Burn to Create - Greteman Group Enewsletter

February 2008
In This Issue

Work Hard Campaign
A Collaborative Affair
The Orient Expressive
Holiday Contrails
Reprioritizing PR
Everyone's Nuts for Nature
Taking the Lead
Keeper Featured in Magazine
Worldwide Creative
Greteman Grove
Design Fever
Art and Technology Intersection

The Orient Expressive
Packing little more than the clothes they were wearing, Sonia and her husband, sculptor Chris Brunner, embarked on a fast-paced but intimate exploration of Japan’s hidden treasures: “Journeys East – Brushes With Inner Japan.” A small group of curious, adventuresome individuals delighted in an intense immersion into Japanese art and culture. It proved to be a nonstop barrage of thoughtful design, careful juxtaposition of modern and ancient, and powerful mergers of the sacred with the day-to-day. Sonia and Chris examined Japan’s hidden treasures, exploring places where art, architecture, lifestyle and spiritual pursuits intersect. For a closer look at their discoveries, click here.

Holiday Contrails
The VIPs on Bombardier Aerospace and Bombardier Flexjet mailing lists received dazzling cards this year featuring jets soaring through the holidays. The cards employ three-dimensional stylized elements, conveying in striking fashion both the magic of the season and the joy of private jet ownership. We have a feeling that a few of them will still be on display well into the new year.

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Keeper Featured in Leading Design Magazine
One of the world’s most respected design magazines, Communication Arts, in its January/February 2008 issue features our environmental design for a new exhibit in support of an iconic Wichita sculpture, the Keeper of the Plains. The Keeper and its new interpretive plaza are a tribute to the region’s rich American Indian heritage. Communication Arts is the leading trade journal for visual communications – and darn hard to get into. The magazine’s recognition of the Keeper says more than our mere words could about the City of Wichita’s commitment to high-quality public installations.

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Greteman Grove
Greteman Groupers surprised Sonia for Christmas with a gift that touched her, heart and soul. And she didn’t even have to open it. The staff bought four crabapple trees for the urban wildlife habitat and garden Sonia has been instrumental in developing at a Wichita Boys and Girls Club. Sonia’s husband, Chris, even got in on the act: he chose, transported and planted the trees in their new home and created a memorial plaque. When the weather breaks this spring, we plan a Phase II of the gift – an all-staff volunteer day at the habitat. Or maybe we’ll just have Chris do it.

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Design Fever
Totally with-it design intern Aubrie Schwemmer says she hasn’t always been so put together. She may move through the office with the grace and style of a runway model, but she grew up tragically unhip. She was too busy rollerblading, riding her bike and re-enacting scenes from “The Little Mermaid.” When she wasn’t running around outside, she was inside drawing and painting. That led to her passion for design. Even basketball couldn’t get in the way of her designing ambitions. Six-foot Aubrie played college hoops for a year before deciding that didn’t leave enough time for her major – graphic design and marketing. Aubrie loves to travel, and like most good artists she studies the design of things wherever she goes. Her ambition is to someday be an art director. We’re betting she makes it. Meanwhile, if you’re planning a friendly game of roundball pick-up, take a hint from us: choose Aubrie – and go with designer uniforms.

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Work Hard Campaign

Bombardier Flexjet reaches out to a younger demographic for its Flexjet 25 jet card. A hip postcard directs recipients to an online landing page. Once at the page, viewers see a succession of animated images that show an impressive Flexjet 25 lineup of Bombardier business jets – the Learjet 45, Learjet 60 and Challenger 604. The web page provides additional details and a form to request more information. This campaign appeals to young professionals not yet ready for full fractional ownership. For them, the Flexjet 25 jet card offers the perfect entrée to private aviation. The landing page and unique toll-free telephone number allow Flexjet to gauge the program’s impact.

Click here to view landing page

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A Collaborative Affair

WDM Architects’ new brand is sharp, clean. On its new website, red chairs – symbolizing conversation, collaboration – move in a circle as people join in. They’re relaxed, engaged. The vibe is dynamic yet comfortable. The website speaks to the firm’s growth and evolution as a company that places great emphasis on working with clients to craft optimum solutions. The fresh WDM brand radiates sophistication while highlighting the firm’s dedication to bringing clients into its creative process. They pull up a chair. They ask good questions. Together with their clients, they produce a shared vision. Grab a seat and check it out: wdmarchitects.com.

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Reprioritizing PR in Our New Media World

Deanna Harms, SVP

I attended the recent PRSA international conference in Philadelphia fully expecting to return with a bounty of public-relations riches to share with clients and colleagues. New insights on strategic communications. New approaches to investor communications. New ways to connect with target audiences. I did. Big time. Three days of attending every session offered on social marketing and digital media filled me with euphoria. The revolution has begun. Power structures are changing from ivy-covered towers to basement bloggers.

One presenter summed it up best, asking, “Would beat reporters still report if they weren’t getting paid? No. Yet most hyperlocal bloggers don’t receive compensation. They do it for the love of the product, service or cause they’re writing about.” Click here to check out some of our thinking for yourself.

Taking the Lead

A bright yellow head of wheat rises like the sun above out state’s newest brainchild, the “Kansas Leadership Center.” The mark appears to have momentum, ever-changing, rolling forward, symbolizing the center’s mission and aspirations. The center seeks to nurture and build leaders and provide the resources and instruction necessary to unlock the leadership potential in each individual. The new brand embodies the spirit of Kansas, embracing the state’s rich history and its legacy of strong leaders – from the husband and wife who help revitalize their own neighborhood to iconic individuals who have made their marks at the state, national and even international level. The center will use the brand to guide development of a full range of materials, from its website to business cards, and ensure consistency in its message as it reaches out to Kansas citizens, challenging them to make their mark on their communities and state. Look for the website soon.

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Everyone’s Nuts
for Nature

HOW magazine kicked off our new year in great fashion by naming a Greteman Group interactive creation to its Top 10 list of most interesting websites. Our Nuts for Nature microsite allows visitors to play around at building a habitat populated by birds, butterflies, blooms and all manner of friendly beasts. “It’s a really fun site,” says Megan Lane Patrick, HOW senior editor. Aww, shucks, what can we say? We completely agree. Visit gretemangroup.com/nutsfornature.

In addition to our site, HOW’s Top 10 includes everything from a new exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art to a space-age site for McDonald’s Poland. You can view the complete list here.

Exploration Place
Nuts for Nature also is giving Wichita-area wildlife a new ally. Exploration Place, the city’s science and discovery center, is partnering with Root & Shoots and Greteman Group to sell Nuts for Nature books and kits in its gift shop. Read more about this collaboration here.

Worldwide Creative

Befitting its expansive operations, FlightSafety International’s recent creative projects have spanned the globe.

• The SafetyStar initiative rewards pilots and aviation maintenance technicians who demonstrate a dedication to safety through frequent training.

• An airframe manufacturer poster series celebrates the company’s many close, collaborative working relationships with the world’s major aircraft companies.

• A military training poster series honors the company’s many longstanding relationships with the U.S. Armed Forces.

• The Best of the Best campaign recognizes the strength and importance of the company’s instructors, who bring years of experience and thousands of hours of aircraft time into their classrooms and simulator instruction.

• A TeamFarnborough campaign promotes the company’s newest Training Center in Farnborough, United Kingdom, and serves as a recruiting tool to attract the instructors needed to keep up with rapid growth at the center.

• New graphics, including a transparent globe that communicates worldwide reach, convey the company’s dynamic, ongoing quest for excellence while reinforcing that FlightSafety remains the solid, reliable company that has been providing the world’s best professional aviation training for more than half a century.

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At the Intersection of Art
and Technology

Interactive designer Chaney Kimball keeps the larger objective in mind when he tackles a new project. Too many web designers focus on details and programming. “It’s all about the vision,” he says. “The technique will follow.”

That confidence flows from Chaney’s mastery of web-design programs, especially Flash, and an intuitive feel for a client’s needs. Web programming offers unlimited possibilities, if you know what you’re doing. “Anything you can think of can pretty much be accomplished. I think that’s why some developers get into trouble. They get mesmerized with showy elements and forget what they’re trying to do.”

Chaney turns that challenge into opportunity. “I try to never approach projects the same way. I don’t ever want to get into a routine when I’m working on a site. I’m always willing to try something new. I strive to design something that’s visually striking, functions smoothly and logically and, at the same time, works for the client’s target market.

“These days, websites have to be interesting and entertaining, but visuals have to serve the goals of the site. Graphics are just wasting space if they don’t tell a story or help visitors find what they’re looking for.”

Once the look and feel of a site has been established, Chaney says the biggest test is content management. A recent website redesign is a case in point. A firm that’s been around for more than 40 years sought a younger, fresher look that would attract new talent. “We created a dynamic site, heavy with animation, but kept it accessible to allow firm members to easily update the content themselves.”

Chaney started down the road to becoming a web guru by enrolling in – sports therapy. But his tenure as a budding ankle wrapper didn’t last long. He soon tired of white tape and switched to art, his first love. Armed with a degree in graphic design, Chaney’s first job was with a small web design firm. His new boss gave him two weeks to learn how to design websites. Trial by FireWire. The challenges of web-based marketing have kept him hopping ever since.

“You always have to be willing to learn how to do things differently. Keeping up with technology and electronic marketing trends can be a daunting task, but that’s what also keeps me interested in interactive design. I can get bored pretty quickly. Interactive always provides a challenge.”

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