Critical Mass was founded in 1996. It's headquarters is in Calgary with 700+ employees in North America. They are expanding to South America and Asia.
Critical Mass tries to build long term (digital AOR partnerships) with clients, creating experiences over longer periods of time then one-off projects.
Brands:
Citi, Infinit, AT&T, ScotiaBank, Adidas, Chivas, HP, Nissan, Budweiser, Clorox Bleach, Best buy
As a high level designer:
Research & strategic direction- comes from planning and strategy team - what's the problem we are trying to solve?
Experience architecture is what they use, information architecture is the general term. Not about information but about interactions and experience within different parts.
Design and execution
Goes from brief, concept, design and delivery
What We Do:
Examples
Snoopy and the Gang:
Reintroduced it and modernized if for Facebook
Launched with 830,000 likes overnight
Citibank: 300 million views, accessibility and wider audience
AT&T
Ecommerce, account info (login page, account inner pages)
About creating relationships and participating
Clorox: Critical Mass made it "get dirty"
Take the pledge to play outside so Clorox will take the pledge to take off the stains. So if parents take kids out one hour everyday, Clorox will get clothes clean.
Human Vitality:
Came up with social platform where you gamify being healthy concept; everytime you are healthy, you gain points
Digital content distribution:
Cross platform, mobile apps and sites
Critical Mass believes in human centered ideas and experiences. They do a lot of learning sessions to keep updating employees skills with latest technologies. They also do a lot of projects on their own; they don't always have to be client based.
What to expect when working at an agency:
Collaboration: working with other people in other disciplines like experience architecture, content, copy, motion design, account management.
Evolution: A lot of opportunities for innovation and doing things that have never been done before.
Big audiences
Big grands in your portfolio
Free beer
Be a designer:
The top row (PS,AI,ID,AE) are the expectation of designers in the industry.
Advice:
Embrace your curiosity: have a willingness to learn; ask questions, find a mentor
Use your superiors to your advantage to be able to learn
Be confident in your work and yourself
Make your own opportunities
Don't sit off to the side and get yourself involved especially in an agency
Keep an open mind
Try different things
Fail. Learn. Try again.
Have creative ideas and think conceptually and share those ideas and execute those ideas.
Care about what you do and immerse yourself in your work
Be aware of work happening in other offices, other industries
Take your work seriously but never yourself
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