Client Showcase—St. Anthony North 40-Year Collateral Piece

This is the final piece in a campaign to promote St. Anthony North Hospital's achievements via its 40-year anniversary. This printed piece serves as both a direct mail and a brochure that tells the hospital's story and casts a vision for its future. The campaign theme, "We," celebrates the team's efforts in reaching this milestone, while creating enthusiasm for the hospital's future. It pairs well with the employee video, where we build on a reality-style production to show what "we" means. 

The campaign included transit, outdoor boards, mall displays, building banners, kinetic typography, Web content, videos, and print ads. 

The focus of the messaging was not just about their accomplishments and plans for the future, but was a way to celebrate the achievements of the team, which always infuses energy into an organization.

We can't wait to see what they do together in the next 40 years.

How are you celebrating the achievements of the people who make your business successful? What company do you know that does this well?



Client Showcase—North Ridge Medical Practice Steps Ahead of the Competition in their Promotion

This new campaign for North Ridge Medical Practice in Colorado combined direct mail with a mini-animation ad—
allowing for targeted advertising and putting them ahead of their competition by having a more Web-friendly, social media-friendly promotion. The presence of the mini-animation ad also delivers information in a format that consumers are showing preference for.

Physicians who can deliver strong, targeted messages using contemporary media will likely experience immediate growth in their practice if the message is right and the market has pent-up demand. You can see how they've used this on their  Web site—and how it not only brings the Web page to life but reinforces their key brand messages.

Have you seen other physician practices breaking out of the print ad-only approach to promotion?

Client Showcase—A Direct Mail Piece That Won't Be Ignored

For their 100 year anniversary, the law firm of Gresham Savage wanted a direct mail piece for community leaders, clients and prospective clients that would make an unforgettable statement about their firm’s legacy. For this, we worked with them to create a handsome gift box that paired a brochure with a Gresham Savage pen and five custom-developed note cards that featured historical images of their community.

This allowed us to not only tell their story but to acknowledge the role their community has played in reaching this milestone. The vintage note cards showcase local sites and leave the recipient with a handsome collection of cards and envelopes to use as they see fit. It isn’t often that a direct mail piece delivers something of value to the recipient, but when it does, you can guarantee a higher level of impact.

Client Showcase—Law Firm Direct Mail Piece

When the growing southern California law firm of Gresham Savage brought on a successful new attorney, they wanted an announcement that would be memorable and impressive. We designed this five-panel piece to introduce him to their clients, using confident colors and sophisticated imagery to make a winning first impression.

This direct mail piece won a 2010 Silver Award in the 7th Annual Service Industry Advertising Awards.

Client Showcase—Using Direct Mail to Identify Qualified Leads

When St. Anthony North Hospital in Westminster, Colorado, called on us to get the word out quickly about upcoming classes, we created this colorful, engaging direct mail piece to send to their target market. Working within the corporate graphic standards, we developed a distinctive look for their class schedule, which helps drives qualified leads to key services.

Client Showcase—Pacific EP Invitation

We worked with the Los Angeles-based Pacific Rim Electrophysiology Research Institute, under the direction of internationally renown Koonlawee Nademanee, MD, to create an invitation for an open house promoting this remarkable facility.

Dr. Nademanee has developed an advanced cardiac electrophysiology procedure (EP) that offers new hope and vitality to patients suffering from EP problems. We also developed the logo for the Institute, which has offices on the campus of White Memorial Medical Center in California, as well as in Hawaii and Thailand.

This direct mail piece won a 2010 Silver Award in the 7th Annual Service Industry Advertising Awards.

Client Showcase—Hospice Direct Mail

Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital is raising money for an innovative, home-like facility for hospice patients who are unable to live out their final days at home. This direct mail piece launched their fund-raising campaign for Cottage in the Meadow and revitalized conversations about living every stage of life fully.

The imagery of the piece reflects the idyllic setting of Cottage in the Meadow, inspiring the reader to become a part of something destined to matter deeply to those who need this kind of care.

Client Showcase—Using Testimonials to Promote Your Service

Littleton Adventist Hospital (LAH) wanted a piece to follow up on the successful “Littleton Loves Little Ones” campaign, reminding women why they should have their babies at LAH. To do this, we showcased real moms who chose Littleton. We then listed physicians who delivered at the hospital, and we encouraged recipients to “ask your doctor to take you to Littleton.”

The campaign garnered a Gold Award in the Aster Awards, a Silver Award in the 23rd Annual Healthcare Advertising Awards and a Bronze Leaf Award in the Colorado Healthcare Communicators Gold Leaf Awards. The direct mail piece itself won a Gold Award in the 4th Annual Service Industry Advertising Awards.

Marketing Makeover—Will your direct mail piece be read?

Good design can make the difference in whether a reader will pick up your direct mail piece and read it—or not. Here's an example of a direct mail piece from My Postcard Company that could benefit from a Marketing Makeover. Here's what we'd recommend:

• Use fewer, but higher impact, photos. Photographs and images are what draw us into a piece. It's tempting to want to deliver too many messages via too many images, which results in reducing the piece's impact.
• Create contrast. Using dark blue and black together like this is both hard to read and uninteresting visually.
• Make a stronger promise, that speaks to something the reader cares about.
• Avoid vague, cliche' taglines that don't intrigue or connect with the reader.

Because we all suffer from viewer fatigue, we dismiss anything that doesn't immediately catch our eye or speak to our interests. Effective communicators break through this by presenting a message the reader cares about and can grasp with minimal effort.

Send us a piece you'd like critiqued. It might be featured in our next Marketing Makeover.

Client Showcase—Wisdom Cards

We've recently redesigned these Wisdom Cards cards for the Two Worlds Wisdom School, the brainchild of our friends the Kaisers, who are well known for their visioning work with corporations—particularly in healthcare. One of the most talented families I know, they are launching the first of a series of Wisdom Cards as part of their efforts to bring timeless wisdom into the world of business.

You'll be sure to find inspiration just by visiting their site. We found it in our design work with them as we brought together original silk artwork, commissioned by them just for this initiative, and timeless pearls of wisdom—to create cards that can be custom imprinted for corporations or individuals.

Client Showcase—Pacific EP Direct Mail

The Los Angeles-based Pacific Rim Electrophysiology Research Institute, under the direction of internationally renown Koonlowee Nadamanee, MD, worked with us to create a direct mail package that included his symposium invitation and a brochure promoting this remarkable facility.

Dr. Nadamanee has developed an advanced cardiac electrophysiology procedure (EP) that offers new hope and vitality to patients suffering from EP problems. We also developed the logo for the Institute, which has offices on the campus of White Memorial Medical Center in California, as well as in Hawaii and Thailand.

Client Showcase—Imaging Center Campaign

Los Angeles Advanced Imaging, L.A.’s newest diagnostic imaging center, pairs a spa-like environment with an array of advanced technology that enables physicians to provide more accurate diagnoses earlier, often resulting in better outcomes for patients.

We partnered with them to create a family of pieces that introduced the new facility, including invitations, a brochure and the design of a website. The carefully crafted language, combined with a design that reflects its spa-like environment, strikes the delicate balance of offering both a message of reassurance and a message of technical expertise.

This marketing campaign won a 2009 Aster Award Gold Award for Service Line Promotion, and the invitation won a Silver Award.

Gold Award—Annual Calendar Card

Our 2009 holiday card and calendar received a Gold Award from the Sixth Annual Service Industry Advertising Awards competition in which nearly 2,000 entries were evaluated by a national panel of judges. Our black-and-white themed calendar featured a desk display stand and a unique card for each month.

Are printed calendars passe'? We think not, if the design is fresh and the size well suited to the audience. After all, what else can you give to your friends that can be used 365 days of the year?