The Seersucker Blog

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Feeling Thankful

It’s hard to believe that the end of the year is right around the corner, right? As Seersucker Creative heads into the holiday season we are taking a moment to look back and reflect on the past year and express gratitude for some of the standout experiences. 

It has been a helluva year.

At Seersucker Creative we are thankful for not only our clients but, just as importantly, our friends and family who have been there for us every step of the way. The New Orleans community has truly embraced us and we’re bear hugging it right back. Our town is amazing and, in no small part, inspired us to launch Seersucker Creative. New Orleans truly makes one want to do new, exciting and bold things. 

We don’t want to be that boring uncle at the Thanksgiving table that drones on and on so we won’t go into every single detail about our year but, like the matriarch or patriarch of the family who keeps it short and sweet before the big meal, we want to mention just a few things. 

Word of Mouth

New Orleans is a relatively small town so it’s not uncommon for “word to get around” about whatever you’re doing. It’s just part of the game in a very social town. Heck, sometimes you hear the word on the street while standing on the street in this city (keep your hands up to catch those beads). 

For businesses, that word of mouth can make or break you and we love it. 

A quick example of how things can go in the Crescent City, in September 2018 we helped launch local real estate company Entablature Realty by making their site healthy through search engine optimization and building their initial audience through social media best practices. It was a great partnership and we absolutely love that team. 

A few months later, local real estate agent Robert Van Meter said he saw our work online and contacted us to build his website. We jumped all over the opportunity and offer Robert advice on all things web to this very day. 

Through Robert we met Brandon Gregoire, a local candidate for state senate. Gregoire heard great things about us from Robert and hired us to handle his campaign’s social media and digital paid advertising. It was a major uphill battle and short six-week sprint, but we built a sizable audience in a very short time. Brandon didn’t win the election but laid the groundwork for future success. We guarantee it. 

We were lucky to have a friend recommend us to aerialist and all-around #ladyboss performer and producer LadyBeast, for whom we’ve helped with SEO and writing press releases for several of her projects.  

So, it turns out, good works and good deeds go a long way in a town like New Orleans. For which we’re thankful. 

We are also exceptionally thankful for the rest of our clients – including Smart Home America and NMB Improvements (our first two clients outside of Louisiana) – and look forward to serving them in 2020 and beyond. 

Happy holidays to you and yours. Cheers!

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One for the books: 2019 Kentucky Derby

The winner of the 145th Kentucky Derby lost the Kentucky Derby by 1¾ lengths.

Look how goofy that sentence seems. “It doesn’t make any sense at all,” one would say. You can’t have a horse win the Kentucky Derby if it did not win the Kentucky Derby, right? To which I say…I don’t know. I’m still at a loss to wrap my head around what happened on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs when Country House was awarded the Derby after Maximum Security was disqualified.

First things first — Maximum Security was better than Country House. So, in that way, yes, Country House didn’t deserve the title. After Maximum Security swung wide heading into the stretch I jumped out of my chair, shocked, as it seemed, up until that point, to be Maximum Security’s race. However, when he went wide, while almost clipping War of Will, a contender in the last Louisiana Derby, in what could have been a catastrophic end to this race, the race opened back up. I actually thought that Code of Honor, who gained the rail, was going to win it all but Maximum Security had other plans.

The horses went four wide coming down the stretch and the crowd at Churchill and audiences all around the world felt the electricity. As did Maximum Security, digging deep and putting away the field in a beautiful stretch run. He beat Country House but the problem is what would War of Will have done?

There is no doubt that Maximum Security, being ridden by Luis Saez, impeded War of Will. No way, no how did that not happen. He was all over him. It was a helluva job by War of Will’s jockey to keep his horse from tumbling. War of Will’s momentum was obviously checked at the top of the stretch and he faded to finish seventh. No matter what side of the fence you’re on in this debate that is an absolute fact and raises a question that we will never know the answer to. Could War of Will have won it?

Risen Star Stakes

Country House ran a superb race in the Derby and deserves a ton of accolades. He was the longest shot on the board at 65-1. He was an afterthought at best. Then he came out and put his best work in to date.

Before that, he ran twice at the Fair Grounds (see what you’re missing?) in the Risen Star Stakes and Louisiana Derby against, guess who, War of Will. Both horses missed the board during the Louisiana Derby but in the Risen Star Stakes it was War of Will getting the best of Country House. If he did it then, why couldn’t he have gotten past Country House and Maximum Security in Kentucky? Especially considering that War of Will rested after the Louisiana Derby and Country House ran in the Arkansas Derby three weeks later. Point being, while all of the talk is about Country House being given the Derby it was War of Will who was checked midstride and had his shot at history lost.

Oddly enough, War of Will’s rider, Tyler Gaffalione, did not submit an objection.

Luis Saez riding Maximum Security, second from right, goes around turn four with Flavien Prat riding Country House, left, Tyler Gaffalione riding War of Will and John Velazquez riding Code of Honor, right, during the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2019, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

The Issues

I understand the public outcry on a few levels. The first, and oldest, being that we watched Maximum Security win the race. It’s very simple. This horse took on 18 others and bested them all. He was the champ. On another level, if you are even a casual fan of the sport, when you watch a horse win the Kentucky Derby it immediately stomps its way into your heart as the people’s champion. It happens every single year. Even though it’s a Triple Crown, and the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes are also called “jewels” of the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby champion is the one we always remember.

Another issue is the fact that Country House’s jockey Flavien Prat submitted an objection because that reeks of dirty pool. In no way did Prat’s ride get affected.  Country House was on the outside and may have been bumped a little bit but that’s just the norm of racing in tight quarters. Couple that with the fact that War of Will, after almost getting ran over, didn’t submit an objection and it all smells of someone trying to talk their way into a championship.

Another issue that I really hate to admit is that this story just feels so 2019. The play on the field didn’t rule the day. It was someone reviewing a video as the world sat around for over 20 minutes on social media screaming about who was right and who was wrong. It lessened the race and will probably open a can of worms for years to come.

The Verdict

With all of that said, even though my gut tells me I’m wrong, I guess they got the call right. It’s not that Maximum Security impeded Country House but he did impede War of Will to such a major degree I guess the call had to be made. I keep thinking about what Bill Mott, trainer of Country House, said when the world was waiting for the verdict.

“If it was a maiden claimer on a week day the winner would come down and it’s not supposed to matter, the Kentucky Derby or whatever it is.”

And, that is an absolute fact.

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Happy Mardi Gras!

Happy Mardi Gras!

Our greatest season is here once again, New Orleans. Officially, the Carnival season kicks off with Twelfth Night (Jan. 6th) and the subsequent balls in the Crescent City but it starts to go into overdrive as Krewe Boheme rolls through on Friday (Feb. 15th) and Krewe du Vieux and krewedelusion parade through the French Quarter Saturday (Feb. 16th).

After that it is a tour de force of parades down St. Charles in Uptown where 31 krewes will parade over the course of 12 days culminating on Mardi Gras Day, March 5th.

In other words, hold onto your hats, New Orleans.

So, in honor of this glorious time of year, Seersucker Creative has made you and all of your friends out on the route a Mardi Gras playlist on Spotify to get everyone moving. We hope you enjoy it and wish you a safe and amazing Carnival season.

Now let’s get this thing goin’ – http://bit.ly/SeersuckerMardiGras

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To A Beautiful 2019

Champagne flute at Emeril's Delmonico

We would be remiss if we didn’t mark the end of 2018 with a toast.

It has been a big year for us as we brought the Seersucker Creative dream into reality. We appreciate all of the love from our family, friends, Romans, countrymen, volunteer organizations and clients.

We look forward to bringing great energy to the New Orleans marketing scene and beyond. Our vision is true. Our mission is a positive one. We hope you come along for the ride.

So we raise a glass to you friends. Without you there would be no us.

Here’s to hoping you had a great 2018 and all of your dreams come true in the year to come.

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Get Into The Online Game

It is vital for small businesses or individuals to employ an active social media presence and, better yet, a paid digital advertising campaign. Moreover, if you’re not taking online marketing seriously, you might as well start planning for your “Going out of business” sale.

Okay. That last part was just to shock you but the point remains the same. Facebook’s debut (February, 2004) was a long time ago and the days of not participating in the digital landscape are far behind us.

Online marketing and social media channels are the only arenas where your small business can go toe-to-toe with “the big boys.” So why, after opening your store, employing the best staff and dotting all of the I’s and crossing all of the T’s would you NOT participate in a relatively low-cost method of advertising that is literally at your — and most importantly your customers — fingertips? That’s akin to fumbling the football at the one-yard line or taking a called strike to end the baseball game.

You’re in the game to win the game.

This game that we play is one where there are almost five billion Google searches a day and 1.15 billion mobile daily active Facebook users. That’s money literally circling around your digital doorstep. Don’t you want part of that action?

So for the sake of your business, do away with the following misguided thoughts—

Stop pretending that you’re business is untouchable.

Stop pretending that online advertising doesn’t work.

Stop pretending that you can post once a week to social media.

Stop pretending social media doesn’t make sense for your product/service.

Stop pretending that digital marketing costs too much.

OR

Watch your competition poach your customers.

Watch your competitors dictate trends in your marketplace.

Watch your old customers disappear.

Watch your new customers — do nothing — because they don’t know about you.

Watch customers walk right past your door.

Sounds harsh but so is losing your business. So, let’s work together and make 2019 and beyond a success for all of us.