When Hurricane Sandy slammed the east coast last year, the folks at Switch swung into action to create a plea for donations in order to get some Midwestern charity over to the survivors who needed it most.
This time around, the devastation is a little bit closer to home, but no less urgent as many people are displaced and lacking the basic essentials of daily life.
The City of St. Louis has partnered with Switch + Contemporary, St. Louis Rams Quarterback Sam Bradford, the American Red Cross and several generous partners to create #STL4OKC, a donation drive to support our neighbors in tornado-ravaged Oklahoma City and its suburbs.
The drop-offs are as follows:
Thursday, May 23rd
4 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.
• Broadway & Spruce
across from Gate One at Busch Stadium
(Tums Parking Lot)
Go to the Facebook page for up to the minute information and a list of what sort of supplies they'll be collecting. Missouri is no stranger to this kind of disaster, so let's extend the good will and charity that others showed our state only a few years ago.
We don't normally think social sub-sites for brands are worth the time of day. To be honest, the only social sub-sites we can even bring to mind are for large international beverage corporations such as Coca-Cola or Budweiser and the content on those are typically pointless fluff at that.
But what happens when you apply this marketing strategy to a smaller niche brand for a product that helps you "de-shed" your animal? We think it's incredibly smart, on target and very successfully executed fluff. You just know those Pinterest Pet Lovers will go ape-shit (dog-shit?) and start pinning all this cutesy, custom-made content while building quite the awareness around FURminator.
Writer/Strategist Jeremy Huggins on the nuts & bolts behind the site: A year ago, we developed for FURminator a brand strategy guide and a social media strategy guide, some of which led to the creation of this content-heavy mini-site, furminatorworthit.com. We designed and wrote this site in-house, from original photography to comic strips to an advice "column" from Old Sparky.
The site just launched two weeks ago, so we'll be curious to hear how effective this approach will be in the oncoming months. We'll keep you posted.
Credits:
Writer: Jeremy Huggins
Designer: Crystal Buckey
Developer: Matthew Strom
We're about a few weeks late on this one, but we were waiting to get some feedback on the new logo and branding from the creatives over at Fleishman Hillard:
The brand had not been updated since 1990 and the agency wanted to give it a refresh to bring it in-line with who we are today.
The team that worked on the font was looking for something that was contemporary and timeless, but not trendy. The logo unites the names of both founders – Fleishman and Hillard – on one line to reflect the heritage of the firm and honor the two men.
Buck developed the mark and wanted it to complement the logo and reflect the transformation of the firm. He wanted to identify the F and the H in an interesting way. He didn’t want it to be obvious, so he utilized the negative space. Once you see the F and H, it becomes memorable. The vertical bars tell the story of a firm deeply rooted in the industry sectors, they also give the mark balance and strength. The horizontal bars represent FleishmanHillard’s ability to innovate, integrate and redefine the boundaries of traditional public relations. They show growth and going beyond, and the color change represents our aspiration and vision to be the most complete communications company in the world.
Here's a new spot that's meant to capture some of the intention behind this reboot:
This is one of those cases where we actually prefer the older, dated logo to the new "contemporary and timeless" version. Even though the prior logo did nothing to establish Fleishman Hillard as a creative company, it had become rooted in our minds as a kind of dominating, corporate father figure – represented by poorly kerned, yet commanding serifs that told us "This is Where PR & Marketing Happens."
The new logo feels somewhat sterile and more representative of a healthcare entity with it's shades of blue and white/gray gradient background. We also "get" what's trying to happen with the F and H letterforms but, honestly, after staring at this mark for more than a few minutes, we're just lost as to what exactly is going on. The negative space of F is evident but where the H overlaps, or is supposed to overlap, has left us stymied - as well as the top light blue "bowl" element.
Evolving as a company is crucial to remaining relevant and profitable in 2013. Being part of the massive omnicom giant won't hurt them from maintaining a steady client roster and income, but as far as progression goes – an ambiguous campaign in dual release with their even more ambiguous branding doesn't feel like a very progressive PR move in this day and age.
“True speaks to our unique ability to help clients navigate a world demanding unprecedented authenticity and transparency,” said Senay. “True also reflects our firm’s moral compass and commitment to the highest values. It defines who we are as a company, and the direction we are moving ahead.” To capture the meaning and message behind true, FleishmanHillard is introducing the tagline The power of true.
The power of true defines who FleishmanHillard is and what it believes. It also explains what the firm offers clients, including: the power of true insights; the power of true ideas; the power of true integration; the power of true client service; and the power of true outcomes.
The new logo equally reflects the firm’s transformation. “Our former logo did an excellent job of reflecting the trust and confidence clients have long placed with us,” said Marchesi. “Our new logo maintains those values, but with a fresh, innovative and more contemporary interpretation.”
The logo unites the names of both founders – Fleishman and Hillard – on one line to reflect the heritage of the firm and the originators of modern public relations. FleishmanHillard also added to its logo an iconic mark that complements the logo but also symbolizes the transformation of the firm. The vertical bars tell the story of a firm deeply rooted in the industry sectors and communications capabilities most important to clients. The horizontal bars represent FleishmanHillard’s ability to innovate, integrate and redefine the boundaries of traditional public relations.
That's a lot of communication from some light blue bars.
Description: The Pre-Press Artists at Cannonball are responsible for prepress and digital retouching projects which consist of preparing electronic key lines, following specs, formatting copy, creating die lines and building high resolution Photoshop files. This entails working in partnership with the creative team, account service members, print production and outside vendors gathering information, fielding questions and making sure pieces work mechanically.
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From coffee beans to charcoal, Atomicdust is flexing their packaging design muscle no matter what type of product gets thrown at them. Everything they work on lately seems to have that element of 'fun design' that young, idealistic designers hope to incorporate into their work at some point in their careers.
Atomicdust keeps representing this visual idealism along with clever copywriting and savvy execution that seems to have clients (and us) coming back for more. Well done guys. Wellll donnneee... (do we need to spell out the bbq pun here?)
From their blog: Taking inspiration from screen-printed posters, we designed big, bold illustrations that honor the power and purity of the product. Rather than coating the entire bag in ink, we let the natural kraft paper bag color show through as a nod to Rockwood’s commitment to “real.” The bag is recyclable, and printed using soy-based inks that won’t produce harmful fumes if burned.
But all good rides must come to an end.
ProWolfe, for all you young guns who've never heard of them, represent part of the STL dynasty of advertising firms that flourished in the 80's and 90's – many of whom are still standing today. You might not know of them or think of them right off the bat because their methods of PR and awareness don't really rely on social media or submitting regular work to the Egotist (ProWolfe has no social media presence that we could find).
We're curious, as one of our helpful submitters pointed out, what happens when the old 'masters' retire? Will they fade out like ProWolfe or be passed on to new leadership which will (ideally) reinvigorate their work?
Description: The Associate Creative Director position at Cannonball requires someone who has a portfolio that features great ideas and solid design across multiple disciplines.
Minimum requirements:
• A minimum of 5 years related experience (5-10 years preferred)
The ideal candidate will have broadcast experience, but it is not mandatory. This is a great opportunity to join a creatively-driven shop with national clients.
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by Moosylvania
