Blog | Strategy Lab Marketing Regina

July 20, 2017 by Jeph

“You Shouldn’t Take Moral Issues To The Stock Market, You’re Going To Be Disappointed”

Betting on Zero, a chilling documentary on the reality of how far a business is willing to go to increase shareholder value.

I don’t like the stock market. This documentary reaffirms my beliefs in that.

The movie Betting on Zero is the tale of one venture capitalist versus another. A good battling evil story for the ages. But if you’re anything like me you probably Googled the company before the end of the documentary and were completely disappointed with our world.

Herbal Life is a pyramid scheme but it continues to grow and the stock price has increased since the movies release

July 19, 2017 by Jeph

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Strategy For Beginners

SEO is an ugly topic. Lots of hearsay floating around with little evidence based opinion. Many assumptions, rarely facts that you can trust. It’s not my intention to tell you how to do SEO, no no, like they say, there are many ways to skin a cat! This is simply my findings over the past five years.

First of all we’re going to simplify what you’re doing with your website. Set one goal, one page must be more important than every other page. Pick three keyword phrases in your industry, those are your first three goals. Then develop your outreach strategy (how other websites will link back to your websites). Determine what you’ll update your website will ongoing forever and ever amen, and you got yourself a perfect little search engine optimization strategy.

Set one main goal
Pick three main phrases you want to come up for in Google search
Why will people want to link to your website?
Update your website weekly
Measure relentlessly

If it isn’t as easy as described above than come along for the ride, you aren’t alone!

First, you don’t need traditional SEO if you are;

A major corporation, simply changing how your website is structured will do wonders!
If you have an amazing social media presence (e’hem, Wheel House, The Riders, Hard Pressed do NOT need SEO help)
If you publish content (stories, photos, videos) weekly to your website you most likely have no use for SEO

For everyone else here are a few starting points to give you enough information to piss off your I.T. manager at the office.

in Advice / Blogging / Leadership / Marketing / Measurement 0 comments

July 10, 2017 by Jeph

The Marketing of Medicine

Who would you rather have operate on you, a newly minted Doctor recently out of her residency or a surgeon with 16 years of experience?

The statistics would indicate the later is more error prone than the former. That means if you think experience in the operating room matters you may be wrong. This post uncovers the hidden side of the medical industry that you never knew about. Freakonomics did a three part series called Bad Medicine, below are the three podcast and one marketers banter.

What else could we simply be wrong about in the medical establishment?

Prescription opioid use has gone up about 300-400 percent since the year 2000.

83% of all Oxycodon sales come from the United States.

Medical error is the third-leading cause of death in the United States.

Do you think that the United States has 83% of the World’s pain?

America is a world leader in the consumption of painkillers? We’ve created a pill dependant society always searching for the next quick fix. It’s always so easy to ask the doc for one more prescription, just something different, maybe a new pain killer will work. Maybe not.

Bad Medicine Part 1 – The Story of 98.6

in Consumer Behaviour / Marketing / Stories 0 comments

July 5, 2017 by Jeph

10 Business Lessons From The Amazing Supermench, Shep Gordon

Supermench, the legend of Shep Gordon. So I’m listening to the Timothy Ferriss Podcast and this guy who Tim’s about to interview has one of the coolest introductions, Shep’s done a lot. He’s cooked for His Holiness the Dali Lama, entertained who’s-who of Hollywood, and managed some of the most amazing musical acts, then the most amazing chefs in the world. He was a brilliant story teller and had accomplished so much. He seemed content, I wanted to know more. So i bought the book, They Call Me Supermench: A Backstage Pass to the Amazing Worlds of Film, Food, and Rock’n’Roll. This post is inspired by the book. I highly recommend it. Entertaining, funny, and thought-provoking, one of my favourite books this year.

This quote pretty much sums up Shep.

Shep Gordon is one of my hero’s, here are a few reasons why.

1. Create history.

Don’t wait for it to happen, you can create history. Most people believe all you have is what you’re dealt, like you can change your future if you want to. What a lie! Create history. When Shep first started managing his first artist, Alice Cooper, these were his marching orders, to create history. Quite literally working with Alice they didn’t try to “market” Alice Cooper, he didn’t “advertise” Alice Cooper. No that’s what the other managers would do, if he really wanted to stand out he needed to create history.

Whether it was wrapping an album in Panties or shooting Alice Cooper out of a cannon, Shep tried nearly everything. The first time Alice was to play in the UK they needed a really aggressive stunt as ticket sales were nonexistent. Shep got a flatbed truck with a giant billboard on the back displaying Alice wearing nothing by a large snake. Oh and he paid the driver handsomely to ensure the truck “broke down” several times in Piccadilly Square downtown London during rush hour. The driver was subsequently arrested, but they sold the show out! Create history.

Or the time that they promised to shoot Alice out of a cannon on stage in Pittsburgh. The problem was the cannon didn’t work. The night before the big show, Shep invited media to a “pre-concert party” where they were going to demo the cannon shot, how exciting! Shep was up to something, because when the cannon fired, Alice (or a dumby, who knows!) fired but only went ten feet. Panic strikes, the star is injured! Rush him to the hospital!

On the news you’d hear of the “accident” and how Alice was hurt with “non-life threatening” injuries. He played the show the next night in a wheel chair with hospital staff on stand-by if anything should go wrong. But how could it? It was all staged, Alice wasn’t hurt at all. It worked perfectly.

Create history, don’t wait for it to happen.

in Advice / Books / Leadership / Marketing / Motivation / Strategy 0 comments

July 1, 2017 by Jeph

Queen City Pride Parade 2017

The video footage was shot by Brandon and Andy, then Andy edited the same day. What an amazing result. As a part of Strategy Lab it’s moments like this that really make you smile and reflect on why you do what you do. We’ve had a long relationship with Pride Week (long relationship for @StratLab, Ha!), so this ended up being the best support we could have ever offered Dan and his crew. Even with the rain Pride Week Regina pulled off an amazing day.

We couldn’t have been more proud to put the video together as well as capture some amazing stills (photos thanks to Lauren, find out more about her on our About page). You can see by her work she does some amazing work behind the camera.

in Community / Downloadables / Marketing / Regina / Stories / Video 0 comments

June 30, 2017 by Jeph

45 Downloadable Stock Songs For Your Video Blog

Looking for free downloadable songs for your video blog? Has BenSound sent you cease and desist order? Well you’ve found the best thing possible. Yup, free downloadable stock songs made by DJ Clumsy Vegetarian.

It happens on every video project now, it’s almost ready to ship and we come to a slamming halt and then ask that age old question; what music should we use? Music can make a video, it can also ruin it. Music gives you a feeling, it attaches what you’re watching to a sound. It makes video more memorable and is something to listen to when you’re at your very worst AND your very best. There are few things in this world that can compare to music.

So here you have it. DJ Clumsy Vegetarian’s (cause I be droppin’ so many beats) compilation. 45 electronic beats developed in Garage Band, so yes yes you can make your own too.

in Blogging / Design / Downloadables 0 comments

June 26, 2017 by Jeph

The Most Infamous Street Artist of All Time

He stands up for what he believes in. Love him or hate hime, Banksy makes you think different.

One of the most prolific artists of our time and the most famous street artists in the world. Banksy’s style of anti-authority and entertaining political commentary within his art, makes him loved by many and hated by some. One thing is for sure, you can’t ignore street art. It makes your city look better and it creates inspiration out of a blank space. The more artists the better.

“This was not my dream.”

“Let them eat crack” beside the infamous Banksy Rat. A spin on the ol’ “let them eat cake!”.

A caveman delivering a fast-food meal.

The crying kid might be my favourite, I think it sums up our society quite well.

“Kissing Coppers”

Einstein with a bottle of Jameson is the funnier part of this Banksy piece. To top it off he adds “Just Google it!”, another comment on society’s addiction to simple solutions and no longer worries about the bigger problems in our world.

Many people recognize the original sayings he’s using, then he makes it “Banksy” by adding “cancelled” by the desperately looking painter.

Stop Wars.

The stop and search painted in Palestine.

In Palestine….

Enjoy your lie.

Making sure he’s go to go for school. A constant reminder that unconditional love is unconditional love.

“No Ball Games!”

Robot Graffiti.

“Graffiti is a crime”

What we do in life echoes in eternity.

“If graffiti changed anything-it would be illegal.”

Pretty relevant in our world today. We’re so quick to call the boss, manager, Mom, teacher or whoever, and call in a preverbal Airstrike.

No parking.

“One original thought is worth a thousand mindless quotings.” -Diogenes

in Design / Stories 0 comments

June 17, 2017 by Jeph

Dear Montréal, We’re Stealing Mural Festival. Sincerely, The City of Regina.

Dearest Montréal,

We here on the prairies have grown quite fond of some of the pleasantries your fine cultured citizens have the pleasure of enjoying year on year. We feel it is our duty to inform you that we will be politely (and with the utmost respect) be stealing your Mural Festival as well as a few other ideas from your wildly addictive city.

Your streets are nothing short of beautiful. We intend to do the same to our fair city in due time. Not only do I want to steal the idea of the Mural Festival, I want to take back to Regina a few other parts of Montréal.

Thank you Montréal for your cooperation and willingness to share in your Mural Festival. We from the City of Regina (unofficially), thank you in advance for your consideration of this request.

A Regina citizen that appreciates your fine city.

First of all Montréal is 375 years old, yeah that’s older than our country! So you can assume Montréal is doing something right, otherwise it wouldn’t be around. There’s a lot of history there, a lot of history this author had no idea about. The people are proud of their rich cultural heritage, far more than I witness on the prairies. It’s about time to start that rich, cultural, artistic, prairie heritage.

If we want to become a major destination in Canada we need to believe we can be a major destination in Canada.

What you want? CHEESEBURGER!! CHEESEBURGER!!

They Get Hospitality and Customer Service – fast service is a win-win

You don’t wait for meals very long at all. Be it crêpes, burgers, or a famous smoked meat sandwich, the service in most places in Montréal was remarkable. They are FAST! Sometimes you are served literally in minutes after ordering. This is a huge win-win! The restaurants like to have more people through their doors and customers don’t want to stay in one place too long. Serving meals fast is a way to impress customers and help your bottom line!

The “cooler” the dining experience the better your odds of success

Montréal really gets outdoor dining. Patios, terraces, tables in the middle of nowhere, some of the most romantic places to share a meal with someone are in the most unique places. We can easily steal this idea. We just need to talk to the City of Regina about allowing dining establishments more leniency on “where” they can setup tables to serve you. “Creating Instagramable Moments”.

Does It Cost To Get In? Nope.

Never short on fun (free) things to do

We went on a Tuesday till a Saturday and there was the Mural Festival, The Francofolies Festival, as well as a beer fest going on near by. They were all free to attend. That means the organizers must have some great funding to be able to put on acts like that throughout the week. The Mural Festival was an entire street blocked off and shops, restaurants, and artistic acts lining the way. Amazing art pieces now cover the not so boring concrete jungle most cities become.

There’s a free app called Cite Memoire that tells the history of old Montréal in 22 different projections telling the history of Montréal. Some of these projections were literally hundreds of feet in the air and you could only see them after a certain at night (had to check the app). They were breathtaking. Talk about “creating Instagramable moments” what a smart idea!

Got street art?

It’s beautiful just to walk around, the Street Art is amazing

Many of the most spectacular ones were from last year and 2015, Mural Festival is a way to keep making your city more artistically beautiful. The amount of tourists walking around snapping pictures of the Murals was also amazing (guilty!). What a brilliant way to make your city more beautiful, once a year hold a “mural fest” invite famous artists from around the world, and BOOM, every year there are more places with stunning art for everyone to enjoy.

in Community / Leadership / Strategy 0 comments

June 14, 2017 by Jeph

How To Raise $100,000 In One Night

You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose site of the shore.

I met her a couple years ago, she was an outgoing student with a smile you could pick out a mile away. Kelsey Stewart is an inspiration to me, here’s why.

Kelsey works at Hope’s Home in Regina. She came to us a few (just 4) months before the big event saying, “I got this idea…”. We instantly loved it. Though a bit courageous trying to pull it all off in such a short time frame. Why not wait till next year and plan out a “proper” event? Kelsey proved you DON’T need years to plan one of these events, you just need, well, Kelsey.

We had worked on Swinging With The Stars in Saskatoon. The firm we worked with spent two years planning their event, Kelsey had four months. FOUR MONTHS!!! The folks in Saskatoon had done it before, Kelsey and the Hope’s Home team have never tried it before. After our first meeting I still remember saying to Brandon that “she’s crazy and that’s definitely not enough time to pull it off!!”. That’s exactly why we wanted to help.

Parkinson’s Law

in Advice / Innovation / Leadership 1 comments

Our Blog

Betting on Zero, a chilling documentary on the reality of how far a business is willing to go to increase shareholder value.

Herbal Life is a pyramid scheme but it continues to grow and the stock price has increased since the movies release

Who would you rather have operate on you, a newly minted Doctor recently out of her residency or a surgeon with 16 years of experience?

Bad Medicine Part 1 – The Story of 98.6

1. Create history.

He stands up for what he believes in. Love him or hate hime, Banksy makes you think different.

What you want? CHEESEBURGER!! CHEESEBURGER!!

Does It Cost To Get In? Nope.

Got street art?