March 9th, 2010
Posted in Client News, GS, Press by Marc Tebon
It was late 2008 and we had just gotten the final sign-off on our 72nd issue of Hog Tales, an important piece of business, to say the least. We’d been producing the official magazine of Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.) since 1996. Out of the blue, our client, editor Matt King, says: “Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to give you the news … you just completed your last issue of the magazine.”
Stunned silence … knot in stomach … gulp … what does that mean!?
Then he continues, with a slight smile: “Harley-Davidson has decided to eliminate Hog Tales and Enthusiast magazines and create a new one that will replace both. And we want you to bring this new one to life.” The range of emotions and thoughts running through my mind during this nine-second conversation hopefully won’t be a frequent occurrence. It can’t be good for the heart.
Leap ahead to February 2010 as we put to bed our 5th issue of the all-new HOG magazine. At just over a year into the project, the magazine has been very well received by Harley Owners Group members (its primary readership), Harley riders at large, stakeholders within the Motor Company, and, most recently, HOW magazine.
Read the HOW Magazine article (PDF).
We are quite proud of the work we do on HOG and to have our peers in the design industry – such as the editors of HOW, perhaps the premier design journal in the business – give us some props confirms that we do, in fact, have something to be proud of.
Of course, it’s our relationship with H.O.G. and Harley-Davidson – which began some 16 years ago – that we’re most proud of. Great clients inspire great work, and we have one of the best in Harley-Davidson.
Even when they try to induce a heart attack before handing us choice new projects.
March 8th, 2010
Posted in Client News, GS by Andrea Rech
With the entire U.S. talking about ways to curtail increasing healthcare costs, GS was extremely excited to partner with one of the leading change makers in the industry.
Headquartered in Milwaukee’s Third Ward, Dohmen is a 150-year-old company that throughout its lengthy history has remained committed to its vision of improving the wellbeing of our communities by creating a more efficient, affordable, and accessible healthcare supply system.
Dohmen is the parent company of three companies that execute its vision daily by reducing costs within the healthcare supply system. GS recently completed a comprehensive rebranding project for Dohmen and its philanthropic arm Dohmen Company Foundation. We are also fortunate to be involved with all of Dohmen’s subsidiaries: DDN (rebranding completed 2008), Restat (rebranding in progress), and DDN Medical Affairs (new brand created in 2009).
The challenge with the Dohmen and Dohmen Company Foundation projects was to find a way to tell the story of the Dohmen vision that captures the conviction, passion, and altruism that our client brings to her businesses every day.
Our rebranding project for Dohmen included message development, logo development, corporate identity, and Web design and development.
Visit these sites to see our work.
Dohmen
Dohmen Company Foundation
March 2nd, 2010
Posted in Social Media by Chris Krasovich
Forrester has a great tool that allows you to quickly determine how your target audience participates in social media channels, which can help tailor your approach to better reach them.
The categories are taken from Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff’s book “Groundswell” and are as follows:
Creators
These top-of-the-food-chain participants are the ones who drive social content by uploading blogs, podcasts, video, and more.
Critics
This group responds to the content others produce by commenting on it, rating it, or editing it.
Collectors
As the name suggests, those who participate as collectors gather information via RSS and/or tagging.
Joiners
These people are looking for networking opportunities presented by the likes of Facebook and Linkedin.
Spectators
Passive participants like spectators are the ones reading, watching, and generally digesting content, though they’re not actively contributing to it.
Inactives
This group defines those who are neither watching nor participating in social channels.
Find the social technographics profile for your customer or client base now!
February 15th, 2010
Posted in Communication, Design, GS, Inspiration by Chris Krasovich
GS is all kinds of excited to be participating in THE HAITI POSTER PROJECT – a worthy effort that will turn design into much-needed dollars for the Haitian relief effort.
The premise: Designers work their magic and create posters focused on the Haitian earthquake. Upon production, their posters are sold. Proceeds from the sales benefit the Doctors Without Borders Association; it’s a win-win!
GS has decided to up the ante by encouraging each of its designers to create a poster. An in-house competition will take place, and two of the submissions created will be selected for production by company-wide vote. Our talented partners at Burton & Mayer have graciously offered to produce the selected designs at no cost.
Stay tuned to GS BS for first peek at all the posters and check out the call for entries for more information.
