Schaefer Advertising Co.

Creative

October 19, 2013

Small change. Big Impact.

The Story

JPS Foundation is a non-profit arm of John Peter Smith Hospital that helps raise money for things the hospital budget doesn’t cover such as baby supplies for low-income women, clothes for the homeless and medicines for those who can’t afford them.

When it came time for their annual employee giving campaign, they came to us with a challenge. Donations had been in decline for several years, as well as the number of employees who were donating. Employee involvement is an important metric when applying for funding, so it was up to us to bring the numbers up.

The Work

When you think of fundraisers for non-profits, you might think about the poster board thermometer that is gradually filled in with red sharpie. When the goal is a large sum of money, it can easily feel like the dollar or two you have to spare won’t make much of a dent. Since we needed as many people to participate as possible, we had to overcome this perception.

Our idea was to show that a small donation—even as little as a dollar—could actually have a real impact. That’s because many of the things JPS Foundation provides, such as a pair of socks or a pedometer, cost very little. We called the campaign Small Change, Big Impact and used a series of four videos to show how even inexpensive items could make a big difference in a person’s life.

The Results

It’s clear that JPS employees took the message to heart. JPS Foundation raised over $200,000 as a result of this campaign, up from $95,000 the previous year. The number of employees who participated also rose from 685 to 1019 in one year. And while it’s always great to see that a campaign worked, we’re most proud of the real, life-changing impact those stats represent.

September 10, 2013

JPS Health Network Rebrand

Last year, JPS Health Network charged us with reinvigorating their brand and changing the perception that this county hospital was dated, distant and becoming irrelevant in the community. By doing so, we could inspire the employees within the network to have greater pride in their organization and in the quality care they provide for their patients.

The new JPS Health Network logo consists of the JPS icon and the tagline “Centered in Care, Powered by Pride.” The tagline is given new prominence to clearly define the JPS commitment to excellent patient care. It’s necessary to evolve logos over time to keep them relevant as the assumptions made when the initial logo was established may no longer hold true. The color-enhanced JPS logo reflects the vibrancy, diversity and energy of their staff today while maintaining the core blue icon that is so well recognized in the community.

We found that almost 80% of their printing used four or five colors. With this discovery, we saw an opportunity to introduce more color to the logo that would not impact the budget for printing and would deliver greater impact in digital mediums.

Visually, this is not a drastic overhaul of an identity but a very specific and strategic evolution that focuses on opportunities to better JPS as a network. This can be seen in the improvements to legibility within the icon and typography. Our design styles and approach to all communication materials moving forward must provide clarity because it reflects the quality of care that is provided.

We selected the Tisa typeface family to bring a more contemporary look to the JPS brand. By contrasting a sans serif and slab serif typefaces, we are able to provide variety to the various extensions of the brand without sacrificing consistency or legibility. When paired with the updated icon, this typeface maintains brand recognition within the community and displays a more approachable image.

– Charlie Howlett

September 3, 2013

J.L. Matthews Rebrand

J.L. Matthews Co. is a third generation family-owned business based in Fort Worth that specializes in top-of-the-line safety equipment and apparel for lineman and arborists. They recently came to us with the challenge of updating their brand without losing the history and values that still shape the company today.

Founded in 1946 by Joe L. Matthews, their main focus remains the same: provide top-notch, personal customer service with an emphasis on training and safety. With such a deep family history, it was fun to get to know their business on a more personal level. Old family photos showed what it was like back when Joe Matthews was creating custom leather harnesses in his small, cluttered workshop.

Our goal was to update the brand to make it relevant to their current customers without losing the heritage and family values that continue to set them apart.

Since safety is the most important facet of their business, we began by shifting the brand color from red to a safety orange. For a family of Red Raider fans, this wasn’t an easy decision, but it proved to be the right one.
The logo features the company name with emphasis placed on “Matthews” since that resonated most with existing customers. Date and location were added as secondary elements, and the shield shape conveys strength, which represents the industry and those who work in it.

August 30, 2013

This is just the beginning

We created this spot for TCU last summer for their inaugural season in the Big 12. With TCU’s first game tomorrow against LSU it felt like a good time to post the spot. We were very proud to work with TCU on this project and be apart of the historic moment for the university.

August 26, 2013

Reverse litter

In an effort to bring awareness to the consequences that littering can have on Metroplex waterways, our client Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) partnered with several cities in the DFW Metroplex to develop a campaign called Reverse Litter.

Our campaign featured four :15 TV spots that aimed at showing how litter on land ultimately ends up in our waterways. Every bit of these TV spots are real (no CGI animation was used), which made for a lot of planning to ensure we could create seamless transitions from scene to scene.
Click on the screenshots to view each spot, or learn more about our Reverse Litter campaign by clicking here.

Each spot focuses on the most frequently found litter in our waterways: aluminum cans, styrofoam cups, plastic bottles and plastic bags.

The emphasis of the campaign is that accidents do happen and you can unintentionally litter even when you don’t really mean to. Luckily, we can all be a part of the solution and help reverse litter by being more mindful of our actions and by lending a helping hand and picking up litter that you find near your home, office, school, street or playground.

August 19, 2013

Croppin’ up

In anticipation of the Clearfork Main Street Bridge opening, which would open up traffic through Clearfork for the first time, we wanted to develop on-site signage that would call motorists’ attention to sheer size of the land and tease what was to come.

Rather than putting up traditional banners or billboard signage, we created a concept that used larger than life words to describe the soul of Clearfork. The words were placed at strategic points on the property and were made to appear as if they had grown out of the land. Thus, we referred to the project internally as the Clearfork word crops.

June 22, 2013

The one thing

It’s easy to say that a hospital is there for a community, but Medical Center Arlington has the numbers to back it up. That’s why we put their stats front and center for their annual marketing campaign. We used brand colors and bold, three-dimensional numbers to highlight MCA’s many benefits to the people in and around Arlington. And what better place to engage than at the Ballpark in Arlington?

Rangers fans were introduced to the advanced services MCA offers right in their own backyard with both traditional and digital messaging throughout the ballpark. The takeaway? For all of their advanced care offerings, their priority is always one thing: the patient.

April 5, 2013

Hot dog, it’s baseball time!

Happy Friday, everyone. And to the Rangers fans among you, happy Home Opener Day as well.

This season is particularly exciting for us because one of our clients, Nolan Ryan’s Beef, is beginning their reign as official beef and hot dog sponsor of the Texas Rangers. While this probably isn’t the most shocking news you’ve heard all week, it does mean you can look forward to some pretty tasty food at the ballpark this year.

It’s been a scramble to get everything done in time for today’s game, but it’s also been a lot of fun. One of our first assignments was to create a ten-second jumbotron animation to promote dollar dog nights. Now, to be fair, dollar dogs kind of sell themselves. Apparently, senior designer Charlie Howlett recognized this and chose to use it to his advantage.

Everyone, meet Howdy, the official Hot Dog of Nolan Ryan’s Beef. Be sure to keep an eye out for him next time you’re at the ballpark.

Recently, I caught up with Charlie outside the Schaefer men’s room to see what he had to say about creating a new American icon.

Scott: So Charlie, what do you have to say about creating a new American icon?
Charlie: I can only hope he becomes an American icon.
S: You’re being too modest. So how did Howdy come about?
C: It was pretty natural, actually.
S: Care to expand on that?
C: Well, [creative director] Todd and I got the assignment and decided we needed to create a character – a walking hot dog. So I sketched him out on the window with a dry erase marker and we knew we were onto something special.
S: Were you worried the client wouldn’t go for him?
C: We always hope that clients will find the humor…
S: Slow down, I can’t type that fast.
C: Well, you should record it. That’s what real journalists do.
S: I’m not a real journalist, Charlie.
C: Fine. We. Always. Hope…
S: Stop it.
C: (laughs) We always hope clients will find the humor in what we do. Luckily, the NRB folks loved it.
S: So how did we land on the name Howdy?
C: We had been tossing some names around, but it was the client who suggested “Howdy.” That’s when we knew they loved him as much as we did. (pauses) We thought he had legs before…
S: (groans)
C: …but that’s when we knew he could really run.
S: (groans louder)
C: That’s the truth, Scott. That’s how it happened.
S: Sure it is. Anything else?
C: Actually, seeing Howdy helped my (3-year-old) son get a better idea of what I do all day.
S: Well, not all day, but that’s cool. So is he a fan of Howdy?
C: He is.
S: That’s how you know you nailed it. Well, thanks for taking the time to chat with me, Charlie.
C: My pleasure, Scott. I’m going to go get a hot dog. It’s Opening Day, you know.
S: I did know that. That’s what this blog is about.
C: So are you going to take me out to the ballgame? You know, take me out to the crowd?
S: Okay, I think we’re done here.