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Job Opportunities

Have You Been Making Big Ideas Count?

This business is, by its very nature, collaborative. But in an organization as integrated as Colle+McVoy, collaboration takes on a new meaning. Most projects and campaigns here will involve people from numerous disciplines, often performing tasks outside their normal roles, thinking in ways they haven’t had to think in previous jobs, and engaging our clients at an earlier stage than most agencies would find comfortable. If you’re up for the challenges and the opportunities, please get in touch.

Check out our current openings »

Colle+McVoy is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

We Eat, Sleep and Silkscreen Cycling
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We Eat, Sleep and Silkscreen Cycling

Art Crank Posters

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Mike Caguin

It’s no surprise we’re a culture of cyclists at Colle+McVoy. Our latest output comes from Aaron Purmort, Lindsey Aho and yours truly. We’re three of the 40 local artists in the sixth annual ArtCrank - a poster art show that celebrates cycling. I asked Aaron, a returning artist, and Lindsey, a first-timer, about their experiences going from idea to execution.

Mike: Lindsey, this is your first time participating in ArtCrank. What made you decide to throw your hat in the ring?

Lindsey: I've always wanted to participate, but somehow have managed to miss the entry date. Not this year.

Mike: How about you, Aaron? You’re a veteran. How are you feeling about this year?

Aaron: I think it's very exciting every year. It's by far the biggest showing of screen-printed posters under one roof in our city annually, and I love screen printing. Seeing what other people come up with is always the best part for me.


Mike: How did your arrive at your idea? What was the inspiration behind it?

L: I didn't want the focus to be on just one type of bike. I wanted everyone to be able to relate to my poster.

A: I did a lot of drawing by hand while I was on medical leave from work, and I think that has influenced my designs since coming back to work. I do a lot more sketching now, and I've always loved drawing type by hand, I just do it more now. When I visited my parents in Scottsdale, Arizona this winter, I went on a bike ride to see my grandparents, who live on the other side of the city. The paths and roads down there are amazing for biking, and it got me thinking a lot about how cities other than Minneapolis have really started encouraging and putting money toward biking for commuting and recreation. Also, I had been doodling the American flag a lot lately, so I knew I wanted to incorporate that into my poster design somehow.


Mike: Did your idea come to you right away or did you labor over it? What was your creation process?

L: It was actually the first visual I saw in my head. Making it, though, was laborious. I always start out in pencil. Draw, redraw, trace, erase and draw some more. Then I ink. And finally, I take it into the computer and work on it some more.

A: I labored over how to fit the flag into a poster about biking, and after a ton of pretty horrible ideas, I started seeing the stripes in the flag as something that could be bent and warped instead of just straight lines. That led to my final illustration. I then worked with a friend who runs Big Table Studio (a fantastic place for printing!) in St. Paul on the printing.


Mike: Are you an avid cyclist?

L: Like most, I have enjoyed riding a bike since I was little. It's something that will always be a part of my life.

A: I'm not hard-core enough to bike in wintertime, but I try getting out as much as I can. It's been a little hard getting going this spring on bike commuting to work, because I've been more tired than usual due to medications. I wish I biked more, and will start to soon. I just sold my car, so I hope that will force my hand more this year.


Mike: Knowing that nearly 3,000 people attended ArtCrank last year, were you nervous during the process?

L: Yes. I'm fairly decent at procrastinating. But I didn't this time, because I didn’t want to screw anything up. It's always nerve-racking to show your work, and I don't think I'll ever stop caring whether people like it or not.

A: I'm always a little nervous showing work, but it's not really a forum where you're judged on the finished piece. It's definitely more of a celebration and a party. Thinking about the show that way helped.


Mike: What's your twitter handle so people can absorb your infinite wisdom?

L: @lindseyaho

A: @purmort

 
Mike: Are you going to the opening?

L: Heck yes.

A: Hell yes.

Mike: Me too. Can’t wait.


Now Hiring: Art Director
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Now Hiring: Art Director

Position Summary

Colle+McVoy, named one of the Best Places to Work by Advertising Age and Outside, is seeking a junior to mid-level art director to do awesome stuff in an environment that is fueled by creating standout work. Responsibilities include coming up with and executing big campaign ideas (and little ones) across all mediums, as well as art directing partners: photographers, retouchers, illustrators, directors, animators, editors, print vendors, etc.

Responsibilities

  • Develop concepts, layouts and collaborate with copywriters and other creatives to produce a high caliber of refined work under deadlines
  • Art direct through final layouts; attend photo shoots, broadcast shoots and all aspects of post-production
  • Present ideas and work to team and/or senior creative personnel
  • Possess a spectrum of design skills, interactive design is a plus
  • Remain current on industry trends and technology

Qualifications/Traits

  • Bachelor’s degree in a related field and/or ad school credentials
  • Less than five years of experience, but with a killer book
  • Basic understanding of printing process, photography, illustration, typography, interactive
  • Competency in the Adobe Creative Suite of applications
  • Ability to gracefully handle multiple projects in a fast-paced environment

Send Resume

Colle+McVoy is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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Celebrating the Unpredictability of the Digital Decade

Craig Pladson

Minnesotan marketers get interactive. This has never been more apparent than it was this past Wednesday at the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA) Summit. The theme of the conference was “Celebrating the Digital Decade,” which served not only as a testament to the monumental changes we’ve experienced in digital, but also a celebration of MIMA being the oldest and biggest interactive marketing association in the country. MIMA has pioneered a local path that allows organizations to elevate their talent by offering premium programs that present high-quality speakers to share the digital love.

There were more than 60 speakers at this year’s MIMA Summit, who were organized into 10 different tracks for attendees to choose from: content and storytelling, digital decade, e-commerce and e-mail, marketing technologies, measurement, mobile and screens, the nonprofit perspective, social media, trends and user experience. Colle+McVoy sent a group of people from various disciplines in order to take in as much as we could from the 40 different sessions.

Outside the two keynote speakers (Avinash Kaushik + Chris Anderson), I spent most of the day attending sessions listed in the user experience track. With the hope of capturing the perspective of everyone who attended from Colle+McVoy, I solicited feedback by asking for two or three sentence descriptions of themes they identified throughout the day. The unpredictable nature of the Web and technology rose to the top. Avinash’s opening keynote talk set the tone, “Predicting what the Web will be in five years is impossible. What we learned six months ago is irrelevant today. Which is why we all continue to do this and why all of you are here. That’s what I love about my job.” Avinash closed by talking about how failure inherently follows the unpredictability of innovation. By failing fast, interactive marketers can swiftly adapt to the real-time changes in consumer behavior.

The idea of unpredictability carried over into the first session I attended, titled “The Future of UX” by Boon Sheridan. “You can’t put things in motion and predict the future of digital and technology because it changes so fast. Focus on the now. The reality is that we can’t solve for design problems that don’t exist today,” emphasized Sheridan. He continued, “Design for interruption. It’s impossible to perfectly guide someone through the digital ecosystem.” The idea of digital ecosystems has become a common phrase among UX professionals and digital strategists. Given the ecosystem’s unpredictability, Sheridan recommended starting all digital projects by storyboarding a few different use-case scenarios and then layering in the navigational and content gaps that exist. From there, teams can brainstorm possible solutions before initiating design concepts.

Edward Boches and David Armano also covered the unpredictability of innovation in their session “Group Therapy for Would-Be Innovators.” Boches argued there are three ways agencies can grow: 1) sell existing services, 2) develop new services for existing clients, 3) create new services for new clients. Innovation can fuel any of these growth strategies when the agency’s workforce is liberated to work on experiential projects. Due to the unpredictable nature of the Web and technology, the only way to keep up with the shifts in consumer behavior is to experiment. Learn by doing. And failing. Hearing these perspectives definitely solidified my perspective on how Colle+McVoy has started to formally harness innovation across the agency. My role may serve as a catalyst to identify opportunities for innovation, but it’s the makeup of the agency that allows us to produce ideas such as Squawq, Super Chatter and SXSW Talks.

My final session of the day, “Rethinking User Research and Usability Testing for the Social Web,” offered one final reminder of the unpredictability of the Web and consumer behavior. “We don’t know how to find out about things we don’t know about. People don’t act in the real world as we want them to in usability tests. People don’t live in a world doing one task with one device out of context,” explained Dana Chisnell. She said, “The Web has always been social, but it’s now more social than ever. The Web enables a powerful platform for human-to-human interaction facilitated by technology.” Because of this, Chisnell expressed the importance of rethinking how we gather people’s feedback as we create digital experiences. With the Web being an enabler of human-to-human interaction, understanding people’s online relationships is more important than ever. We need to stop looking for the things we know about in usability testing and challenge ourselves to find the things we don’t know about.

MIMA was right. The imperfection and unpredictability of the past, present and future of interactive marketing should be celebrated. It should be celebrated because our community has demonstrated an unmatched passion and interest in learning, failing and obsessing over how we can get smarter and better at what we do. There’s a reason people like Avinash Kaushik and Chris Anderson are coming to Minnesota. It’s because we’re humble enough to be obviously curious and we have some of the top brands and agencies in the country producing some of the best interactive work on the planet.


Nestlé Purina: This Could be the Year Case Study
nestl purina , animal , cat , dog , case studies , influencer marketing , print ad
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Nestlé Purina: This Could be the Year Case Study

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Solution

The This Could Be The Year campaign demonstrates that Pro Plan is the brand that understands the competitive nature of breeders and delivers the pride of achievement they crave. The campaign celebrates and encourages the competitive spirit of breeders through sports-like journalistic photography and bold headlines. Now in its third year, This Could Be the Year has received extremely positive feedback. Much of the buzz centers on how the campaign’s breakthrough creative beautifully captures the essence of what makes the sport of showing dogs so popular with breeders and consumers alike.

Challenge

Purina® Pro Plan® is a super-premium dog food brand that has quietly dominated the highly influential breeder audience for years. But recently, other pet food manufacturers, recognizing an opportunity, have started to challenge Pro Plan’s dominance. They cast Pro Plan as a big brand made with sub-par ingredients and fillers. Pro Plan needed to fight back, but the brand wouldn’t win by playing the war of ingredients waged by the competition. We needed to create emotional affinity for Pro Plan among breeders to overcome rational attacks from niche brand offerings.

About Us
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About Us

We are the enemies of the ordinary.
The adversaries of the usual.
The opposite of average.

Why? Because we believe complex business challenges can be transformed into rewarding opportunities through standout work. We’ve assembled a team of 200 passionate individuals who take great pride in building big ideas that lead to better results.

Meet our senior leadership team »

Explore Minnesota Tourism: More To Explore Case Study
explore minnesota tourism , minnesota , tourism , case studies , celebrity , music , bands , recreation , identity
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Explore Minnesota Tourism: More To Explore Case Study

Video: More to Explore TV Video

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Solution

We set our sights on the travelers who are more optimistic (cautiously optimistic, but optimistic nonetheless) and ready to experience life. They are curious to discover what makes a destination exceptional. Thus, the More to Explore campaign was born. Just as Minnesota is a state worth exploring, we set out to create a commercial worth exploring. Throughout the spot, visual surprises are sprinkled in to delight and, most of all, support the idea that there really is More To Explore in Minnesota. The biggest surprise of all was saved for the end of the spot when Joe Mauer, Minnesota’s favorite son (and MVP), made his singing debut. The result is a seamless, exuberant tribute to all that Minnesota has to offer. The television spot has become Explore Minnesota’s most buzzworthy initiative ever.

Challenge

When it comes to promoting state tourism, Minnesota is routinely outspent by its neighbors at a ratio of up to 3 to 1. With the travel economy still in recovery and the state in a major budget-cutting mode, it was imperative for us to do more with less, while breaking through the mass of tourism advertising.

Erbert & Gerbert’s: Rebranding Case Study
erbert & gerbert’s , retail , restaurant , package design , award winning , effie , food
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Erbert & Gerbert’s: Rebranding Case Study

Erbert & Gerbert Rebranding

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Solution

In order to reinvigorate Erbert & Gerbert’s, we went back their very humble, albeit quirky, beginning. At the core of the brand are imaginative bedtime stories a father told his 7-year-old and 9-year-old children, Erbert and Gerbert Herbert. Just as the children make fun discoveries throughout their adventures, we wanted people to have as much fun discovering the E&G brand. Our big idea was embodied in our campaign’s theme line: Subs Worth Discovering. We made sure every touchpoint was worth discovering — from a redesign of the store experience to a simple, easy-to-use, print-on-demand system, which allowed franchisees to customize campaigns at the local level and the company to track use and results. Finally, we created an innovative, integrated advertising campaign that generated positive sales and earned global media coverage for the chain. Not only did the work earned a shelf full of awards, including a Gold EFFIE, but it was also featured on CNN, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the CBS Early Show and VH1. But our proudest moment was being named Vendor of the Year by the franchisee network.

Challenge

Erbert & Gerbert’s, a quirky sub chain in the Midwest, is outspent by competitors such as Jimmy John’s, Potbelly and marketing behemoth Subway. Not only was it being outspent 130 to 1 by its competitors, it also had an outdated image that hadn’t been refreshed in 20 years. To build the business in a highly competitive environment, it would have to focus on what made its store experience unique and connect with those who valued it.

ESPN: Bassmasters
espn , fishing , sports , print ad
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ESPN: Bassmasters

TMF ESPN Bassmaster

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In the world of Bassmaster on ESPN, every catch is big. With each strike, there’s excitement and drama. And what’s on the other end of the line could mean the difference between winning and losing a tournament. To bring this idea to life, we created a visually stunning campaign for both the Bassmaster Classic and Bassmaster Elite Series, highlighting many of the top anglers in the sport.

C+M Hires And Promotes Within Creative Department
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C+M Hires And Promotes Within Creative Department

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 30, 2010 - Colle+McVoy announced today the addition of three employees and promotions for six others in its creative department. Recently, Colle+McVoy announced the expansion of the interactive and account service departments to meet growth in new business and current accounts. New clients include Dorel Recreational/Leisure, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, Old Navy, Explore Minnesota Tourism, Medtronic Foundation and Regis Corp. The new hires include:

- Harlo Petoskey has been hired as senior information and user experience architect. Petoskey has extensive brand experience that includes the University of Minnesota, Thomson Reuters, General Mills, HBO, Dell, Disney and Buick.

- Aaron Purmort has been hired as senior interactive designer. Purmort has considerable brand experience, including Microsoft, Target, Best Buy, General Mills and American Standard.

- Josh Van Patter has been hired as editor. Van Patter previously worked with brands that include Motorola, Journeys, Oppenheimer Funds and the University of Minnesota.

The six promotions include:

- Kristen Evanoff, promoted to director of creative output.

- John Neerland, promoted to associate creative director.

- Chris Peters, promoted to senior art producer and photographer.

- Lindsey Aho, promoted to senior designer.

- Micah Dahl, promoted to editor.

- Nina Orezzoli, promoted to senior art director.

"The creative group at Colle+McVoy comprises diverse talent with a big appetite for client success," said Mike Caguin, executive creative director, Colle+McVoy. "We could not be more excited to kick off a new year with our expanded and energized team."

Photos available upon request.

C+M Recognized With Bicycle Friendly Business Award
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C+M Recognized With Bicycle Friendly Business Award

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 27, 2010 - The League of American Bicyclists has recognized Colle+McVoy as a Bronze Level Bicycle Friendly Business (BFB). As an award winner, Colle+McVoy is providing a more bicycle-friendly lifestyle for its employees and serves as an example for best practices and innovations in bicycle friendliness at the workplace.

"Colle+McVoy is making a difference for employees, clients and communities," said Bill Nesper, Director of the Bicycle Friendly America Program. "The agency promotes bicycling as a viable form of transportation and gives their employees choices and options that make biking to work easy and fun."

Colle+McVoy makes bicycling an easy option for transportation and provides amenities such as a locker and shower room for changing, in-office bike parking, direct access to hundreds of miles of bike trails and free bike repair gear. It also offers incentives such as an employee bicycle financing program.

"We are proud to be recognized for our efforts to make Colle+McVoy and the Twin Cities a more bike-friendly place," said Christine Fruechte, president and CEO, Colle+McVoy. "Part of our commitment to the outdoor recreation category is encouraging our employees to live the lifestyle. Supporting bicycling is a big part of this and allows us to promote something we love, as well as health and wellness. It’s a win for everyone."

The Bicycle Friendly Community and Bicycle Friendly Business programs are generously supported by program partners Bikes Belong and Trek Bicycle’s One World, Two Wheels Campaign.

C+M Wins Two Acclaimed Internet Honors
press release , social media ,  interactive
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C+M Wins Two Acclaimed Internet Honors

MINNEAPOLIS, May 5, 2010 - The Colle+McVoy creation, www.YearbookYourself.com, won two Webby Awards in the Best Use of Social Media category of The 14th Annual Webby Awards. Hailed as the "Internet’s highest honor" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet.

"This is a tremendous honor since this category represents the most cutting-edge work in social media, an area that every company is looking to leverage." said Mike Caguin, executive creative director, Colle+McVoy. "This award recognizes the hard work of many people, as well as the forward-thinking vision of our client partner, Taubman Centers."

YearbookYourself.com won both the Webby Award given by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) and the People’s Voice Webby Award in the Best Use of Social Media category. The previous iteration of the site won the People’s Voice Webby Award last year in the Viral Marketing category. With nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 U.S. states and more than 60 countries worldwide, the 14th Annual Webby Awards is the biggest in its history and continues to be the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. YearbookYourself.com was one of only five finalists in its category and was voted the people’s favorite after more than 700,000 votes were cast online. The cross-section of winners hailing from 14 countries will be honored at an event hosted by B.J. Novak of NBC’s The Office. in New York City on June 14. A full list of winners can be found at www.webbyawards.com.

"The Webby Awards honor the very best of the Internet," said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. "YearbookYourself.com’s achievement is a testament to the skill, ingenuity and vision of its creators."

The unparalleled Webby win is the latest award for Colle+McVoy, which was also recently honored with four awards in The One Show and won the 2010 Adweek Buzz Award for YearbookYourself.com in the online category.

Over the last two years, YearbookYourself.com became an instant hit and a pop culture phenomenon for client Taubman Centers. The site was featured on more than 45,000 Web sites, blogs and media, including USA Today, Tech Crunch, ESPN, VH1’s Best Week Ever, The Early Show on CBS and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Numerous high-profile personalities embraced it, including Lance Armstrong, Pee-wee Herman and Evan Williams, co-founder of Twitter, who changed his profile picture to a Yearbook Yourself photo. The fun was wildly infectious and there were more than 28 million total visits to the site in the last two years. Once "yearbooked," the site easily allowed people to send their pictures to friends and post them to blogs and social networking sites (this year alone, more than 16 million Yearbook Yourself photos were shared via email or posted to Facebook). And the Yearbook Yourself Facebook fan page garnered more than 70,000 fans.

Doritos Had Most Talked About Super Bowl Ad, According To Twitter
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Doritos Had Most Talked About Super Bowl Ad, According To Twitter

Squawq provides immediate feedback from Twittersphere on America’s discussions about ads, brands and teams

MINNEAPOLIS, February 5, 2010 - The Doritos House Rules commercial was the most talked about television advertisement on Twitter during the 2010 Super Bowl, according to Squawq, a Web tool created by ad agency Colle+McVoy that tracks and analyzes conversations on Twitter. The Doritos brand as a whole received more than 35,000 tweets during the game for its ads, but most of these (more than 21,000 tweets) were received immediately after the House Rules spot aired, indicating its popularity. "We’re not sure if the House Rules spot will ultimately win the big prize money in the Doritos Crash The Super Bowl promotion, but they won on Twitter tonight," said Mike Caguin, executive creative director of Colle+McVoy. By monitoring and analyzing the volume of chatter on Twitter about advertisements, brands and Super Bowl topics, Squawq provided an immediate snapshot of people’s opinions on game day. It ranked the most talked about brands, advertisements and teams during and right after the game. Results can be found at http://squawq.com/superbowl/. "We created Squawq last year for our clients to track conversations about their brands and businesses on Twitter," said Caguin. "Squawq has been extremely useful, fun and easy to use, so we wanted to see what it would reveal during a major television event like the Super Bowl. Never before have we been able to gauge public interest and opinions so quickly."

According to Squawq, the top ten advertisers that spurred the most Twitter chatter as of 10 pm EST were Frito-Lay (Doritos), Anheuser-Busch (Bud, Bud Light, Select 55), Coca-Cola, Unilever (Dove), Audi of America, Focus on the Family, Mars (Snickers), Google, Levi Straus & Co. (Dockers), and E*Trade. Squawq uncovered other interesting results from its Twitter analysis during the Super bowl, including:
- The Saints won on Twitter too, generating 90 percent more tweets than the Colts, with over 675,000 tweets by game end.
- In a cost per tweet comparison (based on an estimated cost for a 30 second Super Bowl spot vs. number of tweets), Frito Lay (Doritos), Unilever (Dove), Audi of America, Focus on the Family and Google came out on top.
- Twitter chatter about the brands and ads was at its peak in the first quarter and then waned as the game went on, reflecting the anticipation of the game.

How Squawq Works - Squawq (found at squawq.com) is one of the most well-designed and user-friendly Twitter analytics Web tools. For the duration of the Super Bowl, Squawq tracked and analyzed tweet volume, popular keywords, hashtags, and URLs associated with the Super Bowl. For each brand, a search query was constructed that tracked keywords specific to that brand. For instance, for Coca-Cola, all tweets that either contain the word "Coke," or both the words "Coca" and "Cola" were tracked, as well as key words related to its advertisements. As tweets came in, Squawq compared them against each brand’s search terms and updated the results in the official Super Bowl graph found at www.Squawq.com/superbowl. Track the chatter Squawq Super Bowl.