Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Helping Houston Count: The Dollars and Cents of Census 2010

Bookmark and Share By Lori Martin, Vollmer Houston

Recently, Vollmer completed its contract with the City of Houston and its Houston Counts / Census 2010 campaign. It was a whirlwind adventure to parts of Houston I’ve never seen or even heard of – big thank you to our wonderful partners, Glenda Joe, Sylvia Cavazos, Erica Fowler and Jerry Wood, who know these neighborhoods like the backs of their hands.

According to studies, Houston’s 2000 census count showed a large undercount, costing the local area governments a total loss of $234 million. We know that cities and corporations depend on Census data to establish access to healthcare, jobs, education and more. Securing a complete count for 2010 was imperative for our city, or we’d risk losing even more. As a native Houstonian and fairly new mom I was ecstatic to be able to help this team make a difference for generations to come.

Throughout the campaign, we complemented the Census Bureau’s overall outreach by developing localized messaging and “trans-creating” the messages into other languages. Vollmer’s messaging was used on t-shirts, stickers, bus cards, taxi cab ads, flyers, buttons, ads, editorial coverage and pamphlets which were distributed during the census campaign.

The big win for us came in June when we helped the City of Houston surpass the 2000 Houston response rate up to 67 percent (64 percent in 2000). Three percent may not sound like a lot, but that little three percent increase represents 66,000 people and access to an additional $1 billion during the next 10 years. $1 billion!!

For those of you wondering, how did we do it? Check out this video! 



Leave Your Brand Feeling Refreshed

Bookmark and Share  By Jimmy Egeland, Creative Services Manager


What do some of the best brands have in common? At some point or another, they’ve all refreshed their identity. Even the classics like Shell, Coke and Ford—staples that are considered to be some of the most recognizable and consistent brands of the past century—all modified their looks to keep up with contemporary style. It may have been hard to notice the changes from year-to-year, but when looking at their logos from decades ago, the nuanced differences for even the champions of brand consistency are noticeable.

In honor of the brands that have been doing it right for so long, here are Vollmer’s top-five rebranding pitfalls to avoid. With these tips and a little luck, maybe your brand will be among the elite fifty years from now.
Misdiagnosing Your Branding Situation – Your logo was designed by your thirteen-year-old son…with Microsoft Paint. It looks like it should be hanging on the refrigerator, not anchoring your company’s identity. In this instance, a minor tweak here and there is not going to cut it. It’s time to embrace a branding overhaul. Put sentiment aside and compare your identity to the big dogs in the industry. Looking like a Chihuahua? Potential customers are going to think the same thing.

Rushing it – It’s December 23rd and you’re thinking “wouldn’t it be great if we started out the new year with a new logo?” Unless Santa has an elf that’s a whiz with Adobe Illustrator, you might want to adjust your timeline. Give yourself plenty of time for research, concepts, design, review and edits. Yes, that means planning! You may not have your new logo by New Year’s, but you’ll be much happier with the final product come Valentine’s day.

Copy & Paste – Brand X is the best thing since sliced bread. Their look is so hot right now. Why not just refresh your brand and do exactly what Brand X is doing and cash in on their success? Besides the whole copyright infringement thing, it’s always important to remember this: the tribute band is never as good as the original. Nobody’s buying tickets for Fred Zeppelin when Led Zeppelin is playing down the street. Understanding and embracing design trends is one thing, but xeroxing the Xerox logo is a no-no. Make your identity your own.

Mistaken Identity – Nothing says peaceful retirement village quite like grunge texture and bolded, neon pink font. Well, if it’s a retirement village for punk rockers. When choosing things like typeface, treatments and imagery, it’s important to embrace your industry and your target. First impressions are important and you don’t want your peaceful elderly community to be portrayed as a nonstop rock fest.

Moonlighting – Let’s face it—you are good at what you do. Part of being good at what you do is delegating what you aren’t good at to people who are. The logo refreshing process is no different and should be left to the pros. Does your input matter? Absolutely. Should you weigh in on important decisions? You bet. But when it comes down to the nuts and bolts, trust the creative people around you.

So now you have the inspiration and the tips on what to avoid. You’re ready to refresh your brand and embark on a new era of success. If you have a hiccup along the way or need any guidance, I’m just a call or email away. Good luck and enjoy that refreshing feeling. Jimmy@vollmerpr.com – 972-488-4790.


RediClinic Helps Fight Flu Season

Bookmark and Share by Reid Schwartz, Vollmer Austin

It’s that time of year again: we’re on the brink of flu season, a time when people across the country rush to protect themselves and their families from the potentially deadly virus. We at Vollmer are particularly aware of flu season since we represent RediClinic, high-quality, affordable healthcare clinics located in H-E-B grocery stores in Texas to spread the word about health-related issues affecting the community.

This year, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) warns that the flu bug already has reared its ugly head in states across the U.S., and is strongly recommending that all men, women – including pregnant women – and children older than six months receive the seasonal flu vaccine as soon as it becomes available.

Our friends at RediClinic offer the following tips as we enter the flu season:

PREVENT IT!

The best way to prevent the flu is to get vaccinated. There are two types of vaccines this flu season.

The traditional flu shot is the most common and well known vaccine available, and involves an injection given into the muscle. The flu shot will be available soon, so check with your local clinic or doctor’s office for availability.

Have a problem with needles? The FluMist® is a needle-free, nasal-spray flu vaccine that is approved for children and adults 2-49 years of age. This vaccine is administered with a gentle, quick spray in each nostril – one of the places where the flu virus enters the body. FYI, FluMist® is now available at RediClinic, so drop on by!

Remember the 2009 H1N1 virus, better known as the swine flu? This year, the CDC expects the H1N1 virus to cause illness again along with a number of other influenza viruses. Luckily, this year’s flu vaccine (both the injectable and the flu mist) will protect against the 2009 H1N1 and two other influenza viruses as well, so you’ll only need to get one vaccine to protect yourself from all of those strains.

TREAT IT!

Sometimes, try as you might, you get bit by the flu bug. Should this happen, walk-in to your local clinic (no appointments are necessary at RediClinic!) and a clinician can perform a diagnostic test for your symptoms, then provide effective treatment options to get you better faster.

Remember, many people, including the elderly, young children and people with certain health conditions are at a higher risk for serious flu complications. The flu also can make chronic health problems worse. The best way to protect yourself, your family and the people you come into contact with from the flu virus is to get the flu vaccine each year as soon as it is available.

With all that said, if you do get the flu this year, please stay home and take care of yourself. You’ll be doing us all a huge favor!

Stay healthy!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Making the Most of a Media Tour

by Kate Sutherland, Vollmer Media Team

As a member of Vollmer’s Media Relations Team, I am regularly challenged with introducing our clients to a variety of media, from national morning show and producers to local print reporters and social media influencers. Whether the client is a travel expert for Travelocity or the CEO of Helix Energy Solutions, all clients want to know how to become the media’s “go-to source”.

While the media continues to evolve and change, there is one tried and true tactic for building strong media relationships – meet them! In a world connected by blackberries and “friending”, many people forget the basic fundamentals of getting to know someone.

Sitting down for an in-person meeting not only helps you learn more about the media, but it helps them learn more about you. Actually putting a “face to a name” is a great first step to helping the media view you as a trusted resource, and conducting a media tour over one or two days is the easiest way to meet a lot of media, in a short amount of time.

Regardless of industry, the best place to start a media tour is New York City. While it seems easy enough to plan some meetings, there are a few tricks to coordinating a successful tour, especially in the Big Apple! Here are some of Vollmer’s top tips on how we help clients prepare for media tours.

Check the Local Calendar – While it doesn’t seem likely that New York City’s fashion week would impact a major construction group, such as Skanska, it could. Most media outlets (even the Wall Street Journal!) will be understaffed and unwilling to make time for meetings during this busy week. Always keep an eye out for major events and industry/competitor tradeshows, and avoid visits during those times.

Avoid Mondays/Fridays – These are notoriously bad days to set up meetings for obvious reasons, so always stick to Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Think Outside the Box – If you are having trouble securing a meeting with the editor for the New York Times, consider bloggers that cover your industry and freelancers in the area. This is a great way to build credibility with media who may be just as influential with your target audiences and often also write for more than one news outlet.

• Fit In Other Business – While the focus of these tours are typically to meet with media, consider setting up a time to meet potential partners in the city you are visiting, including vendors, potential clients or long-distance networking contacts you may have developed.

Create Itinerary & Verify Locations – Input all locations, times, contacts and their phone/email addresses into one easy to access document. Always double check the address of the meeting with your contact, or call their receptionist. It’s helpful to ask for exact cross streets, and if there are special check-in instructions (for example, if ID is required, or to enter through a side street)

Confirm 24 Hours in Advance - Send each person a confirmation email 24 hours in advance of your appointment, reconfirming time and location.

Check the Weather – Seems silly, but if you are relying on public transportation to get you to and from meetings, realize that there will be delays if it rains! This is especially true in Manhattan. It will be hard to rely on cabs in bad weather so consider renting a car or booking a car service to ensure you make it to every appointment on time. If you will be driving, add in a few more minutes than usual.

Don’t Forget the News! – And the number one tip is....Bring news! If they agree to meet with you, the media will want to know what is going on with you or your company now, how it’s related to what’s happening in the rest of the world and how it will affect your target audiences – their readers.

If you are interested in learning more about Vollmer’s media relationships and coordinating a media tour, contact a member of our team – Kate Sutherland, kate@vollmerpr.com or Mary Kate Smither (marykate@vollmerpr.com).

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