J H I Blog

At J H I, we have the pleasure of working with many clients across various industries.  You can imagine why we love our jobs – it never gets stale!  We have a long standing relationship with the Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (RMCVB) and developed their current “History” advertising campaign.

Our clients at RMCVB recently approached us with a new demographic to target – the GLBT community.  We immediately got to work on the new ad concept, “History. Open for all.”  We used Richmond residents as our models and had the photo shoots in Carytown and at Stronghill Dining Company (which is delicious too!).

J H I is featured in the January issue of Grid Magazine.  Grid is a new publication serving the Greater Richmond Region, and J H I is honored to be featured in the “Innovators” section of the publication – believe us when we tell you that we’re among excellent company.  Check out the article here. And remember, its always a good idea to share good news with a friend!

You’ve met our intern Stephanie here on our blog (if you haven’t met her in the office or spoken to her on the phone), and I’d like to take a moment to toot her horn just a bit.   Although we already know she is absolutely fabulous and a wonderful addition to JHI, Print Magazine has recognized her design star potential and selected her cover design as one of three finalists for the student cover competition. This year’s theme asked design students to address a global problem and show how good design could solve it.  Stephanie’s cover design oh so cleverly addressed the issue of public transportation.

We’re so proud of her, and to show it, we’ve all voted a million times in support (because clearly it is the best and we are showing no bias what-so-ever). We’d love it if you did the same!  Click to vote for Stephanie now!

That’s right, our “History” campaign for the Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitor’s Bureau made it as far as NYC!   RMCVB received a great opportunity to advertise alongside editorial coverage in the New York Times this past Sunday where Richmond was the featured destination of their “36 Hours” column.  The article features many Richmond favorites (and JHI staff favorites) Kuba Kuba, The Jefferson Hotel, The Camel and Black Sheep.  This is a great example of integrating advertising with relevant editorial coverage to further promote your product or service. Great job RMCVB on a great national story!

We’ve recently teamed up with Carpenter Co. to provide the branding and signage for Carpenter’s latest PR campaign, “Sleep Better. Dream Bigger.”  Over the past 4 weeks, the folks of Stephenville, TX (singer Jewel’s hometown, population 15,000) have had the ability to visit the Sleep Better showroom and learn how to get a better night’s sleep.  Leading up to the showroom opening and last night’s live performance by Jewel, we helped the Carpenter folks create a mobile billboard on the trailer of one of their fleet vehicles!  Visit www.sleepbetter.org for more info on the campaign and to read the Stephenville Dreams blog!

I recently came across a tweet the other day in which the person said “This link has brought out the inner 8-year-old in me and I can’t stop laughing.”  The link on his post was www.whopooped.org. Not sure what possessed me to click it, as I was sure it was going to be something seriously inappropriate (for those who know me, you know that I blush talking about this stuff!). Lucky for me, I was pleasantly surprised at the online genius I found – no need to blush!

Whopooped.org is a microsite for the Minnesota Zoo to promote visits for their Africa! exhibit.  The site features an interactive quiz that shows insight into the lives of animals based on scientists studying – yup, you guessed it, their poop! The site does a great job of appealing to their target audience – kids, both young and old!   Here in the office, we had to test our knowlege (and the site, for research, of course).  I scored 2/3 correct, but everyone else in the office scored a 100%!

All microsites should aim to combine entertainment and information in such a compelling and appropriate way, even if it is without potty humor!

Here at JHI, we are big fans of billboards: they are quick to the point and they reach your customers where they are – being in their car and seeing billboards about cars is not lost on me in this instance!  We’ve done quite a few in our time for clients, and although we’d like to take the credit for this one by a BMW dealer – this stroke of genius is entirely theirs.  Not only does it directly respond to a competitor in a tongue-in-cheek way, it has also caught the attention of the blogosphere and the twitterverse – thanks to a blog post on the BMWBlog.  Interestingly enough, BMWBlog isn’t owned by BMW AG, and I would bet their marketing and PR people are having a good day given all of the positive goodwill spreading around the net since the post on Monday.  Well played indeed.

On my way to work this morning, with all of the sleet bouncing off my windshield and the chill in my bones from just looking at people getting into their cars, I couldn’t help but think that a nice cup of hot chocolate, a book and a warm blanket on the couch would be a perfect way to spend the day.  Well eMarketing is really insightful (reading minds in fact), as my daily email from AdAge was waiting in my inbox with the headline “Marketing’s New Red Hot Seller: The Humble Snuggie.”  When I first saw the ad on TV, I had a similar response to Ellen’s.  But, apparently, 4 million people and counting (as there is currently a waiting list to get your hands on one) felt compelled to act to the company’s quirky ad – which according to execs behind the project, made all the difference.

If you’ve turned on your TV, read the news online or flipped open your morning paper, you, like me, have been bombarded with nothing but repeats of the same doom and gloom message from the media about the state of our country and the current financial crisis that we can all officially (I think) call a recession.

Luckily, we Americans are a hopeful and enterprising lot, which is what a lot of marketers are betting on as they try to appeal to consumers trying to do more with less.

Here is a quick list of recent campaigns trying to shed a ray of hope through the dark clouds.  Here at JHI, we’re more than ready to put our shades on.

Pepsi, Refresh Everything. The world watched as Pepsi launched their “refreshed” logo on New Year’s Eve in Times Square.  Here is the video just in case you missed it.  And, check out www.refresheverything.com, where just in time for Obama’s Inauguration, visitors can upload a “Dear Mr. President” video.

Allstate, Back to the Basics. Same spokesperson, same “are you in good hands” message with a new “back to the basics in life” theme.  The commercial does a great job of connecting with viewers by touting a “remember the good old days” message.

Coke, Open Happiness. Known for many a happy message, such as “the Coke side of life” in the past, Coke is going toe-to-toe with Pepsi with a new “Open Happiness” slogan. No new creative to show, but be on the lookout in the next couple of weeks.

And, in news from Ad Age, Budweiser plans to run three Super Bowl spots featuring their famous Clydesdales.  Talk about a company that recently went through a lot of change opting to go with the tried and true, a reminder to people that even in tumultuous times, some good things can stay the same.

Everyone here at J H I is so excited for our client EcoLogic, Richmond’s go-to resource for beautiful, eco-friendly home remodeling products and services, as they are having their “Green Opening” celebration this weekend, October 5 & 6!  Over the past two weeks, J H I has seen the swag come through the doors and believe me, it all has a very high “cool factor” and you don’t want to miss your chance to snag these great giveaways by being one of the first 100 people to visit the store this weekend!  In addition, you can bring your unwanted and unused electronics to EcoLogic to e-cycle them for you!    Check out their website, www.ecologicthestore.com for a full listing of Grand Opening weekend “Green Ed” sessions held throughout each day.

Update: J H I designers model their new favorite t-shirts!