In the News:

The acquisition of RDVO by Cambridge BioMarketing was covered in a number of media:

• New York Times
• Boston Globe
• Boston Business Journal
• DM news

Recent Blog Posts and Commentaries:

From Cambridge BioMarketing Biorhythms:

Apple iPad – Three Potential Uses for the healthcare marketing
While the announcement of Apple’s iPad didn’t elicit the oohs and ahhs that many anticipated, healthcare marketers were quick to see the promise of a powerful and user-friendly tablet PC…

Illustrating Conditions through Healthmaps
Helping patients and healthcare providers understand the various dimensions of a condition is something those of us in healthcare communications can struggle with. Each aspect of a disease definition—from symptoms to diagnosis to treatment—can have multiple layers of complexity…

There is some exciting business news: RDVO has been formally acquired by Cambridge BioMarketing Group, LLC.

CB is an integrated healthcare communications agency located in Cambridge. They are one of the top independent agencies in the Northeast, working with leading companies like Genzyme, BiogenIdec, Novartis, and Millennium Pharmaceuticals. The entire RDVO team will be merging into their group and I’ll be leading their digital strategy and services division.

The healthcare industry is in the midst of technology revolution, and we will be working on innovative new programs for personalized medicine, platforms for patient and physician communications, medical software and devices, online clinical research, and strategies for digital marketing, media, and analytics.

While our focus moving forward will be on healthcare, we will continue to support other industries and now have even more talented UX designers, strategists, and developers to rely on. This acquisition also allows to offer new services to clients that we haven’t been able to provide in the past.

Much more on this great news to follow in the coming weeks. In the meantime, please check out Cambridge BioMarketing’s website to learn more about more team, and be sure to follow us on Twitter!

Cambridge BioMarketing is an integrated communications agency serving clients in the healthcare, pharmaceutical, biotech, and life sciences industries.

Check out the Legends of Pharmaceutical Advertising campaign–help bid a fond farewell to hall-of-famers like “The Empty Suit” and the “The Final Tchotchke”…

Check out this quick presentation on mobile applications developed by the team at RDVO:

It’s no secret that digital and interactive agencies have been hit by the economic downturn. Even with all the “digital is the future” hype, interactive firms are not insulated from today’s reeling business environment.

Still, many agencies are looking for talent. The market is flooded with talent for the first time in many years and—for the time I can remember—it’s a buyer’s market for agencies, and this creates opportunities for us to build and improve our teams. Jobs are out there.

So how do you land that plum agency job? Unfortunately, skills and experience are simply not enough. Luck and timing also play a big hand. However, you can improve your chances by getting more tactical (and strategic) in your job hunt.

Need ideas? Here are seven helpful tips that might improve your chances…

1. Have Someone Make an Introduction

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. You can vastly improve your chances of being considered if someone connected to the agency makes a recommendation or introduction on your behalf. Look at your network and contacts. Does anyone you know have a contact at the agency? The world of digital agencies is small and surprisingly nepotistic. While a recommendation alone doesn’t mean you’ll get the job, it will often ensure that you get considered.

2. Define (and Sell) your Special Value

What is the real value you can offer our agency? What is the one thing that makes you stand out and is the one facet of your skillset that we can’t live without? Remember, agencies are in the business of selling our people’s capabilities. Of course, your education, background, and prior experiences are all important, but what we’re really looking for is that one special aspect of you that will excite both our clients and internal team.

3. Be Professional, Courteous, and Error-Free

Show up on time. Dress appropriately. Make sure your resume doesn’t have typos. Be respectful. While this may seem like job-hunting 101, you would be surprised at the lack of professionalism and carelessness we see from job applicants. Remember, if you work at a digital agency you will be reflecting the agency (we think about this…a lot). The impression you make goes a long way.

4. Do Your Research

We are always impressed when applicants come in with a solid understanding and knowledge of the agency. Make sure you gather all the data and information you can before the interviews. Look at our website, check out the projects we’ve worked on, and Google the hell out of us. Be prepared with smart questions and tangible perspectives.

5. Check Your Online Brand

If we think you are a potential fit we will Google you. We will look you up on Facebook, on LinkedIn, and we’ll check out your blog if you have one. Make sure you’re online footprint doesn’t contain anything that will scare us away.

6. Follow-up, But Don’t be a Stalker

Proper follow-up is both an art and a science. Feel free to send a nice thank you email or letter, but avoid placing calls or overdoing it. Show us that you’re interested and excited in the position but don’t come across as desperate or scary. Be patient—it may be a week or so until we get back to you.

If you’re interested, RDVO has several positions open…

Great concept and very true – when was the last time you used a device or application (from a company other than Apple) and found the experience actually…ummm…enjoyable?

So what is this user experience pleasure principle? Why do Apple products continue to inspire and dazzle users while products from companies like Microsoft and HP just tend to bore us?

UX designers are conditioned to think that user workflow, task completion and logic are the essentials of a quality experience. Elements like design craftsmanship and detail are often considered extraneous and wasteful—or are simply seen as just “adding color”. Many leading design firms and pundits have trumpeted this concept of simplicity over embellishment—function always trumps form.

It’s becoming clear, however, that interfaces don’t need to be stark and bland to be good. Some of the most interesting and powerful digital experiences can be seen in game UI. And companies like Apple continue to show that creating a sense of wonder in your product experience just may please customers as much as simplified design workflows.

More to come soon…

I’d like to introduce Mr. Lizzo, RDVO’s official mascot and office pet.

We found him in the office a few weeks ago. It appears he stowed a ride on some tropical plants we recently bought. He likes to eat spiders sit motionless on rocks for hours.

He also has his own website.

We won for work we did for the Gillette Young Guns website. Congrats to both the awesome team at RDVO and our great clients at Gillette and P&G.

In preparation for a new project, I put together a quick presentation that compares design approaches for a number of prominent semantic search engines, including Powerset.com, Sindice.com, Cuil.com, Twine.com, and hakia.com. Specific attention was paid to general presentation, input methods, display or results, and categorical results approach.

Worth a look if you’re interested in semantic search.