Ink & Paper

I love to tell stories—they just keep working themselves into my brain. One story in particular is about an encounter I had at Café Caturra at Libbie and Grove. I go there for the restaurant’s atmosphere. If I have a morning meeting or need to have coffee with a client or business colleague, I love to meet there.

One morning early last winter, I needed to meet a colleague there and I was in the zone. I had gone to see Coldplay in DC the night before and was reliving it on my iPod as I entered the restaurant. Literally 100 miles away from the world at that moment.

I walked in, ordered my coffee, conducted my meeting, and was on my way out, when I was stopped at the back door. A young fellow sitting at a table with what looked like trainees stopped me to ask how my coffee was.

I answered, “Do you want the truth?”

“Yes, of course,” he replied.

I told him I was actually there for a meeting and the ambiance of the restaurant.

He then stated, “Can I ask what was playing on your iPod when you came in the back door?”

“I am a 42-year-old working mother of two. For $20, you should be able to tell me what is on my iPod.”

He stated, “Coldplay.”

I pulled out a $20, but he refused.

After actual introductions, I headed back to the office where I had to look him up online. Jeff Grant, a 20-something co-owner of a Café Caturra. I sent him an email, which has since become very long conversations about branding and understanding your customers.

Jeff explains it like this, “There is no closer to get to another human than feeding them your brand.”

Well said.

Which brings me here… Remember the five senses when considering your marketing strategy. Six if you count intuition. When is the last time you heard something, saw it, smelt it, felt it, and ate it—but understood it before you even experienced any of those previous senses?

In further reading about the senses in relation to marketing, I came across Martin Lindstrom’s 2002 article, Sensory Brand Management.

Enjoy!

We were so excited to see this article about our partner, ARC, in Monday’s local paper. We feel like ARC cheerleaders and never miss an opportunity to sing their praises. We love it when we get to visit, to either drop off or pick up our gift wrap. The folks who run ARC are so passionate, that it rubs off on you. The place has a great vibe, too. Read the whole article. You’ll be glad you did.

Raymond Ricks and Scotty Englehart (background) roll our gift wrap through a partnership with Greater Richmond ARC.

This past Monday night Ink & Paper took part in the second annual R•Home for the Holidays event at the Virginia Historical Society put on by Richmond Magazine. We used our talents to create one of the 12 wreaths that were show-cased on these door by Habitat for Humanity. Below you can see our interpretation of the Nutcracker Land of Snow all crafted out of our very own gift wrap! We had a lot of fun working on and were honored with a second place finish!

{ Nutcracker themed wreath created by our team at Ink & Paper }

Eddie Ross was the guest speaker on hand to judge the wreaths and at the end of the evening our creation went home to the highest bidder in a silent auction.

{ detail of paper flowers and snowflake dancers }

Overall, the event was a huge success and we had a great time!