Schaefer Advertising Co.

Events

The Fort Worth advertising community recently gathered at Backlot Studios to honor one of its most distinguished figures—our very own Ken Schaefer—recipient of the American Advertising Federation (AAF) Fort Worth’s Silver Medal Award. This prestigious award not only recognizes outstanding contributions to the advertising industry but more importantly, a commitment to the greater Fort Worth community.

His journey, which started at notable companies like Ogilvy and Procter & Gamble, have taught him that the importance of a people-first approach in everything from brand strategy to company culture. Under his guidance, Schaefer Advertising has flourished, making significant impacts in the Healthcare, Real Estate, and Attractions, Tourism and Arts sectors.

The event was full of camaraderie and storytelling, with colleagues and friends sharing defining moments that illustrate Ken’s career and more importantly his principles, painting the picture of a leader who is not only a master of his craft but also deeply committed to his faith, family, and community. 

In line with Ken’s driving purpose —to make life better—the evening also served a greater purpose; all proceeds from the event were donated to Good Natured, Mayor Parker’s Greenspace Initiative. This move was a fitting tribute to Ken’s dedication to enhancing the community where he lives in and serves.

The Silver Medal Award, established in 1959, is the highest honor the AAF can bestow and recognizes individuals who have not only achieved professional excellence but have actively furthered the industry’s standards and social responsibilities. Ken’s receipt of this award is a testament to his enduring impact on both the advertising world and the broader Fort Worth community.

And we couldn’t be prouder. 

Cheers to you, Ken!

The following is a summary of a presentation I gave at the Best Place for Working Parents® 2023 National Summit.


We believe our people are what make our agency special. Not just the roles they fill but the whole person they represent. Our careers are only a portion of who we are as individuals. As convenient as it would be, we don’t get to fit our various identities into clean compartments and focus on one at a time. As I write this, I am fully an agency owner, a husband, a father, a friend, and a brother. Those roles and responsibilities are what make me who I am and they all pour into the other. 

Chances are, most people at Schaefer aren’t going to retire here,  though it would be awesome if they did! We’ve come to grips with that reality and know that employees join our team for a season. Some for years and some for decades. We have the extraordinary privilege and opportunity to support them, coach them and learn from them during the season they share with us.  All with a goal of making life better. Sure, it’s hard. But it backs up the principle upon which I started — our people matter. And, we must be intentional about the time we invest in each and every one of them. 

In 2022, we received an award for Policy Innovation for Working Parents. Though humbled and appreciative of the recognition, I don’t think of us as being innovative, but rather deeply intentional. Maybe that intentionality is the real “innovation.” It’s hard, it’s time-consuming and it constantly changes, but it’s proven to be worth it.

More than 15 million U.S. workers have quit their jobs since April 2021 – and 45% percent of those surveyed said needing to take care of family was a key factor in their decision.

– McKinsey, September 2021

The last few years have clearly shown us how the needs of our employees can shift. We have to be willing to reevaluate how we interact, the benefits we offer, and the policies and procedures that support our operations, to ensure we stay relevant, congruent and continue to be catalysts for the positive culture that is essential to our existence.

The importance of family to employees isn’t a new trend but parent’s ability and permission to prioritize their family is. As an original “latchkey” kid, I saw firsthand the struggles working parents often face – the tough reality of choosing work OR family. For them, work drew hard lines that defined a separation between “professional” and “parent.” 

Our intention at Schaefer is to create and nurture an environment where parents don’t ever have to choose between chaperoning their daughter’s field trip to the zoo and work. They don’t have to choose between coaching little league and their career. They don’t have to choose between staying home with their child because they’ve come down with a cold. We’ve worked hard to create an environment that genuinely supports our working parents.

  • We’ve expanded our parental leave policy to include fathers and parents of adoption. 
  • We’ve set up and outfitted a private nursing room, so our mom’s aren’t forced to choose whether they continue to breastfeed after returning to work. 
  • We have an open door policy for children in the office and celebrate them when they are in the office (or show up on a Zoom call).
  • We share family pics in our Slack channels and step into conversations about how our new moms and dads are feeling.
  • We host baby showers and wedding showers with spouses.
  • And much more…

We have found that intentionality is not just one thing; it simply can’t be. It’s the combination of a hundred decisions that make your workplace one that is driven by intention rather than the latest and greatest benefit. It’s far more holistic, and in the end, it’s far more beneficial to our entire team. We want parents (and all of our employees) to be their best, healthy and whole selves.

Do we always get it right? No. Are there still high expectations of our work team – absolutely. But that’s the point. This isn’t an either/or — it’s not a zero-sum game. It’s a both/and. equation.  

This culmination of intentionality toward working parents, over time, generates innovation that lasts. Creating an environment that’s conducive to working parents isn’t built with policies and gimmicks.  It’s built through culture and supported by consistent action. If they don’t see you living it out in both word and deed, then it’s pretty hollow and certainly not authentic or going to last. 

I believe with all my heart that small businesses can support their working parents. It’s not just for big business. Seeing all that my mom had to sacrifice to pursue a career left a lasting imprint on me that has driven me to create a workplace where people don’t have to choose between being a parent and having a career.


About Schaefer

Schaefer Advertising Co. is an independent advertising agency based in Fort Worth, Texas. We combine insight and imagination to create powerful ideas and compelling experiences that help brands connect, inspire and move audiences to take action.

Purpose is at the core of everything we do. It’s the reason we dig deep when learning about your customer, business, and brand. It’s also the lens from which we identify opportunities to make life better for the brands we work with and the people they serve. That said, we strive daily to be better partners to our clients and partners, and a better home-away-from-home for our employees.

About the National Summit

The Best Place for Working Parents® 2023 National Summit is an opportunity for business leaders across the country to connect and learn about family-friendly workplace practices that are both benefiting today’s working families AND businesses’ bottom line. From boosting attraction and retention efforts to motivating and optimizing a post-COVID workforce — the 2023 Summit featured national experts on the most critical workforce topics of today, as well as industry leaders sharing lessons learned and key strategies for building a stronger workforce in a new era.

March 31, 2023

Designed to inspire

2022 in review

We’re grateful to bookend a year of hard work and dedication with more than one win at the ADDYs . While this doesn’t include all the work we enjoyed working on in 2022, it does represent a wide range of industries and brands near and far. More importantly, we love that it celebrates so many of our amazing clients, teammates and all the new ways brands inspire and connect to the world.

2022/23 Season Title Illustrations 

Gold ADDY Award and Best of Traditional | Client: Texas Ballet Theater
TBT Season Titles

Zoo Ball – The Wild Ones Invitation

Gold ADDY Award | Client: Fort Worth Zoo
FWZ Wild Ones Invitation

Season Poster Campaign

Silver ADDY Award | Client: Texas Ballet Theater
TBT Season Titles

MIZ Website

Silver ADDY Award | Client: MIZ
MIZ Website

Bennett Partners Website

Silver ADDY Award | Client: Bennett Partners
Bennett Partners Web

The New Zoo Microsite

Silver ADDY Award | Client: Fort Worth Zoo
FWZ New Zoo Website

Aklief Social Campaign

Silver ADDY Award | Client: Galderma
Galderma Aklief Social Campaign

The New Zoo Video Series

Silver ADDY Award | Client: Fort Worth Zoo

To view the full video series, visit The New Zoo website.

More than a Classroom – 360 Videos

Silver ADDY Award | Client: HSC

When you look back on a busy year, it can feel a little blurry.

We entered 2021 with high expectations and lofty goals. We tried new things, partnered with new clients and did some great work along the way. Here’s a recap of some of what we did to amplify our brands and make life better this past year.

To all our friends in the Fort Worth creative community, thank you for always inspiring us.

Zoo Ball in Paradise Invitation

Gold ADDY Award and Best of Print | Client: Fort Worth Zoo
Zoo Ball in Paradise Mailer
Zoo Ball in Paradise Mailer

TearCare Mailer #2

Gold ADDY Award | Client: TearCare
TearCare Mailer Device

Zoo Valentine Adoption Campaign

Silver ADDY Award | Client: Fort Worth Zoo
Zoo Valentine Adoption Social

TearCare Mailer #1

Silver ADDY Award | Client: TearCare
TearCare Device Mailer

Schaefer Christmas Card & Website

Silver ADDY Award | Client: Schaefer Advertising
Schaefer Advertising Embossed Christmas Card
Schaefer Advertising 12 Days of QRistmas Landing Page
Schaefer Advertising 12 Days of QRistmas Social Posts
Schaefer Advertising 12 Days of QRistmas Videos

The 2021 ADDYs are in the books! It may have looked a bit different this year, but the entire Schaefer team was so grateful to get together outside and celebrate a year of hard work under unique circumstances.

When the final votes were tallied, Schaefer walked away with 19 awards out of our 22 entries, and we earned two Special Judges Awards! We’re proud to say that we won more awards than any other agency in Fort Worth and that each our of verticals brought home the hardware. Our team earned recognition in multiple mediums, including video, branding, illustration, print, social media, website, out of home and integrated campaigns. Of the awards, three of our wins were for Covid-related campaigns.

It’s been an interesting year, to say the least. Celebrating a year of hard work with our team was a breath of fresh air and a reminder of how fortunate we are to work together every single day and compete against such fantastic and talented friends and neighbors in the Fort Worth advertising community.

Congratulations to everyone that competed this year. We can’t wait to see you next year – hopefully in person – for the 2022 ADDYs.

2020 Zoo Membership Campaign

Gold ADDY Award and Special Judges’ Award: Most Popular | Client: Fort Worth Zoo

In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Fort Worth Zoo needed a way to sell holiday adoptions and memberships. More than that, they needed a campaign that cut through the clutter of holiday advertisements to connect with consumers.

TCU Baseball Video – Day in. Day out.

Gold ADDY Award | Client: TCU Baseball
TCU Baseball Video

Telling the story of an elite collegiate baseball program is a large task – and it’s one we help TCU Baseball accomplish every year. But, like every task that our team tackles, it’s best to take it one small step at a time, day in, and day out.

Behind the Scenes Filming the TCU Gold Addy Award Video
VIEW WORK

UNTHSC – Day x Day Campaign

Gold ADDY Award | Client: UNTHSC

When COVID-19 first struck the United States, people weren’t sure what to think or how to appropriately respond. This left a void of reliable information, and The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth – a medical research center and university – saw an opportunity to step forward as a reliable source of scientific information that people could trust.

UNTHSC Covid DayxDay Social Posts
VIEW WORK

OMNI Go For Three Campaign Illustrations

Gold ADDY Award | Client: OMNI

When OMNI® launched their new 2.0 device, which has functional advantages over other similar products on the market, we had to communicate the benefits this new device had over its competition.

Omni Icongraphy

Near Southside Rebrand

Gold ADDY Award | Client: Near Southside
Near Southside Branding

Places are defined by people, and the Near Southside is among the most vibrant and diverse communities in Fort Worth. So, when they approached Schaefer to help them rebrand their identity, we drew inspiration from the neighborhood they create and the people and ideas the Near Southside attracts.

Before and After Near Southside Logo
VIEW WORK

River & Blues Brand Campaign

Gold ADDY Award | Client: River & Blues Festival
River and Blues Campaign Branding

River & Blues Fest is a new kind of music festival, featuring a uniquely American lineup of longtime favorites and soulful up-and-comers in country and blues. Launching its inaugural year right here in the heart of Fort Worth, the River & Blues Festival needed a dynamic identity system to engage and attract music lovers and artists alike across a primarily digital landscape.

Posters for River and Blues Festival
VIEW WORK

Special Judges’ Award: Best of Print

Schaefer Christmas Card

October 23, 2017

Schaefer Schots

Last weekend was the 15th anniversary of Arts Goggle, our Southside arts festival, and with 800+ local and regional artists, 50 bands and a footprint spreading across 18 blocks of the Near Southside it was the largest one yet! When our neighborhood gathers to celebrate creativity and craft, we can’t help but join in on the fun and take a few schots, Schaefer Shots.



This year we activated a storefront-turned-photo booth and offered free polaroid portraits to the patrons of Arts Goggle. We also captured a digital version and have collected a series of Southside portraits on a site for them to download a copy of the images.
We love being a part of the Near Southside in Fort Worth and this was a chance to engage with the community and give out a few smiles.
 
 

The Fourth of July is all about tradition. Fireworks, hotdogs, cold beer, and in Texas, live country music and square-dancing. Beyond baseball and apple pie, there’s nothing more traditionally American than a good old fashioned picnic on Independence Day.
For Billy Bob’s annual 4th of July Picnic, we wanted to celebrate America’s birthday by creating a concert poster steeped in Americana convention. So, with an eye on tradition, and an ear on red-dirt country music, we began exploring the aesthetics of classic rock n’ roll posters for inspiration.


When rock n’ roll hit the scene, musicians needed a way to churn up local attendance to their shows without the help of the Internet, social media, or even a mature broadcast medium. Most musicians relied upon an artist to create concert posters that they could then pin up all over town to get eyes on their showtime. Early concert posters were illustrated by hand in two colors or less, and that’s the well from which we drew a lot of our inspiration. A lot of our influence came from the old Hatch Show Print style, which has been around since the late 19th century.
We chose to screen print the poster to honor the tradition of concert posters from the early 20th century, when screen printing was the most efficient and popular way of creating awareness for a touring rock n’ roll band. The poster was printed by Texas Graphic Resources, and done in two simple colors: red and blue. We printed a half-tone photo in blue on top of the solid red, which gives the poster more depth and dimension. Before photoshop, old-school screen printers used to practice this method to combine existing ideas without having to create completely new pieces of art.
We printed the poster on Neenah Environment Desert Storm 80# C – created by Neenah Paper. The heavier paper gives the poster a more substantial feeling, and the desert-craft color makes it look as if it could’ve been pulled from a collector’s library of classic concert posters, sandwiched somewhere between Buddy Holly and Bob Dylan.
The final result is a vibrant poster that features a blue soldier juxtaposed against a red guitar right in the center. The solider holding the guitar acts as the intersection between two American icons: celebrating Independence Day with music and joyous tradition, while also honoring the soldiers that made the ultimate sacrifice for our American freedoms.
As explorers, we often look forward to find the newest tools to help us accomplish a creative task. But, sometimes the nature of a project urges us to look back in time to find the right solution. For Billy Bob’s 4th of July Picnic, we journeyed back in time to create a memorable poster that celebrates the occasion with a rockin’ salute to the soldiers, music, and American traditions.

February 20, 2017

A zoo with a sweet tooth

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:


89
excess in the revenue goal


24
excess in the sponsor goal

September 27, 2016

Texas’ wildest dance hall!

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’.

May 24, 2016

Feast with the beasts

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Beastro, the Fort Worth Zoo’s annual music and tasting event that supports local and international wildlife conservation and education efforts. Within a few weeks of this year’s campaign going live, Fort Worth’s wild side responded with record breaking ticket sales and a fastest ever, sold out VIP offering.
The event features the finest area restaurants stationed throughout the Zoo, serving sample appetizers, entrees and desserts. In addition to the delectable cuisine, the event features open bars throughout the park and live music entertainment. Several animal exhibits remain open until sunset. This year’s entertainment features the local talents of: Emerald City, The Project and Live 80.

The event sold out, for the first time ever, and we had to stop the ad campaign early. The night was a success from ticket sales, but our team also successfully enjoyed the feast with the beasts.
Beastro2016_body