Live for This

In 2006, MLB advertised its postseason with an “I live for this” campaign, starring long-time Dodgers manager and Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda. This was an interesting campaign – not just because it stars baseball royalty – but also because it attempts a tough sell: getting fans to watch teams they might ordinarily not care about.

• Tommy’s Tough Love Commercial – Cabinets
• Tommy’s Tough Love Commercial – Tree

This is another smart campaign, because it’s obviously easier to get a fan of one team to watch another team than it is to get a non-fan to watch a game. Every game has the potential to make history: how many didn’t see Kirk Gibson’s homerun in the 1988 World Series—one of the most amazing moments in baseball history—just because they weren’t Dodgers fans?

So I think baseball is on the right track with its advertising. Encourage the hopes of spring—even (or especially) the unfounded ones—and remind fans every fall that though their hopes may be dashed, this is the greatest game that’s ever been created.

Oh, and go Dodgers. Giants suck.

→ Will Smith, Copywriter, AREA203 Digital… @OurWillSmith

In the days since his passing, Roger Ebert has been mostly remembered for his bar-setting work as a film critic, but as David Carr of the New York Times wrote this week, Ebert’s life “was a remarkable template for how a lone journalist can become something much more.”

“Long before the media world became cluttered with search optimization consultants, social media experts, and brand-management gurus,” wrote Carr, “Mr. Ebert used all available technologies and platforms to advance both his love of film and his own professional interests.”

According to Mark Caro of the Chicago Tribune, Ebert was a lot of things—”film critic, newspaperman, social-justice soldier, husband, father, grandfather, and champion of artists and imagination.” Ebert was also a hugely influential brand that marketers can learn a lot from. And it’s no surprise, then, that marketers are among those paying tribute to him this week.

• Lifehacker’s Kevin Purdy says you can “build your own small empire” by following Ebert’s “passion for your field” and treating your output “as a product, not a job.”
• Kimberly Bordonaro of SteamFeed says that Ebert’s life teaches those building personal brands the importance of discovering their passions, adapting to change, and consistently delivering what audiences (or consumers) value and expect.
• According to Phil Rosenthal of the Tribune, Ebert “wrote a business script worth following” by knowing his identity, knowing his consumers, owning his work, embracing his rivals (like Gene Siskel), embracing technology (like blogging and social media), being transparent, being a mentor, and being great. Rosenthal says that Ebert’s honesty about the illness that ultimately took his life “only enhanced his credibility as a critic.”

Ebert’s illness (which robbed him of his ability to speak) caused him to rely on the Internet to be his voice. Ebert adapted, creating what Carr called “the kind of stickiness and durability that media brands crave.”

He will be missed—and studied—for a long, long time.

→ Bill Colrus, Managing Editor, Content Marketing, AREA203 Digital; follow… @billcolrus

Procrastinators need love, too, and if you’re a procrastinator, read on…

Appealing to someone’s sweet side for the holiday? The Hot Chocolatier has a great variety of seriously amazing artisan chocolates. They’ve put some together in gift boxes for you if you don’t know where to begin, or you can create your own custom box.

Ah, flowers. May Flowers on Houston Street is a relatively new kid on the block. They are offering some really tasteful, unique arrangements for Valentine’s Day at affordable prices.

Of course, there are a bevy of Valentine’s Day menus out there for those who wish to gaze lovingly into one another’s eyes over a delicious meal. Check out Broad Street Grille, Mt. Vernon, and Back Inn Café for fancy Valentine’s Day eating. Warning: if you can’t or didn’t make reservations, you will probably have to wait. A while.

For the More Adventurous Couple

Want a little adventure while you’re dining and wining? Try the Southern Belle’s Valentine Dinner Cruise, a train ride through the city with the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, or give a gift you can redeem on February 16^th aboard The Tennessee Aquarium’s River Gorge Explorer: the Valentine Sunset Cruise.

What if you’re a nontraditionalist, you ask? May we recommend The River Street Makery in Coolidge Park? It houses Pure Sodaworks, home of handcrafted, Italian style sodas; Everyday Eclectic, a collection of delicious soaps and candles; and quirky, handmade gifts the fun-loving owners dream up daily.

→ Heather Osteen, Media Admin Coordinator

The United States Postal Service announced this week that, beginning in August 2013, they will only deliver mail Monday through Friday, no longer on Saturdays. They will, however, continue to deliver packages via U.S. mail Monday through Saturday. Postmaster General & CEO Patrick R. Donahoe explains this is to support growing e-commerce in the U.S.

I am one of those that far prefer to do my shopping online, and the USPS makes that slightly more affordable (by which I rationalize a strong aversion to driving to a store and actually—ick!—shopping). So you can imagine, I am super-pro keeping the package delivery six days a week.

Does this lack of paper mail on Saturdays affect you? In my world, checking the mailbox on Saturdays is not part of enjoying my weekend, unless I’m expecting a package. And since the USPS’s decision was approved by roughly 70% of the American population, I’d say it’s right on the money.

And money, it seems, is what this really comes down to for the USPS. They look to save about two billion dollars when all is said and done.

There’s Something About Face-to-Face Interaction

But there’s a personal side to the postal service that can’t be matched. When our daughter was born frighteningly early, and just before Mother’s Day, our mailman put a handwritten note in our mailbox that said “Happy First Mother’s Day!” He must have been paying close attention to know the event had even occurred, since we did not have any sort of balloons or fanfare at our house. During the following months, he hand-delivered all of our mail to the front door so I didn’t have to risk our steep stone steps with such a tiny baby.

I love the U.S. Postal Service and the men and women who work in it. It seems that the powers that be have come up with a solid plan to try to keep it moving and people’s jobs intact for a while longer. I realize that paper mail and daily mail service may not last forever, as Rick Geddes prophesies, but I hope that—for the sake of the people who depend on the mail for their livelihood and care enough to offer humanity along with the mail and packages they deliver—it will continue for a good long time.

→ Heather Osteen, Media Admin Coordinator

This week at BrandChannel.com, I read that Chevy has abandoned its “Chevy runs deep” tagline in favor of a new one: “Find new roads.” As a whole, GM has been going through agencies and taglines fairly rapidly over the last several years, unable to find a message it’s comfortable with.

I wish I had a solution for Chevy. I’d love to work on the account: I have a Camaro in my driveway. I’d probably need at least a couple days to sort out Chevy’s messaging—so in the meantime, I compiled my take on the five best auto taglines past and present:

1: The Ultimate Driving Machine

No surprise here, I’m sure. The ultimate driving machine is the ultimate automotive tagline. It’s memorable, it’s bold, and it’s a promise that the company backs up with solid products. Every BMW, from the 135 to the 750, is built to be fun to drive.

Chevy’s passenger cars have never had a tagline as good as this one for the Chevy truck line. The tagline, and the Bob Seger-filled commercials, was perfect for the brand. Someday, they’ll bring this one back.

3: Drivers Wanted

This VW tagline represents one of those “I wish I’d thought of that” moments. In any car, there are passengers, whose experience is a passive one, and drivers, who take control. This tag works well on numerous levels.

4: Engineered like no other car in the world.

How very German of Mercedes to focus on the science of building a car—but they’re right. Mercedes is one of those companies that sets the world standard for quality.

5: Standard of the world

Well, Cadillac can dream, anyway. The truth is that Cadillac was probably never a world standard, but in America, at least, we don’t call best of breed “The Cadillac of [whatever it is]” for nothing.

And one tagline that didn’t work

“Beauty is not enough.”

Oh, Alfa Romeo…it’s so true. If beauty were enough, Alfas would be great cars. Unfortunately, cars should also be capable of moving under their own power.

And the tagline that’s not a tagline

“We are the competition.”

A zen thought for you: is a tagline a tagline if a company doesn’t advertise? Don’t go looking for great Ferrari ads; you won’t find any—nor will you find any bad Ferrari ads. Perhaps it’s heresy to say, but if you’re the best in the world, and you have a waiting list of buyers, you don’t need to spend money on advertising.

→ Will Smith, Copywriter, AREA203 Digital… @OurWillSmith

Over the past year, we’ve been enormously grateful to work with a variety of outstanding clients. We want to pass on some of our good fortune by spreading holiday cheer and helping the less fortunate in our community.

In our office, we’ve drawn a chalk Christmas tree. For every person who tweets #2HoHo3, we’ll add a new ornament to our Christmas tree, and donate $1* to the Chattanooga Area Food Bank. You can watch the progress of our giving at chalktree.area203.com. Make a donation and we’ll match you, dollar for dollar.

With warm holiday wishes,
AREA203 Digital

*Up to a total of $5,000.

→ Heather Huston, Strategist, Social Media, AREA203 Digital; follow… @hustonian