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MercuryCSC

Creative Strategic Communications

Messages from Mercury

Vamos Ahorita

by Mike Harrelson

Go Now

T-shirt design featuring a surfing skeleton wearing a sombrero with a band reading 'Viva Mexico'Have you noticed how time – arguably one of our most precious commodities – isn’t waiting for us to get our shit together? Excuses proliferate on why we put things off that matter to us: visiting a wizened, old family member before they head to the country, volunteering for a worthy cause we say we believe in, going back to school to learn something fresh, taking that ambitious trip we’ve talked about for years. Time – as the erudite ...

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Conspicuous Nonconsumption

by Molly Budinsky

Want to connect to the green consumer? Help them stand out.

I recently listened to the Freakonomics podcast “Hey Baby, Is That a Prius You’re Driving?” and it got me thinking about consumption, specifically conspicuous nonconsumption, or conspicuous conservation. Call it what you want, the green consumer wants you to know they’re a good person–and that’s an insight that businesses can leverage to help change consumer behavior for the better.

Sustainable brands often try to blend ...

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More Recognition for Nothing

by Donnie Clapp

“There’s Nothing Here,” the integrated marketing campaign that we created for the Montana Office of Tourism, has won several big awards, including the first Silver Effie for a destination in a decade and Best Overall Campaign recognition from the organization that represents all of the state tourism offices in the U.S.

Why has this campaign been singled out by both the advertising and travel industries? Not because of the extremely cute name, and not because the judges were ...

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"For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People"

by Jeff Welch

At the end of September, I was invited to the Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference (ESTC) on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.

I was asked to present during a session called “Understanding Key Consumer Trends Driving Sustainable Business Practices,” which fits very well into our wheelhouse here at Mercury. We work hard to understand the Geotraveler better than anyone else in the business, and so I had a lot to say.

My thesis? Don't lead with green, lead ...

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Social Media 101 and 102: Summary and Full Video

by Donnie Clapp

We recently worked with Sustainable Tourism International to put on two webinars on social media, which I developed to be particularly useful to those in the Travel and Tourism sectors.

There were two sessions: one aimed at beginners and one aimed at more advanced practitioners. Both used cheesy yet effective metaphors to drive my points home.

My premise is that doing really great social media for your brand does not require learning a whole new skill set. It can seem ...

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Greening is Believing. How The Experience Trumps Promotion in Sustainable Travel Marketing

by Alexi Huntley Khajavi

Man wearing a tee shirt proclaiming: Cuando tratas bien al turista, tratas bien al Peru
When you treat the tourist well, you treat Peru well.

Peru is on a roll. It's been four years since my last visit, and I've spent a week experiencing a staggering amount of growth in development and tourism since then. I am convinced that the next four years will bring even more growth to this amazing country.

Tourism is Peru's 3rd largest industry behind mining and fishing, representing 7% of GDP and is the country's fastest ...

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Montana and MercuryCSC Earn Ad Accolades at ESTO

by Stacie Wunsch

Often, my colleagues and I joke about how amazing it is that my brain fits in my head. But, the funny part is, I’m not joking. My role here is to plan and put strategies in place to meet short- and long-term client objectives. Curiously, prior to my arrival here, my co-workers were busy executing award-winning campaigns. Who knew?

This past spring, MercuryCSC won an Effie award for our work on behalf of the Montana Office of Tourism. Even ...

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Register Today to Participate in a Webinar on Social Media Strategy for the Travel and Tourism Industry

by Molly Budinsky

...with Donnie Clapp, Community Manager for Montana Office of Tourism

Talking to your friends is easy. Talking to a stranger is harder. Where do you start? How much do you talk about yourself? How many questions do you ask? What do you do with your hands?

Jumping into social media on behalf of your sustainability- or tourism-focused business is similar. You're on Facebook and Twitter, and you feel comfortable there with your friends and family. It should be just ...

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Where did all the garbage (cans) go?

by Molly Budinsky

Here at the 16th best place to work, ever*, we recycle. We built a custom recycling bin system so we can more efficiently sort our stuff before an awesome local company comes to pick it up, we have a dishwasher instead of paper coffee cups, and we even have a colony of worms chewing up our organic waste and turning it into compost for our flower beds.

But we still had garbage cans. Lots of them. One under every ...

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It's in Our DNA

by Molly Douma Brewer

When I interviewed for my PR job here at MERCURYcsc, I knew I was walking into an airy, contemporary office where creativity and ideas must be on fire. I understood the Mercurians, whose profiles I'd read on the website, were all interesting people, doing good work while free-timing with surfing, spelunking, farming, fly fishing, crafting Adirondack chairs, photography, big game hunting and of course skiing. I didn't know I would laugh with my coworkers every day—and I ...

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MercuryCSC is #16 on Outside Magazine's Best Places to Work

by Jeff Welch

MercuryCSC Bike Rack

Photo by Mike Harrelson.

In a world where it seems we're never more than three LinkedIn connections away from anyone, I'd venture to say there's no form of marketing more effective than having happy people work for you.

And this is coming from the owner of an ad agency, mind you.

We are in the business of creating marketing ideas that help our clients sell more products. Yet running a good campaign is not the solution to ...

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Who Owns The Experience?

by Alexi Huntley Khajavi

Consumers are frequently becoming the sellers: what’s that mean to the customer experience?

While I was in San Francisco last week, I had dinner with friends in Berkeley. After dinner one offered me his empty apartment to avoid the drive back to the city. It was a nice gesture that ultimately ended up falling flat when he gave me the wrong key. No worries, we're friends remember. I ended up just driving back to the hotel, got to ...

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Developing a New Model for Resort and Tourism Development

by Donnie Clapp

In 1976, visionary biologist Richard Dawkins coined the term "meme" in his first book, The Selfish Gene. It was his word for the informational equivalent of the gene: a self-replicating, evolving idea. The sort that occasionally hooks into a moment in societal consciousness and establishes itself in people's minds. Whether silly or profound, these memes represent a new way of thinking about some small part of our world, and we can't help but be affected by them.

For ...

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Even in Advertising, Bigger isn't Always Better

by Jeff Welch

"I saw on Facebook that you won an award," began the email from my sister-in-law. "And you actually showed up in New York to receive it so it must be a big deal. Congratulations!"

So it has been, winning our first Effie award. The type of work we do, the clients we work with, the people who work here, and the place we live are all so different from the big corporate agency world that dominates not only advertising awards ...

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