Our wishes for 2012

"Put on your party hat and raise a toast to 2012. This NEW YEAR will be full of excitements and mystery! Buckle-up to your seat and enjoy the ride towards new goals and objectives you will each give to yourself. Wishes of success, wealth, health and happiness to all of you;-)" - Nathalie, Financial Controller

"2012, here we come. It is our choice to fear or not to fear the 'catastrophic' year so many people are announcing. As for me, I am full of hope that this new year will bring us all love, peace, health, energy and creativity (and all the money we need to really enjoy all of the above). And if it were to be a very difficult 2012… I suggest we get our strength from one of my favorite quote : 'What does not kill you makes you stronger'… So bring it on 2012! Happy new year!" - Jacquemine, Accounts Manager

"The greatest lesson of this year: 'Having a well-organized life is not about adding on to it. It's about subtracting and putting careful thought on what you put in it.' Happy New Year!!! - Pong (@whitespacelover), Head Graphic Designer

"À chacun(e) de vous, je souhaite de chaleureuses fêtes de fin d’année ! ♥.Que votre maison soit rempli à craquer de précieux moments partagés avec ceux et celles que vous aimez, de fous rires, de joies, d'amitiés, de santé surtout, et, un dernier souhait que j'aime bien, : Que le bonheur vous court après... et qu'il vous attrape ! HeUrEuSe AnNéE 2012" - Rachelle, Account Executive

"2012, contrary to popular belief will be a year which will come with lots of hopes and possibilities. So, I am wishing that this New Year brightens up the lives of every single person reading this blog with new joys and lots of great surprises!" - Nathalie (@Nathoue), Event Coordinator

"Voici venir 2012 !
Plantons-y Trois Cent Soixante Cinq graines de Positivité,

pour récolter joyeusement Trois Cent Soixante-Cinq Jours

de Succès, de Bonheur et de Prospérité.

A vous tous, Bonne et Heureuse Annee 2012." - Eliane, CEO

"The greatest discovery our generation has the privilege to be the witness of is the power of the mind, the power of will and conviction. Yes, we've came to realize that any human being can alter his life and shape it by altering the attitude of his mind. YOU really can! It's a new year, a driving force, a trigger, a chance for you to become someone better, happier, stronger, healthier... Happy New Year!" - Jay (@jaydesignhaiti), Webdesigner and Coordinator

"May God give us all Protection all the way to 2012…." - Marie Carmel, Purchasing Agent

"En guise de vœux de fin d’année, je me propose de partager avec vous une pensée du philosophe indien Jiddu Krishnamurti. 'Tant que vous n'êtes pas prêt à être responsable de tout - mais vraiment de tout ce qui se produit dans votre vie- vous ne progresserez pas.' Que cette pensée, comme une prise de conscience heureuse, illumine la vie de tout un chacun sur le chemin sinueux de l’émancipation.Bonne et Heureuse Année à vous tous !" - Kanga, Copywriter

"I do not care about how you name him, for 2012 you must call him more.I do not know about how much you love them, for 2012 you must love them more.I do not feel how strong you believe, for 2012 you must have FAITH.'Cause only the strong survive.'" - Josué, Graphic Designer

"May you be where you wish to be, together with those you cherish.May you find the food tastier, the environment quieter, and the pleasure more fulfilling in anything you do. May you have an idea a day, but most importantly, may you fulfill the best of them. And so, a toast to 2012! Live it up! You never know if the predictions are true. ;)" - Véronique (@craav), Digital Marketing Strategist

"A little smile,a word of cheer,

a bit of love from someone near,

a little gift from one held dear,

best wishes for the coming year!" - Gisande, Art Director

"Because life is so precious. Because life is made to be abundant. Because the best things in life are not things. Because the greatest sense of achievement comes when its earned. Because there are miracles to be found everywhere if you look close enough. Because you have the right to be happy. Because you have the right to choose. Because sometimes life is about the “not to do” list. Because time is only a fiction of the mind. Because whether you think you can, or say you can’t, either way you are right. Because the body is a good slave but a very bad master. Because the Maya calendar is of no real importance. Because you are the best version of yourself. Because it’s better to learn from mistakes, preferably someone else’s. Because there is always room for improvement. Because change is the only constant. Because winning is a habit, but unfortunately so is loosing. Because only you is keeping you from reaching your fullest potential. Because reality can only exist in the mind of the observer. 2012 will be your best year ever…if you say so." - Olivier, Marketing Director

"Pou 2012, kenbe Prestige ou wo ! :)" - Monica, Account Executive

"Onè, to the year to come.
Respè,to the one that's gone.

We know we dream,we dream we know.

We laugh.We lie.We curse.We hug.We fear.We praise.We hope.We rise.We love.
And that's how the year unfolds.

If this year depended on what others have done for you, may 2012 depend on what you will do for others.

Happy New Year to all." - Ted, Graphic Designer

Prestige, la bière d’Haïti

So, we’re pretty sure that by now, you’ve heard that Heineken NV has acquired more shares of BRANA, the brewer of our national pride, Prestige and other leading brands such Malta H and Guinness. BRANA also produces and bottles other well-known-and-sentimentally-haitian brands such as Toro,  King Cola and Sources Crystal. They also produce Teem, 7up and Pepsi under license.

This comes at a time where there’s a lot of signs of Haiti being the apple of the eye of many foreign investors, where, perhaps Haiti is the new land of opportunity…Oh by the way (and this has nothing to do with our post today) the US is changing their slogan to “the United States of infinite possibilities”.

There are a lot of mixed feelings about the acquisition, but let us put you at ease with the idea, and show you how we see it. Mercedes Benz will always be German even if some of its cars are produced in Mexico. Budweiser will always be American even if a Belgian company owns it, and Prestige will always be THE Haitian beer even if produced by the third largest brewer in the world. This change will actually help propel Prestige onto another level. Sure, Prestige is already sold in certain states in the USA and Canada, but how proud would you feel if you found Prestige on a cruise ship, and in the most secluded of places!?

What we’re trying to say here is that Heineken NV making this move, the local market will surely benefit from it. For one, it means more jobs. I personally bet ya that within 2 years we will have at least 2 to 3 other local beers. How fun would that be to have the choice between 3 Haitian beers on a menu. I know that on a Monday night, I’d love a Prestige light. Okay, maybe two.

You see, the more there is demand for the beer, the more places the beer is sold, the more sustainable jobs here in Haiti there will be. Heineken is a pretty good example to follow when it comes to great Corporate Responsibility socially, environmentally and financially - and will continue on with BRANA's traditions. This opens up a world of possibilities.

Now, if you’re worried that by having a foreign shareholder means that Prestige will no longer be truly Haitian, you are surely mistaking. Prestige was born and raised in Haiti. Prestige belongs to us. It belongs to you. It belongs to me. It is us, consumers, who are the true owners of Prestige and it will belong to generations to come. 

Kenbe Prestige ou! 

Btw, Heineken NV is a publically traded company. Hint hint…You might want to buy a few shares yourself. ;)

Ever heard or read about “Six Degrees of Separation”?

According to our friends at Wikipedia, the original “six degrees” finding, published in 1967 by the psychologist Stanley Milgram, was drawn from 296 volunteers who were asked to send a message by postcard, through friends and then friends of friends, to a specific person in a Boston suburb.

The new research, uh… a much bigger group made up of 721 million Facebook users, more than one-tenth of the world’s population. Technology and social networks are linking us closer than ever. We are now just mere 4.something degrees away from one another. 

In other terms, the chances of you meeting your idol (The Dalai Lama? Your president? Heck, you could even add Oprah and why not add Mark Zuckerberg to the mix) is simply 4.something friends away from happening.

We’re not going to get into the way they made this deduction as it goes into some complicated algorithms that you would seriously need to be an analytical mind to understand. Frankly, you’d get a headache from our explanation. To keep it short and sweet, let’s face it, the social network era has provided us with tremendous reach. Any Jean, Pierre, Véronique and Paulette can share ideas with only a few jumps to a large portion of the world’s population and with even fewer steps to the entire population of a nation.

How did we go from carrier pigeons to 15MB/second speed Internet connections? Ideas now spread faster than they ever have, and the pixels of separation between you (in Haiti) and your mentor (on Mars) will become fewer and fewer. 

Long live innovation and the digital age!

PG, over and out.

Fix your Bike

For this post,  we will attempt to do an exercise. 

We invite you to take part in this process. If done well,   it will have thought us all a lesson... or two. 

Let's start by taking a look at this picture:

Take a close look and you will see many reasons why this bike is a pain in the you know what. While looking at the image, right here, right now, list ALL the things that are keeping YOU from moving forward. List all the psychologic or life flat tires that are inhibiting your success,  and write them down. It could be anything. Anything that is keeping you from reaching your fullest potential. Keep the list. We will.

By next monday,  fix your bike or fix your car or fix your laptop, and post it for your appreciation. By then, we will each take our individual list and learn, by looking at the restored "bicycle",  how to rewrite our negative life affirmations into positive ones. 

It could be a life changing week! Especially with the new year resolutions!  

Go! Go! Go! 

List at least three things that are keeping your tires flat... See you next monday. 

The State of Social Media

For today's blog,  we're doing something differently: we're using someone else's video to help update our dear readers,  yes...YOU :-),  on the state of social media. 

Keep in mind though that the numbers,  from November 22nd when the video was uploaded to now,  have changed. 

Millions of connections are made every day,  is your brand ready to take advantage of that and to start being a 'friend' to your consumers?

 Get out there. Observe. Connect. Grow.

Creativity

Were you born creative? Or were you brought up, groomed and brewed to become one?  Picasso says all kids are artists. We could argue the whole “nurture Vs nature” approach to continue the debate but this time, we will talk about how the use of your left brain vs. the right brain determines ones creativity.

When we did a quick survey around the creative side of the agency… it seems most of us at PG were brewed, by design, to do something creative, sampling the Arts for as long as we can remember, drawing circles, learning to play piano, playing with paint, writing on trees or on mom’s new sofa…  Do you think you have a creative mind? Chances are, YOU do, but you don’t know it! We get reprogrammed at an early age. From the day we step foot inside of a kindergarten, our memory disks are reformatted to develop the logical, language-based, rational capacities of the left side of our brain. You know, that side of the brain that is goal-oriented, intolerant, that loves to plan and lives in the past?  

What does this mean for us creative folks? Well, the left side remembers objects as they were thought to us. So, if you are asked to draw a hand, for example, we remember the symbol we have for "hand" from our left memory, replicate it like a robot and move on. By contrast, the right side is capable of expressing objects or feelings with restrictions only our imagination can limit.  
You want to muscle up the right brain and give your creative side a chance to shine? Follow the steps below:  

1. The first stage is to, as cliché as it sounds, step outside the box. Forget the past and remember that you have little use for it. The box in this case, is your left side of the brain that will already give you a concept based on what it knows. Of course, any creative innovation unavoidably is inspired by what came before it. For a journalist, this might mean reading extensively, cataloguing, assessing, defining, and ranking.  

2. Then, what you should do is, walk away. Literally walk. Since your right brain is linked with the left-side of your body and vice versa, walking will help you sync and balance your thoughts. When our left side and our right side are fighting to solve a problem, walking is a fantastic way to have great ideas come unconsciously.  

3. EUREKA! It came so unexpectedly! The lightbulb turned on! This will seldom happen at your desk. Give your left-brain some rest, and do something that would stimulate the right side: exercising, taking a long shower, sleeping (when sleeping, that’s when the right brain usually takes over, so get as much as you can!).  

4. Then, the left brain wants to take dominance. This is when you challenge the creative breakthrough you just had. Scientists do this in the laboratory. Painters do this on a canvas. Designers do it by translating a vision into pixels. If you are an accountant, you save the company a couple of buck on QuickBooks. If you are a mathematician, you do this by using new formulas. 

Ultimately, we are all born with pretty colors waving around in our brains. We are all creatives. Know the highest creativity is understanding how to engage your whole brain by moving docilely and deliberately between the right and left sides, action and timeout, determination and rest, breath and out-breath. That is also a simple prescription for how to live.  

PG, over and out.  

Conveying Emotion: "Voilà, 12 ans"

We haven't showcased a TV ad in a while,  and we felt you may want to see our latest creation. Not to toot our own horn,  but the feedback we've gotten is quite positive. This week,  we decided to go with our latest TV ad for Voilà.

Our favorite telecommunications client recently celebrated 12 years of serving the Haitian market. In this video, they thank their loyal customers for letting Voilà/Comcel be by their side during those years. The ad is in French,  but you do not need to speak the language for the emotions to flow in. It is a purely sentimental ad that goes straight to your heart.

"Voilà, 12 ans" is a collaboration between PubliGestion and Muska Productions. Go ahead,  leave us your comments and your thoughts. Tell us why you love it,  or if you don't,  please don't hesitate to tell us why,  as we love constructive criticism.

PG,  over and out.

2011 Mashable Media Summit - In our eyes.

VC, circled in red, in attendance at the 2011 Mashable Media Summit.

On Friday November 4th, our eMarketing Strategist (Véronique_code name: VC) , had the pleasure of attending the 2011 Mashable Media Summit in New York City.

In a quick click, if you don’t know what the Mashable Media Summit is, here goes: it was a conference attended by a group of dominant space-age species exploring how media-centric technology has forever changed our fields.

The house, the Times Center, was packed with over 360 attendants tweeting away and taking notes from tablets. On deck were some real rock stars from Facebook, Foursquare, Reuters, The New York Times, Buddy Media, Esquire, Gilt Group, etc, etc, etc… From Véronique’s own words: “My brain felt like a blank hard drive, downloading from the thoughts evoked by some of the most brilliant minds in our field.”

When asked who her top 2 presenters/sessions were, VC said:

1-    The Importance of Being Awesome by Faris Yakob, Chief Innovation Officer at MDC Partners/KBS+P, who she mimicked as being a total character. He was the presenter right after lunch. You know? That slump lot when everyone in attendance has the itis. “Awesome and unconventional” she furthers… a positively wacky and brilliant presentation summing up technology as "stuff that doesn't work yet" but soon to be the norm.

2-    Like a Virgin — The Ultimate User Experience  by Tor Myhren, President of Grey New York, who also used a positively deranged analogy to highlight how much social media is changing the way we communicate. Myhren told the participants he, as a boy, lost his virginity at 14 in a relationship that started over the land line. Flash forward to 2011, boys and girls still want to meet…but only this time it fist happens on Facebook with all the poking, sexting and the like. Demonstrating how "As technology changes, the soul of man (and his impulses) do not."

As for the day’s highlights, rather than rehashing what is already on the intrawebs, we invite you to check our Twitter timeline, or just do a Twitter search with the conference’s hashtag #MediaSummit. And since true success is knowledge applied…we look forward to applying ALL of that newly downloaded knowledge to the benefit of our clients. =)

PG, over and out.

Haitian Halloween - Guede

Papa Guede (Baron Samedi)

This monday precedes one of the most folkloresque seasons of the year. Haiti is on holiday, and so is our entry for this October 31st. But because we love and appreciate you stopping by so much, we've provided you with a few links to learn more about an interesting voodoo festivity, Guede, and its cultural meaning. Here at PubliGestion, we are quite the diverse group in which most religions and beliefs are represented. Nonetheless, this ceremony is, if we may admit it, impregnated into any creative Haitian's spirit. Aibobo...

English:

Vodou and The Guede Spirits (Haitian Halloween): http://www.heritagekonpa.com/The%20Truth%20about%20Vodou%20and%20the%20Guede%20Spirit.htm, 

Guédé: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu%C3%A9d%C3%A9

French:

La fête des Guédés / Haïti / 2 novembre: http://constellations-maf.over-blog.com/article-la-fete-des-guedes-haiti-2-novembre--38643823.html, 

La célébration du deuil: http://www.lenouvelliste.com/articles/1/63700

Web design vs. Print design. Huh?

Most of the graphic designers out there have a career path from print design to web design, which is comprehensible since chronologically, computers follow papers. 

Of course, the ones who were born in the digital era form the exceptions; without a clue what in the world a "0.25in bleed" means. Don’t get us wrong; there are numerous graphic designers out there who know their stuff when it comes to print, billboard design, layout and the Pantone Matching System. BUT, all graphic designers are not good web designers - le contraire est aussi vrai. Web design is such a different world where there is no paper size; there’s "screen resolution", and it changes for every viewer depending on their screen size, colors don't cost extra to print, you have to use fonts that are included in most font-books, etc...

Transiting from print to web is a difficult journey for the graphic designer; just like the change from mac to windows. Though they share a lot of similarities, mostly on a fundamental level, print and web are two different worlds. The former is static (once it's printed, it's printed) while the latter is dynamic and most importantly interactive. Oh, and in print design, the paper doesn't have to load, whereas in web-design you're only as good as your website is light.

What's more is that it has *kinda* been proven that print designers and web-designers think with different sides of their brains. Which do you think is more creative? Either way, designers in general are some of the most passionate, strong willed, dedicated of people. We're always impressed with good design!

Oh, btw, we're hiring graphic designers if you need a job! It's a down economy, move to Haiti. ;-)

« Bon zanmi konn fanmi »

Depuis les plus de 32 ans d’existence de PubliGestion, nous avons rencontré toutes sortes de clients, les faciles et les moins faciles, les grandes corporations et les petites sociétés, ceux qui adorent toujours ce que nous leur proposons, et ceux qui sont des éternels insatisfaits, ceux qui ne font que passer et ceux qui restent pour devenir au fil du temps un peu comme un « fanmi ».

Il y a 12 ans, une jeune compagnie de télécommunication contactait PubliGestion pour préparer son lancement sur le marché. Leur projet : révolutionner le monde de la communication en Haïti en offrant des produits et services comme on n’en n’avait jamais encore reçus chez nous. 12 ans après, Comcel, devenu Voilà a, à son actif, une longue histoire de service à la population haïtienne, et PubliGestion est heureuse et fière d’avoir fait le chemin à leur coté, d’être passé avec eux du violet au vert et de faire partie depuis 12 ans de ces alliés , « bon zanmi konn fanmi », qui ont traversé avec eux les bons et moins bons moments, les succès, les problèmes, les grandes joies et les fortes émotions et qui ont accompagné et mis en valeur les petits et grands événements de leur vie d’entreprise.

12 ans déjà, ce 12 octobre 2011. Voilà l’a bien compris, ce n’est pas le moment des grandes fêtes dispendieuses et des tralalas…C’est plutôt le moment de se retrousser les manches et de travailler à une Haïti meilleure. C’est le moment de rallier les forces de leur grande famille pour servir encore mieux la population haïtienne qui a si souvent, les 12 années écoulées, compté sur Voilà pour innover, communiquer, se rapprocher, être rassurée et partager…

Heureux de prêter nos idées, nos voix et nos talents à ce géant haïtien de la communication… notre souhait est de continuer, de longues années encore, à nous faire l’écho de leurs succès.

We are all weird. (et oui !)

Pour reprendre les mots du créatif Dr. Seuss : "Nous sommes (en effet) tous un peu bizarre et la vie est elle aussi un peu bizarre et quand nous trouvons quelqu'un dont la bizarrerie est compatible avec la nôtre, nous nous joignons à elle dans une bizarrerie mutuelle en appelant cela l'amour". 

A en croire Dr. Seuss, l’amour au sens propre n’est donc qu’une quête existentielle de compatibilité avec l’autre confirmant le vieil adage "qui se ressemble s’assemble". Mais, voyez vous, les temps ont changé! Ah oui, bien changé ! 

Je me suis récemment mise à feuilleter le dernier livre de Seth Godin intitulé "We Are All Weird" qui, traduit en "French", signifie que "Nous sommes tous bizarres". Et je peux vous le confirmer, Godin a bien raison ! Godin explique que pendant l’âge de la "masse", c’est-à-dire à l’ère du marketing de masse, de la fabrication de masse, de la scolarisation de masse et des mouvements de masse, il fallait être "normal", conforme à la norme, ne pas détonner. La majorité avait toujours raison et nous voulions tous intégrer, sans les contredire les normes de nos tribus respectives. 

Aujourd’hui, la masse est morte et elle laisse place à "l’individu". C’est l’ère de la customisation et de l’expression de soi. C’est "Vive la différence et ne vivre que par elle !"

En conclusion, et en résumé : Dansons tous au rythme de notre propre musique. Soyons pleinement qui nous sommes car nous sommes la meilleure version possible de nous-même ! Soyons joyeusement bizarre !

Ci-dessous, un exemple d'une compagnie qui a rapidement compris cette nouvelle tendance ...

Gout et Saveurs Lakay

This week, we thought we'd pay homage to a great initiative. Do you like good food? Do you like to savor a good drink? 

Gout et Saveurs Lakay is the first food and spirits festival in Haiti that was kicked-off this Friday, and that will last all week. The team behind it (Le Nouvelliste and ACH) wants to promote and bring value to the Haitian culinary arts, and to make people aware of what it means to consume local products. 

Below are some images from Friday’s spectacularly yummy evening at the Ritz Kinam in Pétion-Ville. People laughed, palettes rejoiced, ears basked in beautiful rhythms and the crowd enjoyed some good vibrations. Rhum Barbancourt, Café Rebo and Prestige Beer were on deck…to name a few… 

If you are a foodie, we suggest you check out the restaurants this week that will have special menus in honor of the Haitian culinary arts. Trust us, your taste-buds will thank you. Cheers!

Le jeu de mots et la pub

En général, le jeu de mots s'appuie pour un effet maximal sur le jonglage de différents mots et imageries y relatives, qu’il soit phonologique, graphologique, morphologiques, lexical, syntaxique ou textuel.
Un jeu de mots en pub est efficace si et seulement si :

-      Il est bien ciblé « culturellement »
-      Il renforce l’idée principale
-      Il est compris de la majorité.

Bien conçu, un jeu de mot peut même se permettre d’être un peu bête si il est assez amusant. Dans ce sens, on pourrait imaginer un slogan pour une compagnie d’Assurance qui « protège les bijoux de famille !». lol
Où un « Je pense donc j’essuie » pour une lingette jetable,
Ou enfin « Eau qu’elle est belle ! » pour une eau bien emballé…

Les possibilités sont infinies…Mais il faut toujours rester loin des jeux de mots gratuits en trouvant le mélange juste et en se souciant surtout de l’interprétation.

Récemment, nous avons utilisé le slogan "Kou Manman" pour une campagne de fête des mères. Un mot qui isolé et mis en dehors de son contexte gêne certainement les prudes. Dans une pub de fête des mères par contre, là c’est tout autre chose !

Et d’ailleurs  si vous voulez savoir exactement ce que nous sommes en somme ici à PubliGestion je vous répondrai qu’en fait, nous sommes tous…enfin presque tous…. des obsédés textuels. Haha. :-)

"Kou Manman !!! de MSC Trading"
Publiée dans le journal "Le Nouvelliste" pendant la saison de Fête des mères 2010. 

PubliGestion's Logo and Mondrian

Designers are sometimes the unsung heroes who make the most meaningless things come true to life. They are those talented folks who help translate the visions of marketing and the objectives of the client. With their methods, laws and creative fervor, they create masterpieces with timeless value. We think our logo is a masterpiece. Frankly, because it is. No, we're not being cocky. Keep reading... :)

Have you ever noticed, for example that our logo is inspired by Piet Mondrian’s “Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow, 1930” painting? This is not by sheer coincidence.

 Piet Mondrian’s "Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow"

Our name “PubliGestion” when dissected, it goes like this:“Publi” the first half of our name simply means “many” or “multi”, but when you start analyzing it in its Latin roots, it means people, concerning people or belonging to the people. Now, “Gestion” is the French for “Management.” So, in short “PubliGestion” means combining efforts to manage, influence, inspire or produce.

PubliGestion's logo

Back to Mondrian: if you look for the meaning behind his paintings, the most common is that there is a balance between all elements within his geometric pieces thanks to his use of white space and his stroke techniques generating a greater sense of depth in the white forms. Most importantly, it’s Mondrian’s relentless pursuit of new dynamism within a set of shapes and structures that really inspired us.

Now, if you're wondering about why we chose blue and orange, well that's gonna have to wait for another blog entry when we talk about color therapy. ;)

What Fuels Great Work

Multiplying negatives makes a positive.

We live in Haiti, and yes, living in Haiti is much of a roller-coaster, but then again, show us a country where residents live in a straight and calm stream down a steady gondola, and we'll pay you. ;)

At PubliGestion, we like to think that our art is consistently creative and insightful, from the mega marketing campaign to the simple, yet out of this world, flyer.  Wondering how we keep our zen while living in a country with lots of instability? 

Rather than basking in negativity, and of seeing everything in a critical eye, focus on the positive and help your team members do the same.

It's safe to say that most of us at the agency live a day-to-day life where we don't let anger move in, but rather generosity and friendship reside in our space, and that combination is what fuels great work.

Woahhhh there, we're not preaching that you become a guru of light and sounds, but a positive needle in the haystack. Remember, a smile confuses an approaching frown.

We are passionate about our work, and we like to believe that we're innovators. So, we'll leave you with this:

1- Hard work

2- Persistence

3- Long hours in the trenches

4- Remember to breathe

5- Never stop learning

6- Get back up after you've failed,

     and most importantly...

7- work in something you love!

EIGHT (8) Advertising Books You MUST Read

Are you an advertiser? If so, you are a constant student of the craft. Our industry keeps changing, and in order not to be phased out, there are books you must read. Let’s face it, the right reading resources will help fuel your inner Bernbach.

The only constant in advertising is change. If you want to maintain your agency’s success in the field, you have to keep up. Honestly, some will argue that it is not easy, but this change in communications and marketing is simply revolutionary.

In order to stay on top on things, and on top of the competition, here’s a little reading list:

1. Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want 

2. How to Win Friends & Influence People

3. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

4. Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks) 

5. Permission Marketing : Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers

6. The E-Myth Revisited

7. Fils de pub 

8. Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant

Enjoy a good book, and remember to maintain a consistent reading program! ;-)

If you have any books you’d like to share with us, please share them in the comment section below.

When Apple and BlackBerry were just fruits

Try to remember how life was back in the non-digital days. Rotary phones, phonebooks, boom boxes, cassettes; The Atari; The Polaroid; The stamped envelopes (!!!) 

At the time, and looking back, technology was clearly at its early stage. Never too harmful. Never too present. One click into the future…and into 2011 and BANG: Our new smartphones are doing all of the above and so much more.

Technology evolved so quickly and smartly. For example, an interesting study reveals that a rat and a MacBook Pro are of similar intelligence.* My own assumption is that the iPod Touch is probably as smart as a poodle; Just how the poodle will fetch a bone, the iPod will fetch you the Bone Thugs and Harmony discography in a jiffy. Proof enough?

In advertising for instance, technology is already bringing innovative and unheard of possibilities. TheSun.com has an interesting story today about a new technology being test marketed in Japan right now. This product is a billboard with facial recognition software to scan your face, determine your gender and then deliver an appropriate ad.

Tèt chaje indeed. It’s a brave new world out there and we are so happy and so excited to be part of it!

This week nonetheless, we invite you all to unplug for a moment from the digital world. Go back to reading that paper-back book. Go off the wire. Take a vacay. Remove yourself from the grid. Unplug. Go find yourself different sets of distractions away from the digital noise. Immerse yourself into the blue noise of stillness. Open your horizons and emancipate yourself from digital slavery!

;^) 

Ok ok ok. LMAO You can go back to work now. Seriously? What would we do if Apple was just a fruit?  

New ET at PubliGestion

 

Bzzzt gzzt... Earth to PubliGestion, Earth to Publigestion!

A month before this post, you would've pulled a taro card and told me I would work at PubliGestion and I still wouldn't believe you. We could even bet on it and I'd probably be the one ending up buying the first round of Prestige, byen glase!

2 weeks before, the Agency deployed two of their own kind to visit me.  They came in with their flying saucer, flashed a blue light at me and that was it. I was an official UFO (eMarketing Coordinator/Designer in human terms) stationed in the "Zen Room";  A little e-room called this way by our Marketing Director... because it's usually where the cosmic energies conjugate.  I share the space with two other ETs. One deals with keeping me busy from 8:30 to 4:30; she's the Interactive Community Strategist and the other is an Intern from Planet Mark_Elenin. We are the Social Media Department and boy do the inhabitants here drink black coffee!

Though it sounds scary, working with aliens like the creative folks here at Publigestion is proving to be a great experience, like eating double bacon cheese burger with extra ketchup in zero G. In my next post, we'll go into the details about the life of a Digital Marketer in Haiti.

In the meantime, leave us a comment.

Ciao! bbzzzz bzzzz. Over and out.

Can your intern write your blog?

If your intern is an English major, or a writer with a proven track in writing engaging and consistent content that is search engine optimized…hmmm, maybe? However, rule 101, remember that your blog has to be coherent. By coherent we mean logical and consistent. In a field of infinite blogging possibilities, great blogs revolve around subjects  its bloggers know best. The secret is to always theme posts that are part of your field of lexicon. That way readers know what to expect from you, and keep on coming for more of the same good stuff.

If you always blog about hot dogs, don’t diversify and talk about the new breed from the American Kennel Club. You know?  Before deciding to have a blog, remember this: good blogging takes time and commitment.  If your company is serious about creating an essentially great blog, begin with the end in mind.  

Not to toot our horn, but our social media team would like to remind you that a great blog (and we’re starting to think our blog isn’t too bad) must have many brains, but a distinctive pen.  With training and practice, your intern may be able to write your company’s blog. So, to Nathalie (our new intern), if you are willing to jump the ink, we’d love to train you! From the way you talk about your weekend escapades, you must be natural born storyteller. :-)

Kenbe Prestige Ou

For the past year, the slogan for Prestige has been "Kenbe Prestige Ou," a nice play on words inviting the Prestige drinker to hold his or her beer up, or a more patriotic secondary meaning, where we encourage fellow Haitians to keep the optimism.

This week, we decided to go with a TV ad for Haiti's beer. You don't need to speak Créole to understand this commercial. Just like Prestige, it has a global appeal.

The seductive commercial below is a collaboration between Lux Production Group and PubliGestion featuring Pooh Bear. Feel free to leave your comments. Tell us why you love it, because we know you will! Kenbe Prestige Ou !

What do you wanna do when you grow up?

This Saturday, I had the “what do you want to be when you grow up?” conversation with my 7-year-old godson, and the clever little dude replies: “when you were my age, Facebook didn’t exist right?” To which I had to obviously reply “No. It didn’t.”  With a grin on his face he says: “When I’m your age, I’ll have a career in something that doesn’t exist yet.” How cool is that?

Facebook was a few years old when I got to college. The first thing I signed up  for with my “.edu” email account was Facebook. Back then the social network was only opened to college students, and grandma was not sending you FarmVille requests! ... And the rest is history.

When Zuckerberg and his team decided to open it up to the public at large, it was clear his baby would become a digital superpower. It is unimaginable how much social networks have turned our world upside down giving a whole new dimension to being citizens of the world. On a marketing standpoint, think about their influence on the ways we communicate, advertise, collect intelligence and research on research.

To my  dear “digital native” godson, here are a few jobs you might want to keep an eye on…

- Cyber Security Specialist: Keep our lives safe. The cop of tomorrow. People with this speciality will be a hot commodity.

- Organic Food Engineer: This may have a weird sound to it, but in the future, who knows what will be on the menu. Hint: climate change.

- Application Developer and Simulation Expert: The designer of the future will not only make things look beautiful, but functional: from how we perform surgeries to flying to drinking and driving. Holograms?

- Robotics Manufacturer: Microbotics will be to your generation what the Radiography is to mine. Obsolete, and no longer impressive. Here at PG, we're predicting that cars will do more than just parallel park themselves. Artificial Intelligence beyond what the term means today.

- Social Media Curator: Yes, my job will still exist. No, it is not just a bubble! Haha. :-) 

If you want to be a Power Ranger or  Sponge Bob when you grow up, comment below. Cheers!