For a limited time only, Blue Marble is giving away custom-designed T-shirts to folks who leave a comment on ANY Behind the Scenes blog entry. The first 10 people to leave comments will win — but wait! Comprehension is key! Comments must relate to the content of the entry.

* Each high-quality American Apparel T-shirt bares the newly designed Blue Marble logo across the chest and features a design on the back. We have both men and women T-shirt styles available.

Contest starts May 17th and ends June 1st.
Ready… Set… Go!

Women's Blue Marble V-neck T-shirt

Atlanta, GA – Blue Marble Media, one of the nation’s leading video, film, and motion graphics firms has been included in BtoB Magazine’s prestigious 2012 Top Agency list.

The annual listing of the top agencies is based on innovative online marketing campaigns, percentage of b2b business, new client wins, effective use of new technologies and other criteria. The firm was one of 135 agencies selected from more than 500 entrants.

“Having our work recognized by BtoB Magazine is something we’re really proud of,” says Cara Barineau, Principal and Creative Director. “We’re very lucky to work with a lot of great clients who appreciate and support strong creative. ”

Blue Marble’s business-to-business clients include Verizon Business, Georgia-Pacific, Manhattan Associates, Ariba, and Hughes Telematics, among others. The agency recently won Platinum in the 2011 Marcom Awards for a six video series for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Georgia-Pacific.

BtoB, the magazine for marketing strategists, delivers timely editorial on all disciplines of business-to-business marketing. Published monthly by Crain Communications Inc., BtoB provides more than 45,000 subscribers with the information and analysis they need to develop a winning integrated marketing strategy for their companies. BtoB’s Top Agencies and Top Interactive Agencies special report is published based on an annual survey across four categories: small agencies (revenue less than $10 million); mid-sized agencies (revenue between $10 million and $99 million); large agencies (revenue of $100 million and up); and interactive agencies). Winners are selected based on overall performance in 2011, including new clients, new campaigns, creative execution and growth of business.

Over the years, Blue Marble Media has created numerous award-winning high-image video and TV spots with one of our favorite clients, The Voyager Group, a brand strategy agency located in Orange county, CA.  Voyager’s founder, Vanessa Rose, and creative director, Russ Noe, have served clients such as: Two Rodeo Drive, One Scottsdale, The Irvine Company, SAAB, Verrado, The Bellevue Collection and many more.

In our most recent collaboration, Blue Marble teamed up with Voyager for a high fashion shoot for The Bellevue Collection, a retail and entertainment destination in Bellevue, Washington. Both stills and video were shot concurrently (same models, same set-ups, two distinct crews…tricky).  The location was a beautiful contemporary home over looking Puget Sound.  With Russ at the helm as executive creative director, the shoot was another success and the images were gorgeous.  Blue Marble brought the video footage back to Atlanta for the post design work. The first TV spot will air as part of Bellevue’s Spring 2012 campaign.

Still frame from the Spring 2012 Bellevue TV spot

Recently, we sat down with Russ to discuss what goes into preparing for a high- fashion shoot – from brainstorming concepts … to picking out the models, location, wardrobe, music, and lighting. The following is an excerpt from our conversation:

BMM:  So, Bellevue. This is just the latest in a series of campaigns and ads for The Bellevue Collection. What’s lead up to this point of the marketing campaign?

RN: Well, we began work a few years ago, and the Pacific-Northwest is not known for high fashion. It’s known for its intelligence – not fashion. Things like coffee, hostile weather, cool coastline, fishery come to mind. The people are hardy and intelligent. Our clients, however, wanted to introduce high fashion. We went up and shot on locations that would be familiar to them. Our client said, “You nailed it. You created a look that we can relate to. That steps it up.”

…Then the economy went in the dump. So, as a creative director, I have to be a psychologist. How do I get you to go shop? Creating looks that inspire people and make them feel happy. Now we’re on the third campaign, and it’s about talking directly to the customer. We’re creating a meaningful program for the property through commerce and culture. That inspired us to create a campaign that talks to the viewer. We want to say, “The stuff we have can be part of your collection.” What’s in your collection?

BMM: How much time is spent preparing for the shoot beforehand?

RN: Typically once a client picks a campaign direction, we flesh it out. Reverse-engineer it. How many assets do you need? What is your marketing strategy? If you need over the next year, say 60 images, and you’re going to run 4 spots… that’s where we begin. How many shots can we pull off in a day? How many days does it need to be? Then you start building your budget. That includes everybody from the agency, the stylists, crew, models, assistants, hair, make up, casting, and me! (It takes longer than you think – we looked at 500 people and hired 4 models.)

For shoots that average three to five days, it’s four to six weeks of prep. This includes fleshing out concepts and getting the client to bite on all the ideas…. It’s all predicated on what the clients needs are. Their budget. That dictates the length of the shoot. Then you try and fit everything in.

BMM:   What’s it like working with Blue Marble for the video aspects of the campaign?

RN:  You know, whenever we collaborate, we’re able to share things, and he (Ben) absolutely instantly gets the essence of what I’m after. He’s just able to really translate what I want on my end. Seamless. For instance, I sent him seven or eight pieces of music, very similar – electronica, light, ambient. I was sending him commercial music that we can’t use. I asked myself, “I wonder what he’ll do with this?” He came back with tracks and every track was perfect. He really gets me. I’ve never had a moment where we’ve felt disconnected. We respect one another. I know a little about his craft and I don’t want to know anymore.  I just trust Blue Marble with it.