New Nikon DVD attracting praise and ... petitions?
Photo buffs abuzz about “A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting”

Boston, MA (December 5, 2008) — When Cole & Co. produced Nikon School's, "A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting" in November, the Boston-based firm felt confident the program would be well received in the marketplace — but it never expected it to cause an international hubbub.

After watching a preview copy, a popular online evaluator of photographic flash equipment, The Strobist, left no doubts about its opinion with a blog entitled, New Nikon Video: 154 Minutes of CLS Goodness. "It is far and away the best resource available for those of you who want to better learn how to use your Nikon system strobes," says Dave Hobby, founder and chief blogger of The Strobist. (http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/11/new-nikon-video-154-minutes-of-cls.html)

Great reviews from influencers like The Strobist, plus the boost from word-of-mouth, have helped create brisk sales for the 2.5-hour tutorial program. The DVD, which is sold in the U.S. through photo retail outlets and the online Nikon Mall, is now in its second printing.

As an unexpected consequence, the positive web-based buzz captured the attention of photo enthusiasts outside U.S. borders. "A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting" is not currently available in other languages or international formats. An online petition with nearly two hundred signatures to date is asking that "A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting" be made available worldwide. (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/NikonDVD)

The value of video in consumer satisfaction

"The marketplace is full of extraordinary products that do amazing things, provided you understand how to use them," said John Cole, who directed the program for Nikon. "Video is without exception the single best way to deliver that information. It's clear, you can see the application, you can see how the product is used, and you can see the results.

"After the sale, consumer satisfaction is the number one driver of brand loyalty. Too many companies spend millions trying to attract new customers and nothing to train them. That's foolish. Consumers that understand how to use devices like a digital camera, PDA, software or any other complex product, generally become brand ambassadors."

Many manufacturers include instructional videos in their product packaging as a supplement for the printed user manual. A big benefit of "in-pack" video is the reduction of expensive call center volume. "We always preach the value of 'show, not tell' to our clients," says Cole, "Consider the dollars saved at the call center, the value-add benefit at retail when your packaging promotes the video, and the brand loyalty that comes from a satisfied customer.

Viral video

"A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting" is an example of how marketing with video can take on its own organic, viral surge. "Nobody set out to create a 'viral' program, Cole said. "The video's subject, content, and production qualities all hit the right chord for the industry. The news spread like fire through the power and reach of the Internet."

A 20-year-old video production and marketing firm with a long history in the photographic and graphic arts industry, Cole & Co. has been hired often by Nikon USA to script, shoot and edit Nikon School videos. The current show features award-winning National Geographic Traveler photographer Bob Krist and world-renowned lighting guru Joe McNally as they take viewers through a tutorial of Nikon's advanced creative lighting techniques. The program uses diverse locations and scenes to demonstrate a range of lighting situations, such as dancers at the Boston Ballet School, the crew of a charter cruise boat docked at night in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and a bride getting ready for her wedding.

See a trailer of the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BALBUEPR8_I

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Cole Helps Drive New England's Inaugural "AltWheels" Festival
Alternative Transportation Exhibit and Conference held July 18 and 19 at Brookline's Larz Anderson Museum of Transportation

Boston, MA (July 3, 2003) — Cole & Company, Inc. provided pro bono publicity and marketing assistance to help promote New England's first AltWheels Alternative Transportation Festival, held on July 18 and 19, at the Larz Anderson Museum of Transportation in Brookline. The first event of its kind in New England drew over 1000 participants, visitors and local print and broadcast media, and showcased 73 of the world's most advanced concepts in alternative, emissions-free transportation.

The festival also held a dozen conference sessions featuring 40 speakers from the transportation industry, including business people, public officials, academics, scientists, interested organizations and hobbyists. "We're pleased to have an opportunity to donate our marketing expertise to this worthwhile event," said John Cole, Creative Director of Cole & Company, Inc. "The preservation of the environment is one of our core corporate values, and there was no better way to exhibit that commitment than to be affiliated with the AltWheels event."

Cole & Company, Inc. produced and mailed publicity materials to Boston metropolitan print and broadcast media, as well as to national trade media covering technology and environment topics. The firm also provided day-of-event photography and press relations services.

Festival visitors saw concept cars firsthand and encountered futuristic transportation technology. They also had an opportunity to ride in efficient, clean-burning, alternative fuel vehicles that are on the market today — such as the Honda Civic and Toyota Prius electric/gas "hybrid" vehicles.

Among the featured lawn show exhibits:

"A major challenge for the developed world is the creation of clean, renewable sources of transportation," said Alison Sander, primary organizer of the AltWheels Festival. "The technology exists right now to meet the challenge of sustainability, but it hasn't been deployed to any meaningful extent. The pendulum is swinging, however, as most everyone understands the rationale for ending our dependence on fossil-based fuels. That's why so many groups and organizations have come together to address this issue."

The theme for the two-day event was: "Creating a Sustainable Transportation Vision for the 21st Century." AltWheels Festival was presented by a coalition of more than 30 co-sponsors from educational institutions and organizations, government agencies, and businesses involved in cleaner forms of transportation. This is the first of what will be an annual regional event.

AltWheels Festival — Background

The inspiration for the AltWheels Festival grew from a study conducted on the New England regional environment in 2002 by Connect-Us, an AltWheels sponsor. The survey found that the most efficient near-term environmental improvement with the highest impact would derive from greater public understanding of our transportation choices and a shift to lower hydrocarbon emission options. The AltWheels Transportation Festival was created as a first step towards achieving this goal. While Connect-Us serves as the nucleus organization for AltWheels, the festival has come to fruition from the efforts of an inclusive group of sponsoring organizations, including:

Sponsors:

AlternateFuels.com BASEA Boston Public Health Commission Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School The City of Cambridge Cambridge Climate Calendar The City of Newton Climate Change Action - Brookline Cole & Company, Inc. Connect-us Conservation Law Foundation The Green Decade Coalition, City of Newton Harvard Divinity Students for Environmental Justice The Harvard Environmental Law Society Larz Anderson Museum of Transportation MassBike MCAN The Medford Energy Taskforce MIT Lab for Energy and the Environment NESEA Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Responsible Business Association of Greater Boston S.A.N.E. The Sierra Club of Massachusetts Sustainable Arlington Sustainable Step of New England WalkBoston

Participating companies:

AVSG LP Ford Motor Company General Motors Honda Keyspan Energy Plug Power Solectria Toyota Wheelworks Zipcar

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Variable Data Printing Helps Make "The Deadline"
Holiday mailing pays instant dividends for media companies

Boston, MA (May 16, 2003) — It's a rule of thumb in direct marketing - particularly in business-to-business communications - mailing during the holiday season is a fool's bet. It's all but certain to get lost in the crush of seasonal correspondence.

For media replicator Sonopress LLC and its partner Ditan Corporation, it turns out the holidays were the ideal time to get the attention of their customers - .e., publishers of home movies and electronic entertainment. It's the time of year when they're scurrying to get their titles onto retail shelves in time for holiday shoppers. The SonoPress/Ditan team wanted to contact their prospects specifically during the holiday sales period - when the pain of missed deadlines would be most acute.

"If you don't make that deadline, your year is pretty much shot," says Per T. Save, vice president, national sales and marketing at Sonopress. "We wanted them to know - while they were really feeling the pressure - that we could help them get product produced and shipped quickly. But we needed something to really grab their attention."

A 3-wave program, conceived and produced by Cole & Company of Boston, dropped over December, January and February Wave 1 was a 13" x 18" poster depicting, a film-noir genre movie and electronic game, respectively - each called "The Deadline."

The copy for every poster cites the individual recipients by name as the "star" of the program. It's also customized to reflect their profession - CFO, sales and marketing directors, or production/logistics manager. On the flip side is the "story treatment" - additional customized messaging stressing the value of the Sonopress/Ditan team to the respective financial, sales and production needs of the reader. Waves 2 & 3 - oversized postcards sent to the same list - were also personalized to the recipient in both copy and graphics.

"We knew that our creative had to fly above the holiday noise," says John Cole, president and creative director of Cole & Co., "But it also needed to generate near instant response to meet the client's financial objectives. Our only real option was to touch recipients with a relevant, individualized message - and in an oversize format to really grab their attention. And only one option - Variable Data Printing - offered the tools and technology allowing us to meet those goals."

So how'd it work? "We love this campaign," says Per Save. "We couldn't be happier with it. It paid for itself within the four months, generating $2 million from just one new client. It's also helped add new businesses to our roster representing $5-8 million in incremental annual revenue."

Among the very largest prospects on the mail list, the poster yielded a 15% increase in the company's customer base; among the next largest prospects, the mailing generated a 10% increase. "The Deadline" has proven to have real legs - its run has been extended into 2003 with more waves of customized direct mail, trade show graphics, and thematic giveaways.

This article was featured on WhatTheyThink.com May 27, 2003 and in Digital Queue Magazine - Innovation In Action (View PDF File) June 6, 2003.

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Cole & Co. Produces First CD-ROM "Quick Start" Guide for Consumer Digital Cameras
Customer support CD-ROM tutorial for Nikon helps new camera buyers

Boston (July 20, 2002) — Cole & Co., Boston-based marketing communications firm, has produced an in-package CD-ROM instruction program for buyers of Nikon's newest Coolpix digital camera line. Designed for first-time purchasers, the program uses video and still photography to guide users through the most common technical hurdles: camera setup, software installation, computer connections and image applications.

"The out-of-box experience for these digital camera buyers can literally make or break a brand," according to John Cole, president and creative director of Cole & Co. "All digital camera manufacturers know that their product can be technically challenging to the novice, and Nikon has made a commitment to maximizing the experience - and minimizing frustrations - for their customers."

"The cameras are engineered for everyday users," according to Cole. "Nonetheless, they're computer peripheral devices that require some technical involvement. For some consumers, it can be a bit intimidating." The program features an on-camera host, "Eddie," who answers the most typical questions posed by users, such as: How do I load the NikonView 5 software? How do I transfer pictures to my computer? How do I use its functions? How do I manipulate the pictures, email images or post them online?

"Compared with user manuals or web-based programs, Nikon's in-package CDROM is the most proactive tool possible for customer support," according to Cole. "It's a linear video program that a user can follow and pause at any point. Plus, it's a teaching tool that starts out with the basics and gradually builds with additional information."

The CDROM-based program is also designed to reduce the expense incurred by manufacturers for providing live customer support, according to Cole. "The costs for live telephone support for consumer digital products are enormous. With this program, you pre-empt much of that call center activity." The CD-ROM actually contains several programs reflecting different computer operating systems. It automatically detects the computer operating system and delivers the appropriate user instructions."

According to Bill Giordano, National Marketing Manager, Nikon Inc., the CD represents the first time a manufacturer has offered an in-pack "how to" guide designed to "demystify" the operational and technical issues associated with digital cameras. "Most new buyers want to take that first digital picture immediately, but when they open the box they're looking at the camera, plus wires and software and several instruction booklets," says Giordano. "This program is the first thing they'll see when they open the Coolpix 2500 or 2000 package. They just pop it in their computer and they're taking pictures within the first few minutes."

The Nikon CD is engineered to play on current computer operating systems - and also present information specific to each. "A lot of printed instruction materials require readers to know their operating system, and follow that particular track in printed materials," says Cole. "One of the beauties of this CD is that it automatically detects the user's operating system. Not everyone knows if they have Windows 98 SE, 2000, Millenium Edition, or XP, or for that matter Mac OS9 or OS 10.1.2. This program figures it out and presents only the information specific to your operating system and camera combination."

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Marketing and Transportation Firms Launch Road Tour Marketing™ Cole & Company, Inc. and Product Cruisers, Inc. combine expertise in marketing, special events and transportation for mobile promotions

Boston, MA (May 1, 2002) — Two Massachusetts-based firms, Cole & Company, Inc. and Product Cruisers, Inc., today announced the creation of Road Tour Marketing, a mobile promotions business that transports client products and messages directly to customers' doorsteps and trade events. Road Tour Marketing offers all elements of a direct marketing program "on wheels" - i.e., strategy development, design and graphics, as well as vehicles, drivers, demonstration crews, scheduling and tour management.

Road Tour Marketing (RTM) is the only company in the mobile sales and marketing industry that owns, staffs and schedules its own vehicles - from vans to 18-wheel trucks. The founding companies have collaborated to provide mobile promotions services since 1994 for clients including Agfa, Bell South, Hewlett-Packard, Scitex, Tyco Electronics, Utilicorp United, Polaroid, LifeClips, Marriott Courtyards and others.

Using multiple vehicle platforms - including customized vans, buses and Continental Class trucks - RTM helps clients deliver marketing messages, conduct product demonstrations at customer and retail sites, generate qualified leads, introduce products, train sales people and transport guests in courtesy vans.

"What we're providing is permission marketing on wheels," according to John Cole, President of Cole & Company, Inc. "When our clients' customers request a tour visit, we tailor the presentation of the vehicles to meet their requests. We've come to call it 'transmission marketing.'"

"Road Tour Marketing offers clients the advantage of meeting face-to-face with customers in an environment free of competition," says Cole. "Companies can also conduct hands-on demonstrations right at the customer locations, delivering their pitch to all decision-makers including financial teams and key executives, in addition to the end-user."

Bruce MacDonald, President of Product Cruisers, Inc. said, "Road shows present a strong, very visible commitment to your client's sales force and dealer network. The vehicle is a large, moving billboard for your firm and products - the sales teams get excited when we arrive in an 18-wheeler to a customer site or trade show. A tour also gives our clients the opportunity to cross-sell other products in their line."

With a full fleet of vehicles, Product Cruisers, Inc. provides clients with the appropriate transportation platform, including customized and standard interior design build-outs, professional drivers, plus scheduling and a support staff.

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Save the Wails!
How one manufacturer is coming to the rescue of digital camera buyers

By Bob Boucher

You can see their excitement turn to fear in a matter of moments. Watch uncertainty replace confidence as they ease tentatively into mysterious, uncharted waters. Feel their frustration as they hit wall after proverbial wall. Hear their pained cries and muttered epithets.

"They" are digital camera buyers. Feel their pain.

Digital cameras are fabulous, wonderful, attractive, compact, well-designed, getting-better-all-time image capture devices. But let's be perfectly honest. Digital cameras are NOT the easiest gadgets to learn or use. They are sophisticated computer peripherals. They pack features and functionality that boggle the imagination - in many cases defying the comprehension of even experienced users. In terms of ease of use, they make programming a VCR look like boiling a pot of water.

With falling prices and higher quality, consumers are swooping up digital cameras at their local mass merchants by the tens of thousands. Digital cameras have reached marketing's version of nirvana; they have attained "mainstream-ness."

"Hallelujah!" cry the digital camera manufacturers, many of which have made their marks as conventional camera manufacturers. "We shall earn untold profits! Wall Street shall bow to our greatness! Our CEO will author a best-selling book about the secret to success - or at least have it ghost written!"

Ha Ha! What fun!

Until, that is, the digital camera consumer actually starts "consuming" the purchase. Proud new owners of a digital camera, they come home from the store with the sense that they are stepping boldly into the future. They are going to save a small fortune on film and processing. They are going to send pictures via email to Granny. They are going to make calendars and funny cards, and put pictures of Billy's head on a monkey. Ha Ha. What fun!

Then they open the box. There they encounter things they've rarely if ever seen - sort of like the carnival freak show. Funny looking wires, 60-page books, foldout literature, AC plugs, batteries, battery chargers, software, and, oh yes, there's the actual camera.

The first thing usually staring them in the face is a set of instructions or quick start guide that says something like, "STOP!!!! READ ME FIRST IF YOU VALUE YOUR SANITY AND/OR HAVE A SINGLE SHRED OF COMMON SENSE IN YOUR BODY!"

If they're like most normal, red-blooded, God-fearin' consumers, they completely ignore this warning and head right for the digital camera itself. They figure out how to insert batteries. They figure out that the button conveniently labeled "on/off" must be the way to power on the camera. Feeling pretty gosh-darn good about themselves, they think they're home free.

And they would think wrong. In little if any time they realize that they are WAY over their head. Hmm, they come to realize, maybe it's a good idea to maybe consult the literature. A few glances through the several chapters of the user manual, and they pick up snippets like "What's your operating system?" and "Formatting Your CF Card" and "Updating the Device Registry on Your Computer." And in no time whatsoever, they are confidently walking with their camera in hand to nearest phone, and calling the manufacturer's toll-free customer support hotline to ask just what the @!#$% do they have to do to make this @!#$% camera work?

Millions and Millions and Millions

The manufacturers - again, many of which are longtime, big brand name makers of conventional photographic equipment - are compelled to provide top-notch, live technical support for their valued end-users. They soon start to wonder exactly how they are supposed to make money in this @!#$% digital camera racket.

One of the stark realizations for manufacturers is that consumer technical support for digital products drains off millions in expense. Sell a hundred thousand digital cameras, and you can bet your last compact flash card that you'll get about 25-40,000 calls from confused, frustrated and/or angry campers.

"How do I load the software? .... How do I get my pictures to my computer? ... How do I use all these functions you sold me on? ... Hey, where did my pictures go?

And on and on. So what's a manufacturer to do?

Confused Camera Consumers Calling Constantly: How One Manufacturer Called a Halt

You've definitely seen them. User tutorials on CD-ROMs have long been a staple of software application packages. You open the box, pop the disk into the computer and take a nice little "tour" of the software program-- complete with chapter segments, nice images, clear graphics, and usually a help index. You can follow at your own pace, go to different sections, and replay if needed.

When done right, they're a great guide for the user. When they reduce inbound call activity for manufacturers - and thus expense - they're heaven-sent.

So why not do the same for sophisticated equipment like digital cameras? Why let some unsuspecting first-time buyer fumble around blindly with a device that has approximately the same number of functions and buttons as the Space Shuttle?

Why indeed, said Nikon Inc. while developing the new line of Coolpix 2500 and 2000 digital cameras. No stranger to the digital camera business, Nikon has long been offering digital cameras to professional photographers and high-end amateurs - in both SLRs and point and shoot models. The Coolpix 2500 and 2000 point and shoot digital cameras are Nikon's latest such offering in the mass merchandising channels.

Through distributors like Wal*Mart, (other chains), a company - especially one with a strong, reputable brand like Nikon - can count on moving many tens of thousands of cameras very quickly. It can also count on taking many tens of thousands of tech support phone calls.

To help users and minimize tech calls, Nikon's plan went far beyond simply creating a "tour" of their new cameras. In a program they call "Let's Get Started" Nikon has produced an in-package CDROM - in fact, the first thing a purchaser sees when opening the box. With the words "WATCH ME FIRST" in bold, all-caps type, the disk practically gets on its knees and begs its new owner to play it.

Once they do, the user soon meets "Eddie" - the on-screen, human narrator and host for "Let's Get Started." The program uses video and still, detailed photography to guide users through the most common technical hurdles, like camera setup, software installation, computer connections and image applications.

Quick, what's your operating system?

What is transparent to the user, however, is that "Let's Get Started" is programmed onto the disk six times. Why six? Because in this wonderful Mac vs. Windows world, we have more operating systems in play than bumps on a raspberry. So, in the unlikely event that a user actually or accidentally wades into the Users Manual (often referred to as "Performing Brain Surgery on Yourself"), the reader comes to find that there are different sets of instructions depending the operating system of the computer. And he/she has to follow that "track" in the guide materials.

Pop Quiz Time! What's YOUR operating system? Windows 98 SE or Windows Millenium? Maybe it's Windows 2000? Or Windows XP? How about Macintosh OS 9 or Macintosh OS 10.1.2? If you know, go to the head of the class (smarty pants nerd...). But most of us mere mortals really have to think about it, and further, wouldn't know immediately where or how to find out.

The Nikon CD program pre-empts these gnarly obstacles for users by automatically detecting the users' computer operating system - and playing the appropriate version from among the four programs. Mac users don't even see the Windows version, and vice versa.

Credit for the novel concept of making it easier for digital camera buyers goes in large part to Bill Giordano, National Marketing Manager, Nikon Inc. Bill's been at Nikon for about forever (even has a patent to his name for a photographer's vest). He's been around the block, let's say, and he claims that "Let's Get Started" is the first time he's seen a manufacturer make the effort to "demystify" digital cameras in this way for the mass consumer.

"New buyers are incredibly anxious to take the camera out of the box and take that first digital picture," Bill says. "But when they open the box, they're looking at all this stuff - the books, the camera, the cables, the software," says Giordano. "In the Coolpix box, this program is the first thing they'll see. They just pop it in their computer and they're taking pictures within the first few minutes."

Thinking "right out of the box"

Giordano contracted Cole & Co., Boston marketing/communications, to script, engineer and produce the program. With a 25-year history of delivering photographic marketing tools, the Cole group has helped companies like Nikon, Polaroid, Agfa, and HP evolve the imaging business for all levels of users.

"The out-of-box experience for these digital camera buyers can literally make or break a brand," according to John Cole, president and creative director of Cole & Co. "All digital camera manufacturers know that their product can be technically challenging to the novice, and Nikon has made a commitment to maximizing the experience - and minimizing frustrations - for their customers.

This isn't Cole's first foray into developing support tools for digital equipment buyers. When Polaroid launched its line of PhotoMax consumer digital cameras several years back, Cole built a sophisticated website providing online customer support. The printed material strongly encouraged new buyers to visit the site. The result: the site got 106,862 customer visits the first day.

"The web-based support idea performed extremely well," says Cole. "And the Coolpix program takes that idea a big step further. This is totally 'pop and play' - it auto-loads, auto detects your operating system and auto-plays. It's the only type of tool I know of that can do that. It's a video format that the user is comfortable with and can follow at any pace. It also teaches in digestible increments. The program starts out with the basics for picture taking, and adds layers of information. The user can continue, replay, or opt out at their leisure.

Getting off to a Good Start

At the time of publication, the Nikon Coolpix 2500 and 2000 cameras had just been launched - and with much fanfare, including national TV ad spots. Driving consumers to local retailers in large numbers - many of whom will be first-time buyers - Nikon will soon follow up with surveys to assess the all-important user experience.

You can bet Nikon will want to know their reaction to the "Let's Get Started" program. And that they'll be closely auditing phone activity at their call center. If all goes according to plan, satisfaction will be up and calls will be down - oh yeah, along with manufacturer's expenses. It will be not only a great start for Coolpix owners, it could also be a watershed moment in the evolution of digital cameras - when one company put a stop to the madness (or at least the sometimes maddening exercise of using the #%&* thing).

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