One exciting new restaurant in Utah to keep on the radar is BRIO Tuscan Grille, a classy Italian restaurant opening at Fashion Place Mall next to Nordstrom this Monday. It’s known as being “upscale affordable” Italian cuisine in a family-friendly atmosphere, and I just found out for myself that their tiramisu alone is enough to drive crowds to that restaurant.

To kick things off and get acquainted with the Utah community before it officially opens its doors for business Sept. 12, BRIO is hosting a free grand opening block party tomorrow, Sept. 10, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the parking lot it shares with Nordstrom. Celebrations will include food samplings of BRIO’s favorites, a build-your-own sundae bar for kids, a charity fundraiser dunk tank with Murray Fire and Police Departments, photo booths, craft tables, bocce ball tournaments, raffle-prizes from Fashion Place retailers and more. Some local head honchos, including Mayor Peter Corroon of Salt Lake County and Mayor Dan Snarr of Murray City, will also attend and all proceeds will benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Murray.

So what we’re telling you is that, if nothing else, keep the first BRIO in Utah in your sites. It’s going to be a big deal and after you try their tiramisu, let us know what you think.

Richter7 was lucky enough to take home more awards than any other agency this year (for the 9th time in 10 years!) From a total of 132 awards distributed, we were awarded 39, including 14 gold, 25 silver and one judges’ choice award for our Apple Beer campaign.

As one of our fearless leaders, Dave Newbold, puts it, “The awards are a bonus for doing our job right in the first place – that is, to sell our clients’ products and services.”

A big congrats to all of the Richter7 team members involved in creating this year’s winning campaigns. You inspire us each day! Can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year’s ADDY’s.

He said things like, “If you have something pertinent to say, you neither have to say it to very many people–only to those you think will be interested–nor do you have to say it very often. How many times do you have to be told that your house is on fire?”

And, “Our first duty is not to the old sales curve, it is to the audience.”

And, “I like outdoor advertising. I just think it has no right to be outdoors.”

And one of my favorites, “The real fact of the matter is that nobody reads ads. People read what interests them, and sometimes it’s an ad.”

He talked about creating “conversations” with consumers almost 50 years before social media was invented.

He convinced a gas station chain to promote an imaginary pink additive in their air pumps and stodgy Scientific American magazine to sponsor a paper airplane contest.

Howard Luck Gossage was an advertising visionary who would have been a lot more famous if he’d taken a more traditional path. And just think how much better the business would be if there were a lot more like him today.

The web application uses Google Maps to estimate the visitors closest airport, the flight time from departure and destination, and the drive time to Park City. The results page displays a Google map showing the travel path.

Thank you to the Richter7 team who concepted and developed this tool: Frank Imler, interactive art director; Gary Sume, writer; Dave Newbold, executive creative director; Brett Winklesky, technologist, Teri Gibson, account supervisor and Evin Catlett, social media director.

“Based on a 100-year-old German recipe, Apple Beer was first bottled in the United States in the 1960s. Although the unique soft drink has grown a loyal following over the years, many people still have the misconception that it’s some kind of apple-flavored beer. These point-of-purchase postings were designed, by Salt Lake City-based Richter7, to clear up the confusion while tying in to the heritage of the locally-bottled beverage.”

Here’s the team who worked on it: Ryan Anderson, art director/digital retoucher; Gary Sume, writer; Ryan Anderson/Gary Sume, creative directors; Dave Newbold, executive creative director; stock, photographer; Cynthia Griffin, production manager.

Image courtesy of www.commarts.com

After a successful run at the local ADDY awards, we’ve gone on to bigger and better things at the district-level competition. Congrats to the Richter7 creative team!

See the following press release for more details.

Salt Lake City—Richter7 dominated this year’s five-state ADDY awards competition, winning 22 awards. The next highest Utah advertising agency won three awards. From 133 total entrants, Richter7 won seven gold and 15 silver and for its Hogle Zoo, Utah Healthy Marriage Initiative, 360 Electrical and Wood Revival advertising campaigns.

“Winning awards at this level speaks volumes about effectiveness and creativity for wide range of clients,” said Dave Newbold, Richter7 president and executive creative director. “We’ve always considered awards as just a bonus for doing the job right, which is to sell clients’ products and services.”

The American Advertising Federation’s District 12 includes advertising agencies in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming. The winning campaigns will now advance to its national conference, where winners will be announced June 12 in Orlando.

With more than 60,000 entries annually, the ADDY Awards are the world’s largest and arguably toughest advertising competition. Concurrently across the country, local entrants vie for recognition as the very best in their markets. Local winners compete against other winners in one of 14 district competitions. District winners are then judged at the national ADDY Awards competition.

“Studies show award-winning advertising is five times more likely to accomplish sales goals,” said Newbold. “That tells us there is a very clear correlation between ads that win awards and those that effectively sell products and services.”

Established in 1971, Richter7 has been named Utah’s “Best of State” advertising agency for the past six years and is consistently recognized for effective advertising, public relations, online interactive and design for local, regional and national clients.

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Richter7 Names New Social Media Manager

Evin Catlett has been named to lead all client and agency social media initiatives. A New York City transplant hired in 2009, Evin works with clients such as USANA, Utah Healthy Marriage Initiative, Ultradent and Dairy Farmers of Utah.

“In this new role, Evin will oversee all agency and client social media endeavors, growing the digital facets of each client’s business,” said Tim Brown, Richter7 partner. “Her persistence, expertise and dedication to client success have led to her promotion as social media manager.”

A Brief Highlight on New PM, Steve Nielsen

Steve comes to Richter7 with 12 years of experience developing websites, applications, email campaigns, and providing metrics and reporting strategies for a variety of media. His primary focus will be on clients such as Zions Bank, Park City Chamber and ResMed.

More info in the press release below.

Salt Lake City, Feb. 25, 2010—Richter7, a Salt Lake City-based advertising agency, received more awards at this year’s Utah ADDY Awards than any other agency for the 10th time in 12 years. From a total of 126 awards distributed, Richter7 was awarded 48, including 15 gold, 32 silver and one judges’ choice award for its Hogle Zoo Madagascar campaign. The nearest competitor received 11 awards.

“We are thrilled to create award-winning work for such a broad range of clients,” said Dave Newbold, Richter7 president and executive creative director. “But awards are a bonus for doing our job right in the first place—that is, to sell our clients’ products and services.”

With over 60,000 entries annually, the ADDY Awards are the world’s largest and arguably toughest advertising competition. Concurrently across the country, local entrants vie for recognition as the very best in their markets. Local winners compete against other winners in one of 14 district competitions. District winners are then forwarded to the national ADDY Awards competition.

“Industry studies confirm award-winning advertising is about five times more likely to accomplish sales and awareness goals,” said Newbold. “Those same studies suggest there’s a very clear correlation between the ads that win awards and those that meet or exceed client goals.”

Established in 1971, Richter7 has been named Utah’s “Best of State” advertising agency for the past six years and is consistently recognized for effective advertising, public relations, online interactive and design for local, regional and national clients.

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There was $100 riding on the question as to whether or not CG was used throughout the spot. C’mon. You were wondering how they made it, weren’t you?

You can watch the interview for the answer or check below the video where I’ll spill the beans.

SPOILER: Leo lost $100. The only CG element in the entire thing was the diamonds and the bottle coming up out of his hand and “Photoshopping” an element out of the final shot. Most impressive.

While everyone else is sending 6×9 postcards as direct mail pieces, these guys sent media buyers a cake with a file baked into it to promote the TV show Prison Break.

As it says in our Brand Model message: creativity makes good things happen. Kudos to the team who came up with this.

Via Ads of the World.

Although Romeo and Juliet is now regarded by many as Prokofiev’s finest work, soon after it’s unveiling, critical carping began.  In the local press, his score was decried as odd, inadequate, and lacking sufficient feeling and melody to effectively portray the emotions of the story.  It was different.  And different was, well, bad.

Prokofiev retorted, “My own conviction is that there is plenty of all that [emotion] in it.  I have never shunned the expression of feeling and have always been intent on creating melody – new melody, which perhaps certain listeners do not recognize as such simply because it does not resemble enough the kind of melody to which they are accustomed.”

There in the proverbial nutshell is the world’s oft-repeated critique of creativity.

“If people find no melody and no emotion in this work, I shall be very sorry.  But I feel sooner or later they will,” Prokofiev opined.  And they did.

Later, one New York critic wrote, “Prokofiev has written music for the masses and at the same time has attained extraordinary nobility.”  About the score, Prokofiev’s biographer, Israel V. Nestyev declared, “Here we find no trace of surface inventiveness, grotesquerie or expressionistic hyperbole.  The music recreates with extraordinary power and compassion the passions and dramatic conflicts of Shakespeare’s immortal characters.”

“No trace of surface inventiveness.”  Few definitions of creativity are more accurate than that.

Was Prokofiev creating “art for art’s sake?”  He said, “ In Romeo and Juliet I have taken special pains to achieve a simplicity which will, I hope, reach the hearts of all listeners.”

There, in another nutshell, is what I believe to be the battle cry and the redeeming value of creativity.  “Reach the hearts.”  Loyalty and brand bias are built in your beating chest organ far more than in your cranial cavity.

That’s why, though you’ve decided to purchase a new car based on facts and figures, when you suddenly see an alternative that sets your heart aflutter, facts take a back seat.  (Hence, I personally bought the Saab 9-5 instead of the more logical Toyota.) It is my opinion that people buy with their emotions, and later justify the purchase intellectually.  Even many mundane purchases are generally the result of some previous or immediate emotional connection.

I propose there is a very crucial link between creativity in communication and consumer awareness, sales, and loyalty.  Creativity, of the intelligent, well-strategized sort, is all about the bottom line.

It’s not uncommon to hear so-called marketing experts snidely proclaim, “It isn’t creative unless it sells.”  I reply, “But it doesn’t sell unless it’s creative, because if your message is not interesting, entertaining and relevant in the first place, it will be ignored or despised.

Oh sure, leading brands must also rely on effective positioning.  But even the cleverest positioning must be communicated in fresh fashion if it’s to be noticed, remembered and acted upon.

Thankfully, there is now considerable industry research that confirms that premise.  I have a stack of it I’ll share with you if you’re interested.