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Know the Edge
These are articles written by Horizons Innovators that address particular issues of importance and share "tricks-of-the trade". The Importance of Music in Product Branding Music is one of the most under-utilized tools in product branding. Chuck Brown Digital Compositing Whatever the mind can imagine in video or film, today's digital compositing technology can help the user achieve. Mark Rigsby Digital Imaging Technology Making a Difference in Government Public records have traditionally been stored as paper documents, and often stored offsite, making access difficult and time consuming. Jason Clayton Search Engine Submission Here is a strategy for use in the Meta tag refining process. Chuck Brown Usability & Information Architecture An Information Architect is a USER and usability advocate throughout the design and development of an Internet Web site. Richard Carter The Importance of Music in Product Branding Chuck Brown Advertising works. How else do you explain the huge amount of money that McDonald's spends every year to promote their brand? And we can't ignore the yearly ritual of watching Super Bowl commercials escalate in price. Yet, so much of advertising seems to just take up space, without really making a connection with its intended audience. In order to be effective, marketing needs to "connect" on many levels. Music is one of the most under-utilized tools in product branding. In certain cases, the mood set by music is arguably as crucial to the "feel" of a commercial or product as anything else that may be said or shown. Many times, however, music seems to serve no role but to take up airspace. Where does production music come from... and how can we avoid the "space filler" mentality? PRODUCTION LIBRARY MUSIC Scores of companies have created libraries of production music designed specifically for use in commercials and as theme music for long-format media pieces. Much of this music is solidly-written and well-produced, and yet virtually all of it suffers from a certain "generic" quality. In other words, because it must appeal to so many applications, it's not as likely to have the "edge" that you want to set the pace for your image. However, in a case where it is simply used as an intro or to be read over, that's not necessarily a big problem. Additionally, considering its more generic nature, the cost of library music is surprisingly high. The "needle drop" method of paying for this music (roughly translated as: "every time you hear a new piece of music, you pay us again... ") can be quite pricey, and the larger your intended audience, the more expensive it becomes. There are also "buy-out" libraries which cost less to use... but their quality is generally not as high. At times, these libraries are perceived to actually lower the quality of your product. ORIGINAL MUSIC In the end, many who seek the very best solution for enhancing their product image will choose an original custom score. In the hands of a gifted composer/producer/arranger, music can truly take its place as a powerful component in your total package. But, isn't it expensive? Well, it can be... especially if you determine that the only way to truly enhance your product's image is with a symphony orchestra or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. But over the past few years, technology has dramatically changed the landscape of music creation. It has truly become possible for one person, a keyboard and a computer to create remarkably full-bodied, high-quality music with the use of synthesizers and sampled sounds. Whether your product needs a jingle ("You Deserve a Break Today") or a custom image piece, having an original score created offers a number of benefits:
LICENSING POPULAR MUSIC Because music recalls emotions in such a powerful way, it's not uncommon for a little light to go on inside: (ding!) "What if I just go ahead and use Bette Midler's 'Wind Beneath My Wings' in my production/advertising?" And, on the face of it, it does seem like a great solution to achieving some very positive association with your product. However, there are also some very weighty factors to consider. The first is that you are not likely the first person to consider using that particular piece of popular music in association with your product. And you may not be the last. Has someone else used it? What if Nike or Anheuser-Busch or Burger King chooses the same song to use for their next product launch? Is someone going to give you your money back? And speaking of money, you are likely to be shocked by the cost of using the original recording of a popular song. This is because just about everyone involved in the process wants to be paid again for their part. You'll pay the label, the publisher, the artist... in one case, the widow of a legendary classical composer needed to be paid... as well as every member of the orchestra that had performed on the original recording! The Harry Fox Agency (http://www.HarryFox.com) is the best place to start to find out about what actual price you will be charged if you decide to legally pursue the original version of a popular song. Be prepared to be quoted prices anywhere between $10,000 and $100,000!! However, all is not necessarily lost. Acquiring the rights to reproduce the songs using different singers and musicians ("mechanical rights") can be very affordable in terms of licensing costs. In the hands of the right producer, you may find that you end up with a track that sounds very close to the original, and can be easily arranged to make room for voiceover or to highlight visual cues. Music is just one more important dimension in the process of building your brand in the public consciousness. And it is less important to some of the people that you'll be trying to reach than it is to others. But the palette of sensory experience is a broad one, and wisdom would dictate the use of as many colors and tools as possible. back to top DIGITAL COMPOSITING Mark Rigsby Whatever the mind can imagine in video or film, today's digital compositing technology can help the user achieve. Assuming an unlimited budget, anything can be achieved. Digital compositing is the combining of film and video elements with other layers of video, video elements, or computer generated elements. Digital compositing can correct mistakes, for example: take a competitor's logo out of a shot, add a person or object to the shot, or make talent appear in an exotic location without actually going there. In the hands of a skilled artist/editor, digital compositing can create a completely virtual environment within which a person or object can interact. Traditional Hollywood effects are now available to anyone. Many of the tools used in digital compositing could be considered tricks of the trade:
Shooting and Directing for digital compositing Much of what we might shoot for digital compositing is a person or object in front of a green chromakey screen. At times, it is necessary to shoot several elements against their background plate and then composite each of them over itself. For example, the Stanley Steemer Dog Party spot consisted of approximately 200 layers of After Effects, using various keying techniques; and painting using current 3rd party plug-ins. KangaRoddy used talent shot completely over green screen with some foreground set pieces to complete the illusion. One trick I've learned: you must shoot with the edit/compositing in view. Often the compositor will have his system on location as a preview reference for setting up shots and camera angles correctly. This is very helpful. Today's sophistication with computer-generated material is light years beyond what it was even two years ago. Much of what is seen on television and in movies Ð even in corporate videos -- is some form of digital compositing. back to top Digital Imaging Technology Making a Difference in Government Jason Clayton Public records have traditionally been stored as paper documents, and often stored offsite, making access difficult and time consuming. Today, however, government agencies are publishing records and promoting services on the Internet. It's not just about improving customer service; it's about citizens' legal rights to information about themselves and their government. The Internet is going to revolutionize the way citizens interact with government, and the way government offices work with each other. For example, New York state discovered that it was wasting millions of dollars because it couldn't muster the records needed to defend its positions in court. The solution? A report management system made legacy mainframe data available online throughout the state so that documents could be retrieved in seconds. Pennsylvania is making lobbyists' influence a matter of public record by collecting and posting corporate contributions online. And Scott County, Minnesota, began with the idea of bringing important government records and services online. But the project is mushrooming to include more and more departments and services. Those are just a few examples. Here are some tips for those planning e-Governments: Seek input. Involve everyone in the process early on so you can decide what should and should not become accessible through the Internet. Although all information may be considered public, it's important to differentiate material that should not be made too easily accessible - either for political reasons, privacy issues, or because data could be used to create distorted statistics about an event within the local government (for example, court decisions). Set goals and budgets. Gather input from internal users about what functionality they would like so that the information technology group can budget accordingly. back to top Search Engine Submission Chuck Brown For most Web sites, getting your page built and posted on the Web is only a small part of the battle. You may feel a whole lot better after the page is officially "online," but after your friends and associates have come by and seen what there is to see, then what? If you're not out to spend a boatload of money on online or offline advertising to promote your new creation (and let's face it: Web sites are generally a tool for sales and service. In and of themselves, they are rarely a company's raison d'etre), the primary way to build traffic is through making your information available on the Net's major search engines. If you spend the bulk of your time at just a few sites, you may not be aware of just how key they are to the surfing habits of the online community. You might find it instructive to look at Excite's WebVoyeur (http://www.excite.com/search/voyeur/ closed: Nov. 2001), which allows you to "peek" at the search terms people are entering into the search engine at any given time. It can be a very enlightening experience. Search Engines are the place to be, so how do you get there? Most search engines use automated tools called "spiders" to visit and monitor sites. Some of these spiders will scan the entire contents of the site. Others will simply check the "Meta tags" on a given page and then scan enough of the page to confirm that the Meta tags fairly represent the content of the page before listing it in their database. What are Meta tags? They are a series of lines in the code for the page that are protected from plain view when you view the page. The content of these lines is descriptive information about the site presented in two forms: a line or two of plain English and as a series of keywords. It's hard to overstate the importance of choosing the proper keywords for your site, since they have a direct correlation to the terms Web surfers enter in their searches. Your words must be descriptive, but not too general. For example, if your site is largely about music, you would certainly have to include the term "music"... but it's also true that no one will ever be referred to your site because of that term alone, because there are 3 million other sites that have the same keyword. The balancing act is to find terms that are unique to your site, yet common enough to be searchable. That's when your "music" term will pay off... when it's used in combination with other words. Here is a strategy for use in the Meta tag refining process: Go to several search engines and actually do searches on the terms you expect people to use when they are looking for your product or service. Go ahead and follow the link to the site's home page. Then, within your browser, choose to view the page source code (you'll find this in one of your pull down menus). The Meta tags will be found in the first dozen lines of code on the page. Make note of all the tags used by your "competitor." Remember, this is the model of success for your chosen keywords... so use the information wisely. So far we've covered the preparation of your page for search engine indexing. Next, you'll need to submit your site to all the major search engines. You can pay someone to do this for you or you can invest the time yourself. Pay-for-submission services will run in the $20-$100 range on either a one-time or monthly basis, and the majors are relatively reputable companies. Also, Submit Express offers a free submission to a limited number of engines (http://www.submitexpress.com/submit.html) and Ultimate Promotion makes a similar offer (http://ultimatepromotion.com/submitfree/ closed). If you are serious about Web site promotion, you may want to invest in a submission tool for your computer. For the PC, you may want to consider Submission Tool (http://www.submissionspider.com/ closed) and, for the Mac, Be Found is a very good product (http://vse-online.com/submit-Website/index.html closed). The ideal, obviously, is to do the work of prepping your submission once, and then coming back to a completely automated process each time thereafter. Submitting every 2-3 months is a good rule of thumb when using tools of this kind. Search engine submission is a bit of voodoo. But, if you believe in the value of your Web site, it's worth the time and trouble. back to top Usability & Information Architecture Richard Carter In very general terms, usability is about enabling many people to use a product or service easily and properly, with each encounter. The purpose is to ensure that the customer will maintain a long-term relationship with the producer of what is being used -- one that will provide fulfillment and satisfaction to the user as well as profit and growth to the producer's business. The usability of a Web site is based on a user-centric perspective that threads its way from the original concept through the design and production process and into the long-term administrative refinement of the site's content. Usability begins with good Information Architecture. Short and sweet, an Information Architect is a USER and usability advocate throughout the design and development of an Internet Web site. The "WORK" of an Information Architect is presented on paper, incorporating sociological and psychological market research and analysis. These facts must be summarized and presented in a logical and understandable way with charts, graphs, and flow diagrams that accurately express the strategic market-driven and profit-driven goals of that research and analysis. The blueprint presented by the Information Architect to the client must not only meet the client's immediate needs and hit the target market in terms of profitable sales; it must also provide for strategic long-term growth and sustainability of the site. Information Architecture gives the site organized context or meaning. It inspires an ongoing user and site relationship that is fueled by an exciting graphic-user-interface and paths of interactivity that serve the user's needs. This relationship is easy to maintain because it gives the user what he or she wants in a very quick and efficient way. Information Architecture develops a site that serves the user through a computer that acts as a trusted and loyal friend. An Information Architect is:
Here are a few other definitions from experts in the field: IN.FOR.MA.TION AR.CHI.TECT [L info-tectus]n. 1. the individual who organizes the patterns inherent in data, making the complex clear. 2. A person who creates the structure or information map, which allows others to find their personal paths to knowledge. 3. The emerging 21st-century professional occupation, addressing the needs of the age focused upon clarity, human understanding, and the science of organizing information. Richard Saul Wurman, Information Architects, © 1997 "A structured plan for a system of messages which determines how information will be grouped, what the relationships are between the groupings, and how the user will navigate between those groupings. Simply put, a strategic plan or systemic structure of information for ease of user access on the Internet." Lillian Svec, IA for Sapient The last definition is from a very good book called Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, by Louis Rosenfeld & Peter Morville: "The information architect of a large, complex Web site should be two things: someone who can think as an outsider and be sensitive to the needs of the site's users, and at the same time is enough of an insider to understand the site's sponsoring organization, its mission, goals, content, audiences, and inner workings. In terms of disciplinary background, the information architect should combine the generalist's ability to understand the perspectives of other disciplines with specialized skills in visualizing, organizing and labeling information." |
 
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