When we first discovered Eat24 – an online service that allows us to order food without having to deal with human beings – we wept tears of joy. When we found them sitting in our conference room, a certain copywriter who shall remain nameless burst into the meeting and said, “You guys are Eat24? I f#*!ing love you guys!” …and the business was ours. A few months later, new work is beginning to break. Work like this right here. Enjoy.
In which our hero grabs some well-deserved me-time. Mmmm. Hero. Wonder where you could
order one of those for takeout and/or delivery?
Sloths are not lazy. They’re just conserving energy. We’d tell you to write that one down, but the
pen and paper are way…over…there.
We’re not saying you should order Eat24 for every meal, but if you did, you could make every shelf
in your refrigerator The Beer Shelf. The more you know.
Let the eagle soar! (Especially if you’ve got a trained eagle who brings you delicious food.
If not, Eat24 can help.)
There are many causes that Mortar holds dear- Fair Trade USA, the ASPCA, Martini Awareness Month- however we are proud to announce one cause close to our heart has launched a brand spanking new website.
With Mortar’s help, A HOME WITHIN, a non-profit organization right here in San Francisco dedicated to the mental stability of foster children, has gone live with a beautiful new website to match the beautiful work they do for kiddies around the nation.
For foster kids tossed around until they are kicked out of the system at 18, A HOME WITHIN provides stability and mental support. They match at-risk foster children with therapists and allow them to maintain a relationship regardless of age, location or finances. A HOME WITHIN launched their new site in May to mark Foster Care Awareness Month. With programs like Fostering Art, A HOME WITHIN supports creativity and mental stability in an very overlooked—but needy–population.
Mortar is proud to have been apart of the branding, brochure production and website design for A HOME WITHIN. Hopefully this website will allow A Home Within to reach more kids, connect with more clinicians and grab more funding (hint, hint).
Well, for one thing, we’re glad we’re not flying this year.
We don’t want our junk touched until at least the third date.
Apparently, this is not a new sentiment, seeing as this New Yorker cartoon is from 1938. See the rest here.
If we were flying, we’d be thankful for Hipmunk, a great little travel site that rates flights not only by price and schedule, but also factors in “agony.” This is the kind of simple, funny, and wonderfully helpful goodness that brings your brand love beyond reason. Well done.
Speaking of goodness, we are alwaysthankful for vodka, particularly when it comes with luxury, status…and a Viking.
Speaking of vodka, (Yes, again. Shut up.) our pals at Otis get a nice mention in this writeup of Stuff To Do In San Francisco While Everyone Is Out Of Town from The Bold Italic. Of course, if you’re ever looking for Unexpected Awesome Things to Do in San Francisco, get in touch with our girls at CarriedAway. We are thankful for friends like them – and you – most of all.
Which is why we’re giving you your Thanksgiving present early. Enjoy.
Be happy, be safe, keep the crumbs out of your non-ironic moustache…and have a very happy Thanksgiving.
AWOOOOOOOO! Happy Halloween! Normally, we’d be in full Elitist Coastal Snob Mode this time of year, as we generally consider Halloween – along with its yokel buddies New Year’s Eve and St. Patrick’s Day – to be a charter member of the Unholy Trinity of Amateur-Hour Holidays. But you know what? The Giants have us in an incredibly good mood right now and not just because the wind’s blowing this way from McCovey Cove. So allow us to amaze you as we turn a random, hastily-penned scribblewide-ranging and articulate knowledge download into a focused, must-read marketing missive. You won’t believe your eyes.
Remember this?
Yikes. Here’s hoping Mr. Bateman doesn’t get too upset when he sees the new logo and business cards we just released for online ad exchange AdBrite.
“Look at that subtle off-white coloring. The tasteful thickness of it…”
See how we did that? One minute, Halloween. The next minute, Random Movie Reference. Then…BAM! Work Stuff. Office magic, people. Annnnd scene.
Ok, now on to the Actual Scary Things:
WARNING: Watching This Video In Its Entirety May Cause Violent Diarrhea And/Or The Condition Known As “Death By Embarassment.”
We’re not kidding. We only made it through the first 0:48. Really. Seriously. We are so not kidding.
Oops. They pulled it. To be fair, it was supposed to be for an internal talent show. (They have that kind of budget for internal talent shows? That kind of profligacy is…scary! Awooooooo!)
Quick, Scoob! L-l-let’s get out of here!
Ahhhh. That’s better. You can always depend on the classics.
Speaking of which, it’s time for…Mortar Halloween Jukebox – iMeem Went Out Of Business Because The Economy Is So Scary-Edition!
No audio jukebox this year. And not as many songs. But you do get video, so there’s that.
DAVID/MARK/TODD: “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” – Bauhaus.
Remember this from The Hunger? We’re not sure which is scarier – the atmosphere of vampiric menace, or the 80’s hair. Either way….awesomely scary.
SOPHIE: “Two of Hearts” – Stacy Q
We know. We know. But stay with us. This hilarious-yet-creepy scene is from Party Monster, an underrated yet highly scary flick. We’ve got chills just thinking about it.
SERENE: “Ghostbusters” – Ray Parker, Jr.
Wait a minute. Something’s wrong. This is a song from the 80’s. And everyone knows Serene’s musical tastes are permanently stuck in the 90’s. Which means…that’s not the real Serene! And she’s calling from inside the house!
HUGH – is about to rip the rubber mask off of what is obviously Pirate-Ghost Serene. Will need to gather strength first. Fortunately, there is “The Crusher” – The Novas.
And finally, a little Halloween treat from our favorite non-sparkle-vampire, Count Floyd.
Writeup in SFThrillist about fun stuff to do in Reno where each picture is a little bit misaligned which makes it seem like you can rent fully-automatic weapons at local eateries?
Awesome.
Using The Power Of Mortar to reverse Reno’s 13-year decline in visitors, room rates and tax revenues?
Double! Awesome!
The Part Where We Use Numbers To Back Up All That Big Talk: In first 3 months of Mortar’s “Far From Expected” campaign,
The average daily rate paid for a room in Reno Tahoe jumped by 5%. (Awesome.)
Taxes from hotel rooms jumped by 25%. (Also awesome. You thought we were going to say “Double Awesome” there, but we’re talking about taxes, which carry a natural awesome-deficit, so, sorry, no.)
Visitors to the area increased by some 82,000 room nights – the first growth in a period of nearly 13 years of decline. (See, now that is Double Awesome.)
Double Awesome. It's what we do.
The Part About The Results: We could have bumped Reno’s numbers up by just giving stuff away. But that’s what’s been going on for 13 years. People throwing their chips in the air as if to say “Vegas! Sort of!” and then a too-low price on a room. Instead, we went after “a specific subset of SF Bay Area tourists (with) the greatest potential for increased Reno visits.” People who liked Reno–but had not visited, or had visited once, time long ago. People who are active on the Internet. People like you.
A recent EMC survey of over 1,000 adults in the San Francisco Bay Area showed the following:
"Awareness is higher, Intent-To-Visit is higher, and people are talking about Reno Tahoe USA more."
Facebook fans jumped over 1,000 within one week after the national Save RENO 911! campaign and over 600 within 3 weeks after the Bay To Breakers promotion. Flickr and YouTube hits are up 30%.
Some call it "a grown man in sheep suit." We call it: Strategy!
Attributes that were used to describe the Reno Tahoe brand are: "fun" "good value" "easy" and "unpretentious.” Which, when you consider they used to say “diesel fumes and heartburn," blows right past awesome and heads straight to Double Awesome-town.
Our point? Great creative is awesome. But when it drives great results? Make ours a double. Fact.
Illustrations courtesy of the amazingly stupendous Allie "Raptor Face" Brosh, whose blog, Hyperbole And A Half is required reading of the very finest kind. We should all give her money. Right after we get back from Reno.
