VerveCast

As a child you probably tore through your crayon box with reckless abandon. With little thought given to what colors were used and why they were used, your coloring book was left looking like the entire box of crayons had melted in the sun. As you grew older though, you began to associate different colors with different things. The sky was blue and the grass was green. Boys wore blue and girls wore pink. In a child’s mind, this is just how things were.

Eventually you started to associate color with more than just what your eyes see. Most of us have heard the term “seeing red”. A phrase often used to describe anger and aggression. If you’re “feeling blue”, it’s because you’re sad or depressed. Whether you realize it or not, colors affect our moods and emotions, and the way they are used in marketing are often used to trigger a subconscious reaction in you.

It’s believed that the color red, besides being associated with anger, can actually stimulate hunger. Combine this with yellow, and you’re eyes are literally telling your stomach it’s time to eat. If you don’t believe there’s a psychology to color, try telling these restaurants to change theirs.

The psychology of color is a powerful one, and big corporations know this. The colors they choose to represent their company are more than just an afterthought. Every color has unique associations and emotions tied to it, and they are carefully chosen to send you a message without ever saying a word.

Each color represents a whole lot more than people would have ever thought. Who knew?

Logos change over time… even if you’re The Batman.

See them all at Calm The Ham.

This new year is going to be another big one for Z2—lots of exciting stuff on the horizon, including even more growth and some really fun projects. On that, we’re happy to announce our latest client, Delafield Tourism Council.

As Delafield’s agency of record, we’ll be helping the organization with everything from research and creative development to public relations and social media. The city of Delafield holds a very a special place in our hearts, as that’s where Z2 got its start nearly 10 years ago, so it’ll be a really fun partnership for us.

More on the new client front—we’ve also partnered with Austin Plumbing and Haselow’s Polar Express Heating & Air Conditioning to work on their branding and marketing, including web site design and development, social media, photo/video, and more. We’re looking forward to working with these two highly respected, family run local businesses. Great people over there!

We’ve also been working on a new product launch for Dean Healthcare, and have been tapped to help the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra League update its brand.

Those are just a few updates from the last couple months. We’re expecting even more good news to share in the next several. Remember to check back for updates!

What an amazing video shoot we had yesterday at The Pfister! Those are the kind of gratifying days that make us feel lucky to have such exciting, creative jobs. We’re working on a documentary for the hotel, and need to gather a ton of great footage. For this shoot, we got a permit to shut down a block of Jefferson Street to capture some of the shots.

We started in the morning, filming the exterior of the building.

Which included some old school talent.

And even got Cory up in a boom!

Next, we moved inside for some footage of the gorgeous lobby.

Later, we went back outside for some night shots. (We had some help with the lighting.)

And Cory got back in the boom!

Thanks to everyone who worked their tails off to help make it happen. We cannot wait to share the final product with all of you!

If you’re a huge sports fan (read: attractive, male athlete fan) like myself, you’ve probably heard about the new Braun/Rodgers restaurant set to open in Brookfield in June. The original name for the restaurant was launched as 8*twelve, a play on their two numbers. However, it was announced yesterday the name has changed to 8-twelve.

According to Fox 6, the asterisk was removed and replaced with a dash in an effort to avoid any negativity that might be associated with something that looks like an asterisk, given Braun’s hectic off-season.

Umm, eek! Although I personally find the asterisk situation pretty hilarious, I likely wouldn’t if I was associated with the brand. I’m not sure what would have been worse, leaving the asterisk in to be potentially noticed by not that many people, or taking it out and having the media broadcast why the name had changed. The main takeaway here is to make sure you have all your ducks in a row before publicly launching your new brand.

(Side note: this story totally brought to mind my brother-in-law, whom we call “Asterisk” when playing board games, given his inclination to win using questionable tactics.)