Instagram Then and Now

July 31, 2018August 1, 2018 / terrinaka / 9 Comments

A Brief History

I’ve been using Instagram since April of 2011 when the site was about 6 months old. It seemed like a creative challenge and I didn’t know if I was up to the task. Back then I was most likely shooting photos with an iPhone 4 or 4s (can’t remember which) capturing images at less than 400 pixels per inch. By comparison, the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL I now use are capturing 12.3 megapixel images—so massively greater image clarity is possible.

Looking back at my early photos, they look kind of awful. Despite some images with halfway decent composition, the clarity is “not good.” Below is a sample, and you can follow the link to blog post with more examples and “tips.”

Minimal Activity = Stagnant Follower Count

I’m not good at “gaming” followers, and unlike many of the huge accounts out there, I have never bought any. So while I was doing “okay,” my account was never great. Then it got worse. In 2016 I accepted a full-time job. It was demanding and negatively impacted my ability to create and engage on most of my social channels, including Instagram. I was basically on “maintenance mode.” I tried to post an image most days, but weeks or months would go by, and I would “like” a bunch of photos, but I wouldn’t exchange comments with anyone! Needless to say, my account stagnated, I lost followers, and I’d be lucky to get 30 or 50 “likes on an image. I was stuck at about 2800 followers and nothing I did seemed to make a difference.

Some of you who know me pretty well are aware I left my job about a month and a half ago. The reason is long and boring, but suffice it to say I’m on the road to recovery and feeling better each day, and one thing that has been soul replenishing is reconnecting with people on social media. Engagement has been essential. I’m now up to about 4100 followers and have made lots of fabulous connections with fun and interesting new people.

Ramping Up

Assessing my Instagram situation, I realized there are now a lot of great photographers there, some of whom have massive audiences, and I seriously needed to up my game. The first order of business was to be more thoughtful about what I was shooting; then looking at how I was prepping the work, and how I framed the image’s narrative. I’ve been a brand partner of Verizon for about 5 years and I wanted to do a better job representing their products and service, so it meant changing up the way I had been doing things. Instead of “maintenance mode,” it was more like, “Banzai!”

Before and After

I’m going to share a series of “before and after” photos, so you can see what a difference it makes to properly prepare your images. This means cropping, sharpening, adjusting contrast, boosting the color saturation, and applying filters.

Here goes:

Kind of a “blah” shot of Alki Beach, right?

After being cropped, adjusted and filtered, it looks so much more interesting, AND detail in the bird that I didn’t even know was there, shows up.

One thing I’d like to say about Instagram — there is no shortage of brainy people there. Seems that each time I post something and don’t know what it is, a number of viewers will chime in and school me! An example is this shot below. I didn’t know what the flower was, and boy, did I get some great feedback!

The bee isn’t very apparent. Maybe because there are many distracting things in the shot, plus the color is subdued.

That’s better! And as Verizon says, “Better Matters!” And for the record, the flower is an Allium.

Reg Saddle @zaibatsu and I frequently discuss things like what the algorithms are rewarding or penalizing, and how it affects what we do. One of the things we go back to is what our audiences want. Think about what you post and which things get the most traction.

Here’s something “off the beaten path” for my feed — a glassblower in the Glassy Baby hot shop, not far from where I live. One of the most necessary steps was to crop this photo. You’ll see what I mean.

Interesting but a lot going on, right? Below: where the action is.

My “boyfriend,” Hunter. Dark. But cropped and adjusted:

I don’t know about you, but our cats are shedding like crazy!

So my brother-in-law is the head of the California Leafy Greens Board. His wife (is she my sister-in-law?) said this is NOT a thistle. But man. I’ve never seen an artichoke this tall. The main thing is, too much is going on and did you see the bee? Take a look:

I almost hate to show you this one. Check out this tree photo, taken on a dreary Seattle day in late spring. I have a thing about shooting UP a tree. This is a classic case.

I didn’t like the way the trunk was drawing the eye away in the bottom right corner. Cropping was calling. But how about those colors? Drab!

Through the miracle of filters, the tree came to life!

So this is a weird one. I noticed this magnolia blossom was so heavy, the bough brought the blossom to my eye level. When I peered inside, I was like, “WHAT?!?” Very cool, but I knew there was potential in making this better. As shown below, I cleaned up the shot, and there is now more detail and clarity.

Yes, folks. The bees were having a cabana party! Interestingly the following day, ZIP.

This shot is just plain beautiful any way you look at it. But even something this perfect can look better through cropping and a number of adjustments.

Things to Try

So, you can see that even a somewhat hopeless-looking photo has potential. It’s about post-production. Some things to think about:

Composition
Cropping
Color Adjustment (including saturation)
Ambience
Sharpening
Clean up
Filters

I’ve witnessed incredible transformations of the images posted by beginners who then found their mojo. Their photos went from “not good” to amazing!

If you’re on Instagram and follow me, simply post a comment on one of my images to let me know that you’re following, I’ll reciprocate! Here’s a link to my feed: https://www.instagram.com/terrinakamura/

If you’re NOT on Instagram, what are you waiting for? 🙂

If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you. Just let me know!

More about Terri:

Her store on Alki Beach: Alki Surf Shop
Terri Nakamura Design
Terri Nakamura on Twitter
Alki Surf Shop on Twitter
The Horsfall House on AirBNB
More by Terri Nakamura

Me and My Pixels

May 31, 2018June 2, 2018 / terrinaka / 2 Comments

Some of you know I’m an Instagram fan, and try to post a photo daily. I love Instagram for the variety of images I see every day and that it allows me a place for self-expression.

I’ve been shooting with a Google Pixel2 and a Verizon Google Pixel 2XL for quite a while now. I have to say after being a devoted iPhone user since the beginning, I now think Android is a piece of cake, but more importantly, I am in love with both Pixels.

It’s not just the ease of using an Android. Once you get the gist of how they work, it’s pretty easy to figure out any of them!

So ease of use is important. Service quality is important, too. I’ve mentioned numerous times we have a house near Mount Rainier that is listed on AirBNB, and Verizon is still the most reliable service out there.

But the cameras on these two devices! Wow. They’re amazing. They capture such minute detail that often I’ll shoot something then blow it way up and crop a tiny part of it to post, still maintaining incredible details.

This week I stopped by my mechanic, CarTender, on Capitol Hill. Paolo, one of the guys who works there, told me he bought a Pixel 2 BECAUSE of my INSTAGRAM PHOTOS! Wow!

So I’m sharing a few of the photos I’ve shot this month. From the top down, are:

Peonies from my sister’s garden
A view of the Jimi Hendrix Park in Seattle
Wild roses from my garden
Basketball scrimmage after school
The “Eraser” sculpture at the Seattle Center
Weird graphic asphalt lines leading to the Museum of Pop Culture
A view of the Madrona Bathhouse on Lake Washington
The view from the end of the bar at 13 Coins in Pioneer Square
Plants reaching for the sky
A shed in Madrona with a pretty patina
Glimmering city of Bellevue seen from Madrona at Lake Washington
Happy sunflowers!
The first Amazon Bookstore, located in the University Village of Seattle
Century Link Tower seen through a gap in a grate
A tree before it budded
Expressive clouds seen from the Montlake Bridge

I’ve posted more than 16,000 photos on my Instagram account. As an early adopter, I went crazy at first, sometimes sharing a dozen or more pictures a day. Now, usually just one a day, although sometimes I skip.

I’d love to have you check out my photos. If you follow me there, post a comment to let me know, and I’ll follow back! And if you see the photos I’ve previewed below, you’ll usually find a more complete description on Instagram

Thank you for looking! And remember: #BetterMatters

More about Terri:

Visit her store Alki Surf Shop
Terri Nakamura Design
Terri Nakamura on Twitter
Alki Surf Shop on Twitter
The Horsfall House on AirBNB
More by Terri Nakamura

One-ring Circus

August 31, 2016October 15, 2016 / terrinaka / 2 Comments

Close friends and colleagues know I’m a fan of Bloomberg Business Week. It’s the only publication I receive as a physical magazine. After dropping a signed first edition of Zadie Smith’s “White Teeth” in the bathtub, I vowed to never read anything more than a magazine while soaking. AND I SURE don’t trust myself to read an electronic device there.

Last night I was browsing through the most issue of Bloomberg and something caught my eye. It was a full-page ad for Verizon’s “One Talk” service, which lets calls to a users’ office phones, ring simultaneously on their mobiles.

Our family has had Verizon service since the early 2000s, and I’ve been partnering with Verizon for nearly four years as one of their national team of brand influencers. So I naturally pay attention to commercials and ads related to Verizon products and services. I hadn’t heard about “One Talk.”

Randomly and coincidentally, I have been experiencing my own, unrelated, “one ring” circus this year.

In my Google settings, I’ve listed all of my phone numbers, so when I am called on one of the numbers, ALL OF MY PHONES RING. It’s pretty crazy, but let me just say it’s rare for me to miss a call.

So in a way, I have simulated One Talk via Google Voice and I’ve found it to be convenient, hilarious and annoying.

It’s convenient to be able to get calls on all devices. Remember, “Call Forwarding” isn’t the same, because it only rings on the number you’re forwarding to (i.e., your mobile number).

It’s hilarious because seriously—sometimes four of my phones ring at once. Today a friend, Marianne Picha, called my original landline number (which is now on Google Project fi), and it rang all of my cell phones, including the Verizon line which was 100 miles away at our home in Randle. My husband had the phone with him at the house, and answered! (Verizon is an essential lifeline for us out there in Lewis County.)

It’s annoying because…ALL OF THE PHONES CAN RING AT THE SAME TIME. But this can be easily fixed. Just turn off the ringers on the phone(s) you don’t want to ring.

My family has one of the most complicated telephone communications setups imaginable. Currently it includes a landline with CenturyLink (an account established in 1974); a digital landline with Comcast; an AT&T family plan for me and our youngest son; and a Verizon family plan for me, my husband, oldest son and his wife @QueenHorsfall.

CenturyLink is an archaic system that charges separately for voice mail, call forwarding and other features. (Most phone companies include myriad features as part of the service.) We had three landlines — one for my husband, one for me and one for our dedicated fax line. It was very costly.

A few years ago I moved the fax line over to Comcast to quality for a “triple play” pricing plan. And as our landline costs continued to skyrocket, I realized we needed to prune another CenturyLink line.

Last year I decided to move my 38-year-long phone service away from Centurylink to Google’s Projectfi. The Projectfi service required me to buy a Nexus phone (in my case, a 6P). Last November, this phone came with a $499 price tag.

The Nexus 6P is a fabulous phone. The camera is INCREDIBLE, especially in low light. And the battery seems to last forever. The best part is, since I use very little data (mostly use wifi), my phone service has averaged $28.50 per month—less than half the cost of my land line service. The Nexus 6P is now about half the price, so a great deal for people who need a phone and don’t use a lot of data. The networks providing service include T-Mobile, Sprint and U.S. Cellular, so it has expansive coverage. The downside is, the Nexus is a gigantic phone. Not heavy—just huge. No way can it fit into a pocket. ALSO, the Nexus requires a USB-Type C charging cable.

Getting back to the ad in Bloomberg, I can see the value in the OneTalk service.—especially for Verizon business customers who have would benefit from seamlessly moving between landline and mobile. And it makes it possible for a business to be nimble—offering an essential and competitive edge.

One Talk is a relatively inexpensive service (looks to be around $25/month) but it requires a compatible phone set for the landline. And according to Kagan, the landline is actually VOiP—something to think about if you’re prone to power outages.

I’m proud to participate as a member of Verizon’s social media team. My posts are about my own personal experiences. No compensation is provided, nor are favorable comments promised. All opinions are my own.

More about Terri:

Visit her store Alki Surf Shop
Terri Nakamura on Twitter
Alki Surf Shop on Twitter
The Horsfall House on AirBNB
More by Terri Nakamura

Daze of Our Lives

June 29, 2016 / terrinaka / 12 Comments

Am I Living in a Seinfeld Episode?

There Will Be Light

Two days last week, I worked at Alki Surf Shop while my husband, David, zipped over to Randle, WA, to do some work on our AirBNB house.

Shortly after I opened the store, a woman I didn’t know walked in and said, “I’m not stalking you, but you left your BMW lights on.” It turned out I’d parked in front of her house. She is also an aficionado of vintage BMWs, and didn’t want me to return to find my car with a dead battery. The woman’s name was Megan, and I discovered we both own businesses on Alki Beach.

I locked up the store and walked with Megan back to my car, opened the door and started the engine without a problem. She waved goodbye, I locked up my car and headed back to the shop.

Fast forward to the end of the day…

I walk back to my car and see the lights were still ON! OMG. Earlier, when I checked and saw my battery was in good shape, I forgot to turn off the lights!

But, to my delight, the engine started right up!

Sheesh. Old people. ¶

My classic 1976 BMW 2002 is now 40 years old!

Chewing the Digital Fat at Alki Surf Shop

Our visitors are both local and from around the world. Later that day, Jim and Suzanne Skerjanc from Bellingham dropped in, and somehow, we started talking about cell phone service.

Jim and Suzanne told me about their spotty AT&T service, and how they recently switched to Verizon. And yes, this was a spontaneous conversation!

Suzanne said, “We were with AT&T, and just didn’t get a signal anywhere. I mean, at my work there was like zero signal. I had to go outside and it was still sketchy. Jim’s a realtor, so he’s all over the place—and, I mean, he HAS to have a signal.”

Jim and Suzanne Skerjanc, happy Verizon customers

Jim told me he would be driving down a main road, and bam—his calls would drop. He noticed the bars would go to zero, then a half mile down the road, they would come back. And it happened all over the county.

When they switched to Verizon, it was completely different. They now have cell phone service everywhere they go.

“We have full service now. It’s like being in the middle of Seattle,” Jim told me. “Since we switched to Verizon, we have great, reliable coverage all the time.”

Hearing about their experiences made me proud of my connection to Verizon as a brand influencer. Maybe #BetterMatters, but in their case, #BetterWins! ¶

AirBNB AirHEADS

By a huge percentage, the guests at our home on AirBNB are nice and responsible people. It’s interesting to see how different age groups behave almost stereotypically. “Grownups” treat our house as their own, and leave things in great shape. Millennials, on the other hand, generally seem to have a different idea of what it means to leave a place neat and tidy, or to treat our home with care.

When we first listed our house, my friend, Reg Saddler said, “Well, you know what people do with AirBNB houses, don’t you?” (And being a newbie, I said, “No!?”) He went on, “Terri, people make pornos in them!”—which kind of freaked me out!

Last year we hosted a boudoir photographer, whom we found to be a respected commercial photographer, and totally legit. Nothing too crazy has happened so far.

Generally, when we hand over the keys, we meet our guests face-to-face, and I believe the personal connection helps ensure a positive experience on both sides. That is, most of the time.

Recently we had a group of guys make a reservation for a bachelor’s weekend. The person who booked the house specifically said to me, “We will be clean and respectful.”

Beside filling huge garbage bags with empty booze and beer bottles, and then ruining and tossing five of our plush, hotel-grade towels into the trash without a word, this group burned through all of our firewood. And they also burned a batch of stripped maple saplings that David was seasoning to make into furniture.

Long pieces of beautiful wood leaning against the wall opposite the wall of split firewood would appear different to sensible people, but they were clueless. I could only think: “Morons.”

Not the actual doll. The real one wasn’t this nice.

And to top it off, they also deposited a blow-up sex doll in with the rest of their trash. I mean, WHO DOES THAT? EWWWWW!

If we’d known the fiancee, I would’ve been tempted to tell her, “RUN, BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!” ¶

MISSION: Litter-ally Accomplished

Some of you might remember my last new year’s eve and day were crazy. A small part of it had to do with a postcard offering a trial box of OKO cat litter from the Mud Bay Pet Store.

We regularly receive OKO postcards and I usually recycle them. But recently, one arrived, and I decided to give it another shot. So I tossed it into my briefcase in the event I was near Mud Bay in the Capitol Hill neighborhood

A typical cross walk on Capitol Hill, Seattle

Last Sunday I was near Mud Bay AND I had the postcard with me! So in a deja vu moment, I pulled into the gas station next door to the pet store, walked in, and bought something, then asked if I could leave my car in their lot while I shopped at Mud Bay.

And once again, Mud Bay didn’t have the trial size of OKO cat litter available.

I asked, “Do you guys EVER have the trial size of this product?”

They said, “No.”

Apparently the manufacturer makes no effort to ensure their retail outlets carry the items they’re promoting.

To put an end to my quest, I bought a large size of litter because we were running low. And to my surprise, Mud Bay offered to subtract the value of the trial size. So the box ended up costing only a few dollars

Ice, the teddy-bear hamster, captured on a Canary home security camera.

I felt guilty spending only three dollars on a large box of litter, so I also bought an interactive cat toy and some hamster treats for our son’s and daughter-in-law’s pet teddy bear hamster.

OKO cat litter is odd. It’s made from paper and sort of tubular in shape. I liked the concept, but it’s difficult to sift. Our Maine Coon, Hunter, is going along with it, but our silver tabby, Grey, is avoiding it. It was good to be able to try it. Now I know. ¶

Grownup Kids are FUN!

Last week, our oldest son Andrew, and daughter-in-law Diana drove to Seattle from Monterey, CA. Since they were supposed to arrive Sunday night, our family decided to delay celebrating Father’s Day until Monday, so everyone could be here.

But on Sunday afternoon I received a phone call from Andrew saying he and Diana would arrive in Seattle in time for Father’s Day dinner!

I love our oldest son, Andrew. He’s such an amazing kid! He also has a knack for creating minor chaos 🙂

© terri-nakamura-Andrew-and-Diana-June-2016

Andrew and Diana — weary travelers

Hearing his updated ETA, I needed to make sure our youngest son, Charley and his girlfriend, Sheela, were going to be available in a few hours, then cleared it all with David. When it looked like we were all on the same page, I switched into high gear, trying to figure out how we could get a dinner reservation on such short notice. So I called Marée Bistro, a neighboring business on Alki Beach.

Remember Megan, the woman who told me I left my lights on? Well, Marée belongs to Megan and her husband, Andy. They said they’d be happy to save us a table, which was great!

After we closed Alki Surf Shop, our group walked a few blocks to Marée and enjoyed some amazing dinners.

© frisee-salad-maree-bistro-alki-seattle

Frisée salad with house-cured lardon, garlic croutons and soft-cooked egg

We ordered lots of different entrees, including a Galantine de poulet (like a free range chicken roulade), wild boar (tender and delicious!), hangar steak, a savory tart, steak frites; plus some yummy sides including a frisée salad and a tasty assortment of charcuterie.

It was a fun and festive meal and wonderful on every level. After dinner, we walked out, and were greeted by an incredible crimson sunset. It was the perfect end to a great weekend.

All of which started with Megan telling me I’d left my lights on. ¶

© terri-nakamura-alki-sunset-fathers-day-2016

The sunset as we exited Marée Bistro, Father’s Day 2016

The hamster photo was captured by Diana Horsfall, using the Canary home security system, courtesy of Verizon. The doll photo was sourced on Pixabay. Other photos in this post were shot by me, using the fabulous camera on the Samsung Galaxy 7, courtesy of Verizon Wireless.

More about Terri:

Visit her store Alki Surf Shop
Terri Nakamura on Twitter
Alki Surf Shop on Twitter
The Horsfall House on AirBNB
More by Terri Nakamura

Shooting a How-to Video

May 31, 2016June 3, 2016 / terrinaka / 17 Comments

ADDING RAM TO A MACBOOK PRO

This is my first attempt to shoot a video and edit it, and also my first exploration inside of a laptop!

A month ago I installed 32 GB of RAM in my 27” iMac. It was super easy! My buddy Reg Saddler was with me, virtually, providing guidance and support.

It got me thinking about my mid-2012 Macbook Pro, and how it had just 4 GB of RAM. I decided to upgrade to its maximum — 8 GB, but wasn’t sure where to start.

I’d never opened up a laptop, and installing RAM in a laptop looked more complicated than the installation on my iMac. So I asked my friend, Greg, to help me. But instead of helping me, he actually did the installation!

It worked out well, because it gave me a chance to record the process using my new Samsung Galaxy 7 (S7), which has a pretty powerful video editor built in.

I’ve never edited a video before, and had no idea what I was doing, so imagine how surprised I was to discover it’s simple to do all of the editing and post-production on the S7.

During the RAM installation, I recorded about 14 minutes of video in four different segments . Most of it was a major snoozefest, or just chitchat that needed to go away.

So I omitted the audio by turning off the volume on all of the clips, prior to assembling everything.

At the time I was editing, I actually didn’t have the presence of mind to take screen shots, so a bunch of the following images are after the fact!

Part One — EDITING THE VIDEO

On the S7, I navigated to my camera’s roll and opened the first of four segments I’d filmed.

Once opened, at the bottom of the screen there was an option to “Edit”

From there I found the “Video Editor” option.

Once “Video Editor” is clicked, a screen comes up, showing the video represented by linear thumbnails. The yellow line is the beginning of the playback.

Hit the play button (small round arrow button in lower left quadrant) to review. To get rid of irrelevant content, you can split or trim parts of the clip. To do that, select “Trim” from the menu. A sub-menu pops up where you can select trim to the left, right, or split into pieces.

I decided to “Split” the section in two. A box then appears between the two sections. By resting the vertical playback line on top of it, a “Transition” menu will come up.

There are quite a few options for transitions between clips. I just chose a simple black dissolve (top middle on this image). To add a segment, I clicked the “+” symbol in the lower left corner.

I navigated back to my camera’s files and selected the next clip, which then appears in the timeline as anew thumbnail. (Note an additional “transition box” appeared.)

When I had all of my clips trimmed and assembled, just for the heck of it, I decided to add a couple of titles. To do that, I selected “Title.” A bunch of choices pop up. I chose black.

A box opens to type in some copy. Just try to make sure you check your spelling. Typos in videos happen here.

For the purposes of this sequence, I typed in “Sample Title,” but in my final video I inserted three title pages. When I was finished, I looked at the video and jotted down what I wanted to say. (NOTE: There is probably a better work flow, but since I didn’t know what I was doing, this is what happened with me!)

I figured out I could add narration by selecting “AUDIO.” There are several choices, and I selected “Record narration.” So while the video was playing back, I recorded my voice to go with the video. The primary reason I did this is because I decided to speed everything up 2X, which meant my voice sounded like I was talking through helium. It had to be removed!

When I was done, I played it back to see how it sounded and looked. It wasn’t perfect, but hey, you have to start somewhere! I was satisfied — quite proud of myself, in fact! So I selected “EXPORT.”

The processing took a few minutes. When it was complete, I watched it again, then shared it on to YouTube.

The S7 is a great device — much smaller than my Nexus 6P or Samsung Edge 6+ — so it fit easily into my little phone mount and desktop tripod, but more importantly, it recorded really beautiful video. So beautiful, in fact, that when I did the screen grabs, the resolutions looked very nice.

Here is the final video: [ insert anti-climactic drumroll here ]

You can click the video, above, or go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULsavG49e2U

The completed video, which was sped up 2X, cut it down to about 3 minutes.

Part 2: THE RAM INSTALLATION

Greg is a former graphic designer and art director, retired from Microsoft. He and I have a long history of geeking out, talking about computers, gadgets and related topics that make both of our spouses’ eyes glaze over. This was the perfect project for us!

It’s all covered in the video, above, but here are a few highlights:

First, we unscrewed the back. Three of the screws are longer, so we put them aside and marked the holes before removing the rest of the screws, which were much shorter.

Next, we disconnected the battery using a nylon pry tool

After discharging static electricity, ease open clips holding in the RAM, and removed the two sticks.

Next, the new RAM was inserted into the slots. They were firmly snapped into place

We closed the back of the laptop, first treating screws with an anti-vibration goop.

Moment of truth: Booted it up…

Happy to hear the Mac start up sound and see the Apple logo appear!

VOILA!

So, this entire process involved learning on a couple of levels. It was amazing and fun to shoot, then edit a video entirely on my S7. Second, I’m no longer afraid of opening up my laptop. SSD, here I come!

PS: A cool way to take screen shots on the S7:

Hold your hand perpendicular to the phone screen (like you’re going to give it a karate chop).

Swipe your hand quickly to the left or right. You’ll hear a “click.” BINGO! Screen shot taken!

Video and images shot by Terri Nakamura, using a Samsung Galaxy 7, courtesy of Verizon Wireless.

I’m proud to participate as a member of Verizon’s social media outreach team. My posts are about my own personal experiences. No compensation is provided, nor are favorable comments promised. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to my friend, Greg, for his help.

More about Terri:

Visit her store Alki Surf Shop
Terri Nakamura on Twitter
Alki Surf Shop on Twitter
The Horsfall House on AirBNB
More by Terri Nakamura

AD-miration for Creativity

March 31, 2016 / terrinaka / 11 Comments

How a campaign was born

Commercial ads are a necessary evil. Most of us tune them out. TiVos, DVRs and similar devices are popular because they help us do that.

But when you see a great ad, you want to see it again and again and sometimes, even share it with others. A friend, Reg Saddler says because of the way he now consumes content, he doesn’t have to watch commercials anymore. So when he actually sees one, it’s like, “Hey, a commercial!”

Wieden+Kennedy in Portland, OR has done its best to create some watch-worthy ads.

Whether you know it or not, you’ve probably seen some of W+K’s handiwork. Some of their clients include Chrysler, Coca Cola, KFC, Old Spice, Nike, Samsung and Verizon. Here are a couple of classics:

It’s Halftime in America

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

When I first saw W+K’s Old Spice commercial, I thought it was hilarious. “Old Spice?” It was a moribund brand that W+K miraculously brought back to life. I even remember tweeting a link to watch it. That’s how good it was.

W+K isn’t a household name except to people connected to the advertising industry. In my view, having such an amazing agency in the Pacific Northwest is a point of pride. W+K’s creativity has been recognized through Clio awards (the “Oscars” of advertising), Addys (American Advertising Federation), The One Show, and Cannes Lions, and other arbiters of advertising greatness. They rock!

Do you wonder how commercials are created? Do writers and art directors sit around in altered states to come up with some of the crazy ideas we see? Or are the ideas data-driven to tickle the brains of the target audience? Or are some ads simply random shots in the dark? How DOES the creative process unfold?

Truth in Advertising, Excerpt

Wacky ads are popular. The hope is to break through the thrum of other advertising messages and also stand in contrast to programming. Lame ads have been accepted as the norm, and many commercials are noise, at best.

Last fall I started noticing some nice Verizon spots on TV. They were smart. The concepts were wonderfully illustrated. They were nicely produced. Their intelligence could almost be described as disruptive.

In February I became curious, and learned the current Verizon branding campaign has been the work of W+K.

It all started to make sense.

#BetterMatters is the campaign concept underlying the commercials and print ads we’re seeing. On the surface, it seems pretty obvious — yes, “better matters,” but what does it mean?

I wanted to know about how the campaign came about, so I contacted the agency in Portland. Katie Hull in W+K’s PR department was helpful, and pointed me to some useful background.

In announcing the campaign, Melissa Garlick, Verizon Sr. VP, Brand Creative said, “At its core, “Better Matters” exemplifies that the network you choose and the access it provides, makes a difference. Better is how we differentiate our brand in the marketplace. We realized that one out of every three Americans is a Verizon customer, so…we found a dozen different ways to explain how Verizon has a better network, and why better matters.”

Verizon launched the new campaign on the heels of the logo “refresh” designed by Pentagram. Incidentally, the Verizon logo debuted the same week as the new Google logo.

What do you think of it, by the way?

In a story about the Verizon campaign, Adweek wrote: “The theme of this work is ambitious and suggests only Verizon can fully deliver on “the promise of the digital world.” Its central analogy, illustrated with a series of colorful metaphors in a dozen ads from W+K’s creative team, holds that a higher-quality network leads to a better quality of life, especially when it comes to everyday convenience.”

Creative directors Aaron Allen and Jason Kreher echoed that message, telling Adweek, “The challenge was explaining some pretty dry facts in a way that would resonate.” The varied nature of this campaign “ensured that production would be a huge challenge, but it resulted in a ton of good work that helps Verizon stand out from the competition.”

To view the ads, click Verizon Commercials.

Verizon uses an array of images to show why its network makes life better. Watch A Better Network Explained by a French Scuba Diver.

In working on the Verizon campaign, W+K determined which concepts would be most salient and worked with their clients to find different ways to explain how Verizon has a better network, and why better matters. It included highlighting characteristics like the 4G LTE network, its capacity, reliability and coverage, as well as its unique access and exclusive offerings. It helped W&K to come up with solid creative because Verizon had real value to offer.

There are always going to be people who complain about their individual experiences with ANYTHING. But I believe Verizon works hard to earn its top metrics and customer loyalty by providing a great network, and in the bigger picture, providing value and service to a broad audience, even beyond their customers*.

At the end of the day, advertising is about making consumers feel they need a product or service, or to feel good about their connection with something. When an ad agency’s client has great offerings, it’s a heckuva lot easier to tell the story.

Images sources: Commercials created by Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, OR; Truth in Advertising Excerpt directed by Tim Hamilton (12-minute film short can be viewed in its entirety here); Verizon logo animated gif created by Pentagram

*Verizon supports social initiatives including Hopeline, helping victims of domestic violence, and provided recognition for Organize, which strives to bring organ donor registration to the 21st century.

My collaboration with Verizon began in 2014, and I’m proud to participate as a member of their social media outreach team. My posts are about my own personal experiences. No compensation is provided, nor are favorable comments promised. All opinions are my own.

More about Terri:

Visit her store Alki Surf Shop
Terri Nakamura on Twitter
Alki Surf Shop on Twitter
The Horsfall House on AirBNB
More by Terri Nakamura

Why “Better” Matters

February 21, 2016March 2, 2016 / terrinaka / 24 Comments

Especially When it Comes to Creating Memories

Abandoned after the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1981, our Randle home sat empty for a decade before we rescued it in 1991. It was a falling-down wreck when we bought it—so decrepit it wasn’t even included in the valuation of the property.

The porches had fallen down, the foundation had slipped, and only the moss kept the roof intact.

Despite that, our family and friends enjoyed long weekends in this idyllic getaway two hours from Seattle. Some of our best times were when it was still just a “stationary tent,” with no doors, windows, electricity, running water or indoor plumbing.

Looking toward the fireplace; new window; porch supports & door on the floor.

We hauled water until we hired a water witcher and ended up drilling a 165-foot-deep well.

We cooked on the campfire, used Coleman lanterns, hauled in 5-gallon containers of water, and slept on the floor in sleeping bags. It felt like going to summer camp.

Our kids with a group of their buddies, gathered at the rope swing.

A family gathering to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday. Cooking on an open fire was delicious. Or maybe it was because we were so hungry?

Crazy, but our only cars were David’s Jaguar and my BMW. Not the greatest cars for camping adventures, but the Jag was a great cruise-mobile. Newly graded land in the background.

The property had a two-hole outhouse built in 1940, which we resurrected and used. Because few things are more “fun” than going outside in the middle of the night, carrying a flashlight, to use a spooky old outhouse!

Erin and Wendy near the fire pit, with our two-hole outhouse in the distance

We had many adventures, like a death-defying trip to Burley Mountain lookout where, in one sweeping vista, we could see three magnificent mountains—Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier. One time we rescued our kids and a friend as they crossed a field unaware of a bull grazing nearby. We spent long days hanging out at Yellow Jacket Ponds, fishing for trout, playing in the water, then coming back to the house to fry fresh fish for dinner.

The lookout at Burley Mountain allowed unobstructed views of the surrounding mountains and forests—important for spotting fires. Christina and Charley rest in the shade.

Andrew and Erin goofing around, with the crater of Mt. St. Helens in the distance.

Andrew, Max, Stuart and Charley with the day’s catch; Rusty in the corner.

We captured rubber boas*, and watched bats descend at dusk to feast on insects. We caught frogs, lizards, garter snakes and crickets that occupied our “guest aquarium” until they were released before heading back to Seattle. And we foraged for wild berries, fruit and nuts growing on our land. It was the complete antithesis of life in the city.

This is the second rubber boa we caught— much smaller than the first. They’re beautiful snakes.

We spent two decades restoring the house, and eventually furnished it with hand-me-downs from our Seattle home, plus artifacts lovingly collected over the years. It felt very familiar and homey to us. However by 2013, with both boys grown and gone, we weren’t spending as much time at our country home. So I decided to try listing it on AirBNB — and quickly learned we weren’t really prepared.

After righting the foundation, rebuilding the porches and chimney, roofing and painting.

We loved Randle “as is.” We viewed it through the lens of our own memories and experiences—and not through the eyes of strangers.

Our first guest gave us a forgiving review. The next was brutal, and though I was upset by it, she was right: the house wasn’t ready for prime time. Thus began my quest to revamp it to create the “best guest experience” we could offer.

This is the same view as the second image from the top—looking toward the fireplace. We gathered the rocks and had a local stone mason set them. “The Orr House” oar is an homage to “Mrs. Orr,” former occupant and whom we believe to be a benevolent spirit at the house.

I began by replacing the bedding and linens, and expanded from there, doing what we could to make people feel welcomed and help ensure a pleasant stay. I worked hard, along with David and our property manager, Cathy Kane, to achieve “super host” status! It’s an accomplishment that requires continued hard work to retain.

Super-host status is fleeting. You have to work hard to hang on to it!

People naturally shop around for the best deals, and we think they recognize the value in staying in our home. There are nearby rentals that are more or less expensive, but none offer quite the same spaces and experiences. Pet owners love that their dogs can safely romp on 22 acres of land, pretending they are their wild ancestors on the hunt. And looking out across the Big Bottom Valley in the morning to see a herd of elk is an amazing treat.

In terms of recognizing value—we’re grateful to Verizon for being the only proven carrier in Randle. I routinely remind our guests to bring lots of quarters for the pay phone in town if they have AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile. We put a positive spin on the lack of cell service by positioning it as a “digital detox” experience, but the truth is, we love that Verizon sees value in serving areas like Randle, where none of the other major carriers are to be found. We regard it as our lifeline to the civilized world.

It’s been a 25-year journey so far. For us, we’ve found #BetterMatters—especially when it comes to memories. And chorus frogs singing you to sleep.

Christina insisted on wearing her velvet dress and patent-leather shoes on the rope swing—even at night!

*Rubber boas are the only North American boa snakes. They have prehensile tails and are very, very cool!

We’ve been Verizon customers since 2002 when Andrew began as a cadet at West Point. As part of an awesome group of Verizon influencers, I’m grateful to Verizon for giving me the opportunity to use and test some of their awesome devices and tech. No additional compensation is provided, nor are favorable comments promised. All opinions are my own.

More about Terri:

Visit her store Alki Surf Shop
Terri Nakamura on Twitter
Alki Surf Shop on Twitter
The Horsfall House on AirBNB
More by Terri Nakamura

Up in the AirBNB

January 30, 2015 / terrinaka / 28 Comments

The Horsfall House in the afternoon sun

The Doors sang, “People are strange, when you’re a stranger.” But since we put our country house on AirBNB, the people we’ve met have been anything but strange.

AirBNB is to lodging what Uber is to cars for hire. As of early January of 2015, it had booked more than 25 million reservations in 92 countries.

Our vacation home is in the insanely beautiful Cascade Mountain area of Washington State. We hadn’t been using it very much because of the work we were doing on our new retail store, Alki Surf Shop, in West Seattle. So we thought it made sense to let other people take advantage of it. The listing was begun in 2013, but wasn’t activated it until last fall when a friend enquired about renting our house. It seemed like it was as good a time as any to give it a try.

Before creating our listing, I did some research to see what kinds of properties were available in the area, how they were priced, and what kinds of amenities they included. Then I began the process of collecting images of our home, and writing descriptions, with the goal being 1) honest representations and 2) highlighting the positive attributes.

Among the tools we’ve used to create and manage our presence, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has been great. Not only is the AirBNB app terrific, the Note 4 has enabled me to document changes in our house and share them on the site. Here are a few new ones:

A peek at the kitchen

Looking into the breakfast nook

The living room has a sleeper sofa that sleeps two

You can see, the quality of the photos are as good or better than most point-and-shoot pocket digital cameras! That’s because the camera on the Note 4 is amazing!

Looking into the dining room from the living room

Verizon is the only carrier we have found to provide reliable service in Randle, Washington. We heard from one group who said they were able to get a signal on AT&T and to a lesser degree, T-Mobile, but the last time we were there (a week ago) AT&T at least, was zilch. Honestly, I don’t know what we’d do without Verizon. It has been our lifeline to the outside world.

My real-life bestie has using AirBNB in her travels, and has found some amazing places in the U.S. and abroad. I’d also heard of VRBO (Vacation rentals by owner), but felt more confident in AirBNB because of my friend’s personal (and positive) experiences.

I’m am AirBNB novice, but I’ve found ample support, both within the host communities, and from AirBNB itself. Each time I’ve had a question or issue, AirBNB has answered within 24 hours. The communities are even faster. Post a concern, and BOOM, help is there.

The experience has been largely positive, and we’ve learned through guest feedback, how to make our home even more hospitable. We’ve met people from far-off lands, as well as those from our own back yard. We discovered we share mutual IRL friends with one of our guests. Several people in another group work at a very popular restaurant here in Seattle, The Whale Wins, listed by Bon Appetit as one of the top 10 new restaurants in the U.S. in 2013. We enjoyed them so much, I made it a point to take our extended family there when we celebrated my birthday earlier this month. And trust me when I say the food was fabulous!

So how are a country house, AirBNB, a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and an award-winning restaurant connected?

Through great technology and with help from Verizon.

AirBNB: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1229224

Alki Surf Shop: http://alkisurfshop.com/

Terri Nakamura: https://twitter.com/terrinakamura

A Brief History

Minimal Activity = Stagnant Follower Count

Ramping Up

Before and After

Things to Try

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