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announcing s&j’s createAthon 2010 clients!

Monday, August 16th, 2010

Another CreateAthon season is upon us and, as always, we had an excellent number of applicants. Last week, the agency sat down to review the applications and the following nine non-profit organizations were selected as this year’s CreateAthon clients: Dunbar Community Center, People First Food Pantry, Special Education Surrogate Parent Program, Rainbow Child Development Center, The Bridge of Central MA, Inc., Habitat for Humanity, Males Advocating Change, Music Worcester and Central MA South Chamber of Commerce. Interested in learning more about them? Visit our site to read about the missions of each organization.

Next week, we will meet with our clients to learn more about their organization and their desired marketing and advertising projects. Throughout the month we will be busy collecting logos and photos from our clients, talking to area vendors, planning with our volunteers, and gathering sustenance for our 24-hour blitz on Thursday–Friday, September 23rd & 24th.

Wish you could be part of CreateAthon?
• Connect with us here on our blog and also on Twitter (twitter.com/snjagency) for periodic updates throughout the night to send your moral support over the wire.
• Help us burn the midnight oil by donating items from our 24-hour grocery list (more info here).
• And if you or someone you know is interested in applying for next year’s CreateAthon, sign up for Scuttlebutt, our monthly enewsletter, to be notified when 2011 applications have been posted.

Posted in CreateAthon, News | No Comments »

It’s that time again!

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

createathon.org

Today is the day!
CreateAthon 2010 prep has officially begun. This afternoon, we will be sending out this year’s applications to local non-profits in the area for CreateAthon. Not sure what this means? Read on.

Founded by RIGGS Partners (an agency in SC) in 1998, CreateAthon is an annual 24-hour creative blitz in the name of charity. Close to 20 agencies in North America participate each September in this worthwhile event. This is our – count it! – EIGHTH year participating in CreateAthon. Over these years, we’ve worked with a variety of causes from child and elderly services, to health initiatives, to the arts and much more to create all kinds of projects totaling over $330,000 in donated time and materials.

How does it work?
Starting today until August 6th, we will accept applications from non-profit organizations. We analyze each one that comes in based on a number of criteria and, while we wish we could help them all with their unique marketing projects, we whittle down to a handful of worthy organizations. Over the weeks leading up to the big event, we gather insight into their causes, define objectives and nail down strategies for each of their projects, as well as collect all of the information and files we’ll need for our all-nighter. Then, at noon on September 23rd, we get to work! The next morning, we present our final ideas to each of the non-profits. They have the rest of the morning to make sure all t’s are crossed and i’s are dotted then we call it a day (or night… or what time is it?) and head home for the weekend to catch up on some much needed ZZZs.

Know someone who should apply?
Send us an email at createathon@smithnjones.com or head over to smithnjones.com/create to download an application.

Posted in CreateAthon, marketing | No Comments »

“renu”-ed packaging

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

As someone who wears contacts and (of course) loves great design, I was happy to find that Bausch & Lomb redesigned their “ReNu” packaging. I’m a huge fan of their product and I love that this redesign is close enough to the old packaging that I was easily able to spot it on the shelf. And the new design is clean and refreshing, just like the solution!

Screen shot 2010-04-07 at 12.47.33 PMHave you been pleasantly (or unpleasantly) surprised with new packaging lately? If so, please share in the comments!

Posted in Random Thoughts, creative, marketing | No Comments »

happiness machine

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

I’ll keep this short and sweet as I just wanted to share this great video from Coca-Cola that I recently came across. The video description explains, “A Coca-Cola vending machine is transformed into a happiness machine delivering ‘doses’ of happiness. Where will happiness strike next?”

This idea is super clever. And if you watch this video and say you aren’t just a little jealous of the kids at that school – I might think you’re lying. Also, as you may know, Coke’s current tagline is “Open Happiness” and smart brand support like this always makes me smile (pun intended).

My only question is: do you think it’s real or staged? Let me know in the comments.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Fun, creative, interactive | 5 Comments »

driving under the Fiesta influence

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

As we’re all aware, in the past year Twitter and Facebook have emerged as beneficial marketing tools for businesses. And most companies are still trying to understand how these new media outlets can work to their benefit. I’ve seen quite a few campaigns where a company will give away a free toy (like a new iPhone or Flip camera) to one lucky person who follows their Twitter account, or becomes a Fan of theirs on Facebook without any connection between the prize and their brand. For example, a paper manufacturer giving away a free iPhone doesn’t seem to make much sense. This tactic is certainly a way to get your follower/fan numbers way up – but does it help to build your brand?

With that said, I’d like to point out a company who has rallied the most popular social mediums (YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter) to launch a hugely successful campaign to reenter a market it hadn’t tapped in over a decade. Ford Motor Company’s “Fiesta Movement” is a shining example of how to narrow down to your target audience, create a relevant and engaging campaign and create a buzz about your product that doesn’t rely on chance. The Harvard Business Review profiled this campaign last week here: How Ford Got Social Marketing Right. Take a minute to read about this impressive campaign and let us know (in the comments) your favorite aspect of this multi-faceted effort. And if you’re a business with a curiosity about social media and need some help getting started, drop us a line.

Posted in Random Thoughts, interactive, marketing | No Comments »

free fallin’

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

In case people didn’t think we were crazy enough for staying up for 30+ hours during our annual CreateAthon last week, I decided to extend the crazy and jump out a perfectly good airplane just a couple days later. While the rest of our staff was recuperating from another successful event, I chose to drive up to Orange, MA to Jumptown and try skydiving for the first time. I had the time of my life and recommend it to anyone who has been wanting to try. Nerves did strike for a second on the plane ride up to our destination (over 14,500 ft above the Quabbin Reservoir), but two free-fall backflips and an amazing view later I consider myself addicted. (Pictures after the jump.)

I think I have a great idea for our next agency outing  ;)
Who’s with me??
(more…)

Posted in water cooler | No Comments »

apples > coffee

Friday, September 18th, 2009

4am fun fact!
Early this morning, we learned from Jenn at the Worc. Free Clinic Coalition (one of this year’s clients) that apples are actually a more effective energy booster than the old standby – a big cuppa joe. I should go on to explain how glucose is a natural sugar and therefore is better for you and lasts longer or something.. but I’m not a big fan of science, especially after being at work for 20 straight hours. So to all of our fellow CreateAthon-ers; (the ones over there –> in the sidebar) grab an apple! It’ll make you feel like a new person. For a little while at least.

Posted in CreateAthon | No Comments »

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