Tuesday, 12 May 2009 14:16

Fort Worth-Based Agency Honored for Work for the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation

GCG Marketing today announces its award of Best Philanthropic Campaign at the 2009 Med Ad News Manny Awards for its work for the Children’s Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation. The campaign featured gripping headlines alongside portraits of children living with neuroblastoma, with the goal of creating awareness of this deadly type of pediatric cancer.

“We’re especially proud of this national healthcare award because it honors the creative passion of the GCG team and the stellar photography of Fort Worth’s Geno Loro, Jr.,” said Neil Foster, GCG Marketing president. “We appreciate the recognition and hope it will help raise awareness for CNCF, an organization in which we all feel a personal investment.”

The campaign also garnered local and district ADDY® awards from the American Advertising Federation for this campaign, and is currently under consideration for a national ADDY® award. To view the agency’s 15-second entry introduction video or to see samples of the work, visit www.gcgideas.com.

About GCG
Fort Worth, Texas-based GCG Marketing is a full-service marketing firm providing strategy and consultation, along with advertising and public relations services, to clients in the healthcare, corporate, consumer and business-to-business arenas since 1973. For more information, visit www.gcgmarketing.com or read the GCG blog at www.gcgideas.com.

About CNCF
The Children’s Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation (CNCF) supports families living with neuroblastoma. CNCF is the primary resource for the most current and reliable information available. Providing a forum for patients and family members, the foundation’s educational services bring together clinicians, researchers and medical experts. Visit www.nbhope.org.

About Geno Loro, Jr.
Geno Loro Jr. opened his photography studio in Fort Worth in 1994, following a stint with Tandy Corporation that included work for annual reports, national ads and a corporate magazine. Prior to his work with Tandy, Loro spent five years with Kranzten Studios in his native Chicago, working with catalog clients such as J.C. Penney, Sears, Spiegel and others. His client roster includes Frito Lay, the Dallas Cowboys, National Geographic, Fidelity Investments, the Children’s Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation and Texas Christian University, and his work has garnered 18 gold Addy Awards over the past nine years. For more information, visit www.genoloro.com.

About the Manny Awards
For twenty years, the Manny Awards have paid tribute to the creative work of agencies serving the healthcare market, their people, and their contributions to the industry. Each year at this gala awards ceremony, Med Ad News and agency professionals come together to acknowledge those making significant contributions to, and celebrate creative excellence in, healthcare communications. On this special evening, more than six hundred industry peers join Med Ad News in honoring winners in a range of award categories. Visit www.mannyawards.com for more information.

Tuesday, 21 April 2009 16:21

Fort Worth, Texas – April 15, 2009 – John Robinson Jr. wasn’t looking for a new job when he noticed Balcom Agency’s “tweet” about a job opening for a developer for its fast-expanding interactive division.

Nevertheless, the webmaster at the Amon Carter Museum shot a quick direct message back to “d Balcomagency” to ask about the job, and by the time Balcom’s social media specialist, Kayla Bond, responded he’d already gotten a tweet from Balcom’s interactive account director, Chip Hanna.

As webmaster for the Amon Carter Museum for five and a half years, Robinson handled its Twitter account and the Balcom Agency was on the “friend” list. “We followed Balcom, and Balcom followed us – it’s as simple as that,” Robinson said.

A Fort Worth native, Robinson started at Balcom last week. He is responsible for coding and helping design numerous websites for businesses and nonprofits using PHP, HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

 “We’re excited to have John’s insight and talent to help us create engaging, robust websites and applications,” said Brian Blankenship, the agency’s interactive creative director.  “It wasn’t easy finding the right person in this market with the perfect balance of geek and cool. And no question Twitter played a big part in spreading the word.”

Robinson is a 2003 graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington with a major in communication technology and a minor in advertising. In his free time he skateboards and plays the electric guitar. (He claims he can do a 360° flip on a skateboard, but this has not been verified.)

 
About the Balcom Agency

Founded in 1993, the Balcom Agency has provided its clients with comprehensive creative, interactive, and public relations solutions to various business challenges. The agency’s roster includes such local, regional and national clients as Justin Boots, Justin Original Workboots, Tony Lama, Weather Decision Technologies, Texas Health Resources, Alcon Laboratories, the Neeley School of Business at TCU, Norman Regional Health System, Southwest Bank, Samsill, REAL School Gardens and the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council. Visit www.balcomagency.com  to learn more.

Contact: Margaret Ritsch
 @margaretritsch on Twitter
817-877-9933
 

Wednesday, 08 April 2009 00:00

District 10 Competition

Fort Worth, Texas, April 8, 2009 -- The Balcom Agency has won two gold ADDY® awards in the American Advertising Federation’s District 10 competition that covers four states: Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
 
Balcom struck gold for a whimsical website created for REAL School Gardens, a nonprofit organization that works with elementary schools to design and install gardens that inspire learning (www.realschoolgardens.org). The agency also won a gold Addy for its gritty, playful design for the fall 2008 issue of “Rough Times,” a tabloid-style newsletter of The Dallas Society of Visual Communications.
 
The agency won silver ADDYs for an “Oh My! Pink Eye!” patient education game created for Alcon Laboratories and for the REAL School Gardens website’s Flash introduction. The agency received bronze ADDYs for creative work done for XTO Energy and the Fort Worth retailer, Spoiled Pink.
 
“We’re proud that our work is recognized as the best of the ADDYs at a multi-state level; but even more important, that we have created stand-out work that helps our clients reach their business goals,” said Stuart Balcom, the agency’s president.
 
The AAF District Ten ADDY competition is the second of a three-tier competition for the American Advertising Federation’s prestigious national ADDY Award, the premiere industry recognition for excellence in advertising.   The award winners will be recognized April 24 at the district’s annual convention in Houston, then will proceed to compete in the national AAF competition.
 
About the Balcom Agency

Founded in 1993, the Balcom Agency has provided its clients with comprehensive advertising, public relations and marketing solutions to various business challenges. The agency’s roster also includes such local, regional and national clients as Justin Boots, Justin Original Workboots, Tony Lama, Texas Health Resources, Alcon Laboratories, the Neeley School of Business at TCU, Southwest Bank, REAL School Gardens, Samsill and the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council. Visit www.balcomagency.com to learn more.
 

Tuesday, 07 April 2009 00:00

FORT WORTH, TEX.  –– Concussion High Impact Communications has won thirteen District ADDY Awards to be presented at the American Advertising Federation (AAF) District Ten awards presentation in Houston, Texas, on Friday, April 24, announced Allen Wallach, CEO/partner at Concussion.

“It’s a war for eyeballs out there and our creative is being recognized and remembered,” said Andrew Yañez, chief creative officer/partner at Concussion.  “Our work consistently stacks up against the biggest agencies around.”

District Ten of the AAF includes chapters in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.  Each chapter in these states hosts an ADDY competition at the local level.  Both Gold and Silver ADDY recipients are eligible to compete in the District level competition. Gold ADDY recipients at the District level are automatically forwarded on to compete in the AAF’s national ADDY competition.

Of the 21 Gold ADDYs and 21 Silver ADDYs Concussion earned in the Fort Worth competition, 22 entries moved on to compete at the District Ten level.  On the District level, Concussion was awarded two Gold ADDYs for an email blast and a micro site done on behalf of Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino; two Silver ADDYs for a website developed for Hillwood Residential and a self-promotion collateral piece for Cockrell Printing; and nine Bronze ADDYs for a multimedia campaign, self-promotion collateral piece, elements of a photo campaign, color newspaper ads and a publication cover for Texas Christian University athletics; a logo for Matador Marketing Group and a direct marketing piece for Chesapeake Energy.

Concussion’s award-winning work recognized with District Ten Gold ADDYs will now take the next step in the AAF’s ADDY competition.   The email blast and micro site developed for Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino will compete against Gold ADDY winners from 200 member advertising clubs located in 15 districts spanning the nation.

“We don’t deal with your traditional advertising methods,” said Douglas Cox, interactive director at Concussion.  “We provide clients with the two-way communication needed to be successful in today’s environment.  Whether it’s developing a dynamic website or executing social media methods, we know what we’re doing and we make these technologies work to our client’s advantage.  It’s a complete bonus that our efforts achieve Gold.” 

National ADDY winners will be announced during a special awards presentation hosted by the AAF on Saturday, July 6, 2009, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia.

ABOUT CONCUSSION
Concussion is a full-service advertising, marketing and public relations firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. The agency has more than 55 professional staff members and bills approximately $23 million annually. Concussion handles a client list that includes casinos, commercial and residential real estate development, energy and natural gas, and consumer packaged goods.  For more information, visit Concussion's Website.

Tuesday, 07 April 2009 00:00

FORT WORTH, Texas  – The Hondo Group, a Fort Worth-based marketing communications company, is pleased to announce that Brenda Cavanaugh has joined their team as assistant account executive in the Darlington, Wisconsin office. In addition, two student interns will serve as assistants in the Fort Worth, Texas office.

Brenda Cavanaugh is as comfortable working with cattle on a dairy farm as she is developing tactics in a marketing meeting. Her writing skills and marketing know-how, combined with her driven work ethic and down-to-earth personality allow Brenda to provide unmatched public relations and advertising campaigns to clients. At Hondo, Cavanaugh handles day-to-day marketing and public relations efforts for StollerUSA and new business initiatives in the Ag and dairy industries. While attending college, Cavanaugh built an extensive portfolio through various internships in advertising, public relations and news writing. Prior to joining The Hondo Group, Cavanaugh served as the marketing services director at Accelerated Genetics and as an advertising sales consultant for The Country Today. Cavanaugh is a graduate of University of Wisconsin-River Falls, where she earned Bachelor of Science degrees in agricultural marketing communications and dairy science.

Jennifer Poyner will fill the role of graphic design intern. This position involves exploring the design process from concepting to taking a job to press. Poyner will learn internal agency procedures and will have the opportunity to put her creative ideas to work for specific projects. She will get experience in graphic design duties including creation of logos, newspaper ads, Web-based advertising, posters, and other marketing and collateral materials. Poyner is a senior graphic design major at Texas Women’s University.

Kristen Malone will serve as marketing and copywriting intern. Her duties include writing headlines and body copy for print, broadcast and Web-based advertisements, as well as drafting press releases and putting together publicity recaps. She will also be involved in the coordination of other account service, public relations and marketing activities for company clients. Malone is a senior Advertising/Public Relations major and studio art and English minor at Texas Christian University.

“We are ecstatic to have Brenda as the newest member of our team. Her experience and wealth of agriculture knowledge rounds out our team and brings a unique perspective to client accounts," said Lynn Balinas, president of the Hondo Group. “We also welcome Kristen and Jennifer with their fresh perspectives in marketing efforts, especially Web 2.0 and social networking campaigns. We expect great things from their assistance with client projects.”

The Hondo Group, a Fort Worth-based marketing communications company, is dedicated to providing clients with new strategic branding processes and procedures, and new products and technologies. The company represents clients in a variety of areas including agriculture, real estate, professional services, technology, healthcare, life sciences and green marketing and sustainable business strategies. As a full service agency, The Hondo Group helps clients close the marketing loop between great products and satisfied consumers. For more information, please visit The Hondo Group's Website.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact:
Liz Heck / 817.332.6991
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Monday, 23 March 2009 00:00

Blanchard Schaefer Advertising & Public Relations, a full-service integrated strategic marketing services firm, took home the top honor in the news writing category at the Texas Public Relations Association (TPRA) Best of Texas Awards.  The agency was honored with a Best of Texas Silver Award for its campaign to promote ATC Logistics & Electronics’ vanpool initiative.

“This is a great honor to be recognized in a state-wide competition of this stature,” said Ken Schaefer, principal at Blanchard Schaefer. “While the goal is to produce results for our clients, it is great to be recognized in this way among our peers.”

The news-writing category focused on a news story, or press release, for external media.  The vanpool press release garnered extensive DFW-market broadcast and print media coverage with WFAA-Ch. 8., KTVT-Ch. 11 and the Fort Worth Star Telegram.

Blanchard Schaefer was the only agency in Tarrant County to win a TPRA award this year.  The award stems from logistics account work, which is one of the agency’s core specialties.  The initiative was also related to social and environmental responsibility, which is an emerging area of expertise for Blanchard Schaefer.

The TPRA, founded in 1954 and Texas’ only statewide public relations organization, conducts the annual competition among public relations practitioners in corporate and agency settings.  For more information about the TPRA, visit www.trpa.com.

About Blanchard Schaefer Advertising & Public Relations

Blanchard Schaefer Advertising & Public Relations, an award-winning strategic marketing services firm, offers a full array of advertising and public relations expertise and services with a focus in the healthcare, supply chain and logistics, health and beauty, multi-location/franchise, and technology verticals. Its client-tailored strategic marketing services include proficiency and innovation in research, identity/collateral development, branding, creative, media placement, news generation/dissemination, media relations and trade show and speaking engagement coordination. Based in Arlington, Texas, Blanchard Schaefer serves clients across the United States. For more information, visit www.bsapr.com.

Friday, 13 March 2009 00:00

The DFW American Marketing Association (DFW AMA) will be hosting the fourth annual Beyond Borders Global Marketing Summit. Beyond Borders is the premiere global marketing event in the DFW area delivering world class presentations by prominent leaders with extensive international marketing expertise.

GfK Custom Research North America, a full service market research firm combining global resources with the local insights needed to design, execute and deliver the most appropriate research and actionable outcomes, is this year’s presenting sponsor.
Never has the symbiotic relationship of our global markets been more apparent.  The global economic landscape has shifted and international marketers must drastically adjust their strategies and initiatives accordingly in order to effectively navigate this new landscape and remain profitable.  Beyond Borders 2009 will focus on how to successfully market in this global economic revolution.

This full day Summit will also provide unique opportunities to network and mingle with senior marketing professionals from various industries and organizations.  Exciting sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities are available for those companies who wish to increase their exposure to this global audience.
“As competition for global markets intensifies, it becomes increasingly important for marketers to find new and innovative ways to target customers around the world.  GfK is proud to be a presenting sponsor of the 2009 Beyond Borders Global Marketing Summit,” says Mike Kassab, Senior Vice President GfK Custom Research North America.

• When:  Wednesday April 15, 2009
• Where:  Plano Conference Center                
• Registration:  www.dfwama.com
• Seating for this Summit will be limited, please register early.

About the DFW AMA:

The DFW American Marketing Association (AMA) is the number one source for marketers in the Dallas /Fort Worth Metroplex. With an impressive 700+ professional members and host to more than 50 informative and educational events annually, it is the ninth fastest growing chapter and the tenth largest in the nation. Recent keynote speakers include: Mary Kay, Frito-Lay, Texas Instruments, American Airlines, Xerox, JC Penney and La Quinta Hotels and Inns.  For more information, go to: www.dfwama.com.

About the AMA:

The American Marketing Association (AMA) is the largest professional association for marketers with more than 38,000 members worldwide in every area of marketing. For over six decades, the AMA has been the leading source for information, knowledge sharing and professional development for marketing professionals. To learn more about the AMA, go to: www.marketingpower.com.

About GfK Custom Research North America:

Headquartered in New York, GfK Custom Research North America is part of the GfK Group. With home offices in Nuremberg, Germany, the GfK Group is fourth largest market research organization in the world. Its activities cover three business sectors: Custom Research, Retail and Technology and Media. With 115 companies covering over 100 countries, GfK Group has approximately 10,000 employees (as of September 30, 2008), 80% of which are based outside Germany.  For more information, visit www.gfkamerica.com

Monday, 24 March 2008 00:00

Lynne Swihart Awarded For Contribution to the Ad Industry and Local Community

FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Lynne Swihart, Production Services Director at Balcom Agency in Fort Worth, has been selected as the recipient of the American Advertising Federation – Fort Worth’s (AAF-Fort Worth) 2009 Silver Medal Award, according to Mike Roundtree, President of AAF–Fort Worth.  She will be honored at the Club’s luncheon on April 15, at Joe T. Garcia’s.

“I am so proud to be part of AAF-Fort Worth and I am honored to have my name listed with other Silver Medalists who have inspired and mentored me throughout my career,” said Swihart.  “I think one of the most important things we can do as communicators is share our knowledge of and love for the profession as other have done for me.”

The American Advertising Federation’s Silver Medal Award Program was established in 1959 to recognize men and women who have made outstanding contributions to advertising, and who have been active in furthering the industry’s standards, creative excellence and social responsibility.

Swihart was nominated by several of her peers, including clients, friends and coworkers, for her above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty work at Balcom Agency, Blanchard Schaefer Advertising & Public Relations (BSAPR) and several charitable organizations.

Balcom Agency and BSAPR each have Swihart to thank for the establishment of their production departments and protocols. In addition, Swihart also set up BSAPR’s accounting system.

Stuart Balcom, President and CEO of Balcom Agency, said, “[Swihart] is an outstanding asset to the Balcom Agency and performs her work with the utmost of professionalism and knowledge, going above and beyond to help us succeed.”

In addition to her professional prowess, Swihart also is a dedicated community volunteer. She serves on the board of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Fort Worth chapter, winning the Golden Sneaker Award for her fundraising efforts for the 2008 “Walk For A Cure.”

Swihart also has devoted 12 years to the Boy Scouts of America as a den leader, camping coordinator, merit badge counselor and other roles. She also has served in leadership positions for her church for 10 years.

AAF–Fort Worth has directly benefited from Swihart’s hard work and dedication through her nine years on the Board of Directors and five years on the Executive Board. She is only the second person in the club’s 100-year history to serve two terms as president.

The American Advertising Federation of Fort Worth, formerly known as the Advertising Club of Fort Worth, exists to elevate the ethical standards and practices of advertising and foster the development of more effective advertising methods. It is Fort Worth’s oldest continuously operating community service organization, founded by the legendary Amon G. Carter in 1909.