Just a quick blog update to let you know the CC Beach Fest website is now live! I'm still tweaking it, but all the event information is there and the entry form available to download. 

In keeping with my design philosophy, the CC Beach Fest website is fresh, clean and easy to navigate. I'm thrilled with the result, as is my client who sent me this lovely message via email:

"Great stuff Jody, looks fantastic, awesome effort, looks cool on mobile as well whoohoo!!!! Thanks, Sheldon."

Happy days!

Author: Jody Sharpe, Sharpe Design Solutions

I'm very excited to announce that Sharpe Design Solutions is partnering with MyCoast Promotions to bring Central Coast Beach Fest to the Coast on Saturday 30th & Sunday 1st December 2013.

MyCoast Promotions are the team who brought the legendary surfing festival, “The Careflight Surf Classic” to the Coast between 1996 – 2003, raising over $150,000 for the Careflight Helicopter Service.

The winners list of the Careflight Classic throughout the years reads like a “who’s who” of Central Coast surfing and body boarding – Adrian “Ace” Buchan, Matt “Wilko” Wilkinson, Glenn “Micro” Hall, Steve “Bullet” MacKenzie, Greg Arnold, Samba Mann, Luke Faunce, Mark and Sean MacGuigan, and Damien Wills to name a few.

Incorporating the community spirit of the Careflight Surf Classic – CC Beach Fest will be the event for the next generation of Central Coast wave warriors with competitions in surfing, body boarding, SUP & paddle races and an ocean swim.

CC Beach Fest will truly be an event for the whole family with entertainment, ice cream eating and sand sculpting by art crew the Steel City Collective who will create works of sand art before your very eyes, giving inspiration for you to sculpt your own plot of sand. There will be lots of prizes for the best “kids only” created sand sculptures, as well as great prizes for family entries – so start thinking about what sort of masterpiece you are going to create!

Details of the events are still taking shape. So that’s where I come in. Sharpe Design Solutions will be launching www.ccbeachfest.com.au very soon and we’ll be leveraging social media to promote this inaugural event and provide up-to-the-minute information. I encourage all “Coasties” to LIKE the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ccbeachfest. I’m providing ongoing support with Facebook page management and considering a Twitter account to tweet live results throughout the event (would love to hear your comments on this idea!) as well as generating spectator interest via Instagram pics and video.

I love an opportunity to provide creative marketing strategy concepts for such a fantastic local event and feel Facebook, Twitter and Instagram will provide the perfect platform for sharing information and great images of what is going to be a landmark weekend event. Mark it on your calendar peeps: Saturday 30th November & Sunday 1st December 2013.

Keep an eye here on my blog, on Facebook and Twitter for updates.

Author: Jody Sharpe, Sharpe Design Solutions

I was recently asked by one of my clients at Sharpe Design Solutions to include a QR Code on a promotional poster. My first thought was "why bother?". But what I said was "how about we give it some thought?"... Even though my opinion is that QR Codes are a waste of time, I thought it only fair to give the matter due diligence!

For those of you who don't know what a QR Code is; A Quick Response Code is a mobile phone readable bar code that can store website URL's, plain text, phone numbers, email addresses and pretty much any other alphanumeric data. Think "print-based hypertext links" and you'll get the idea. But if there was ever a technology so unpopular despite having real potential to improve the way consumers and businesses interact, it would be the QR code.

I see the greatest hurdle for the QR code is the lack of industry standards. For example, iPhones ship with Google Maps, built-in utilities, Safari web browser, a weather app, etc. But what is not included on any platform (Android, iPhone or Windows) is a built-in QR code scanner. For that matter, there is not one go-to scanner in any respective app store, either. So not only do users have to choose an app from a vast variety on offer, they then have to teach themselves how to use it. Most people are savvy enough, but for some it is all just too much hard work!

The other factor that determines a QR code’s success is what its practical use will be.
Consumers who have taken the time to download a QR Code scanner app may well be very disappointed if there’s no significant reward at the end of their effort. While many marketers love the idea of using QR codes for brand promotion, the QR codes that perform far better are the ones that offer consumers a benefit for scanning.  This means providing a discount or special offer or inclusion in an exclusive program in order to provide customers a return on investment for their time.

At the end of the day, a QR code is just a shortcut link to providing more information. Instead of focusing on the tool, marketers need to focus on the value and quality of the content at the back end to give a truly rich user experience. Maybe then the QR code will reach its full potential? Or maybe not? This might just be one of those times when all I can say is “let’s wait and see”.  Stay tuned!