Heart To Heart

Last week was our annual agency planning day. We talk about the year in review, and our goals for the upcoming year.  We reviewed financials, set goals, recognized our peers, and brainstormed ideas for new initiatives. 

And then we did crafts.

Cutting Room

This year we held our all-staff, all-day retreat at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.  So it was only fitting that we all, and I mean all, from accounting to the front desk, break out our inner creative... and the pipecleaners.

Crafting Circle

The surprise activity was to take a posterboard heart and with the supplies provided (construction paper, magazines, tissue paper, pom poms and googly eyes), illustrate your passion, and how you can bring that into the work you do at Third Degree.  

Love It, Love It...

We jump-started the activity Project Runway-slash-Top Chef style.  Everyone had 45 minutes to figure out what they wanted to do and craft it into a heart that they would then present to the group.  Some were more reflective and evenly paced in their approach.  Others freakin' dove in with the scissors and glue sticks flying.  We kind of made a mess.

Roy gathering inspiration from above (and sneaking peeks at what everyone else was doing.)

True Colors

When time was up, there was a lot of laughter, and surprisingly tears when we all took turns presenting our passion to the group.  Like how Hallie loves HTML code, or how Felina loves event planning, (okay, that wasn't the tears part exactly), Brian loves words, Lynn loves the spirit of the team, Mickie loves being the listener, and how Roy loves.... fly fishing?

The Heart with a Hook

Actually, Roy's fly fishing analogy made it into an article he wrote for our credit union resource site, CreditUnionSavvy.com a little while back.  And we weren't sure about his heart when we saw him working on it in profile, with these weird purple points sticking up.  But when he held it up to reveal his creation it was the coolest little "a river runs through it" diorama scene, with a snowcapped mountains, and a stream, and poms for the fish and even a little rod casting a strike.  I was very proud.

Making a Scene

Now the hearts are displayed on the hall by our Third Degree bathrooms.  It's just the only wall that's big enough to hold all of our passions.  Which, I guess is fitting for a bathroom wall.  It's almost as good as people's phone numbers.

Freaky Festive Friday

Last Friday was a fun one. It was Jentry's 30th birthday, so her desk was done up in black balloons and streamers.  

Blackout

Obviously a surprise to her or she probably would have straightened up her desk. But that's what happens when you turn thirty, the details just start slipping.

Tough Guys

The other surprise?  Everyone at Third Degree came wearing black to work that day.  Pretty unusual for this colorful bunch.  We felt tough (and slim).  Someone started telling a story about an agency where everyone was required to wear black every day.  We need to think of something really ridiculous to make everyone wear every day, like plaid.

Tough Guys Throw a Shower

We also threw a wedding shower for Amanda that afternoon.  Which was funny because.. you know.. the black... Anyway, the food (as always) was very colorful instead, so I had to show at least a few pics.

Q & A

The media gals came up with a really fun idea that Liz helped design.  It was a nifty book that asked a question of Amanda, like "What physical feature does Andy like the most about you?" She would guess, then the next page would have a picture of Andy with his answer, like "her blue eyes." We think Andy kept it clean, but regardless, it was a big hit.  Roy immediately wanted to craft it into a deliverable for gleaning internal insights when conducting discovery sessions with clients.   We groaned and rolled our eyes, but honest to god, it will probably become just that.  No talent or idea goes wasted around here folks, let me tell you!

After the Addys

So we've started getting congrats (and gourmet cupcakes) coming our way from well wishers on our Addy wins.

Let Us Eat Cake

These are from Sara Sara a new local cupcake shop that is getting a lot of buzz.  These were swarmed the minute they came in the door.  Kristin and David McNeese brought them by. David did all the great photography for Buck The Norm.

Roy Gets Creative

These ridiculously splashy but no less fabulous flowers came from Shannon and the gals at Cox Media. Roy decided to spontaneously fashion a makeshift Addy shrine around the flowers, sort of MacGyver meets Martha Stewart.  The giant-headed Roy to the right is the cardboard cutout we made of Roy to act as is stand-in the time he couldn't come to the Addy's a couple years ago. It's never the same without you, Roy!

Speech Time

Roy had us all come up on stage for the Best Of Show award at the end of the evening.  It was so much fun.  Kriste our media buyer said to the person next to her "I feel like the cast of Grey's Anatomy."  

Party People

Okay so here's our "party pics."  We get so huggy when there's complimentary bottles of wine the Third Degree tables (... and other people's tables when they're not looking).

Halliewood

Speaking of when people aren't looking.  This is the Addy revolution-themed directional sign that Hallie swiped as a souvenir at the end of the night.  Hallie also wore an Addy medal around her neck as she danced barefooted through the entire afterparty.  She deserved to celebrate. Hallie was one of the main drivers of the Buck The Norm campaign.

Kudos, Too

Our partner in developing the Buck The Norm site, Trabian, was also excited about the win. They posted about it on their credit union blog site, Open Source CU.  Thanks guys, now you just need to get someone to send you gourmet cupcakes.

The Buckin' Best Addys Ever

Why was the 43rd Annual Oklahoma City Addy Awards so wonderful? 

Three words:



"Buck"



"The"



"Norm." 



With three (three!) special judges awards: Best Interactive, Best Broadcast and freakin' Best In Show!!!



Needless to say we were very, very loud that evening, and very giddy when Roy asked the entire agency to come up on stage to accept the Best In Show award. There are so many funny quotes and moments from that evening that it's impossible to share them all, but one sentiment that's definitely worth repeating, is thanks TFCU for letting us do the kind of work we can all be so proud of.

School Days

So we have more than just interns to account for our school ties at Third Degree. We've actually done a lot of work for colleges and universities, including the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma City University.


Universal Appeal

This is a set of collaterals that Kathleen and Kande just recently completed for OCU. I think they look really modern and competitive. OCU attracts students from around the world, so having a global appeal was a big deal.


Campus Collage

This is the theme that Phillip and I developed for the University of Oklahomas recruitment efforts a couple years back. This first redesign set the tone for the next couple years, which we helped them evolve. This campaign won a gold Addy for us that year as a mixed media campaign, which is cool, because most mixed media campaigns that win include "big" mediums like broadcast like TV or radio, but ours competed with just a mix of different types of well-crafted collaterals.


Doodles and Details

This was a seriously layered approach, tons of tidbits of information, handwritten notes, little objects and photos. It sort of had the feel of a scrapbook or common room bulletin board in a dorm.


Home Page

The gals and guys at OU web wanted us to help them create a new look for their web site, too. This is a huge project for them over there, and they are all about getting their site as cohesive and comprehensive as a major university's should be. So, as they continue to take that online presence to the next level, we're just glad to have had a part in influencing the look and feel.

Plus, I got to be featured on the web site as an alumn (not the brooding guy with the mysterious hair, the smiley girl with the not-so-mysterious hair.)

Meet The Interns

So our new batch of spring semester interns have arrived. They come complete with rosy cheeks, chirpy voices and cheerful dispositions, or at least our creative intern, Jessica, does. She joins Matt the media intern and Rhia the account service intern.

Hello, My Name Is

We actually have four members of our creative department that started out as interns once upon a time. Their cheeks aren't so rosy anymore – that's what makeup, caffein, and photoshop are for. But, they can still somewhat relate. Liz, our worldly-wise designer (if you can be worldly-wise at age 24) interviewed our interns so we could all get to know them a little better.

Jessica: The Creative Intern

University of Oklahoma

Visual Communications Major

Liz: What is your favorite color?

Jessica: Can't choose, because she feels bad for all the colors she's not choosing. (See, we told you she was chirpy).

Liz: Would you rather have a boss that sweats profusely or foams at the mouth?

Jessica: Sweats profusely, because she is afraid of being spit on.

Liz: Which of the Third Degree brand attributes would you rather be: Fresh, Hot, Friendly or Right?

Jessica: Friendly. Definitely. Absolutely. (See, chirpy, see?)

Matt: The Media Intern

University of Oklahoma

Advertising Major

Liz: Do you think you are better than most people?

Matt: A resounding true

Liz: Who would you rather have as parents: Bill Cosby and Tina Turner, Boy George and Michael Jackson, or Willie Nelson and Connie Chung?

Matt: Bill Cosby and Tina Turner

Liz: Fresh, Hot, Friendly or Right?

Matt: A combination of Fresh and Hot, which Liz and Matt decided we would call Frot or Hosh.

Rhia: The Account Service Intern

University of Central Oklahoma

Advertising Major

Liz: Do you prefer walking in the rain or driving in the snow?

Rhia: Walking in the rain because it's actually quite pleasant

Liz: How would you rather die: by having your body implode in the vacuum of space, by drowning in the frigid waters of the northern Atlantic, or by being burned at the stake?

Rhia: The space one – because it's instant. (Maybe also because she loves sci-fi movies more than Joan of Arc or Titanic?)

Liz: Fresh, Hot, Friendly or Right?

Rhia: Fresh and Friendly. Freshly? Friensh? (Come on people, this must be a Gen Y thing to just create your own word to avoid being labeled.)

All Grown Up

My favorite thing about these interviews, was that I just asked Liz to get some snapshots for me of the interns, and just find out a few tidbits about them. Then she came back with this hysterical list of bizarre questions, and these few I've shared here were just the tip of the iceberg. Liz, you're brilliant, and that totally makes up for me having to photoshop in your quickly fading rosy cheeks.

Who's Got Drive (and Blood)?

Who wants to give blood!? Ooh, ooh, me, me, pick me!

Okay, so maybe that's not the typical response you get when you're rallying up blood donors, but you might be surprised how many Oklahomans wear their OBI donor arm bands and t-shirts like a badge of honor.  Just go to a downtown YMCA after-work step aerobics class on any given day and you can see a sweaty retrospective of OBI donor t-shirts from the past however-many-years feeling the burn.  Hmm, I'm sensing an overlapping demographic here.

Oklahoma Blood Institute is a client of ours, and most recently, we've developed and launched a campaign for them around a Saturn giveaway.  "I've Got Drive" is the promotion.  The deal is if you donate blood this Saturday, Feb. 7th at either of the two metro Bob Moore Saturn dealerships, you'll get a chance to win a Saturn Astra or $10,000 cash.  The odds are really good.  Third Degree-ers and family are not eligible because that would be kind of shady, but tell your friends about it!  Plus, they'll get the t-shirt (working out at the Y in it is optional) and the street cred of getting poked with a needle on purpose. Oh, and saving lives, too.

Some of the marketing components we created include this microsite, online ads, television, radio and print.  The micro site, which I think is a fairly new tactic for OBI is getting some really good measurement on the number of visitors and click-thrus.

Kande, Brian, Phillip and Holly all worked to create and implement this campaign.  And even though this weekend's donor turnout will make a huge impact on its ultimate success, OBI has already experienced some record donor numbers since its launch.  The NBA Thunder Drive a few weeks ago was the largest single-day, non-crisis blood drive in OBI history!  So go team! Not the Thunder team, the Third Degree & OBI team!  Not anything against the Thunder. Okay, so "go Thunder, too!"  I'm out.