The Story
Clearfork is a new mixed-use development on what was the last undeveloped piece of the legendary Edwards Ranch. Many Fort Worth landmarks like Texas Christian University and the Fort Worth Zoo now sit on what once was Edwards Ranch property, but the Clearfork portion remained virtually untouched since 1848. Having just completed the Clearfork branding and positioning, the client asked us to produce some vinyl banners to announce the coming development.
“Sure, we can do that, but…”
The Work
With a newly completed road cutting through the property, this was the first time most people had seen this property since before Fort Worth (the actual fort) existed. We felt this called for something a little more unique than a vinyl banner.
Pulling back from the assumed solution of banners and focusing instead on the goal of attracting passersby’s attention, our ideas included an iron ranch sign, cattle guards and a water tower. What won out in the end were what the team dubbed “word crops.” Three eight-foot-tall words were strategically placed around the property: discover, legacy and vision.
The road to the final product was a long one, since none of us had ever seen word crops before. We cut an “A” out of a sheet of plywood in the side yard of our office and hauled it out to Clearfork to see where the words should go. Our production manager then talked with a variety of vendors to see if anyone could do it on-budget (one could). We had a test letter made with three colors of paint to see which worked best (silver).
The Results
The word crops were a success in several ways. First, they captured people’s attention and made them curious about what was coming to the property. Second, they garnered some social shares as people took photos with the words and shared them on their networks. Thirdly, (shameless plug) they earned Schaefer the Best in Show American Advertising Award for 2014.
Best of all, they’re a perfect example of what we mean when we say, “Give us your goal, and we’ll seek what’s possible.”
Flash Global Logistics was in need of a new logo that more accurately reflected their brand identity – including the company’s global solutions, evolving culture and growing customer base of emerging companies. Considering the scope and implications of a change on this scale, we would like to prepare for a full rebranding initiative, beginning with the development of a new logo and associated identity style guide.
The new logo needed to convey a progressive look and reflect the company’s evolving culture and growing customer base of emerging companies.
Our solution introduced a shortened name, Flash Global and an iconic ‘F’ mark. Speed, efficiency and strength are at the root of what Flash Global promises their customers and the new mark embodies each of those. Moving into this new look has inspired their internal team and helped them elevate their own expectations for the company as a whole. Visually, the brand now matched the quality of the product they have been delivering for years.
Schaefer launched the new Flash Global brand with a new logo, business papers, website, presentation support and all kinds of new swag for the teams at Flash.
Schaeferites are inspired by all kinds of things. One look at our desks will tell you that: toys, baseballs, elephant figurines, mugs from places we’ve been, etc. The nature of explorers is that we go out into the world, gather inspiration and bring it back. However, sometimes that inspiration comes to us. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Moondream, the paper that turns translucent when you emboss it.
“Oh. Hey. Christmas card.”
But what should we emboss? How about our building? Yeah, our building. From our home to yours? Yes. Christmas or holidays? Christmas. Candle to put inside? DO IT. Wait, too expensive. It’s okay, people have candles. What if they burn their houses down? Include instructions. Who’s going to fold and stuff and stamp them? We are.
And that’s the brief but accurate history of this year’s Christmas card. Hope it finds you well.
Schaeferites are inspired by all kinds of things. One look at our desks will tell you that: toys, baseballs, elephant figurines, mugs from places we’ve been, etc. The nature of explorers is that we go out into the world, gather inspiration and bring it back. However, sometimes that inspiration comes to us. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Moondream, the paper that turns translucent when you emboss it.
“Oh. Hey. Christmas card.”
But what should we emboss? How about our building? Yeah, our building. From our home to yours? Yes. Christmas or holidays? Christmas. Candle to put inside? DO IT. Wait, too expensive. It’s okay, people have candles. What if they burn their houses down? Include instructions. Who’s going to fold and stuff and stamp them? We are.
And that’s the brief but accurate history of this year’s Christmas card. Hope it finds you well.
For the third year in a row, we partnered with the Fort Worth Opera to develop the invitation design for their largest and most impactful fundraising event of the year – the Opera Ball. Proceeds from this event go toward programming, community outreach and the annual FW Opera Festival. The Opera Ball committee had chosen a sci-fi theme for this year’s ball. Not saying we’re nerds or anything, but our minds quickly went into hyperdrive upon hearing this. Get it? Of course you do. The Fort Worth Opera Ball competes with several high-end donor events within the city, and it was imperative that our materials grab people’s attention and get them excited to attend.
We ultimately named this year’s ball the Galactic Gala and included references to Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and other stellar movies. See? We can’t help ourselves. With a minimal print budget, we were still able to create a printed invitation that people could interact with. When you pulled the invitation from the sleeve it looked as if the light saber was turning on. Many people felt compelled to make their own sound effects. Some were better than others, and we may or may not have looked it up on Youtube to see who was closest.
The Story
TTI, Inc. is a $2B Berkshire-Hathaway company that supplies electronic components to practically every major electronics company in the world. A few years ago, Schaefer created TTI’s spokesman, the Specialist, whose ongoing adventures have been a successful video series for the company. Three seasons in, they asked us if there was a way to expand the Specialist into other media and broaden his reach.
The Work
Comic book movies are coming out left and right, but our idea was to do the reverse. The Specialist had always been a live action video character. Why not got 2-D with it? We proposed comic book-style direct mail series that would take the Specialist and his adventure directly to the desks of our target audience. We sourced an illustrator who could do the old-school comic book style, and wrote a series of adventures involving everything from jetpacks to spaceships – two things we (so far, at least) haven’t been able to pull of in video.
The Results
In just a few months, TTI was able to grow their direct marketing database by 500 leads, and they have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from both clients and partners. To date, we’ve produced seven issues of The Adventures of The Specialist and have more issues in the works. What crazy jam will the Specialist find himself in next time? Schaefer only knows.
At this year’s Spice World expo in Austin, Texas, Schaefer client McAfee Security was there in force to help all those IT professionals keep both their I and their T safe. The concept, Malware Apocalypse, likened all the computer-eating monsters roaming the internet to our favorite brain-eating monsters roaming various movies and TV shows.
We helped deck out the booth (and the humans) in all sorts of zombie hunting gear. We had zombie themed props and giveaways – we even had makeup artists at the booth to give people the undead makeunders they always wanted. No surprise, it was a hit. The client agreed it was one of the most successful Spiceworld showings yet, and there’s no doubt that our concept left a lasting impression on attendees.
If you think a corporate planning session sounds kind of boring, you clearly haven’t been to one that was hosted by Schaefer and TTI. This long-standing client tasked us with inviting their company brain trust together to discuss the coming year’s business and marketing strategies over fine wines and delicious food at Del Frisco’s Grille in Fort Worth. Designer Blair Babineaux came up with this cheeky little custom wine label that paired perfectly with the evening (which was a big success, by the way).
The Scan—a web video series on technology security—came about just like any other project. A former Schaefer employee who now works for McAfee Security saw some silly videos we made and posted on our Facebook page. She thought, “Hey, that might work for us, too!” Happens all the time, right? She called, we said sure, then we had to figure out how to make it happen.
All we lacked were studio lights, a teleprompter, microphone, sound recorder, editing software and the know-how to use it all. Other than that, we were set. So in true Schaefer form, we got the things we needed, figured out how to use them and created a well-received web series that’s been going strong for a year. Take a look at the episode below, then go watch all the rest on YouTube.
