Looking for our MCT Credit Union "Loantastic" Campaign case study? Find it on our new site!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Monday, September 10, 2012
Case in Point: Buck the Norm
Tinker Federal Credit Union’s Buck the Norm Gen Y
initiative is all about financial empowerment. Don’t overspend or be
irresponsible with debt. That’s the concept they want 16-24 year olds to grasp.
But to grasp this type of behavior change there needs to be hands-on and
engaging initiatives. What’s more hands-on and engaging than social media
hosted contests?
Every year Buck the Norm hosts several contests, but the
video scholarship contest is the one that attracts the most attention. What’s
at stake: a $2,000 scholarship and a MacBook for the first place contestant and
cash and iPods for the three other placed contestants.
The first challenge was with unfair voting. In past years
the contest had been hosted on Buck the Norm’s website. Voters were allowed to
cast a ballot once per day which was tracked by email addresses. There was no
way to stop people from creating fake email addresses and submitting multiple
votes per day. It’s the digital media equivalent to hanging chads.
The second challenge was a stagnant Facebook page that
was seeing little growth. Leading up to the 2012 contest timeframe Buck the
Norm’s Facebook page had 600 fans which hadn’t seen a big increase in some
time.
Prescription
To get the voting to a more legitimate level, it was
decided to host the contest on Facebook utilizing a Facebook application.
Facebook only allows one profile per user. It was a perfect match because we
could also focus on growing the fan base. Instead of voting once per day, Facebook users could only vote once for the entire contest.
This grew the need for contestants to promote their videos which ultimately
drove more traffic to the application.
Promotion
The major tactical execution was the Facebook application
itself. Contestants were able to upload their video through the application
which was hosted on the Buck the Norm Facebook page. People could then view the
contestants' videos, comment on videos and vote.
The contest was promoted through several traditional and non-traditional
channels including geotargeted online ads, social media and print ads in local
college publications.
Entries: The 2012 contest yielded the highest number of
entries with an increase of 71% over 2011.
Voting: With previous years littered with voting fraud, an expected 200 people voted over 21,000 times. By moving the contest to Facebook and allowing one vote for the entire contest there were more than 2,100 individual votes which was a 950% increase in individual votes (and in the exposure to Buck the Norm’s message).
Page Fans: From the 2011 contest to the beginning of the 2012 contest there were 30 new fans to the Facebook page. During the 40 day contest period there was an overall fan increase of 75% as the number of fans went from 630 to more than 1,100 fans.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Q&A with Casey
A: Okay, this will be a hundred-mile-an-hour, highlights-only tour.
In 1995, I cut my teeth at a small Oklahoma City agency called Fellers Marketing and Advertising. The focus of the company was client service, which I took to naturally and it helped me ascend to Associate Creative Director.
After almost seven years at Fellers, I moved
to Barkley in Kansas City. Their impeccable reputation for award-winning work
is what drew me to them and I spent four years leading a fantastic team.
From Barkley, I went to work at Hallmark (also
headquartered in Kansas City). Despite being the biggest “creative” brand in
the world, I had entered a realm where research and planning was every bit as
important. The work from there is some of the best in my career.
Q: Why Third Degree?
A: I’ve kept an eye on Third Degree since I left Oklahoma. It’s a company that works as smart as it is creative. So, the opportunity to be a leader here was a no brainer... it's the kind of job you just don't pass up.
Q: Now something not work related. You run, even when you’re not being chased. What’s that about?
A: My running shoes are one of the first things packed when I travel for work. I’ve found a healthy body makes a healthy mind. Since I ran cross-country in college, jogging is sort of the low-hanging fruit of working out. It's a "dance with the devil you know” kind of thing.
This year my goal is to do a half marathon in one hour and thirty minutes…right after I stop eating so much chocolate cake.
Q: So goals are important to
you?
A: Yes, it’s a holdover from my competitive athletic days and something I’ve found to be very important in my creative success. Just like a brand, it’s important to have a clear vision of where you want to go and what you want to achieve.
Q: Which is more important:
Creativity or Strategy?
A: I use a lot of sports analogies and here’s one now: In football you can’t win without solid play on both sides of the ball. Weakness on defense hurts the offense and vice versa. Essentially, it is a recipe for failure. Creativity and strategy have the same symbiotic relationship.
A: I’ve kept an eye on Third Degree since I left Oklahoma. It’s a company that works as smart as it is creative. So, the opportunity to be a leader here was a no brainer... it's the kind of job you just don't pass up.
Q: Now something not work related. You run, even when you’re not being chased. What’s that about?
A: My running shoes are one of the first things packed when I travel for work. I’ve found a healthy body makes a healthy mind. Since I ran cross-country in college, jogging is sort of the low-hanging fruit of working out. It's a "dance with the devil you know” kind of thing.
This year my goal is to do a half marathon in one hour and thirty minutes…right after I stop eating so much chocolate cake.
A: Yes, it’s a holdover from my competitive athletic days and something I’ve found to be very important in my creative success. Just like a brand, it’s important to have a clear vision of where you want to go and what you want to achieve.
A: I use a lot of sports analogies and here’s one now: In football you can’t win without solid play on both sides of the ball. Weakness on defense hurts the offense and vice versa. Essentially, it is a recipe for failure. Creativity and strategy have the same symbiotic relationship.
No concept, no matter how inspired,
can overcome a weak foundation. And no strategy can truly come to life if the
message isn’t well delivered and received. So to say one is more important to
the other, in my opinion, couldn't be more short sighted.
Q: Quick. Name your favorite movie, album and book.
A. Cool Hand Luke. The Smiths – Meat is Murder. Watership Down.
Q: Quick. Name your favorite movie, album and book.
A. Cool Hand Luke. The Smiths – Meat is Murder. Watership Down.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
The Digital Revolution
More and more Americans are going digital, and they couldn't be happier about it. In the past 10 years the number of people that have access to the internet has doubled. Not only are we engaging with the digital world at home and throughout our days at the office, but we are doing it on the go, with the amount of people buying smart phones continuing to rise. We are a nation addicted to information, with a voracious appetite that doesn't seem to be diminishing.
But what are we as marketers doing to take advantage of this trend and harness this insatiable thirst for knowledge? Well... maybe not JUST knowledge — we also are watching the latest father/daughter wedding dance on Facebook. It is a time to re-examine your marketing resources. Have you positioned your brand to take advantage of this trend? or are you spending dollars in places that the public seems to be leaving?
 |
| Source: Nielsen's Q3-Q4 2011 US Digital Consumer Report |
But what are we as marketers doing to take advantage of this trend and harness this insatiable thirst for knowledge? Well... maybe not JUST knowledge — we also are watching the latest father/daughter wedding dance on Facebook. It is a time to re-examine your marketing resources. Have you positioned your brand to take advantage of this trend? or are you spending dollars in places that the public seems to be leaving?
Monday, February 13, 2012
Third Degree Nostalgia
Awe. Moving. It conjures thoughts of new beginnings. Excitement over things to come. Dreams of our new space, all shiny and new. And lets face it, how close each of our desks will be to a window.
We are ready for the next leg of our journey but for us, as we pack, we are feeling a bit nostalgic.
Original logo on a mason jar mug.
Current logo on a coaster.
Don't you just love old photos?
A coaster. And a reminder.
Oh, the creative that could be found on these old hard drives. And the incriminating emails.
Do they even make HOT DAMN anymore?
Friday, February 3, 2012
Media Buyer by Day. Office Designer by Default.
Everyone knows those people who work hard to develop a knowledge base and craft in college only to move on to start a career in an industry unrelated to their degree. That’s me. With a Bachelor of Interior Design from the University of Oklahoma, (and countless all-nighters in the College of Architecture studios) I’m now working on 8 years at Third Degree. As a Media Buyer, my Excel spreadsheets are not only strategic and thoughtful, but let’s be honest…color coordinated.
Did I mention it also qualifies me to judge coloring contests?
I interviewed for a temporary position as the Receptionist to pay the bills after college. Having spent a couple weeks in a hot warehouse, checking the caps on tubes of “Femoré” (I’ll leave that product description in the hands of Google), I was ready for a job in a climate controlled office. Little did I know most of the summer, shorts were considered “office chic” in the old Mercantile building.
After falling in love with these guys…
and these characters…
And learning that Media at Third Degree was not just about numbers and spreadsheets (no matter how colorful) and was more about finding targeted, creative and impactful ways to get our clients’ messages out…I stuck around…for awhile.
I was later asked to co-design our Diner/Breakroom/Conference Room with coworker Kathleen Shannon. We rented a cargo van, shared scandalous stories with each other (her more so than me) and crossed the Red River to IKEA.
Now, with the help of Creatives, Adam and Brett, I’m calling that the Trial Run before the new task at hand.
A whole new office space: demolition, construction, codes, timelines…may I suggest a little wine? And one excited Media Buyer.
Did I mention it also qualifies me to judge coloring contests?
I interviewed for a temporary position as the Receptionist to pay the bills after college. Having spent a couple weeks in a hot warehouse, checking the caps on tubes of “Femoré” (I’ll leave that product description in the hands of Google), I was ready for a job in a climate controlled office. Little did I know most of the summer, shorts were considered “office chic” in the old Mercantile building.
After falling in love with these guys…
and these characters…
And learning that Media at Third Degree was not just about numbers and spreadsheets (no matter how colorful) and was more about finding targeted, creative and impactful ways to get our clients’ messages out…I stuck around…for awhile.
I was later asked to co-design our Diner/Breakroom/Conference Room with coworker Kathleen Shannon. We rented a cargo van, shared scandalous stories with each other (her more so than me) and crossed the Red River to IKEA.
Now, with the help of Creatives, Adam and Brett, I’m calling that the Trial Run before the new task at hand.
A whole new office space: demolition, construction, codes, timelines…may I suggest a little wine? And one excited Media Buyer.
Monday, January 23, 2012
We're Moving.
That’s right. You heard correctly. After 14 years, Third Degree Advertising will be uprooting from our home in Bricktown and relocating our headquarters to new offices in Midtown Oklahoma City (corner of Fourth and Walker).
More information to come.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
9 Ways Facebook's New Look Affects Your Brand
You know the Third Degree Facebook page is always active. (We can't resist a good photo op.) So when Facebook changes its interface, we take notice. We’re particularly interested in how these changes impact businesses. Here are some important highlights and takeaways for you to remember:
Anyone can comment on Pages.
Any Facebook member can now comment on a brand’s page, regardless of whether or not they “Like” the page. Although there are concerns associated with this transition (like dealing with crises and spam, and reaching new customers) this will now open conversations to more users, which can in turn bring potential customers. The good news is that you can’t measure success by ‘likes’ alone, but instead by the engagement of your community. Less stress on ‘like’ forces brands to create great content that keeps people coming.
The News feed is more selective, streamlined.
The streamlined News Feed includes a ticker timeline for less crucial updates (like a friend commenting on another friend’s photo). Important events get better real estate on the bigger, traditional news feed. This is good news for business pages, since you’ll cut through a noisy feed by posting high-quality content (determined by EdgeRank).
The EdgeRank System decides what you see.
Facebook’s EdgeRank formula breaks down visibility into various categories: Affinity, Weight, and Time. Affinity increases each time you interact with a page, meaning that content will get more presence in your feed. Weight prioritizes the visibility of different content categories, like photos, videos, links and status updates, with comments getting the most priority. Time-relevant information stays closer to the top of a newsfeed. (via)
Friend activity is now public.
The Friend Activity tab shows you which of your friends visited a brand’s page, the “Likes” and comments on posts, and any mention of the page by friends. A more personalized page means more user interest in visiting and interacting with the business or brand. Users can now recommend your brands to their friends directly from your page. (Just remember to give them a reason to do so.)
Status update character limit increased over 1000%.
A status update was once limited to 420 characters. That limit is now 5,000. For users, that means a more blog-like experience with their profiles. For brands, it means you can get a little more in-depth when you share news or events with your community.
Admins have more metrics.
This one's for the real analytics geeks. Where once you could only see metrics and engagement per-post for your self-published items, now you now track broader measurements by exporting Insight reports into Excel. (via)
Insights tool is more granular.
Analytics options now include a page-fan’s friendcount (“Friends of Fans”) and weekly Total Reach. Facebook encourages word-of-mouth sharing among fans and their friends, as well as to allow businesses to measure the extent of that sharing. Now you can count the stories people share that show up in News Feeds. Likes, mentions, RSVPs, check-ins, wall posts, answered questions and other related metrics are all measured. (via and via)
New plugins share browsing activity on Facebook.
If you're finicky about your privacy settings, this new feature might be a bit squicky. A Facebook plugin on your website publishes a Facebook user's browsing activity and sentiment on their profile and wall. From there, it filters out into their friends news feed and ticker. (via)
Facebook dabbles in social listening.
Following in the footsteps of Spotify, last.fm, and Pandora, Facebook now has a music dashboard letting you see what your friends are listening. Look deeper and you'll see their top albums and singles. Whether this will drive more people to Facebook and, in turn, could boost traffic to pages remains to be seen. (via)
So that's the straight dope on Facebook's newest changes. Though still filtering out to most users, Facebook's history shows they won't be the last changes to Facebook's UI. Whatever comes, just keep your focus on quality, shareable content. Oh, and have fun!
Anyone can comment on Pages.
Any Facebook member can now comment on a brand’s page, regardless of whether or not they “Like” the page. Although there are concerns associated with this transition (like dealing with crises and spam, and reaching new customers) this will now open conversations to more users, which can in turn bring potential customers. The good news is that you can’t measure success by ‘likes’ alone, but instead by the engagement of your community. Less stress on ‘like’ forces brands to create great content that keeps people coming.
The News feed is more selective, streamlined.
The streamlined News Feed includes a ticker timeline for less crucial updates (like a friend commenting on another friend’s photo). Important events get better real estate on the bigger, traditional news feed. This is good news for business pages, since you’ll cut through a noisy feed by posting high-quality content (determined by EdgeRank).
The EdgeRank System decides what you see.
Facebook’s EdgeRank formula breaks down visibility into various categories: Affinity, Weight, and Time. Affinity increases each time you interact with a page, meaning that content will get more presence in your feed. Weight prioritizes the visibility of different content categories, like photos, videos, links and status updates, with comments getting the most priority. Time-relevant information stays closer to the top of a newsfeed. (via)
Friend activity is now public.
The Friend Activity tab shows you which of your friends visited a brand’s page, the “Likes” and comments on posts, and any mention of the page by friends. A more personalized page means more user interest in visiting and interacting with the business or brand. Users can now recommend your brands to their friends directly from your page. (Just remember to give them a reason to do so.)
Status update character limit increased over 1000%.
A status update was once limited to 420 characters. That limit is now 5,000. For users, that means a more blog-like experience with their profiles. For brands, it means you can get a little more in-depth when you share news or events with your community.
Admins have more metrics.
This one's for the real analytics geeks. Where once you could only see metrics and engagement per-post for your self-published items, now you now track broader measurements by exporting Insight reports into Excel. (via)
Insights tool is more granular.
Analytics options now include a page-fan’s friendcount (“Friends of Fans”) and weekly Total Reach. Facebook encourages word-of-mouth sharing among fans and their friends, as well as to allow businesses to measure the extent of that sharing. Now you can count the stories people share that show up in News Feeds. Likes, mentions, RSVPs, check-ins, wall posts, answered questions and other related metrics are all measured. (via and via)
New plugins share browsing activity on Facebook.
If you're finicky about your privacy settings, this new feature might be a bit squicky. A Facebook plugin on your website publishes a Facebook user's browsing activity and sentiment on their profile and wall. From there, it filters out into their friends news feed and ticker. (via)
Facebook dabbles in social listening.
Following in the footsteps of Spotify, last.fm, and Pandora, Facebook now has a music dashboard letting you see what your friends are listening. Look deeper and you'll see their top albums and singles. Whether this will drive more people to Facebook and, in turn, could boost traffic to pages remains to be seen. (via)
So that's the straight dope on Facebook's newest changes. Though still filtering out to most users, Facebook's history shows they won't be the last changes to Facebook's UI. Whatever comes, just keep your focus on quality, shareable content. Oh, and have fun!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Funds For Learning Moves Up a Grade
Funds For Learning (FFL) helps schools and libraries wade through government paperwork and become compliant to be eligible to receive technology funding. Tricky stuff. It's one of those "hey-I-didn't-even-know-people-did-that" jobs that once you hear about, you're glad is around.
We've worked with FFL for a few years now, helping develop their early branding. We even won the prestigious Jef Fontana Humor award for their on-hold message a few years ago.
Oh my, how the years fly by. Now Funds For Learning is the nation's largest provider of these services. They've moved up to a swanky new office and their team of experts is way bigger. Their past brand fit a smaller organization carving out a new niche. Now, they're ready to brag about their expertise, their experience and their drive to help.
So we got to thinking: Who is Funds For Learning to its clients? They cut through complicated paperwork. They show a clear path to funding. They keep clients from making costly mistakes. They're like sherpas, the rugged mountaineers that escort adventurers to the peak of Mount Everest. They're like a sensei, a master of mysterious techniques. And they're like a guru, with deep knowledge of their craft. What do these all have in common? They're guides. So, that's how we positioned Funds For Learning.
Above is the first brand positioning board recently created. The strategy is to: Keep a streamlined appearance to stand out from the competition's cluttered ads. Incorporate the internal culture into the messaging: Collaborative, fun-loving, resourceful, with a strong belief in communication. Use a new color system revolves around reds, oranges and saturated cyans, with white as the accent. Funds For Learning didn't need a drastic change to their brand, just a natural next iteration. A graduation, if you will.
Humorous Venn diagrams show that Funds For Learning really understands the tough position most districts are in these days, without getting too dour about it. The graph background, handwriting, and hand-drawn circles all reflect elements of a school whiteboard and a workplace brainstorming session. Using strong visual metaphors from simple visual shapes make Funds For Learning's brand very approachable.
Funds For Learning liked these initial ideas so much they decided to do a full-on photoshoot to show off their sweet new space and their team of gurus, sherpas, anda senseis (a.k.a. guides).
After a long shooting day, we let off some steam with an epic paper fight. Hey, what's a graduation without a little fun?
We've worked with FFL for a few years now, helping develop their early branding. We even won the prestigious Jef Fontana Humor award for their on-hold message a few years ago.
Oh my, how the years fly by. Now Funds For Learning is the nation's largest provider of these services. They've moved up to a swanky new office and their team of experts is way bigger. Their past brand fit a smaller organization carving out a new niche. Now, they're ready to brag about their expertise, their experience and their drive to help.
So we got to thinking: Who is Funds For Learning to its clients? They cut through complicated paperwork. They show a clear path to funding. They keep clients from making costly mistakes. They're like sherpas, the rugged mountaineers that escort adventurers to the peak of Mount Everest. They're like a sensei, a master of mysterious techniques. And they're like a guru, with deep knowledge of their craft. What do these all have in common? They're guides. So, that's how we positioned Funds For Learning.
Above is the first brand positioning board recently created. The strategy is to: Keep a streamlined appearance to stand out from the competition's cluttered ads. Incorporate the internal culture into the messaging: Collaborative, fun-loving, resourceful, with a strong belief in communication. Use a new color system revolves around reds, oranges and saturated cyans, with white as the accent. Funds For Learning didn't need a drastic change to their brand, just a natural next iteration. A graduation, if you will.
Humorous Venn diagrams show that Funds For Learning really understands the tough position most districts are in these days, without getting too dour about it. The graph background, handwriting, and hand-drawn circles all reflect elements of a school whiteboard and a workplace brainstorming session. Using strong visual metaphors from simple visual shapes make Funds For Learning's brand very approachable.
Funds For Learning liked these initial ideas so much they decided to do a full-on photoshoot to show off their sweet new space and their team of gurus, sherpas, anda senseis (a.k.a. guides).
After a long shooting day, we let off some steam with an epic paper fight. Hey, what's a graduation without a little fun?
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Hey look, it's the future! Third Degree Webcam Huddles
With the creative department growing across two cities, we're figuring out how to do our usual daily huddles across the distance.
We're using iChat as a temporary solution, but that only handles four people. We're also looking at Skype Premium, which is currently the leading candidate. Google Hangouts has a very nice pricepoint (Free!) and expands to lots of users, but we noticed a lot of lag. Our newcomer Kaylee suggested Talkbox, which we'll definitely investigate further.
Any recommendations for on-the-spot facetime?
We're using iChat as a temporary solution, but that only handles four people. We're also looking at Skype Premium, which is currently the leading candidate. Google Hangouts has a very nice pricepoint (Free!) and expands to lots of users, but we noticed a lot of lag. Our newcomer Kaylee suggested Talkbox, which we'll definitely investigate further.
Any recommendations for on-the-spot facetime?
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
New faces at the Third Degree Oklahoma City office!
We're super-busy these days, so it's nice when we can get some extra help in and out of the creative department. Next time you come around to the Third Degree Oklahoma City office, say hello to the new kids!
We met Jennifer at a recent AIGA portfolio review. Among a wide array of talented students and young professionals, Jennifer stood out for her strong type foundations, precise handcraft and clever concepting. That's a lot of jargon that only means something to design nerds. Which we so are.
Kyle comes to us from OU's journalism department. He actually first looked for an internship in the creative department, but his strength in research made him an obvious choice for the account service side. Above, he describes the stack of work we gave him on his first day.
Ah, and here's Kaylee. She interned for us over two years ago, but graduated and went off to the land of web startups. Now she's back from a three-month visit to Japan, full of stories about giant robots and questionable seafood. She's jumping into the creative department as a production artist.
Welcome to Third Degree! You're gonna be great.
We met Jennifer at a recent AIGA portfolio review. Among a wide array of talented students and young professionals, Jennifer stood out for her strong type foundations, precise handcraft and clever concepting. That's a lot of jargon that only means something to design nerds. Which we so are.
Kyle comes to us from OU's journalism department. He actually first looked for an internship in the creative department, but his strength in research made him an obvious choice for the account service side. Above, he describes the stack of work we gave him on his first day.
Ah, and here's Kaylee. She interned for us over two years ago, but graduated and went off to the land of web startups. Now she's back from a three-month visit to Japan, full of stories about giant robots and questionable seafood. She's jumping into the creative department as a production artist.
Welcome to Third Degree! You're gonna be great.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Group Photo Shoot Outtakes
Because we're oversharers, we couldn't help showing off our outtakes from the impromptu group photoshoot this week. Here's the scene...
[INT: Third Degree Office. Early morning. No one's had coffee yet.]
Daniel: Hey, let's do the group shot before it gets too hot.
Liz: Yeah, this is your last chance before I fly back to Durham.
Brett: But who are we going to sucker into being our photographer?
All: Jared!
[EXT: Backdoor of Third Degree offices.]
Jared: Okay, just like the Bricktown engagement photoshoots.
Liz: You go here. You go here. You go here.
Adam: I'm having second thoughts, guys.
Daniel: Let's move out to the sidewalk a little.
Brett: Yes! Like an album cover. Everyone space out and look serious.
Jared: Okay, everyone. One, twooooo, three!
Liz: Did I blink?
Jared: No, but let's take another one to be safe.
Daniel: Places, everyone!
Jared: Okay, everyone. One, twooooo, three!
Jared: Got it!
[INT: Third Degree Office. Early morning. No one's had coffee yet.]
Daniel: Hey, let's do the group shot before it gets too hot.
Liz: Yeah, this is your last chance before I fly back to Durham.
Brett: But who are we going to sucker into being our photographer?
All: Jared!
[EXT: Backdoor of Third Degree offices.]
Jared: Okay, just like the Bricktown engagement photoshoots.
Liz: You go here. You go here. You go here.
Adam: I'm having second thoughts, guys.
Daniel: Let's move out to the sidewalk a little.
Brett: Yes! Like an album cover. Everyone space out and look serious.
Jared: Okay, everyone. One, twooooo, three!
Liz: Did I blink?
Jared: No, but let's take another one to be safe.
Daniel: Places, everyone!
Jared: Okay, everyone. One, twooooo, three!
Jared: Got it!
Monday, August 22, 2011
They grow up so fast.
While everyone else goes back to school, we do things a little different here at Third Degree. Get your cap and gown, it's time for graduation!
Brett Grimes (on the team 5 years) always brings his top game to design and art direction. That's why he's being promoted to Senior Art Director. Epic win!
Liz Fabry (4 years) pioneers our creative team in Raleigh-Durham. For the past year, she's grown as a writer, concepter, and grown our RDU team's profile. So, she's being promoted to Senior Art Director, too!
Congrats Liz and Brett! Two cities, two senior art directors. We're keeping it hot with double the creative firepower.
Oh! More good news! Daniel Solis (7 years) is now associate creative director. He'll keep the engines burning with social branding and innovative strategy. You'll hear more from the whole creative team here on the blog.
(Clockwise from top left: Brett Grimes, Adam Lenaire, Daniel Solis and Liz Fabry.)
Brett Grimes (on the team 5 years) always brings his top game to design and art direction. That's why he's being promoted to Senior Art Director. Epic win!
Liz Fabry (4 years) pioneers our creative team in Raleigh-Durham. For the past year, she's grown as a writer, concepter, and grown our RDU team's profile. So, she's being promoted to Senior Art Director, too!
Congrats Liz and Brett! Two cities, two senior art directors. We're keeping it hot with double the creative firepower.
Oh! More good news! Daniel Solis (7 years) is now associate creative director. He'll keep the engines burning with social branding and innovative strategy. You'll hear more from the whole creative team here on the blog.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
A Major Salute
Remember Megan? You should- she's pretty unforgettable.
Today we're saluting her continued bravery, general serve-it-up-titude and totally cute shoes with some kind words and silly pictures.
First, a bit of an explanation from CEO Roy:
"Well this week marked a first for me. For the first time in my fifteen year career as the CEO of Third Degree, I had to navigate the new reality of bidding a teammate good-bye – at least for one year. And I’ve learned more than I ever thought possible.
As leaders, we more often are required to be the teacher than the student. But not in this case. Megan, who I often endearingly refer to as “Major,” is indeed just that. Megan Miranda, account planner for Third Degree, is also a Major in the US Army Reserves. And last week our country called her to service for the third time in a decade.
Major Megan Miranda, as of today, will assume command of a PSYOPS company that will be deployed in Afghanistan in support of the US Marines. And while I hate to see her go, I know that our country needs her and that the Army picked a great commander.
I watched Megan embrace her responsibility. What struck me the most is that before assuming command of her company in the US Army, she made sure that her fellow troopers at Third Degree were well informed and that all duties were transitioned with as little disruption and stress as possible. (As if she didn’t have enough else to worry about.) She was committed through the final few minutes of her last day at Third Degree. Giving it all for the team until she walked out of her office.
Megan accepts her role, responsibility, and duty as a military officer. And while I know inside she would rather stay in her office in the renewed surroundings of the American Tobacco Campus in Durham, and her home with a vegetable garden, and a group of people at Third Degree who’ve become her family, she doesn’t have that choice. She has a high calling and duty to do her part in defense of our nation.
I will admit that while the War on Terror has raged on since 9/11, I never truly felt personally affected – until now.
So while Megan does her duty over there, it is up to me, Third Degree and all who read this post to continue to do our duty here. And that is to continue our individual contributions to advance commerce, be thankful for the freedoms we enjoy, work as hard as she will for the next year, and never lose sight of the sacrifice that so few make for the benefit and betterment of so many.
Thank you, Major Megan Miranda. I would have picked you too."
Today we're saluting her continued bravery, general serve-it-up-titude and totally cute shoes with some kind words and silly pictures.
First, a bit of an explanation from CEO Roy:
"Well this week marked a first for me. For the first time in my fifteen year career as the CEO of Third Degree, I had to navigate the new reality of bidding a teammate good-bye – at least for one year. And I’ve learned more than I ever thought possible.
As leaders, we more often are required to be the teacher than the student. But not in this case. Megan, who I often endearingly refer to as “Major,” is indeed just that. Megan Miranda, account planner for Third Degree, is also a Major in the US Army Reserves. And last week our country called her to service for the third time in a decade.
Major Megan Miranda, as of today, will assume command of a PSYOPS company that will be deployed in Afghanistan in support of the US Marines. And while I hate to see her go, I know that our country needs her and that the Army picked a great commander.
I watched Megan embrace her responsibility. What struck me the most is that before assuming command of her company in the US Army, she made sure that her fellow troopers at Third Degree were well informed and that all duties were transitioned with as little disruption and stress as possible. (As if she didn’t have enough else to worry about.) She was committed through the final few minutes of her last day at Third Degree. Giving it all for the team until she walked out of her office.
Megan accepts her role, responsibility, and duty as a military officer. And while I know inside she would rather stay in her office in the renewed surroundings of the American Tobacco Campus in Durham, and her home with a vegetable garden, and a group of people at Third Degree who’ve become her family, she doesn’t have that choice. She has a high calling and duty to do her part in defense of our nation.
I will admit that while the War on Terror has raged on since 9/11, I never truly felt personally affected – until now.
So while Megan does her duty over there, it is up to me, Third Degree and all who read this post to continue to do our duty here. And that is to continue our individual contributions to advance commerce, be thankful for the freedoms we enjoy, work as hard as she will for the next year, and never lose sight of the sacrifice that so few make for the benefit and betterment of so many.
Thank you, Major Megan Miranda. I would have picked you too."
– Roy
And now, to soften the blow- here are some light-hearted anecdotes from Megan's 1-year anniversary book:
"I love that Megan can talk marketing savvy and SHOES, all at the same time."
- Holly, Media Director
"Megan serves it up daily with her can-do attitude and team spirit. She’s the force you want working with you through anything - one that does it right and does it on time. She’s a force to be reckoned with and keeps the bar high for all of Third Degree and its clients."
- Natalie, Account Executive
"Megan is on it. She catches on quick, and lives the Third Degree brand daily. And she now has a smart phone so she can check emails. Oh wait, that’s not good… What was she thinking there?"
- Jared, Account Coordinator
"With nerves of steel when presenting, Megan leads with a velvet voice and grace under pressure. The only time Megan seems the opposite of calm are when shoes or coffee are involved. Then, her eyes beam and footsteps quicken as her coveted treasures are within reach! A tip for newbies: do not to interfere with her acquiring said shoes or coffee or I’m sure she’ll utilize some of her psych ops training and she’ll torture you with mind control. At least, that’s
what I hear from Roy (which explains a lot)."
- Amanda, VP Strategic Communications
Our hats (and shoes) are off to you, Megan. See you in a year.
And now, to soften the blow- here are some light-hearted anecdotes from Megan's 1-year anniversary book:
"I love that Megan can talk marketing savvy and SHOES, all at the same time."
- Holly, Media Director
"Megan serves it up daily with her can-do attitude and team spirit. She’s the force you want working with you through anything - one that does it right and does it on time. She’s a force to be reckoned with and keeps the bar high for all of Third Degree and its clients."
- Natalie, Account Executive
"Megan is on it. She catches on quick, and lives the Third Degree brand daily. And she now has a smart phone so she can check emails. Oh wait, that’s not good… What was she thinking there?"
- Jared, Account Coordinator
"With nerves of steel when presenting, Megan leads with a velvet voice and grace under pressure. The only time Megan seems the opposite of calm are when shoes or coffee are involved. Then, her eyes beam and footsteps quicken as her coveted treasures are within reach! A tip for newbies: do not to interfere with her acquiring said shoes or coffee or I’m sure she’ll utilize some of her psych ops training and she’ll torture you with mind control. At least, that’s
what I hear from Roy (which explains a lot)."
- Amanda, VP Strategic Communications
Our hats (and shoes) are off to you, Megan. See you in a year.
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