November 27, 2011
Happy Holidays
A quick post of happiness as we get into December, the holidays and the end of the year. We hope your 2011 was filled with joy, happiness and success, and that your 2012 is more of the same.
September 13, 2011
Intern’s View – Tell Your Story Welcomes Deneen DiFranco
Hi all! My name is Deneen and I am the new Marketing Communications Intern here at Tell Your Story. I am very excited to have the opportunity to help tell your stories and hope you enjoy reading my future blog posts. But before I start sharing those stories, here is a little about mine.
I recently graduated from Columbia College Chicago where I studied Marketing Communication with a concentration in Public Relations. My journey into the world of PR began at community college when I registered for what I thought was a journalism class mysteriously named Media Writing. That semester I learned about a profession I knew very little about previously and was hooked. I purchased an AP Stylebook, traded feature stories for press releases and never looked back.
I can brag that I have braved the last two Chicago winters, however I am originally from a small shore town in southern New Jersey where I, coincidentally, grew up on Windy Cove. You might be wondering why I chose Chicago over New York City and the answer is I like good pizza (sorry thin crust fans).
I am a self-proclaimed member of the grammar police (no oxford commas allowed) and spend far too much time researching recipes that I will never get around to actually cooking. However, lately I have been spending my days assembling Swedish furniture in my first apartment!
This is a very exciting time in my life and I cannot wait to utilize that enthusiasm in my work for Tell Your Story. Make sure to check back to see my progress and read about what our clients are up to! Better yet, suscribe to our RSS Feed so you never miss an update.
Feel free to email me at [email protected].
July 19, 2011
Tell Your Story Welcomes Amanda Stewart
Tell Your Story is thrilled to introduce you to its first full-time team member, Amanda Stewart. Amanda will serve as our Social Media and Public Relations Manager, responsible for developing and executing strategic PR and social media plans for clients as well as Tell Your Story. She will also oversee me, the intern.
Prior to Tell Your Story, Amanda worked as a public relations consultant for business-to-business firm, Gyro (formerly HSR Business to Business), where she helped increase awareness, preference and thought leadership for clients including USG Corporation, Morton Salt and SIRVA. She takes a metrics-driven approach to social media and PR and is passionate about integrating social and digital media with traditional public relations.
Originating from Rockford, IL, just 90 miles outside of Chicago, Amanda attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois where she received a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication and Political Science. Although she initially planned to be an attorney, after interning at a law office in college, knew she was better suited for a career that allowed for more creativity and communication. After her first marketing/PR internship, Amanda was hooked. She was then drawn to the beautiful city of Chicago where she not only loves the abundance of business opportunities, but to the amazing culture, food and people.
“I have loved developing highly- targeted messages, and sharing those messages through public relations and social media strategies. One of the most fascinating things about this industry is the evolution of it,” Amanda expresses. “Just in my 5-year career, the way we communicate with customers has completely changed with the widespread use of social media and user generated content. I look forward to seeing what is to come and helping my clients navigate the changing landscape to their best advantage.”
Amanda learned about the opportunity with Tell Your Story because George Rafeedie, Founder of Tell Your Story, was the Managing Director at her first agency job at HSR Business to Business. They kept in touch over the years after George started his own agency, and when the opportunity arose, they both knew it was the perfect fit.
“I saw Amanda grow rapidly at HSR and her reputation for doing great PR and social media work grew tremendously after I left,” George said. “Once I saw I had the opportunity and clients to get someone like her on board to help craft and tell great stories, I had to go for it. I can’t be more excited about the work we are currently doing and will be doing for our clients. Keep an eye on us.”
Welcome Amanda!
June 10, 2011
Intern’s View – Tell Your Story’s First Intern Briley Bollinger
Greetings! I am Tell Your Story’s NEW Marketing Communications Intern, and I’ll be sharing my views from time-to-time on things I hope you find interesting. That said, here’s a little about me.I am so excited to embark on this new chapter of life. I am a recent graduate of Columbia College Chicago where I received my degree in Marketing Communications and a concentration in Public Relations. I have lived in Chicago for the past four years, but I’m far from a city girl, for my roots come from good ole Viola, Illinois, near the Quad Cities. Needless to say, it was hard for my mother to watch her little girl and the oldest of five go from population 900 to 3 million.
I have always dreamnt of having a marketing job that gives me the freedom to express my creative talents. Also, I am able to use transferable skills I have learned from Columbia and past employment.
Throughout college, I was employed at Gap, Moody Bible Institute’s Lifeway Christian Bookstore, and the Coach store at Water Tower Mall. I interned at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida in September of 2008 and am currently seasonal status.
Another passion of mine growing up was pageantry. I was an ambassador of Mercer County, Illinois, where I promoted agriculture and county fairs. I also had the honor to represent the Miss Blackhawk Valley Organization where I promoted Children’s Miracle Network and my personal platform Tween Alert: Reach Before Rescue.
My platform allowed me to teach tweens ages 7-14 about making good decisions in their life before bad decisions negatively impact their future endeavors.>As I embrace this new position, I hope to take Tell Your Story to a new level.
I will create brand awareness, build business-to-business relationships, utilize social media, and make use of my creativity on behalf of current and future clients. Everyday I try to remind myself that half of doing anything is just believing that you can. I believe this new chapter at Tell Your Story is just the beginning of the great things yet to come. Connect with me on Linkedin – http://www.linkedin.com/pub/briley-bollinger/35/330/a94
May 19, 2010
Two Gold Awards at Chicago BMA Towers
We were awarded two Gold honors at the 27th Annual Chicago Business Marketing Association Tower Awards last week.For home healthcare coding client Daymarck, we entered work within two categories – “Total Communications Under $200,000” and “Video Production – Sales, Product and Corporate Promotions.”
Being a small agency helping clients with smaller budgets, it is very gratifying to be recognized as the best in these major categories — especially against entries from much larger agencies and Fortune 500 companies. Our model of staying lean and providing all of the marketing ingredients without the fat of bigger agencies is proving itself out. We provide the high-level thinking, planning and account management and then go out to our network to execute cost-effective, creative and results-driven work under our flag for our great clients.
More than 70 companies submitted 300 entries in 38 different categories at this year’s Tower Awards. We entered two categories, and won GOLD in both. The judges, listed below, were all senior level marketers from organizations and agencies across the U.S. Some agencies didn’t like the fact that no “pure agency creatives” acted as judges. Although I agree there should have been agency creative representation, it was an honor to have our work judged by a great group of client-side marketers.
Chicago BMA Tower Award Judges – 2010 – We are glad you liked our work.
- Peggy Dyer, Chief Marketing Officer, American Red Cross
- Scott Brannan, Vice President, Marketing Innovation/Enterprise Media, Bank of America
- Deborah Ruffins, Vice President, Marketing, Buck Consultants
- Art Kilinski, Associate Creative Director, Cisco Systems
- Kim Woodward, Vice President, Corporate Marketing, Citrix Systems
- Toby Purdy, Chief Marketing Officer, Freeman
- Amy Hubler, Sales Communications & Marketing Programs, Delta Airlines/Northwest Airlines
- Bob Eisenbrown, Vice President, Global Channels & Marketing, Rockwell Automation
- Tom DelMonte, Senior Director, Services Marketing, SAP
- Aaron Davis, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Schneider Electric
- Kristin Seeberger, Director of Marketing Communications & Brand Identity, T. Rowe Price
- Michele Kelsey, Wholesale Marketing & Communications Director, Wells Fargo
See video on Daymarck’s YouTube channel and visit web site for elements of the overall campaign. Thanks to our client, Daymarck, for the opportunity to do great work and
February 25, 2009
Home Sweet Home
We had a great trip to India to visit our design production and programming partner, Basil. But it sure is nice to be home and back in Chicago – even though we had to experience a nearly 50 degree difference in temperature.
Over the next day or two, we will be summarizing our trip and will include final thoughts. This blog will then act as an archive of our trip for anyone interested in visiting India, exploring creative global sourcing or is just curious about what Sanjeev and I did in India.
Thanks for your interest and thanks to the great friends, family and business partners in India who made our trip memorable and successful.
February 23, 2009
Expect Challenges
We are having some great dialogue today with Basil executives and the agency that is visiting from the United States. One hot topic is about potential challenges and obstacles. In short, people get used to working in certain ways. And when looking at any kind of change, many things come into play and get in the way — such as established processes, relationships, personalities and comfort level.
This especially holds true with the whole idea of creative global sourcing and looking at different ways to produce creative work. My simplest answer to people who ask me about potential obstacles to success in this arena is that they should expect challenges. More importantly, your mentality must be that there will be obstacles and “I need to plan on how to overcome them in order to give this new way of doing things a fair shot.”
We often advise agencies on a pilot project with a minimum number of hours attached so that the entire process can be experienced fully. Every step of the process should be a time of open dialogue of what is going right and what is not. Both parties should be dedicated to moving to a second pilot project in order to work out the kinks and develop a working relationship and understanding that lays a groundwork for long-term success. Ideally, that would lead to a longer term engagement with visibility to projects over the course of several months or a year that would benefit all parties involved.
February 23, 2009
Be Proactive
Agencies need to start exploring global production sources and bring solutions to their clients before they get an e-mail from procurement telling them they must explore global resources, or worse mandate a particular organization to work with off shore.
For Fortune 500 marketers, you also want to stay ahead of procurement and work with them to come up with the right solutions for your team and your agencies.
February 23, 2009
We Arrive at Basil!
We have had a fantastic trip so far, but meeting with our partners at Basil is the main reason for our long journey. It is great to be here and we are looking forward to a productive 24 hours.
They have very cool space in the AVS industrial corridor of Bangalore. They have been at this location for a little over a year and have 50 full time professionals on three floors with room to expand. More on the facilities later.
February 23, 2009
About Basil
So who is Basil and how does BlueSilver work with their team in Bangalore?
Basil is a creative design production and programming studio that BlueSilver represents in the United States. BlueSilver also uses Basil services for current consulting clients who have various print production and programming needs. The full scope of services through Basil includes a whole suite of global creative services including print design production, illustration work, interactive programming (including Flash development) and data management.
This is an important point. The services Basil provides through BlueSilver are not meant to replace the big ideas or strategic direction coming out of an existing agency relationship or corporate marketing team. Rather, they allow creative and interactive marketing professionals to spend more time thinking about the next big idea and developing original thinking and design, with an eye toward growth. Leaving the production work to Basil.
A few other important points about Basil:
- Basil was founded by former advertising agency and creative executives.
- Its staff works on United States and United Kingdom time zones.
- It has a proven track record of success serving some of the world’s largest brands such as Coca-Cola and Uniliver.
- Basil has leadership experience working within agency organizations including Y&R, Dentsu, Bozell, Lintas and JWT.
We’ll talk more about Basil as the day progresses and our trip concludes.