Design Spotlight
Oxford County Board of Health
Graphic Designer: Lori McLuskie
Project Manager: Elizabeth House-Burnett
Purpose: To help promote the Children In Need of Treatment program to local teens.
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Oxford County Public Health contacted OMG with a challenge. To find a way to promote
the Children in Need of Treatment (CINOT) program to local (Oxford) teens. CINOT had
been extended to include children under the age of 18 – the program itself allows those
without dental coverage to be assessed and potentially qualify for certain dental services
(scaling, fillings, etc). They had previously been utilizing generic Provincial materials, but
were looking for something a little less “in-your-face” and something branded to match the
County’s branding. OMG not only put together a collection of branded items for the CINOT
program, but we helped manage and create a number of events held throughout the county.
We determined the biggest challenge would be getting teens to let them look at their teeth
for a check. So we provided an incentive (every teen checked was entered into a draw for
an iPod) and held events at places where teens congregated (youth centres, libraries, etc).
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Glossary - "Term of the Day"
High Resolution
Resolution speaks to the amount of graphical information that can be shown on a device, usually denoted by pixels or dots (pixels on a computer screen, dots on a printed page). Any image that is proper resolution for printing is usually 300 dpi (dots per inch) or more.
Computer monitors and television screens, while they more and more are becoming high definition, still do not use as many pixels as printed documents. Visit http://www.screenresolution.org/ to find out what your screen resolution is. For instance my screen resolution is 1920 x 1080 pixels. In terms of printing (300 dpi) this is the equivalent of a 6.4" x 3.6" image. Even though my monitor is 23" on the diagonal, it is roughly the equivalent resolution of a 6" x 4" photograph.
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A practical application of this can be considered in the following scenario: being referred to a website in order to get a logo. If that logo has been optimized for display on computer screens, it translates into a very small logo on a 300 dpi print document. Graphics can be up-scaled, but the results are usually poor and look low resolution. Have you ever displayed a YouTube video full-screen on your monitor? While this works, notice how fine detail gets lost. This is what happens when a logo from a website is used in a print document.
The best alternative is to have logos that are described by vectors instead of pixels. Vector graphics are resolution independent. They will print at the highest resolution of whatever device they are outputted with. An example of a vector format would be a font on your computer. It will look good printed at 10 pt and 72 pt. A vector logo will look good on a business card and a billboard! Try putting a logo from a website on a billboard - that could be very scary business!
Ad Spot
Retro Advertising
You may have noticed that some classic Canadiana has been back on our television screens over the last few years. Sturdy Danny McGee has been spotted felling trees and running to get his bowl of Raisin Bran. The Coffee Crisp ladies are back making their “How do you like your coffee?” jokes. Even Heinz brought back their classic ketchup ads.
Does retro advertising work, though?
Perhaps it’s the draw of nostalgia. As a kid, my generation grew up with these commercials. The little quiet boy who dreams of being a superhero who dips his fries into his ketchup – it’s what prompted a generation to beg their Moms to buy McCain French fries. As an adult, my generation sees these ads again and suddenly realize, “Hey! I can go buy my own McCain fries/Coffee Crisp/Raisin Bran.”
In that respect, I have to admit, retro advertising works. Nostalgia sells. It also leads to a very good viral campaign, whereas when the ads ran originally, there was no YouTube, Facebook or Twitter in which potential purchasers could wallow in the nostalgia of our youth with our friends and networks.
But it can be done well, or it can be done poorly. In the case of Raisin Bran, I have to admit, as an adult, the feel of the ad is a bit of a turn-off, which potentially circumvents any nostalgia. It’s a different world and an ad showing a big, burly stereotype cutting down tress is one that doesn’t hook my environmentally-conscious
spirit. Political correctness may kill the potential.Heinz, on the other hand, did it right, in my opinion. The 100th anniversary of our favourite slow-flowing ketchup was celebrated with blasts from the past. The “You’re the Top” ad with the juke-box (although I maintain the ketchup flowed too fast, which made it seem like false advertising) and, more so for me, the girls who slid a bottle of ketchup to the cute guys at a diner. Both these ads that hold a nostalgic value, were brought back on air for a purpose and are still relevant. Nicely played.
From a marketing standpoint, it seems too good to be true. An advertisement that costs next to nothing to produce, save for some clean up to make them appear better on HDTVs (although Kellogg’s would be wise to note that their Danny McGee ads looked terrible)? It’s a dream.
So, what’s the lesson to be learned here? Nostalgic advertising can work. But make sure you have a reason to do it, a relevant message and back it up with great viral marketing.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to eat my bowl of Raisin Bran with Coffee Crisp crumbles on top and a side of ketchup. Some of us are far more easily influenced than others.
For your viewing pleasure: (Thanks to YouTube. Please click on the image to view the commercial) |
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Fun Stuff
See how well you know our staff! Try to match the staff photos on the right with the groups of words describing them on the left.
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Specials
