We’ve developed a tradition at Greteman Group to help us celebrate the holiday season. The entire agency splits into three teams that donate time, energy and resources to three charitable causes. We’ve recorded these activities and created short videos for unveiling (yes, they’re secret) activities at our annual holiday party.
Now you can witness the fun too.
Random Acts of Kindness
The Random Acts of Kindness™ Foundation inspired this team. They made up random acts that touched both complete strangers and familiar faces.
Team members: Ashley Bowen Cook, Carol Farrow, Lori Heinz, Shelley Downs, Chaney Kimball, Craig Tomson and Randy Bradbury.
Elephant Yard Cleanup
Zoo volunteers seem to hybernate like the animals come winter. It’s hard to get people out to help with necessary manual labor once the thermometer dips. So, this group offered to come out early on a Saturday morning to assist with cleaning up the elephant yard. Raking hay and scooping poo was a small price to pay for the treat that followed the work – an up-close-and-personal visit with elephants and rhinos.
Team members: Angelina Ortega, Sonia Greteman, Debbie Comes, Jessica Forbes, Donna Grow, Chris Parks and Todd Ramsey. Special guest appearances by Fran and Kale.
Mail-Ordered Christmas
This group really wanted to make a direct impact on young lives so The United Way pointed them to the Wichita Children’s Home, the community’s oldest charitable organization. Armed with aprons and good spirits, they set out to serve up a chili feed alongside teens from the home. Unfortunately, a felonious rapper usurped their plans (yes, seriously) and they had to help out another way. You’ve got to watch this.
Team members: Deanna Harms, Garrett Fresh, Ginny Walton, Todd Gimlin, Pam Headley, Jen Gore and Marc Bosworth.
Be sure to check out last year’s videos as well. They may not feature any famous rappers, giant beasts or photos of Jack Daniels getting put into mailboxes, but they’re still fun.
What are some creative ways you’ve given this holiday season?
Life can get crazy around the holidays – especially if you wait until the last minute to buy gifts for your loved ones. So forget the malls and the crowds. Here’s something special that you can give to someone special.
On this fun little microsite you’ll find just the thing for everyone on your shopping list. Just because you don’t wear footie pajamas anymore doesn’t mean that giving handmade, redeemable coupons isn’t still a great gift. After all, the true meaning of the season isn’t about spending money. It’s about spending a bit of yourself to show others you care.
So head on over to the site, check out our naughty and nice ideas and pass them along to friends and family. Let us know which are your favorites – or if you come up with some wickedly clever ideas of your own. We know you have it in you.
You may or may not be aware that Pepsi is preparing to launch a new logo and look for their products.
It seems like Pepsi is changing its logo all the time. For many companies, this would be considered a flawed strategy. We think it’s spot on for Pepsi.
Pepsi has always branded itself as the edgy, progressive, youthful opposite of Coca-Cola, the classic, traditional, unchanging cola.
Since a brand is much more than a logo or packaging – it’s the gut feeling people have about a company – it makes sense for Pepsi to constantly evolve.
Agree? Disagree?
NBAA 2008 is officially over – and what a show it was.
Whether we’re exploring the tradeshow booths or loading up on collateral and light-up-bouncy-ball swag, we’re informed and inspired by what we see every single year – and 2008 was no different. That’s not to say everything at the show was brilliant, but even less-than-great creative serve as nice reminders for what we should stay far, far away from. And, let’s be honest, help reaffirm the directions we’re moving with our clients.
The current economic downturn was certainly on everyone’s mind, but the show still had great energy with more than 30,000 people in attendance. And, despite the concerns about how the credit crunch will affect the booming business aviation industry, strong order backlogs and a robust global market ensure a record number of deliveries for this year and possibly next.
Some of the highlights from this year’s show include:
- FlightSafety International’s booth traffic. A flurry of activity surrounded the FlightSafety booth this year. And they didn’t even have official booth babes. One draw was the new GG-designed seven-panel history wall outlining FlightSafety’s impressive story. (Learning Centers worldwide are currently receiving and installing the display.) The booth also touted supergraphics communicating the FlightSafety Advantage. We witnessed a number of folks reviewing the checklist, no doubt thinking, yes, FightSafety delivers big time.
- The birth of the Wichita Aero Club. This newly formed club will further Wichita’s “Air Capital of the World” status and will provide a much-needed vehicle for addressing issues of concern to Wichita’s aircraft manufacturers: Boeing, Bombardier, Cessna, Hawker Beechraft and Spirit AeroSystems. We were happy to see seasoned industry veteran and dear friend Dave Franson named as the club’s first director. You can bet this is a group we’ll be joining.
- The new all-encompassing BBA booth. This was the first year that parent company BBA Aviation brought its constituent companies under one roof – or, more accurately, into one booth. We welcomed the opportunity to assist with booth graphics that communicate the strength and pedigree of such BBA powerhouses as Signature FlightSupport, Dallas Airmotive and our new client, APPH.
- The Hawker 4000 flight. Sonia and Deanna made it to the show in record GG time, flying in extended-stay hotel pioneer Jack DeBoer’s long-awaited-but-well-worth-it Hawker 4000. Time from take-off to touchdown? 2 hours, 18 minutes. The only thing better was the chance to get caught up with Jack – and to hear his take on the economy.
- The unveiling of the Bombardier Learjet 85 mock-up. This all-composite jet is more than another pretty face. Just as Learjet created the business-jet category and the very term “jetset,” the Learjet 85 is positioned to shake up the midsized jet market. Not only will it be the first all-composite-structure business aircraft to receive FAA FAR Part 25 type certification, its largest-in-class standup cabin and Mach 0.82 high-speed cruise make this beauty a real winner.
Be sure to check out some of our photos from NBAA 2008 – including Sonia fraternizing with her favorite cartoon mouse.
If you attended this year, what were some of your favorite moments? Booths? Swag?
If you’re a Barack Obama supporter and an iPhone user, you’re probably already aware of the new Obama iPhone app. This latest offering is yet another example of how the Obama campaign understands branding and brand extension.
This new app is simple, free and surprisingly powerful. You can stay up-to-date with local Obama-happenings, track the latest campaign news, organize your contacts by key battleground states and, of course, donate to the campaign. With this tool, the campaign has shown it knows how to not just take advantage of great design, but also technology.
Beyond this new application’s slick interface and clever features, it’s perfectly targeted. According to Nielson Mobile, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to take advantage of mobile tools such as text messaging, mobile browsing and picture messaging. Obviously, a major contributor this usage-disparity is demographics. Many younger voters tend to favor the Democratic Party and these Gen Y voters consume digital and mobile media as a part of their day-to-day life.
While the election is still too close to call, Obama has beaten McCain by a landslide in the brand engagement race. Now we just have to wait and see if these informed, mobilized supporters translate into voters on November 4.
Please note that the Greteman Group blog neither denies nor confirms support for Barack Obama, despite the fact we have had two posts dedicated to his campaign. We can confirm that we support his campaign’s branding strategies.
Urban Spoon
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