niknack.creations

the cheaper alternative for stuff you don’t have time to do yourself.

niknack.weddings

Time for launch strategy redirection (ooh, that was lots of big words!):

niknack.creations will be chasing the bridezillas (or sweethearts) of the world. Say hello to niknack.weddings!

Focusing on the bridal segment of documentation will allow us to focus meeting the needs of one industry. This is a better way for us to launch ourselves into the creative world.

Getting married? Know someone who is getting married? We are a low budget way to go, while still getting the unique touch that captures you and your spouse-to-be's personality. We can do your:

- Save the Dates (emails, magnets, postcards)
- Invites
- RSVP cards
- Directions/local attractions/accomodations info cards
- Welcome packets/gifts (great for putting in hotels to welcome your out-of-town guests!)
- Signage
- Wedding Programs
- Personalized wedding favors or small "gifts"
- Thank you's

The cool thing is, if you already found a design or invite package, we can mimic the design as much as possible to get it in your budget. If you already purchased something, like invites, and need us to design a few extra pieces to match, like wedding programs and thank you's, we can do that, too!

Long story short, we're flexible, easy to work with, and customize almost anything to make it be the perfect wedding package for you!

Contact us! niknack.creations@gmail.com

CMO = My Dream Job

That’s the CMO’s Job
From QSR Magazine

The role of the chief marketing officer goes beyond simply advertising the brand.

Author Peter Drucker’s adage that a business enterprise has two basic functions—marketing and innovation—certainly resonates in the quick-service industry today. Marketing and innovation serve as critical drivers of growth at a time when the limits of cost cutting have been reached. While the innovation function is steady across all chains, marketing strategies vary greatly.

I’ve worked with a broad range of companies and have found a lot of variation in how marketing is defined and what impact it has on the organization and business as a whole. At some quick serves, the marketing function is merely creative services—establishing and maintaining a look and feel throughout the units and in communications. For others, marketing may have responsibility for optimizing and managing the marketing mix of advertising, promotions, or point-of-purchase.

More and more, quick serves are appointing a chief marketing officer and looking to him or her to drive an agenda that, in today’s environment of streamlined business, is expanding to include several more responsibilities than the role traditionally held.

They have responsibilities that extend beyond marketing strategies and programs. In a recent Forbes.com article, David Cooperstein, vice president at Forrester Research, suggested that the CMO’s responsibility “isn’t just aggressive advertising and promotion … The CMO is the one who must connect the dots—the touch points with the customer—to make every experience with the brand consistent and positive.”

Dick Lynch of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen is a CMO who fulfills such an expansive role. He’s in charge of “unlocking the brand DNA and exploding that into everything the brand does.” He led the chain’s recent repositioning, applying the new Popeyes brand identity across the enterprise. Menu initiatives, new product development, and even the chain’s Louisiana Culinary Heritage Institute, a program to reward top operators, all fall under Lynch’s watch.

Pricing, franchisee relations, service standards, development—many functions that fall outside of a traditional marketing role are areas where CMOs get involved because they impact the customer experience and brand perceptions. Expanding the Popeyes brand into international markets, for example, is yet another of Lynch’s responsibilities at the fast feeder.

They contribute a business mindset, not just marketing. All marketers need to exert strong right-brain thinking in order to drive creative marketing programs, but CMOs also demonstrate proficiency in left-brain skills. They develop a detailed knowledge of the company’s financials, which not only gives them insight into what changes in the marketing mix need to be made in order to drive sales and profits, but also gives them credibility during management and board meetings.

“Having a general breadth of knowledge is important, not just the marketing side,” says Jason Smylie, CMO of Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop.

They are held to a higher level of accountability. Results of particular marketing programs are important performance metrics for all marketing personnel, but as an officer of the corporation, a CMO’s performance is usually measured by same-store sales and profitability. Popeyes’ Lynch says the chain’s weekly business results serve as his report card.

The CMO role is not a position for large chains only. Capriotti’s, for example, is a 60-unit concept. Even though Capriotti’s CMO, Smylie, only has three people on his marketing team, he says he approaches his role “from a strategic mindset, with a focus on measurement and return on investment.” And he works “intimately with the rest of the executive team directing the strategic vision of the company,” playing a lead role in the chain’s plans for nearly 50 percent growth in 2010.

With the right talent
and the right support,
a CMO can drive growth and produce results beyond the traditional marketing function.”Whether or not a CMO exists at a company is usually an indication of the value the organization places on the marketing function. According to marketing luminary David Aaker in his book Spanning Silos: The New CMO Imperative, a CMO can assume one or more of several prototypical management roles: facilitator, consultant, service provider, strategic partner, or strategic captain, each reflecting different levels of influence and authority.

At the least impacting end of the continuum, the CMO acts as a facilitator. By “setting up formal and informal cross-silo communication channels and establishing a common planning framework and knowledge base,” Aaker writes, facilitative CMOs can encourage synergy across different business units and functions.

On the other end of the impact continuum, a CMO can act as a “strategic captain” for the company. Interpreting trends, providing insights about customers and competitors, and developing enterprise strategies are some of the ways “strategic captain” CMOs exert their influence.

Which role the CMO plays depends not only on the skills and experience of the individual, but also how the position is viewed by the company leader. The “strategic captain” model succeeds “only when the CMO team has the highest level of competence and credibility and when the company’s CEO places a priority on marketing synergy and branding consistency, provides the CMO with resources, and visibly backs the CMO’s authority,” Aaker says.

Quick serves looking to take their marketing to the next level might consider expanding the role of the CMO. With the right talent and the right support, a CMO can drive growth and produce results beyond the traditional marketing function.

As many quick serves have discovered, the CMO title sets higher expectations—and it also empowers its owner to fulfill them.

For over 20 years, Denise Lee Yohn has worked with quick serves like Burger King, Jack in the Box, and Jamba Juice on building their business through their brand name and image. She can be reached at Denise@qsrmagazine.com.

We have a "knack" for this stuff!

Some may consider us semi-pro. But just like in football, we're the ones who play our hearts out. Without the million dollar contract.


Whether you don't want to, don't have the time, or can't create or design your own documents and publications, that's why we're here. niknack.creations wants to stop warming the bench and start making it easy for you. Here's our starting lineup:


creative writing + document design =

   invitations
   programs
   business documents
   cards
   displays
   announcements
   newsletters
   electronic communication
   basic advertisements
   promotional documents
   menus
   portfolios
   resumes


No job is too small. niknack.creations prefers to work with individuals and small businesses to foster a one-on-one client relationship. Every need is unique. Tell us what you need, give us your budget, and we'll make it work. We're not a team of art or graphic design majors, but we're pretty darn good at what we do. Why go with the expensive "high maintenance" option? Consider us the classiest cheap date you'll ever have.


Are you inspired to get your projects started? Give us a holla: niknack.creations@gmail.com.




Samples and more ideas to come on our blog... check back for updates.

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Our blog says it all. We design stuff. Cool stuff.
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