We are a practical bunch at Look Matters.

A decade of working with small businesses and non-profit associations has given us a belly full of experience balancing modest budgets with big expectations from boards to business owners.

As a firm we don't hang our hat as a "social agency" - it's just who we are, whether that is as individuals or on behalf of our clients. We have real world, practical experience with retail brands, non-profit associations and small businesses.

Social is a new medium but its' emotional root is as old as it gets.

The medium taps into our hard-wired human nature to share. It is simply who we are as a species. Our civilization is built around a social contract where sharing is the cost of inclusion in the group. Sharing skills, sharing an experience, sharing a meal, or sharing your information, admiration and condemnation have been the currency of being social since two really hairy families decided to share a cave.

In the spirit of sharing - we are looking for a client willing to let us work with their social platforms  for a month. You bring your brand, we'll bring our expertise - for free.  

If you are not on a social medium - all the better, we'll set you up and get you headed in the right direction.

If you are interested in the offer, drop me a line at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , give me a call at (306) 757-4686, send me a tweet @andrewrathwell, or stop by the cave for a chat. We will pick a client or clients (we like to share a lot) by Monday, May 27th so there is a small window to act.

If you are looking for more on what we think about social, here's a link to a recent radio show where our Creative Director Matty O'Connell  and I shared some thoughts on the subject - http://youtu.be/yRGcICJ-g38, and this is what our pragmatic, practical social media service looks like - Look Matters Strategy & Capacity

We will also be sharing some real world examples in a session for our key clients that we are opening up to the public on June 27th *Registration opening soon!*

WHAT IS WOLFCOP?

He's Dirty Harry… Only Hairier.

WOLFCOP is a ridiculous high concept film from a couple of guys, right in your own backyard.  Local filmmakers Lowell Dean, Hugh Patterson… and yours truly, entered a 2 minute concept trailer into a National film competition called CineCoup, with the goal of winning the top prize of (Dr. Evil voice) …$1,000,000 and a guaranteed run in Cineplex theatres across Canada… which is a huge deal for independent filmmakers.

Six months ago there were 92 projects, four being from Saskatchewan.

Today, there are 10 projects that remain… and WOLFCOP is the last Saskatchewan film standing! 

To say that joining LinkedIn has changed my life might be a little over the top. However, I can certainly say that it has complemented my life - my professional life – immensely. And it’s become an important tool I use, and rely on, every day.

This blog takes me back to the winter of 2011 and a bad experience I had at a local tire shop. I have been purchasing tires from TireRack for several years now and really enjoy their service, variety of options, customer reviews, tire testing data and prices. When I got my new truck, I purchased the winter tires for it at TireRack. While I was purchasing the tires, I looked up a local installer and to my disappointment there were none. So, instead of having TireRack ship the tires to the installer, they had to ship them to me and I had to take them to a shop to install the tires.

I’m no stranger to quitting. I've quit smoking, drinking, carbs, and more than a few home reno projects. However, the idea of quitting my little screen terrified me more than all those combined.

Last week I took the pledge; and joined millions of people for Screen Free Week (http://www.facebook.com/screenfreeweek). 

While the world obsessively tweets, likes, and pins, you continue to hear rumblings through the marketing industry such as: ‘Print is dead’ and ‘Radio doesn’t work'.

However, much like the career of country legend, Charley Pride, traditions can still remain relevant and useful in 2013 if utilized properly.

Traditional marketing is still a strong tool in raising brand awareness and exposure and when layered amongst a strategic on-line presence it can positively help keep your organization and/or business vibrant and memorable...much like the music of Charley Pride.

March 31st, 1999. 'The Matrix' gave us a choice... the Blue Pill would let you live in blissful ignorance, the Red Pill would show you the real world.

Ready for a little Red Pill logic today?

When it's time to start developing your advertising strategy, by following these 6 simple steps, you'll be well on your way to advertising success.

As the province collectively rests from a full-on week of JUNO related activities, events and awards, social media continues to remain the prominent source for JUNO related news, updates and recaps.

One of the most notable online presences was of course the JUNO Host Committee account, Gonna Get Loud. Showcasing the buildup of excitement as the official JUNO Awards drew closer their Facebook account went from a reach of 4,400+ in late March to an astonishing 125,000+ directly following the Awards.  Certainly the most active of all their accounts, their Twitter page saw a massive spike in tweet mentions days before the big event averaging close to 1,000 per day!

There certainly is no doubt about the importance of music in many of our lives.  

Music will always be with us through our highs and our lows and continues to help us celebrate our successes and cope with our failures.

Look Matters is very proud to be a supporter of Music Heals - a non-profit organization that funds increased access to music therapy for patients in children's hospitals, senior's centres, palliative care, AIDS & HIV programs, at-risk youth, rehabilitation and bereavement support.

I am always wary of fashion trends and fads.  You can tell by the amount of plain black suits and black T-shirts in my closet. I think the experience of getting a perm in the 80's scarred me for life.

However, I am going to go out on limb (or a thin vine as it were) and boldly suggest you should check out the latest social media "fad".