TriVision Builds AV Studio for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior

TriVision Studios recently was awarded and completed a contract with the United States government for the construction of a studio facility at the Afghanistan Ministry of Interior (MOI). In collaboration with its sister company, Kabul Felez International, TriVision designed and constructed a professional studio facility by converting the MOI space into a fully-equipped audio/visual studio. After six months of consultation, design, construction, equipment procurement, installation, and training, TriVision successfully completed the job and the studio, located in Kabul, Afghanistan, is now ready for use and production.

Initially, the TriVision team met with officials from both the U.S. government and MOI to discuss and plan the project according to their design specifications. TriVision also visited the site to survey and get measurements in order to generate a structural plan and sketch of the facility.

During the studio design phase, TriVision submitted multiple drawings plus technical/electrical and acoustic/sound proofing plans for the facility. TriVision had to ensure the studio was designed to accommodate voice recordings, video production and roundtable discussions.

The third phase of the project was the actual remodeling and construction of the space. TriVision first had to remove all existing walls and prepare the space for renovation. The next steps included the electrical work and wiring, installing new doors and windows, installing a recessed dropped ceiling and recessed lighting, fabricating a truss system for ceiling support and lighting fixtures, building a sound booth and window between the control room and studio floor, tiling the walkway and canopy on the balcony, soundproofing the walls and sound booth, and furnishing the entire studio with carpeting.

One important phase of the project was the purchase of audio and video equipment from a highly customized approved list, including revisions as required. This task started during the planning stage to ensure all equipment purchased from overseas reach Afghanistan in time of completion. The equipment included professional editing workstations, round tables, chairs, cabinets and other furnishings to make the studio as complete and professional as possible.

The studio furniture was custom built in Afghanistan by Kabul Felez International, Afghanistan’s leading manufacturer of industrial steel construction and high quality furniture and accessories since 1968. Over the years, Kabul Felez has successfully and reliably provided products and services to government and private-sector clients in Afghanistan, including NGOs, international financial institutions, schools and hospitals.

Lastly, following the completion of the studio construction, furnishings and equipment deliveries, TriVision performed training and orientation for the MOI staff members, teaching and demonstrating equipment functionality and usage.

Both the United States government, as well as the Ministry of Interior in Afghanistan, were pleased with the outcome of the studio. The studio space serves as an important instrument for the communication and overall strengthening of the Afghanistan National Police and Security.

Select Kitchen & Bath: Northern Virginia’s Premiere Remodeling Specialist

As one of TriVision’s long-time clients, Select Kitchen and Bath is a reputable company in the Northern Virginia region specializing in full kitchen and bath remodeling services. Its services include: cabinet installation, appliance and fixture installation, flooring, tiling for floors, walls and backsplashes, lighting, plumbing, electrical, painting, countertops and more. 

TriVision’s relationship with Select Kitchen began in 2001 when the company was looking for a design and marketing firm to provide its printing and direct mailing services. After a successful marketing campaign in 2001, TriVision continued to provide Select’s design, print and marketing services. Some of the products and services that TriVision provides for Select Kitchen & Bath include ad design and layout for different publications, van signage, T-Shirt printing, flyers, postcards, business cards and business stationery.

In addition, TriVision has designed Select Kitchen & Bath’s website and continues to provide its monthly web maintenance. To visit the Select Kitchen & Bath online, please go to www.selectkitchenandbath.com.

See the Soccer Spot Nike Says Might be Its Best Ad Ever
Company Unveils Campaign Timed for World Cup Fever

By Jeremy Mullman, Adage.com
Published: May 20, 2010

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Addressing investors earlier this month, Nike VP-Brand and Category Management Trevor Edwards declared that the marketer's TV creative for June's World Cup was "among the best we've ever done," no small statement from a company renowned as a master of the form.

Now we get to see if he was right. (Watch video)

Nike began making the Wieden & Kennedy, Amsterdam spot available today. The three-minute epic, dubbed "Write the Future," was directed by Alejandro G. Inarritu ("21 Grams," "Babel") and stars soccer luminaries such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Landon Donovan and Ronaldinho, and also features cameos from the likes of Kobe Bryant, Roger Federer and Homer Simpson.

The spot chronicles how individual moments in World Cup play can ripple globally. And, of course, it does that without actually mentioning the World Cup, as Nike -- despite its numerous team and player sponsorships -- is not an official sponsor of the tournament. (Rival Adidas is).

Fans can sign up to view the ad at Nike's soccer Facebook and web pages later today, but you can see it here now. Is Mr. Edwards right? You tell us.

Story Courtesy of Adage.com Published: May 20, 2010

Meet the Brands Hiding on Google.
How Search Stumbles Hamper Major Retailers Online

by Beth Snyder Bulik
AdAge.com, Published: April 27 2010
YORK, Pa. (AdAge.com) -- If a consumer types a brand name into the Google search box, a home-page link should -- and likely will -- appear as one of the top listings.

But does the same thing happen when typing in a generic keyword relevant to that business? Say, "home repair" for Home Depot or "gifts" for Harry & David? That depends on how well they're optimized for Google. And in the case of those two examples, Home Depot and Harry & David website links don't even make it to the first page of Google, according to a recent study by Covario that evaluated the search-engine optimization health of 100 branded websites.

There are many reasons why a brand might not appear high on Google search. It could be that too many companies are vying to optimize the same keyword, or that a competitor's linking strategy is more robust, or that the brands simply aren't buying keyword ads. Covario tested for what it determined were three key indicators of search health: content usage, link strategy and technical construction.

"Take the keywords 'life insurance,' for instance. Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 spots on Google can be worth an extra $50 million to $100 million per year," said Craig MacDonald, Covario's chief marketng officer and author of the study. "There are about eight big companies vying for those spots and each one has an interest in getting good at the word 'life insurance.' And they're constantly defending that position."
Mr. MacDonald dug deeper into his research, and analyzed five brands at Advertising Age's request, to find out why they aren't ranking at the top of Google search.

Home Depot
The do-it-yourselfer destination did not make the front page of Google on the keyword search for "home repair." Lowe's, BobVila.com and even This Old House did, but Home Depot came in on page two at No. 16. It did even worse on two other selected category-defining words: "appliances" and "tools," where it came in at No. 25 and No. 21 respectively. Why?

Home Depot's key problem is that it is missing category-defining keywords in the urls. Mr. MacDonald cited this example of the url for "home repair."

"Even Google got tired of looking at this," he said. "The point is to tell Google what the page is about. I'm not a home builder, but this doesn't sound like a solution for fixing my plumbing."

Tiffany & Co.
The good news is that Tiffany did make it to the front page of Google for the keyword "jewelry," but it ranked way back at 29th and 30th for "wedding rings" and "birthday gifts." And even its high score of No. 4 for "jewelry" was bested by, well, Overstock.com.

Another content problem for Tiffany was that for the terms that were found, consumers who click on the Google search link are sent to a country selector page, not a landing page or even a generic home page. On the second click, web searchers get to generic home page, but then must re-navigate there to find the keyword content they initially typed on Google.

"I am already three clicks in and I haven't found what I am looking for," Mr. MacDonald said. Like Home Depot, Tiffany also failed to put keywords in its url.

Harry & David
How could Harry & David not hit the first Google results page for "gifts"? It ranked 17th, with even the New York Times website ranked above it. However, in this case, unlike the previous brands whose fatal flaw was not using keywords in their urls, Harry & David use "gifts" in urls all over its website, Mr. MacDonald said, including harryanddavid.com/gifts on its home page. Harry & David's problem is not content, but the sheer number of links out, one of the other three factors Covario used to determine search health. In the gift segment, linking is extremely important and Harry & David's linking is not nearly as robust or extensive as its competitors.

1-800-Flowers
Finally, one of our chosen brands got a first-place spot on the Google home page. In this case, for the keyword "flowers," not surprisingly since the keyword is part of 1-800-Flowers' name.

Another example: creditcards.com ranks extremely well on credit-card related keywords, better than major card issuers like Bank of America and Citibank, and its the main reason 1-800-flowers does much better than FTD on flower-related keywords.

However, 1-800-Flowers runs into problems with category-defining keywords. For "gifts," they ranked 25th; 13th for "Valentine's Day gifts," and 12th for "Mother's Day."

Again, linking seems to be the cause. 1-800-Flowers uses a dynamic template which is useful to consumers in that it retrieves information on each request, but commonly results in a thinner linking strategy when completely generic keywords are used.

Story Courtesy of Adage.com Published April 27, 2010