Projects Archive - Owl Marketing

This is Northfield

owl.admin — Thu, 14 May 2020 15:18:32 +0000

Case Study: This is Northfield

CHALLENGE: The small Midwestern town of Northfield may be best known in tourism circles for being the home of the “Defeat of Jesse James.” The town’s other amenities include a historic main street shopping district, two nationally ranked colleges, a river, natural scenic beauty, and a thriving arts scene. Our team was tasked with creating a unified tourism brand umbrella to celebrate these various — and sometimes fractious — factions.

What we did:

Getting buy-in from so many different corners was no easy task. How to sell Northfield’s history alongside its youth scene? How to represent its arts culture and still give proper respect to its bread and butter “wild west” heritage? We partnered with Haberman to arrive at a solution everyone could —and did— get excited about. Drawing inspiration from golden era travel guides and classic children’s literature, our team created an illustrated retro poster series that was at once quirky, artsy, hip, and historic. Each individual poster represented a different attraction and could serve as a standard for that bloc. The larger “This is Northfield” brand narrative now serves as a rallying call for all commercial, educational, arts, and outdoor interests.

Results:

Big hit. Internally, the campaign achieved the impossible…almost universal acceptance and praise from all parties. The website ThisIsNorthfield.com has regular traffic as a portal into other Northfield sites. And social media ballooned. Externally the campaign has attracted local and regional news coverage and the city’s advertising efforts are beginning to represent the same (charming) voice across platforms. The art has been used for the city’s brochure and plans are in the works to extend it with more posters portraying more area attractions. And of course, the swag is flying off the shelves.

The post This is Northfield appeared first on Owl Marketing.

Afton Alps

owl.admin — Thu, 14 May 2020 14:53:23 +0000

Case Study: Afton Alps

Putting these ski slopes on the Midwest maps.

The Challenge:

The Midwest isn’t exactly known for its mountainous terrain. But Afton is the closest thing Minnesotans have to our own “Alps” – at least that’s been the local resort’s claim over its 50+ year history. Ski hills in this area are something of a parity product, so OWL needed to create an aura about the park —playing on its history, size (18 lifts!) and attitude — to make Afton the first go-to for all media looking to do any kind of snow story.

What we did:

Create buzz in the media with special events before the snow even starts: in the fall we kick off the season with media pitching to talk about ski fashion for the year and our annual equipment swap. After that we move into opening, fun on the slopes (pushing various on- the-hill as well as slopeside events throughout the winter) and then wrap things up at the end of the season with a spring fling. The ski season in Minnesota is a short one in the best of years; it requires both long- and short-lead efforts to keep the slopes top of mind.

How we did it:

Our advertising focused on the under-tapped over-30 crowd. Basically we wanted to convince former skiers to revisit their former glory. Even a former casual skier has good memories of a youthful day on the slopes — now those memories can be recreated with one’s kids. Our radio campaign implored: “the slopes want you back, baby.” And to tie in the renaissance of Après Ski culture, our collateral materials touted the place, “Where the skiing is cool and the toddys are hot.”

PR worked hand-in-ski-glove with the advertising. Afton partnered with a radio station on a kids event, “Rock the Slopes,” and partnered with a local magazine to reach young hipsters. We also pitched stories about strapping on skis after a long absence.

The formula is working: we’ve built a strong influencer following, inviting guests out for a day on the slopes with their family or friends so they can experience first hand the Afton experience— newspaper writers, bloggers, weather reporters, radio hosts, TV producers and anchors— anyone and everyone.

Results:

Our approach caught some serious air, with coverage piled high (some of it admittedly, man-made) and lift ticket sales soaring.

The post Afton Alps appeared first on Owl Marketing.

Ely, Minnesota

owl.admin — Thu, 07 May 2020 22:14:21 +0000

Case Study: Ely, Minnesota

Making a small town bigger than it appears.

Goals:

Transform tiny Ely, Minn. into a regional – and national – travel destination.
Start the spring/summer tourism season off with a bang.
Garner favorable news coverage
Build a lead-in to the more traditional (media) fishing and summer reservation campaigns
Get big results with a miniscule budget
Do something that had never been done within — or even outside of — the tourism industry

What we did:

Beginning in 2007, we have created a yearly April Fools story about Ely.
Hoaxes have included “Say No to Canada,” a 2016 Olympics bid, the corporate sponsorship buy of the Boundary Waters by Dairy Queen, banning social media and this year, the launch of a new cable network, The Ely Channel.
In combination with paid advertising, each year we push out our “news” to the media world so it may break on April 1.
We support with guerrilla marketing, including street theater in downtown Minneapolis and lawn signs in and around the Ely area and in the Twin Cities.

Results:

Metro and outstate media make multiple mentions and run numerous stories on April 1.
Dozens of blogs and web sites weighed in on our stories.
Major media nationwide picked up our hoax; people from Okinawa and Antarctica emailed.
Traffic on Ely’s website multiplies at least ten-fold each year
Ely officials call it “the best thing that’s ever happened in Ely” and credit the yearly campaign with bringing together the tourism industry and local residents like never before.
USA TODAY called the campaign the work of “the marketing geniuses in Ely.”

But most importantly. . .

Ely officials report increased summer reservations year over year.
The city was so thrilled with the results from the first year that that they have extended the campaign for most of the last seven years (with time off for the recession.)

The post Ely, Minnesota appeared first on Owl Marketing.

OLSON

owl.admin — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 19:27:38 +0000

Case Study: OLSON

Challenge:

Make a small, regional advertising agency famous within — and outside of — its industry.

What we did:

Serving as consulting agency communications director, (www.olson.com), Jennifer Weismann and OWL fanned the flames of the Olson brand, garnering recognition of work and ingenuity, while positioning the agency as a thought leader in the marketplace. Managed communications over three years — consulted through two CEOs and three business acquisitions. In those years, the agency grew from 150 people to nearly 400 and revenues grew by double-digits each year.

How we did it:

Targeted, intelligent media outreach to local, national, and international business and marketing media grew agency profile quickly.
Went from being reactive to proactive with information generation.
Used all tools at hand through each business acquisition; from message development to crisis communications
Consulted with top leadership regularly to ensure best face was always forward and that news was accurate and timely
Built reputation of agency through its affiliated non-profit, The BrandLab, to demonstrate thought leadership and agency’s charitable efforts
Broadened outreach and built attention for newer divisions
Sustained success/coverage with local, regional, and trade publications

Results:

Coverage told the Olson story and built the agency into the largest —and best-known — agency in the Twin Cities and one of the top independently owned agencies in the US.
The agency was featured in print, broadcast, and online — regularly and favorably.
Agency went from pursuing attention to being sought out for thought leadership to participate in articles and speak at national industry conferences.
Interesting note: The agency sold in 2014 for nearly $300 million.

The post OLSON appeared first on Owl Marketing.

The Drink

owl.admin — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 19:27:38 +0000

Case Study: The Drink

Challenge & what OWL did:

When the indoor aquaponics venture Urban Organics purchased St. Paul’s historic Schmidt Brewery for their new indoor farm project, they acquired a bonus asset as part of the deal: a well tapped into a 35,000 year old aquifer with pure glacial water — popular with locals for generations. The water was referred to as “Schmidt water” by most, and a recent marketing makeover had attempted to rebrand it with the misnomer “Schmidt Organic Water” (water, which is not living, by definition cannot be organic).

Using the Schmidt name now had legal issues, so the resource needed branding, ASAP, and what began as a side-concern for UA ended up taking on a life of its own.

OWL was tasked with branding this cherished community resource, and sharing it with the wider metro area through signage and a website. Now rechristened “The Drink,” the water — replete with an ice age evoking woolly mammoth logo — became a go-to for local chefs and restaurateurs, as well as area home brewers, bakers and others interested in pure, uncontaminated, untreated water.

Talk about brand refreshment!

The post The Drink appeared first on Owl Marketing.

Kalettes

owl.admin — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 19:27:38 +0000

Case Study: Kalettes

CHALLENGE: Introduce a new vegetable — the first in decades — to the American public. But another breeder had jumped the gun, entering the fray in a few venues with our same veggie, although under a different name. We had to clear up confusion and get the word out under the correct name. Oh, did we mention there wasn’t much product yet? It was still growing.

What we did:

We had to make Kalettes, a cross between Brussels sprouts and kale, enticing to national food media— without sending samples. We needed to get national long leads interested and writing stories to time to our Kalettes hitting the shelves, in fall of 2014.

How we did it:

Without actual product to send, we created a “birth” announcement for Kalettes from the proud parents, kale and Brussels sprouts, to send out in lieu of samples.
We pitched national media based on that announcement, and then followed up with samples as soon as they were ripe and ready to go!
Media loved the cute, tongue-in-cheek quality of our mailing and totally BIT!
Sustained success/coverage everywhere we wanted to be — in every food magazine we could get into — just in time for Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s to roll it out in stores pre-holiday 2014.

Results:

Several stories called Kalettes the “cronut of the vegetable world,” and “the love child of kale and Brussels sprouts.”
The veggie was featured on TV, in print and online across the country — in venues from ABC-TV to the Today Show to Self, Eating Well and Every Day with Rachael Ray EVEN BEFORE THE VEGGIE ACTUALLY HIT THE SUPERMARKET SHELVES!

The post Kalettes appeared first on Owl Marketing.

American Swedish Institute

owl.admin — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 19:27:38 +0000

Case Study: American Swedish Institute

Building awareness for a little-known museum— and made it huge news.

What we did:

We managed big-idea marketing during the American Swedish Institute’s (http://www.asimn.org) re-opening— guided idea generation, messaging and outreach through three major communications events: a fundraising initiative, a major expansion grand opening, and a visit by Sweden’s royal family.

How we did it:

Kicked off a new attitude through targeted PR, traditional and guerrilla marketing efforts, including:

Competition for AmEx Partners in Preservation (PIP) funding through “Vote for the Castle” Facebook campaign
Grand opening of new, architecturally significant Nelson Cultural Center at ASI
Grand opening of restaurant, FIKA
Announcement of Swedish royal family visit to ASI
Piggy-backed onto developing “Stephen Colbert/Swedish Twitter Feed” story to garner additional coverage for ASI
Developed following for popular “Cocktails at the Castle” event series

Results:

Won funding from PIP to complete renovations on historic castle
Worked local, national, and international media contacts for grand opening and royal visits
Helped transform stodgy Swedish meeting place to hip destination in the Twin Cities
Built FIKA into critically acclaimed destination dining spot
Demolished expectations: impressing clients (and media) with our efforts:

We had exceptional coverage – the best ever, I’d say, in my 21 years here. The only time “hip” has gotten mentioned here at ASI before has been in connection with surgery.

Bruce Karstadt

CEO, American Swedish Institute

I’m just thrilled with the coverage — it doesn’t get much better than this PR-wise. There is definitely a “buzz” building about what’s happening at ASI. This is better than any paid advertisement we could buy!

Peggy Korsmo-Kennon

COO, American Swedish Institute

The post American Swedish Institute appeared first on Owl Marketing.

AmericInn

owl.admin — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 19:27:38 +0000

Case Study: AmericInn

Make a small motel chain into the voice that gives Americans permission to take a break.

Goals:

Put AmericInn top-of-mind among American road trippers.
Create a summer promotion for AmericInn to generate brand awareness.
Establish differentiation: allow AmericInn — despite having locations in less-desirable destinations — to punch above its weight in the category.

What we did:

To promote this concept, we created “Random Acts of Vacation.”
The promotion asked people to, “Nominate someone you know who deserves a vacation—a friend, family member, someone you love, or just a person who deserves a few nights away.
Nominations were taken, in 50 words or less, through: americinn.com, Facebook, Twitter, email, Instagram, and text, and were posted to a special microsite where anyone can read them.
Starting on Memorial Day and running through Labor Day, AmericInn chose one nominee each day to win two free nights at any AmericInn. The nominator also won two free nights.
We built a radio campaign, microsite and digital advertising to push nominations.

Results:

More than 3,000 online nominations were received from 49 states. The contest awarded deserving recipients free nights at any of more than 200 AmericInn locations in 24 states.
AmericInn’s 2014 ‘Random Acts of Vacation’ marketing campaign won the Adrian Award from the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association in digital marketing. The HSMAI Adrian Awards are the largest and most prestigious global travel marketing competition.
In following years we were asked to create new follow-up campaigns. “The Great AmericInn Adventure” was also a successful, award-winning campaign that drove awareness as well as traffic.

Measurement:

Following our campaign, the brand’s Market Metrix customer satisfaction score was 92 percent, with 75 percent saying they are likely to recommend AmericInn.
The Smith Travel Report (STR) market share index for AmericInn rose to 109, indicating that the brand continues to outperform the midscale segment.

The post AmericInn appeared first on Owl Marketing.