December 21, 2012

Wichita Business Journal
Daniel McCoy

Wichita businesses find giving back can be the best gift for their clients

It’s that time of year when offices throughout Wichita are filled with holiday greeting cards and gifts big and small from customers and vendors.

But some Wichita businesses have seized the opportunity to support a good cause, have a little fun or both.

For nearly two decades, Greteman Group has rolled out a campaign around Christmas in which it donates money on behalf of its clients to a charitable cause.

This year’s campaign, the “Gift of Lift,” supports the Aviation Green Alliance program of the Lindbergh Foundation, which focuses on eco-friendly innovation in the aerospace industry.

But Greteman, which makes its money being creative, also took the opportunity to get the creative juices of its clients flowing.

Along with a card announcing the donation made on their behalf, clients get a kit of pre-cut cardboard parts that allows recipients to make their own flying machines.

They can then upload photos of their creations to a special website, and there anyone can vote on their favorites.

Don’t expect the creative types at Greteman to go down without a fight. Around the agency’s Wichita office are all sorts of creations made from the kits, including a few Star Wars-inspired craft and a replica of the Mars rover that employees Landon Barton and Seth Duncan built using two kits — plus the box one of them came in.

“We’re super-nerds,” Barton says.

Sonia Greteman, president and creative director at Greteman Group, says the campaign has been well received and fits with the agency’s efforts to win work with the aviation industry.

“It’s so much fun. Our clients have really gotten into it,” Greteman says. “But it also helps the community. They really like seeing a charity being supported. It’s got legs beyond just being fun.”

Inspired to give back

The law firm Morris, Laing, Evans, Brock and Kennedy, Chartered, is in its second year of offering a charitable donation on behalf of clients.

Last year’s donations were given to the Kansas Food Bank.

This year, inspired by some employees’ battles with breast cancer, the money is going to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, says attorney and marketing director Cameron Michaud.

“It’s been really well received,” Michaud says. “Clients write us back to say thanks. We just wanted to do something to give back. People seem to have really appreciated that.”

Clients and friends of Greteman Group may not be getting much work done today. Chances are they’re playing instead.

Holiday mailers from the Wichita-based marketing communications agency ought to be hitting about now. Mailboxes will sport an enticing three-dimensional mailer that contains everything needed to create a flying machine – wings, stabilizers, fuselages, propellers, engines. Recipients can create a modest bird or something magical. Aviation inspires the graphical elements – flight charts, runway directional signage, even 1960s-era Pucci-designed stewardess uniforms.

While only clients and friends of the agency receive the mailer, anyone can view and rank the creations. The agency’s encouraging people to post their inventions on a dedicated webpage: www.gretemangroup.com/Holiday12

The 23-year-old agency gave big-ticket gifts to its clients the first years it was in business. It didn’t take long for Sonia Greteman, agency president and creative director, to decide there was a better way.

“This will be our 20^th year of sending out creative well wishes backed by charitable giving,” says Greteman. “Clients love both the symbolic gift and the one we make to a deserving nonprofit. Our team has great fun with this every year. We can’t wait to see all the fantastical birds and flying machines people come up with – and who gets the most votes.”

This year’s Gift of Lift campaign benefits the Lindbergh Foundation’s Aviation Green initiative. By raising awareness of past earth-friendly technological advances, the agency hopes to inspire even more. Lindbergh Foundation Chairman John Petersen says, “Greteman Group’s generous support advances our efforts tremendously. Everyone wins – most of all, our planet.”

About Aviation Green Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh devoted their lives to promoting a healthy balance between technology and the environment. Today, the Lindbergh Foundation and its Aviation Green alliance advance innovations that ease aviation’s environmental footprint. A growing number of leading individuals, companies and organizations are working together for the future of aviation – and our world.