Bluezoom { Advertising, Design, Chemistry }
Braces, curly brackets, squiggles, sideways moustaches, l33t hugs - call them what you will. Math and science lovers use them to say "hey, here's a set of things." We liked that, because we're talking chemistry, and we hold a set of values, too. We also find their shape quite beautiful. So we're using them. Enjoy.
It's bonding, not branding.
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers."
This is very true - and very, very textbook. So what happens when branding achieves textbook status? Branding is no longer the new idea, and it's not the upper hand. It's a given, a prerequisite, the entry fee. Everyone's doing it, and many are doing it well.
To go beyond distinction into true advantage, you have to take it deeper: reaching people not only where they think, but where they love, desire, seek out and don't settle. That's where you want to be. Put simply: To really matter, you need to reach people where it matters the most. You need to do more than brand, you need to bond. And that's where we come in.
Capabilities
Bonding smart strategies with sophisticated creative and spirited design - all steeped in that extra little something we call chemistry - you could call that our bailiwick. Doing our thing takes many glorious forms, as you can see from the list below. We don't mind saying that it's pretty exciting stuff.
- Broadcast & Video
- Collateral
- Corporate Signage
- Direct Mail
- Identity
- Illustration
- Media Planning
- Packaging
- Point-of-Purchase
- Print Advertising
- Public Relations
- Retail Space Design
- Social Media
- Strategic Planning
- Trade Show
- Web & Interactive
Bios
Liz Jarrett Spidell
Fearless Leader
Liz founded Bluezoom in 1992 and has more than 25 years of comprehensive concept development and design experience for a wide variety of clients. Liz's marketing communication skills were honed while she served as Vice President of Kahlenberg and Company, a full-service advertising agency in Greensboro, NC. It was there that Liz made her first transition from design
and art direction to account management. Liz's background as a designer has been important to her success as an agency owner and helped prepare her for her role overseeing all phases of strategic development, creative development, and production. Although she also fills the important role of agency comedienne, when asked what her most satisfying role is these days, Liz will tell you that nothing else comes close to being Mom to daughter, Maya.
Jeremy Spidell
Speaker of the House
Jeremy's path to agency ownership actually began in the printing industry, where he learned the "ins and outs" of business, production, and building lasting relationships with colleagues and clients. During that time he handled projects for clients such as Wachovia, Syngenta, Wrangler, Sealy, Kindermusik, Bassett Furniture, GlaxoSmithKline, and United Guaranty.
In 2002, Jeremy joined forces with Bluezoom, and his leadership has helped transform the agency from a $750,000/year company to one with billings approaching $5 million in 2007. A graduate of the Communication Studies program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his extracurricular interests include running, Tarheel basketball, and shaping the future hip hop music career of his daughter, Maya.
Tom Woods
Design Monger
Tom has more than 20 years of comprehensive concept development and design experience for a wide range of clients in consumer packaged goods, retail, and non-profit categories. He began his career at Sterling Advertising in 1985, working on a range of design needs for Lowe's Home Improvement, then moved on to work as an illustrator and designer for the North Carolina
Zoological Park before joining Bluezoom in 1998. Tom adds invaluable experience in print design and developing concepts that get to the heart of strategic assignments. Tom is a graduate of East Carolina University School of Art with a Communication Arts major and Painting minor, and many pieces by Tom and his wife, Lisa, decorate our workspace. In addition to making our office more visually appealing, Tom provides a daily dose of ukulele groove to soothe Bluezoom with sound.
Michael Wheeler
Cerebral Cortex
Since joining Bluezoom as an intern in 2000, Michael has proven himself skillful in concept development, design, and copywriting, making him a well-rounded member of our team. He played a major role in the creation and implementation of the NOTION Music corporate and product identity development, evolving and expressing it through package design, collateral, print media, direct mail, and trade show materials.
Michael's ideas have appeared in national and international trade magazines as well as consumer publications geared to music aficionados. In addition to his many creative roles, he lends technological savvy to Bluezoom as our IT guru, making sure our workflow is efficient and our output is in line with industry standards. Michael's creative and technical sides are also reflected in his learning experience, having studied at both the NCSU School of Engineering and the UNCG School of Fine Arts. He is our resident philosopher and premier conversationalist, and as a result, he's usually one of the last two to leave every Bluezoom social event.
Tommy Beaver
Creative Creature
"The Beav" brings more than 15 years of design, illustration, conceptual, and art direction expertise to the Bluezoom team. His talents are so diverse, he's like a creative Swiss Army Knife. Prior to joining Bluezoom in 2001, Tommy worked at Mullen as a designer and illustrator for clients including Alltel, Virgin, Zatarains, Midway Airlines, and Carnival Cruise Lines.
Tommy also managed the Illustration Department at CoyneBeahmShouse, where he worked with multiple internal teams and with a range of clients including Hanes, Pepsi, GGCC, and RJR. Tommy has a BFA in Design with a concentration in Studio Art and minor in Sociology from UNCG. He is also an expert pirate and he has a love for all things Halloween (the holiday, not the movie).
Alex McKinney
Multiple Personality Designer
Alex is the lead web developer and "Master of Domains" for Bluezoom. He brings over ten years of experience in comprehensive concept development, graphic design, and web design and development. Concentrating on interactive media, Alex is responsible for the complete design and deployment of numerous corporate and private websites and their components, including robust content management
systems, complex database design, and web marketing campaigns. In his spare time, Alex is a working musician, an Aikido instructor, and the (undefeated) Bluezoom Ping Pong champion. In other words, he has a varied personality, indeed.
Kathleen Smith
Brand Charmer
After graduating from Wake Forest University, Kathleen jumped headfirst into the marketing game. She established a rare combination of interactive and traditional agency experience, flourishing at companies such as Trone, CoyneBeahmShouse, Merant, and Targetbase over her 15 years in marketing.
Her Account Management roles for clients like NOTION Music, RJR, PSINet, VF Playwear, and Cingular have provided her with a broad range of skills in multiple business categories. When she's not making things happen for her clients or encouraging her teammates, she enjoys a good book, a great glass of wine, and spending time being walked by her dogs, Kaylie, Tucker and Oliver.
Anne Knowles
Director of Homeland Security
Anne Knowles keeps jobs zooming internally and externally as our production and traffic manager, and is also a talented copywriter and proofreader. Anne has sixteen years experience in advertising, and has worked with regional and national brands coordinating advertising projects, media planning and buying, events, and promotions.
Her client experience includes BB&T, Thomasville Furniture, Sara Lee, 9Lives, and Winston-Salem State University. Anne is a graduate of UNCG, with a BA in English and minors in History and Classical Studies, and is a walking encyclopedia of pop culture. Outside the office, Anne takes ballroom dancing lessons, enjoys live music, and makes friends old and new laugh more often than they thought possible.
Bryan Bowers
Stragetic Silverback
Bryan Bowers has eleven years design and advertising experience on regional and national brands. In his past role as an Associate Creative Director at both CoyneBeahmShouse and Leapfrog Marketing, Bryan led creative teams in strategic concept development and execution for a variety of client initiatives, including identity, packaging, advertising, online, and relationship marketing programs.
Bryan also has extensive experience designing point-of-sale materials and developing effective promotions for retail and online. A graduate of the Savannah College of Art & Design and native of coastal North Carolina and Virginia, Bryan loves being on, in, or around the water (particularly when pulling fish out of it). He also enjoys photography, video editing, and pulling pranks, and these pursuits are frequently combined.
Tom Saitta
Brand Alchemist
Tom joined Bluezoom with over 15 years of marketing and advertising experience, bringing exceptional skills in building and managing brands. Tom's specialties include brand development, strategic planning, account management and business development.
Since graduating from UNC-Greensboro with a BFA, Tom has held leadership positions with advertising agencies such as CoyneBeahmShouse and The Bloom Agency. He also got to play the role of "The Client" in his position as Senior Vice President of Marketing for a two-billion dollar regional bank. Tom's worked with clients such as Lowe's Home Improvement, VF Corp, Hanesbrands Inc., CBaySystems and NewBridge Bank. When he's not turning brands into gold, Tom enjoys running, fishing, scuba diving and snowboarding - and the occasional prank on his colleagues. Especially Bryan.