J H I Blog

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!

John, Betsy and I spent an evening with the Richmond AMA last Tuesday in the beautiful courtyard of the Poe Museum to eat, drink and be merry with fellow marketers! Well, it wasn’t all fun and games, as we were treated to an interesting talk from Dan Elash about how to survive in today’s business climate and utilize the potential of all employees within your organization – from boomers to millenials. Here at J H I, we utilize the strengths of all employees in all-hands brainstorms – as you never know where the next “good idea” might come from.  We also celebrate “First Mondays” each month, where one employee presents an interesting or bad example of design to foster continuous learning and creativity.  Where do you find good ideas?

Since I haven’t had much time to blog lately (we’ve been quite busy at J H I this summer), I wanted to share one of our recent web projects.

We just re-launched the website for our client, RVA Construction. Check it out at www.rvaconstruction.com! We love the photography (thanks Karl!) and the news section, a quick and easy way to keep the site fresh with updated content.

Stay tuned for many more J H I website projects set for launch before summer’s end…

Greetings from the end of my first day here at J H I!  Aside from the normal first day paperwork awaiting me on my desk, I had a special gift from the staff – my very own Swingline Stapler.  

So why the fuss over a stapler?  During my interview with the staff, staplers somehow came up in the conversation (perhaps we were discussing Office Space?), and I mentioned that my previous office had about 50 staplers, and not ONE of them actually worked!  They all looked at me in sheer horror (what, did this not happen everywhere or was it just me?) and quickly set the record straight, “Well, all of ours work here.”  Hence, the one-of-a-kind Swingline on my desk as my official welcome to J H I.  I don’t know about the rest of the staplers in the office (as I have no intentions of actually testing all of them), but this one is in excellent working condition – and it happens to look pretty sweet on my desk.  How’s that for creative inspiration?