The Middlesex County Substance Abuse Action Council (MCSAAC) works to reduce substance abuse in Middlesex County. By coordinating grassroots, community activities, they work to reduce the negative impact of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs on their population, along with prescription drug abuse and addictive gambling. The health of children and young adults is their primary focus.
MCSAAC recently launched a new media campaign with the help of CO:LAB in Hartford. The theme? "Join the Majority of Parents Who Say 'No' to Underage Drinking."
"Underage drinking prevention campaigns are tricky," writes CO:LAB on their Facebook page. "How do you express the seriousness of the issue without sounding judgmental and therefore alienating potential allies? We worked with MCSAAC to make duty a positive and inclusive community conversation where the majority rules."
"We shared the facts along with resources for having conversations with teens and providing a safe environment for fun," says CO:LAB. The campaign's website, responsiblehosting.org, offers PDFs of campaign materials including posters, brochures, and postcards.
"The social norm is actually for parents to be against social hosting (providing a place for people under 21 to drink alcohol). 80% of parents in Middlesex County reported not serving underage youth and don’t want other adults to serve their teens. So we appealed to that majority to raise awareness and form a united front. As a community, we all depend on each other."
The main visual impact of the campaign comes from strong messaging written on hands, which succeed in stopping you in your tracks. "To create these images, we literally wrote on the hands of community members committed to responsible hosting."
Such creative work for social profit has been getting CO:LAB much notice recently.
In November, CO:LAB received 2 awards at the AIGA Cause/Affect International competition, for their Asset Promise and Human Right Here campaigns. The show comprised 30 of the best pieces of do-goodery on the planet.
In October, AIGA launched its Design For Good initiative at the Pivot Conference in Arizona. CO:LAB was featured in the manifesto video discussing design for good and why it matters, and also wrote an article for AIGA's website with tips on doing work for good.
Considering our last piece on Connecticut agency websites ran last October, Fall would seem to be the go-to time for agencies to relaunch their own websites. Are summers traditionally slow for agencies, inspiring a push towards new business and facilitating that extra boost to get the website done?
Meshing technology with social interaction, information with dialog, The Pita Group of Rocky Hill has launched a new website that offers a fascinating window to the company’s culture, ideas and conversations.
“We re-created thepitagroup.com not only to demonstrate how we solve our clients’ marketing and business challenges, but also as a platform for exploration, inquiry, and feedback from clients and the community,” says Kim Pita, The Pita Group’s managing principal.
The new website offers multiple paths to information and interaction. The “What’s Your Challenge?” area helps visitors define their marketing goals and priorities and view best-practice solutions. The site connects to The Pita Group’s blog and newsletter, which offer marketing insights from and sneak peeks into the lives and work of Pita team members.
The new website’s videos, snippets of life from production shoots and in-house brainstorms, reveal Pita “peeps” and their inspiration and humor. A "Strategic Partners" page showcases collaborations with clients such as BlumShapiro and Solidus. Site visitors may request a strategic consultation or schedule a speaker. Not-for-profit organizations may apply for a grant for marketing consultation or services.
“One of the most exciting aspects of The Pita Group’s new website is our 'Innovations Labs,' where we’ll be asking panels of consumer advocates to share their ideas, forecasts and notions about marketing and test the agency’s creative concepts,” says Paul Pita, principal and executive creative director.
“Members of our 'Innovations Labs' panels will be the first to hear about our latest endeavors and innovations. We’re looking forward to their creative input and ideas for marketing campaigns.”
Fathom of Hartford has also relaunched to reflect the changes the agency has gone through since launching its last online presence.
"The new way of presenting ourselves is more than just new skin," says Suzi Craig, Director of Market Engagement. "The new website is an expression of who we are and why we exist in this world."
"What you see in our new online home is the end result of work that we take on with clients every day," Craig continues. "Along with the elements of what you see — the design, the content and the functionality — the work that it took to get there (what you don’t see) included a serious exploration of what is true to Fathom and the impact we hope to have with our clients and the world."
Like Pita Group, besides highlighting case studies and recent work, the new site shines the spotlight on thinking — providing a feed from their blog, The Deep End, as well as an up-front spotlight on their process: "We see three ingredients to everything we do: What is true. What is possible. What is realized. These ingredients are not trademarked processes, bucketed services or sold-separately products. They are, in various concoctions, elements of how we get at you: who you are, why you exist, what you do, where you are going and how you want to get there. They are essential to Fathom and, while our business will evolve and how we talk about what we do will change, we see that these ingredients will remain fundamental to our core being, in some way, shape or form."
"As our own client for the project, we found the work both exhilarating and demanding. Like our clients, expressing who we are in a way that differed from the past meant fully committing to this version of us. It didn’t matter that we were already living and doing the work that we wanted to do, that what we saw on the horizon was here. Finding the vocabulary and presentation to express ourselves brought our level of commitment into a new place. And, what this new place has allowed for is another, new horizon line to take shape in our view."
Other new notable relaunches include Bligh Graphics in Simsbury, Signature Advertising in Milldale and Response in New Haven.
As The Big E — the largest of New England's agricultural fairs and the ninth largest fair in the US — opens up for another season, we thought we'd explore the marketing materials behind it and talk to their agency of record, Mascola Group in New Haven.
"The Big E is definitely one of the best clients we get to work with," says Senior Art Director Nick Healy. "We get to create billboards about cream puffs and tv spots about roller coasters — it's great! And the marketing department at the Big E is so easy to work with; they appreciate all the work we do and they trust the creative decisions we make without second guessing us. Plus I love the fact that The Big E always asks us to come up with a freshly-designed campaign every year. Never have they come to us and tried to re-run the same creative. They realize that tastes change and their look every year should not feel dated or done before."
The overall concept for this year was "Anticipation," brought to life across all media.
"Since the Fair is something that happens as a close to the summer, we wanted to create a sense of anticipation and desire for all the things that it has to offer. In the television spot, we have a countdown '3,2,1…' sequence to lead into the spot. In all the billboards and print creative, we have an 'It's coming' message — such as 'The Menagerie is Coming,' or 'The Thrills are Coming.' And to make use of the digital billboard medium, we've had a daily countdown of 'The Screams unleash in 13 days…'"
2011 is the seventh year that Mascola has been doing work for The Big E. Each year the agency does a new campaign that is delivered through a variety of media — brochures, posters, highway billboards, in-mall advertising, online, newsprint ads, radio and television.
"Our first presentation to the client is typically with a billboard, a brochure cover and intro spread, and a radio treatment for each of the concepts we show them. We feel that this is the best way to show them how the concepts we’ve developed will translate across all the mediums to come out of the campaign. That first presentation to the client usually happens in April/May, and then it’s the whole summer developing the rest of the creative and getting it ready to go out."
Reception to their work over the years has been exceptional.
"We have won awards for the work in the design/advertising community, from the Ad Club of Connecticut and the Connecticut Art Directors Club, but it was really cool when we were awarded top outdoor and top campaign from the IAFE — the International Association of Fairs and Exhibitions. This is a world-wide organization specializing in fairs recognizing the work we did. Kinda neat.
"The real overall success, though, would be through attendance at the fair. If you look at it that way, last year was a big success. We had three record-breaking attendance days and the overall attendance was their third highest in history — with 1,228,418 visitors during the three weeks of the fair."
After seven years and seven campaigns, does Healy have a favorite? "I think I’d have to say 2007 — the year we did the 'apple crate campaign' was one of my favorites. The overall design concept was created by Eric Webb and it just totally fit the feel of classic Americana that I think The Big E represents."
The Ivoryton Playhouse, located in a section of historic Essex, has been an important part of Connecticut's cultural landscape for 100 years. The Ivoryton Playhouse Foundation completed a total renovation of the building, and it is now prepared to face the second century of its life.
They looked to Outthink, also in Essex, to help them launch this season with a complete rebranding.
"We’d been working with Ivoryton for quite awhile before the launch to help them clarify their strategic positioning and differentiation from the competition. They are a unique institution — a vital part of the region’s cultural history since 1911 — so we had to make sure that came through clearly."
"The key elements have been strategy development, creating a new logo, a revamp of the website and establishing a Facebook presence, stationery package, direct mail to current and prospective subscribers, print ads, programs and posters."
"They weren’t just looking for pretty pictures and a quick fix. They really understood the need to have the creative firmly rooted in strategy and were willing to take the time and do the work necessary before we did any designing or messaging."
"We’ve contributed our services to Ivoryton because we respect them as a local treasure; they are such an important part of our community’s history and cultural life. There was a great deal of collaboration on the project, and this work gave our designers even more leeway than usual to take the time to flex their creative muscle and try a wide range of approaches. Their excitement about the assignment and commitment to Ivoryton clearly came through."
Reaction to the rebranding has been overwhelmingly positive.
"Ivoryton was both pleased and appreciative because they felt the work is really 'them.' They’ve received a lot of favorable feedback from subscribers, as well as acquiring over 600 new Facebook friends. The new website has received 2-3 times more daily visitors than its predecessor, and ticket sales are trending up as compared to the same time last year. Those are the kind of results we like!"
The work has also been creating quite a stir in the creative community, winning the Gold Brush at the Ad Club of Connecticut Awards, and also scoring a nod from the Connecticut Art Directors Club.
"It’s always great to receive recognition for our work. But at Outthink, it’s even more important to us to see that our work makes a real difference for our client. And it has for Ivoryton Playhouse."
Amica Mutual Insurance Company is targeting customers’ hearts with the launch of an engaging brand campaign focused on what it feels like to be an Amica customer. The new campaign, developed by Cronin and Company of Glastonbury, launched January 17, with two 30-second and two 15-second television spots.
"Amica is more than a company. More than insurance. Amica is a feeling. The feeling that Amica will always go above and beyond for their customers, when they need it most. Which is why, in a category that is increasingly targeting the funny bone, we went for the heart," says Steve Wolfberg, partner/president and chief creative officer at Cronin. "“We’ve captured the Amica spirit and brand in a fresh, energetic and highly watchable way."
In the “FEELINGS” spots, we see people having a great time in and around their cars, enjoying the familiar and unexpected moments that life has to offer. With charming images, original music and a distinctive graphic look, these feel-good spots capture the unique Amica spirit and brand. The message: "When you know your auto insurance really has you covered, and you're insured by the company that's built a reputation for outstanding customer service, you can enjoy life that much more."
The spots are currently running in eight major markets across the U.S.
Founded in 1947, Cronin and Company is a full-service marketing communications agency with over $70 million in capitalized billings. The agency’s integrated marketing communications capabilities include: advertising, interactive, public relations, social media, strategic planning, media and analytics, print and broadcast production, database/direct marketing and research.
Think Creative Group is a full-service agency in New Haven that develops comprehensive campaigns — branding, identity, interactive, copywriting and public relations — for a wide range of clients such as restaurants, arts organizations and non-profits, law firms, homebuilders and interior designers. The agency is co-owned by Dawn Barson, dubbed their "sales lady expert," and Ali Parmalee, their "expert marketing person."
Think launched two new high-profile websites in recent months, one for Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven and one for The Greater Hartford Regional School Choice Office, or RSCO for short.
"Working with Long Wharf Theatre has been wonderful." said Parmalee. "Their team knew exactly what they wanted…and what they didn’t. During our strategic review and planning, our teams decided to focus on creating a new site that truly communicated the full breadth of what Long Wharf Theatre has to offer on stage and off.
"They wanted a very visual site that highlighted upcoming shows, news, embedded videos and a blog, and always offered multiple ways to purchase tickets and support the theatre. And most of all, LWT wanted to be able to update their site with a robust Content Management System so that they could always keep their site’s visitors up-to-date with the most current information."
The resulting site is a clean, easy to use, intuitive and attractive website.
"There’s something wonderful about working with a client like Regional School Choice Office," said Parmalee. "We know our time spent strategizing on the site structure, functionality and flow go much deeper… helping kids and families get information on schools and education that much easier.
"RSCO wanted all of the schools and the process of applying to be easily accessible from anywhere on the site. Over 30 schools throughout Greater Hartford from Pre-K through 12 have individual representation and showcase information and images from each school to convey what makes them so different. RSCO has the ability to add or update information throughout the site with a user-friendly Content Management System. We designed and developed the site to be entirely 508 compliant for people with disabilities. And a simple Google plug-in also allows the site to be easily translated in a variety of languages."
The collaboration has resulted in another clean, easy to use website that "will hopefully make it easier for parents to make education decisions for their children."
An agency is often its own worst client, making the execution and launch of its own website a particularly painful process. Which makes the relaunching of four state creative agencies in recent months all the more notable.
Moving into a new office space seemed like a good time for Elements of Branford to launch a new website and to bring their much-visited blog, "Hello Elements," under their agency site umbrella.
Social media is prominent on their homepage, with the latest blog entries, tweets and events. And their portfolio of work gets a tasty javascript gallery treatment.
"We updated our website for many the same reasons we advise our clients to do so, implementing things that had been ignored from a lack of time due to more pressing client work (the shoemaker's shoes and all that)," says Amy Graver, Elements President and Creative Director. "The main logistical changes were for SEO reasons — rolling our popular blog into our site, better copywriting that takes keywords into consideration, and linking to our Facebook and Twitter accounts. All these changes have made for a more cohesive and higher ranking site."
Taylor Design in Stamford is another case of new office, new website.
"Since we were moving into a new space, it was a convenient time to make a major switch," says Dan Taylor, President, Creative Director and Account Director.
"Our old site didn't present our work in the best possible light, so the new site was necessary in order to showcase the work for prospective clients. We felt that a clean, organized, rather spare website — with fun touches here and there — would help our site stand apart from competitors and accurately represent the Taylor Design approach to design."
But the process wasn't easy. "We spent 683 hours developing our new site — twice as long as most of our web projects."
Recognizing the need for a website that would showcase the work while exemplifying the firm’s distinct characteristics, Triple Frog of Middletown relaunched their site as an impressively animated and interactive piece of Flash, dubbed Triple Frog’s "Science of Design" (with a simpler mobile version for the Flash-less).
“During the brainstorming phase, we made a decision to rely on the intelligence and curiosity of our viewers,” says Creative Director and co-owner Stacey Dyer. “Delivering an online portfolio that engaged and educated the audience on our methodology was key.”
Through a painstakingly planned infograph, Triple Frog presents a network of variables, which reveal the formula behind the firm’s creative approach. “We wanted to remind the world that design isn’t just about an aesthetic, it is a carefully crafted set of visual strategies,” says Dyer.
A name and logo change certainly can make a new website a necessity. Such is the case of Worx Branding & Advertising of Prospect, formerly known as The Worx Group.
“The new name and rebrand centers around practicing what we preach,” says Grant Copeland, President and Chief Creative Officer of Worx. “We tell every client to define your brand first, and clearly communicate the brand next. We want to show that we’re holding ourselves to the same principles, and leading by example.”
The new site presents the agency's portfolio through a series of narratives, telling the whole story of each brand and not just "showing the work." And the About section tells the story of the agency itself through a playful and unique series of Q&As.
At one time, it was said, "every business needs a website." Today, it's "every business needs a blog." Which certainly applies to Connecticut's creative agencies. But with many agency blogs feeling forced and bandwagonesque, only a handful find a voice that resonates, with the drive to keep that voice current and updated.
helloelements.com is the three-year-old blog of Elements, a graphic design and marketing communications firm in New Haven. The blog bills itself as "a daily dose of inspiration from the staff of Elements."
The mission is a simple one, according to founder Amy Graver: "Increase exposure. Be a creative outlet for our staff. Show our 'personality.' Drive traffic to our site."
What appears to be a casual list of friends and links can actually be a powerful positioning tool, particularly for a "boutique" agency, showing potential clients a strong brand personality that positions and differentiates.
"No one has directly come to us and said they hired us based on our blog, but almost everyone who has hired us has commented on our blog," says Graver. "It’s clear that when prospects are checking 'under the hood,' the fact that we have a daily updated blog showing what inspires us and what’s current and interesting to us helps to demonstrate our devotion to design, social media and marketing communications."
The casual and "insider" feel of the website also makes the occasional self-promotion feel much more organic and friendly and much less like your typical press release fare.
surfthedeepend.net is the blog of Fathom, a Hartford-based brand and creative firm. Playing off their agency name, the blog invites readers to dig deeper, to "find something to provoke, entertain, instigate, nudge and yes, possibly tweak you."
"There are two reasons we started the blog," says Suzi Craig, Fathom's Director of Marketing and Engagement. "To bring our thinking to the outside world beyond client and prospect meetings, and to bring some thinking back in."
True to their name, Fathom dove into their blog head first. "Honestly, when we started, we didn't really have that much of a plan. We knew that we wanted to focus on specific topics that made sense for us so we weren't talking out of our ass, but how it was going to evolve was a bit of a mystery.There are a few of us at Fathom who were more active on the blog than others; we each have carved out our own slice, our own voice, yet they all collectively harmonize as part of the larger Fathom voice."
Positioning yourself as a thought leader is another common goal of the agency blog, one that certainly seems to suit Fathom's brand. "We are very careful about what we write about — we don't want to just add to the noise. When we write something, we want to have time to research and edit and produce it like it is an article for a publication. While you are not publishing The New York Times, you should act like you are: develop an editorial calendar, identify roles and assign articles to the editorial team — HAVE an editorial team — and operate like you have an audience waiting for your next issue."
And blogging also forces you to focus on what is important to your prospective clients. It forces you to talk to THEIR benefit instead of talking about YOUR agency. "Next up for us is implementing a much more targeted approach — writing articles that would attract marketers in higher education, non-profits, Architecture, Engineering and Construction, etc."
brandflakesforbreakfast.com is the brainchild of Darryl Ohrt, founder of The Agency Formerly Known As Plaid in Danbury. (The agency is currently in the process of rebranding.) The blog feels much like a hybrid of the Elements and Fathom models: it's an amalgam of everything new and cool in social media and marketing, but also clues us in on the latest in hip design, interesting ads and viral video. It somehow balances a vibe of being super smart while still being entertaining and sometimes downright silly.
"When we started Brand Flakes," says Ohrt, "we created the blog for an audience of about 12 people. Our clients at the time. We figured that if we could share a little bit of our world with them, they'd be smarter clients, be inspired as marketers, and perhaps be entertained. We write with the same person in mind today, although it's a much larger audience (approx 4,000 visitors daily). The purpose of the blog is to give our readers content that inspires, educates or entertains."
Ohrt champions blogging as a powerful business development tool, but stresses the importance of content.
"A lot of agencies jumped on the blogging bandwagon and created blogs about themselves — but in reality, most marketers aren't interested in reading about you. That just feels like marketing. We've created content that isn't about us, yet is a valuable tool for marketers. So it becomes a part of their regular reading routine — and then when they DO need an agency, we're top of mind."
It's no coincidence that all three of these blogs are done by agencies who stress their expertise in social media. Learning is doing, and you must experience blogging firsthand to discover the benefits it has for your agency and your clients. Practice what you preach; it makes for a powerful case study when you've actually used the tools you recommend to your clients.
Silver Creative Group in South Norwalk has just launched a new website for a construction luxury rental building in Midtown West / Manhattan.
The property is from the real estate portfolio of client TF Cornerstone.
Silver Creative Group has built a solid reputation for developing effective marketing campaigns for real estate projects. Silver Creative has helped to brand and launch a number of high-profile residential, commercial and mixed-use properties in the tri-state area including Riverbend District in Harrison, NJ, Waypointe in Norwalk, CT, and the New York rental buildings; 2 Gold Street, 455 West 37th, 505 W 37th, 99 John Deco Lofts, 4705 Center Blvd and 4720 Center Blvd.
Paul Zullo and Donna Bonato, a husband-and-wife team, started Silver Creative Group in 2001. They moved the business from Brooklyn, New York to their current location in South Norwalk in 2003. Today, the nationally recognized creative firm employs a dozen people. Silver Creative Group combines sharp, clean design with smart creative marketing to create effective integrated marketing communications campaigns. Silver Creative has won many awards for the creation of brochures, print advertisements, exhibit booths, packaging and websites.
Bertz Design Group of Middletown recently helped launch Nurtur — a health and wellness enterprise, the merger of two established companies — which they named, branded and positioned.
The Nurtur trademark, a monarch butterfly, metaphorically represents participants in the process of transformation. The company’s name literally stands for the support they need to change their lives.
Bertz also developed a brand identity launch video, visible here.
With a new brand identity visibly unique from its competition, Nurtur has now set its sights on completely altering its industry. The brand launch also seamlessly transitioned two distinct cultures (located in Connecticut and Texas) into one unified force.
Along with several other identities designed by Bertz Design Group, the Nurtur butterfly will be featured in the LogoLounge: Master Library series.
The Danbury agency formerly known as Plaid has been acquired by Norwalk's Source Marketing (an MDC Partners company) and will now become... Humongo.
"We feel that this new partnership deserves more than a press release. It's a huge move. A massive combination of creative super power. If awesome were a size XL, it would be Humongo. So as of today, that's the name of the greatest agency in all of the land," said founder Darryl Ohrt on his Brand Flakes for Breakfast blog.
"We'll now have the resources to grow like never before. We'll have access to affiliate agencies that provide our clients what we can't. Imagine a small digital creative agency with the keys to the big guys. That's Humongo."
The acquisition was an opportunity to create a new identity, according to Ohrt. The seven-person shop sorted through 2,000 possibilities during brainstorms. They settled on Humongo because it's "fun to say and rolls off the tongue." There were practical considerations to the oddball name: It avoided trademark problems and was available as an Internet domain and presence on Facebook and Twitter.
And according to Ohrt, "there's plenty more on deck to be announced in the coming months."
