I Know What I Did Last Summer…

Summertime and the living was (supposed to be) easy.  Theoretically, at least.  Traditionally, our business does experience a slowdown during the summer months.  Or maybe I do.  They say summer allows us time to recharge our batteries, reinvigorate our drive, and rejuvenate our thinking.  I’m not sure if all that is true or if I even understand that. But we did accomplish some very interesting, exciting things during the recently completed summer months:

We built a Wall.  (Actually, we prefer to call it THE WALL.)

If you know anything about me, you know I am a proponent for the correct use of QR codes and all things mobile.  And you may also know that mobile shopping via smartphones is on the rise, and continues to break records from previous years.  Naturally, I felt compelled to do our part. So we built The Wall at McCain Mall, combining mobile technology, QR codes and retail shopping in the state’s largest indoor mall.  This video explains it much better than I:

We built an App. (Actually, we “skinned an app.)

If you know anything about me, you know I am a proponent for making printed pieces more relevant to the end user.  And you may know that I enjoy new, unusual techniques that help accomplish this goal. Enter mobile Augmented Reality.   Using the Aurasma platform, we created our own version of this app that allows us to bring Augmented Reality to the mobile world. We now can literally bring your printed pieces to life!  You will soon be seeing much more of this technology, but we think you should be given the opportunity to try it now.  Watch this video, download the VREAL app, grab a dollar bill and get VREAL!

We built a new sideline operation and website. (Actually, almost.)

If you know anything about me, you know I truly enjoy marketing techniques that involve personal, direct and most importantly unique interaction. What better way to do this than to be given the ability to produce on-demand, short run, direct-to-garment products?  In other word, t-shirts.  And the emphasis is on short-run. You want to have an impact, and you want to make a difference in your personal communications, right? Direct-to-garment, uh, t-shirts are a great solution.  So think very short run – 10, 25, maybe 50.  We are not a screen printer. (But we can help you with that if you need it.)

We also decided that my son, Michael should do something constructive while attending – Arkansas State University, the Home of The Red Wolves. So he created a sideline business called Wolf Prints.  Nice name, nice touch.

So he will be selling shirts to fraternities and the like, but we will sell them too.  We almost have a web site done.  But in the meantime, if you need another creative way to make a statement, give us a Howl!

There you have it – now YOU know what I did last summer.  What did you do?  And more importantly, how can we help you tell others about it?

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Paul Strack, CustomXM

@pstrack