We’re not surprised if you’ve heard of Marketo. They were named the fastest-growing private company in Silicon Valley last year, after all. We’ve also blogged about them several times, and we know you’d rather not eat for a week than miss an entry on Ye Olde Mortarblog.
Riding the wave of success that just seems to keep on building, Marketo hosted its User Summit this week in San Francisco, closing with a celebratory gala on Treasure Island. 1,400 people attended, a 300% increase over their last conference. We’re no mathematicians, but that sounds purdy impressive, no?
Local history nerds will know that Treasure Island was the site of the 1939 World’s Fair. That inspired us to build a conference theme around the idea of an innovation expo, with a look and feel that harks back to 1930s art deco. The idea fit just right, since Marketo is transforming the way companies do business, in response to today’s changing customer. These guys are fo’ real innovators, much like the genius who thought up peanut butter by the slice.
Landing on the theme “Marketing & Sales for a Brave New World,” we concocted a series of striking posters, a landing page, and a swing-driven opening video in which we unironically “jazz things up.” See the work after the jump.
Congratulations to our purple-powered pals on a whoppingly successful event. And thanks for giving us a chance to do some real art for a change.
Look ma, I drawed it!
Those Egyptians did an okay job, but THIS is what we call a pyramid.
This bridge was made for the fridge.
Oh this is an island we’ll treasure, alright.
Look ma, it’s a TV commercial! Except, you know, minus the TV part.
Based in Vancouver, our new client Westport Innovations designs natural gas engines that produce up to 27% less emissions than gasoline. Vehicles powered by the Westport WiNG Power System can travel 650 miles before having to refuel, eliminating the range anxiety caused by the latest crop of electric vehicles. Because natural gas is domestically sourced, it’s helping reduce our country’s dependence on foreign oil. To top it off, natural gas costs about half as much as gasoline or diesel. (The benefits pretty much sell themselves.)
Later this quarter, Westport will introduce two natural gas-powered trucks to the consumer market: the Ford F250 and Ford F530. To celebrate (or maybe just because it sounds like a crapload of fun), the Westport WiNG Team is embarking on a four-day road trip powered entirely by compressed natural gas. The team started in Detroit yesterday and will be trekking 700 miles to their final destination, Times Square.
They’ll be making pit stops along the way and letting people take the new trucks for a spin. If you want to be one of the first to test drive these bi-fueled babies, below is where you can find ‘em. (Just please try to display more maturity than we would and restrain from making any fart jokes.)
The Route:
Valley Ford Truck Sales, Cleveland OH: May 21, 12pm-3pm
SARTA-Clean Energy, Canton, OH: May 21, 4pm-5pm
Allegheny Ford Truck Sales, Pittsburgh, PA: May 22, 11am-2pm
John Kennedy Ford, Pottstown, PA: May 23, 10am-1pm
Times Square, New York City, NY: May 24, 1pm-5pm
In case sustainable resources don’t excite you, they’ll also be BBQing mountains of pulled pork at the dealerships. Ahh, now we have Nok’s attention.
If you fancy moving pictures, here’s a 3-minute explanation of how Westport is driving the future of transportation. (We’re keeping our fingers crossed for natural gas-powered Hoverboards.)
– Love writing and media relations.
– Are both organized, and fun to work with. (It is possible, you know.)
– REALLY like to pitch, and know how to find and share stories that can earn breakthrough media coverage for clients in the broadcast and online world.
– Understand the art and science of great client service, and enjoy making life easier for the media.
– Have 3 years experience doing PR at an agency, or in-house.
– Have experience creating PR-related social media and web content.
– Ideally have experience in healthcare, medical devices, education and technology, but it’s not a dealbreaker.
– Preferably have an affinity for marmosets, James Brown, hot crispy bacon, or all of the above.
In this role, you’ll work most closely with Mortar’s PR team, but you’ll also collaborate with Mortar’s top account managers, branding strategists and award-winning creatives. You’ll also help our clients create PR-aligned social media programs and campaigns, which includes content development for the web (including appropriate social media sites), distribution and measurement. Best of all, you’ll be part of a different kind of agency where integrated marketing is more than a buzzword – it’s a way of life.
If this sounds appealing, email allyson@mortaragency.com with your resume, cover letter, and a sentence telling us what your favorite kind of monkey is and why. Emails lacking these three elements will be chewed up by our resident chimpanzee.
The type of marmoset you, job candidate, might harbor an irrational love for.
Imagine if there were an iPhone for noses. Not a phone that your nose uses, but rather a product for noses that’s as revolutionary and rule-shattering as the iPhone 4s. That’s PROPEL: a post-surgical implant for patients with chronic sinusitis created by our client Intersect ENT.
We explained the beauty of PROPEL before, and it’s worth a refresher course. In the sinusitis arena, there’s no solution as cleverly designed and multi-functional as PROPEL, which is why it’s such a big deal.
At this year’s Edison Awards in New York City, PROPEL earned the Bronze award in the Science & Medical category. The Emmys of the tech world, the Edison Awards represent the spirit of innovation personified by Thomas Edison, inspiring America’s drive to remain at the forefront of creativity and ingenuity in the global economy. Other winners this year included IBM’s Watson supercomputer, the Fisker Karma electric car, and the iPhone 4s – not a bad bunch to be stuck in a room with.
We already knew PROPEL rocked, but now it’s official. Congratulations to Intersect ENT for keeping creativity alive, and patients well.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a man named George wanted to build a massively sized, commercially outfitted movie studio in Marin County.
Normally, the neighbors would respond with a big fat “F U,” but this man happened to be the creator of a ludicrously successful space opera you may have heard of. So the neighbors had to be somewhat civil about it, and funnel their complaints through the local homeowners association. This is Marin, where the residents break out in hives at the sight of a Starbucks. You can imagine their reaction to the prospect of years of nearby construction activity, not to mention the increased foot traffic the movie studio would bring.
After 25 years of vehement resistance from the locals, Mr. Lucas decided to abandon the studio construction altogether. And in the end, all that whining led to the birth of a beautiful idea. Lucas now plans to transform the property into affordable housing for low-income families or seniors. Talk about a turn for the better.
And who is Lucas working with to make this goodness happen? None other than our friends at the Marin Community Foundation. Looks like that pretty website we made for them years ago is still reaping fruitful returns. As always, MCF is a living example of how change happens. And we heartily approve.
Just please promise us the doorman will be Chewbacca.
