Connecting the Dots / An Agency Blog

With over a half million apps now available for iOS devices, it’s probably a safe bet that there’s an app for pretty much everything by now. Great apps are often built on a substantial level of technology, infrastructure, intellectual property, proprietary data, or workflow. And that’s why our recent work for Ecotrust Canada’s ThisFish program was so interesting.

Accessible across Apple’s iPhone and iPod, as well as BlackBerry and Android WebKit-based browsers, the ThisFish mobile site provides app-like functionality inside of the mobile browser, helping users trace their seafood before they purchase it.

ThisFish helps consumers make informed choices about the authenticity, quality and sustainability of the seafood they eat by tracing the catch from the water to the grocery store or restaurant, including who caught it, when, where and how. The service also aims to promote the fishing industry by highlighting fisherman, processing facilities, and retailers, creating transparency in the seafood business and rewarding those who responsibly harvest and handle each catch.

If this sounds like a complex system, that’s because it is. With multiple stops along the supply chain, each group helps support ThisFish by updating data (often through the mobile site), providing the consumer with information about their seafood purchase. See how it works.

We’re excited to have helped lend a hand, to bring this amazing project to life. Having a greater sense of what we eat and whether or not it comes from a sustainable source is an incredibly valuable proposition for consumers. We’re sure the folks at Ecotrust Canada are on to something.

Be sure to visit www.thisfish.info on your mobile device and trace your next seafood purchase!

The Vancouver Sun recently paid us a visit, speaking with Dean Elissat, Engine’s VP Client Engagement on Vancouver’s turbulent advertising agency market. Sighting recent cuts and reorgs in some of the city’s top creative shops, 2011 seems to be the year that digital caused some real trouble, changing the way marketers spend, and the way agencies staff.

Engine Digital continues to thrive however, adding new staff, new clients, along with some pretty amazing projects. Take a look at our current career ops here.

Take a peek at the full article here. Mac/Safari users click here.

Reaching and connecting with high net worth investors and entrepreneurs requires a refined presentation of principles, perspectives, and historic performance. With over $1.2 billion in assets under management, Nicola Wealth required a digital brand realignment to better match the ongoing success of the firm.

Working collaboratively with our client-side team, Engine Digital recently recreated the online home of Nicola Wealth Management, one of Vancouver’s premier Financial & Investment Advisory firms. Through an in-depth understanding of the target audience, their expectation of high-touch service and unique and proven expertise, and an appreciation for the vision, mission, and values of the firm, a creative strategy was developed to build upon an already incredibly high level of influence in the Canadian wealth management sector. The result: an intriguing online brand platform that delivers the firm’s bold messaging, addresses the needs of both individual and institutional investors, and provides the firm with a solid foundation for digital marketing and online brand experience.

Visit www.nicolawealth.com

We were honoured to be featured in December as The FWA Mobile Site of the Day

The Swiss Water® Decaffeinated Coffee Company continues to be a leader in digital marketing. They’re currently the only proprietary decaffeination process that we know of engaged in social media, their website — if you don’t mind us saying – is awesome and has won several awards, and now coffee drinkers on the run can learn about the Swiss Water® Process on their phones.
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During the creative phase of any project we spend hours doing interviews with our clients, collecting reference and doing creative explorations that usually result in what I like to refer to as a total mess. Through the ungentle process of elimination, arguing, late-night epiphany and revision what we distil is still a dog’s breakfast of ideas. In the days following we start becoming more attracted to certain elements and as we continue to remove what isn’t working we start to find out what does. It’s an ugly process but by the process of elimination we’ve end up with a cohesive message that will eventually end up on a screen or device somewhere and hopefully in front of the audience for who it was intended.
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