Rebranding a city is a challenging and rewarding endeavor, a pairing we thrive in at Schaefer. In order to stand out among the 200+ cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and appeal to various stakeholders, it was critical for the City of Hurst to rebrand with purpose.
The Challenge
Before Schaefer was hired, the City’s tagline was, “A Quality of Life City” an ordinary and nonspecific descriptor. The City sought to update their logo and messaging to better mirror the great progress the Council had made and align with the City’s updated mission and vision statements. Furthermore, they wanted to highlight their community values of respect, stewardship, positivity and inclusiveness. So, it was key that the new logo, tagline and seal worked together to amplify the city’s progress and position in the community.
Approach
Schaefer began the discovery process with key stakeholders to discuss branding and messaging feedback and preferences, and to review past research findings. Once we determined the key insights that informed the brand and tone, we began building a brand platform that worked seamlessly across the marketing landscape.
Results
The City of Hurst’s new logo features clean lines and a simplified color palette. The star and the “H” give an updated nod to the original logo and seal, but with a modern and timeless approach.
The new tagline “Community connects us” nods to the dual meaning of connection, as in the physical way in which Hurst connects Dallas and Fort Worth, as well as the relationships formed between community members.
The Story The Zoo can be for grown-ups, too. The Fort Worth Zoo has created an atmosphere for a crowd 21- and-older to get excited about good food and good music meeting around their favorite Zoo animals. Beastro, a live music and food event is an annual fundraiser that allows the Zoo to continue advancing their conservation efforts, while giving their visitors a different taste of the Zoo experience – quite literally.
The night spans to midnight and features a variety of food vendors with booths, open bars throughout and live music entertainment. For 2018, the theme across traditional and non-traditional media platforms features a vibrant jaguar hungry for good food, good music and a good cause. The Work Each year for Beastro, we look to create a festival-like feel tailored toward an audience with eclectic and sophisticated tastes in food and music. The event being a nighttime event, allowed the team to indulge in some color-play, by pairing colors that create a stark contrast and collective vibrancy across all different mediums.
The inspiration for the overall design began to lend itself to a late-night neon lights, Vegas vibe. Through the use of a teal gradient, our team created a look that’s reflective of the trendy, vibrant, yet sophisticated event Beastro is.
As with anything with the Zoo, animal-selection always creates its own arena for brainstorming. Allowing the jaguar to take shape as the face of the event, there’s an inherent mystery to this animal’s demeanor that ultimately complimented the exploratory environment Beastro creates. With a variety of food vendors and music, there’s opportunity for visitors to come-taste-and-go, learning about new flavors and indulging at every turn of a corner.
Across different mediums, Beastro carried a presence across many digital mediums including outdoor billboards, webpage takeovers, Spotify ads, email and display banners. It also made its way directly into area homes through direct mail pieces and print ads. The Results This year, weather turned out to be in our favor. The event carries on [light] rain or shine, but the Texas summer has proven to be quickly approaching. More than 40 food vendors set up shop throughout the park before 7 p.m. and more than 1,900 visitors experience the delectable bites, sips and tunes. Update Weather cooperated and so did the animals. More than 2,200 people indulged in delectable tastes from more than 40 food and beverage vendors, and enjoyed the live music entertainment. 394 people experienced the perks of purchasing VIP Party Animal tickets, and more than 1,800 who purchased general admission tickets lined up this year. This year was a huge success for the Zoo and our team.
The Story
Beastro has a way of bringing out your wild side. The Fort Worth Zoo continues to give adults (over the age of 21) the chance to experiment with different flavors from various food and beverage booths, and live music entertainment for the 11th year in a row. The Work
Last year, Beastro sold out for the first time ever. The goal this year was to draw newcomers into the excitement the event has to offer, and also encourage those who have attended before to come back!
This year, the event tailored itself to a Rock and Roll theme. The team used a black and white image of a roaring lion as the event icon and paired a tagline of “Sink your teeth into…Beastro!” The intensity between the loud, bold colors of the script and tagline set over the black and white image, lended itself to an intense, high-energy environment.
The Hurst Conference Center website redesign brings an air of elegance to the venue. Currently catering to corporate meeting planners, social event coordinators and brides-to-be, the website needed to provide specific information that was relevant to each target audience. This was achieved through intuitive navigation and individualized content.
The website leads with beautiful photography of the venue and, most notably, their fiber-optic chandelier. The refreshed design reflects high-end clientele and more aptly represents the quality of service the Hurst Conference Center offers.
Utilizing grid structures for organizational clarity, every aspect of the redesign provides a hassle-free planning process for potential clients. Each interior page has responsive menus that display room capacities, technical offerings and floor plans. With all the details carefully thought out, the quality of online service now mirrors the level of customer service the Hurst Conference Center provides.
Ghouls, Goblins… Gorillas? For many Halloween events, the goal is to frighten the audience enough to draw them to see the main course. But the Fort Worth Zoo has a 20-year tradition of tickling the terror out of Halloween, with Boo at the Zoo.
Boo at the Zoo is a kid-centric Halloween event where you can trick-or-treat for candy among animal friends. This year’s event had: carnival games, treat stations, stage shows, Wild Encounters (the zoo’s ongoing animal handlers with friendly critters) and a pumpkin patch .
The campaign features a fun play on the classic Halloween candy. Its unique visual solution highlights the Zoo event that entertains sugar-crazed kids every year. We created a direct mail, outdoor billboard, bus bench, email, print and radio ads, and display campaign.
Our Boo at the Zoo efforts led to an:
Family-owned and operated since 1954, Air Comfort is an HVAC and Refrigeration company that provides customized solutions in the residential, commercial, industrial and marine sectors. Founded on the values of quality, integrity, commitment and safety, Air Comfort delivers excellence in everything from custom fabrication to service and installation. As the Southeast Texas based company began to grow into extended markets, the brand needed to reflect the level of professionalism and expertise of the business.
The brand refresh began, as most do, with the logo. Subtle adjustments to color, shape and typography brought the logo set up to date while maintaining the equity of the original mark. From there came brand extensions, most notably the van wraps. As a primary symbol of their service and residential sectors, the vans needed to communicate the brand’s new identity and serve as a moving advertisement while out on the job.
Originally relying on word-of-mouth and face-to-face business, Air Comfort had a need to speak to a larger audience. And when we say speak, we mean allow the Vice President to“Fabio-up”and lay it all on the line for his business. With years of growth and notoriety in the community, Air Comfort’s team was eager to let their hair down with a humorous TV spot, and we couldn’t have been more proud of the finished product:
Situation:
The Fort Worth Zoo, one of the top 5 zoos in the country, is undertaking a massive expansion campaign, with the goal of raising $100 million dollars to expand the park. The expansion will include new exhibit space, renovated habitats, special events space, multiple dining areas, and most importantly, new ways to observe, interact with and learn about animals. The expansion will guarantee for future generations the survival of many endangered species.
Opportunity:
The Zoo needed a clever solution to bring this capital initiative campaign to life to the Fort Worth and surrounding communities. Schaefer Advertising was tasked with developing an integrated media strategy and creative campaign to drive awareness, engagement, ambassadorship and donations.
Approach:
On September 12, Fort Worth got water-colored. The Fort Worth Zoo kicked off the public phase of its $100 million capital campaign by promoting splashes of color all over the city. For 5 weeks, the community chattered with speculation on what this “advertising as art” represented. The campaign evolved over the following weeks, with each phase revealing a little bit more of the campaign. Culminating with a launch event for community leaders, the campaign revealed the public-facing fundraising effort.
Campaign Goals:
Generate awareness of “A Wilder Vision,” the Fort Worth Zoo’s plans for significant expansion over the next 8 years.
Drive donations from the Dallas-Fort Worth Community.
Drive web traffic to the Zoo’s giving site in order to generate excitement and process donations.
Results:
Our reporting approach consisted of consolidating data from multiple sources such as social media platforms, display networks, and external and internal email platforms for a multi-phased campaign approach. By making continuous optimizations throughout the campaign, we were able to drive the below performance wins.
In the quiet phase, the Zoo raised approximately $90 million of the $100 million goal, with the public facing campaign focused on generating the remaining $10 million. The campaign continued until the end of November and will begin again in FY2017.
98
Display engagement rates above the industry benchmarks
164
Increase in traffic, from Phase 1 to Phase 2
84
Lift in impressions from Phase 1 to Phase 2
41
Increase in web sign-ups from Phase 1 to Phase 2
15
Above industry performance benchmark open rates for email
Two years ago we reintroduced a 100-year-old cheer back into popularity among the TCU faithful and the Fort Worth community alike.
This cheer has soaked into the collective TCU community and is now a highlight of the TCU fan experience. It’s a part of student orientation, a staple across social media and tailgate talk, and has spread wildly thoughout merchandise. With this strong endorsement building year after year, it is humbling to see the “fire” we started in partnership with TCU Athletics in 2014.
When TCU looked to us to bring a 3rd rendition of the in-game video to life, we looked no further than the fans themselves. This year we filmed the very fabric of this spirited, TCU fan base. 120 people to be exact. We weaved together 3 unique edits of the cheer and told a collective story for each and every home TCU football game.
We brought in TCU and Fort Worth heroes and kept the anticipation of the surprise ending in each game.
This year the video has been finished out by the likes of TCU Alumni Trevone Boykin, Bram Kolhausen, Aaron Green, Olympians and Bob Lilly. Each one delivering the final line, “Give ‘em Hell, TCU!”
With a few games left in this season, we know there is a whole lot of fight left in the Frogs. And after you watch this video, you’ll see the fans aren’t done yet either! Save
If you live in DFW, you’re most likely familiar with the Fort Worth Zoo and may be familiar with their largest annual fundraiser, Zoo Ball. Every year Zoo Ball attracts some of the biggest names in the area to support the Zoo’s local and international wildlife conservation and education efforts. The invitation for the event has always been closely tied to the theme; i.e. last year’s Zoo Ball at the Flamingo or the previous year’s Festival of the Elephants. The theme and focus of this year’s event was to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Texas Wild!, a portion of the Zoo that exhibits our great state’s different regional landscapes and wildlife.
Instead of the black tie formal-wear of years past—in the words of Alan Jackson–“We’re goin’ country!” And with a performance from Clint Black, Zoo Ball was set to be a cowboy cocktail-themed success. Our minds immediately went to the honky-tonk wood floors of Gruene Hall and Nashville-inspired Hatch Show Prints. So with the direction of “Big Hair, Boots, and Beers,” our team went on its westward way.
Process
Our hearts were set on creating a distinctly Zoo deliverable with the romance and heritage of wood block letterpress. Letterpress, simply explained, is pressing ink onto paper via wood, metal or hand carved letters and images. This process dominated commercial printing from the 1400’s to the mid-twentieth century. In today’s digital era, this process is celebrated for it’s unmatched nuance of color and texture.
To produce our limited edition set of prints, we sought out Minnesota-based premium letterpress studio, Studio On Fire. After following (and admiring) their work from afar, we were excited to partner with them for the project. With their help, our vision for the western-inspired prints came to life, complete with a blind emboss of the Fort Worth Zoo logo and hand-numbering of each print.
We created three custom illustrations that combined cowboy regalia with exotic wildlife found in the Fort Worth Zoo, bringing together the key elements of the event. These illustrations were paired with wood block-styled type, set to mimic posters of old. We created three “sayings” for the print set:
Deep in the Heart of Texas Wild! Long Necks Ain’t Nothin’
Without Rednecks Big Hair, Boots & Beer
Results
The final invitation is truly a complete package. An oversized envelope features a rustic Texas flag and warns ‘Don’t Bend or Fold or Mess with Texas’. Custom postage features animal illustrations and the Zoo logo. A hand-crafted pattern featuring Texas sayings, Clint Black lyrics, Fort Worth nods and custom animal illustrations floods the insert upon opening. And finally the prints are secured by a custom bellyband with event details and slip-sheeted for safety.
The event sold out of tickets and was both appropriately rowdy and respected. Even with fears of rain, the Zoo reassured its patrons: a little weather can’t stop our boot-scootin’ and tequila-shootin’.
