BrandMill Helps 86 Breast Cancer

For nearly 10 years, we've been a supporter of the American Cancer Society and its mission of celebrating more birthdays throughout western Pennsylvania. We've participated as a Board Member, Marketing Committee Chairperson and general volunteer. However, this year is shaping up to be one of our more meaningful, gratifying and fun years as we've helped the Pittsburgh Region (New East Central Region) more effectively promote its Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Event. The NFL and locally the Pittsburgh Steelers are huge 'Strides' supporters. And a year ago, we proposed the idea of using popular (and future NFL Hall of Famer - if ...

Pittsburgh’s Priory Hotel New Wing Celebration

We love working on Grand Openings, Grand Re-Openings, New Product Launches and more! Next to having your own baby, it's got to be right up there in terms of great days if you love marketing and public relations like we do! There's just nothing like holding a special exciting event to kickoff a brand's 'NEW NEWS!" And, it truly comes down to what YOU make of it. Public Relations is an art that's not practiced enough in our opinion for lots of reasons. The biggest reason is because it's hard work and most people don't like to "bring it" and put the time in that's ...

Colussy Chevrolet’s Place in Americana

Chevrolet will be kicking off a huge celebration in early November for its 100th Anniversary. And, what many people do not know is Pittsburgh's unique role in Chevrolet's history courtesy of the Colussy family. Check out this story by Teresa Lindeman which we earned for our newest client Colussy Chevrolet on the front page of today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Business Section - Colussy Chevrolet, A Place in Americana. Chevy Runs Deep In Pittsburgh, PA Congratulations to brothers Tim and Jon Colussy who now lead the third generation ownership of Colussy Chevrolet in Bridgeville, PA for their well deserved recognition. Chevrolet's oldest dealership in America is now ...

Best Amusement Park for Kids and Families

Idlewild and SoakZone Best Park for Kids & Families All of us at BrandMill are happy to report that one of our super clients - Idlewild & Soak Zone in Ligonier, PA (about an hour drive from Pittsburgh) - is now open and operating its 134th season of summer fun and has made a huge splash with its new water park attraction, “Wowabunga” Family Wave Pool. New Wowabunga Family Wave Pool   Wowabunga features intermittent waves suitable for both younger and older guests as well as a “beach” area perfect for guests looking to soak up the summer sun. See awe-inspiring cirque entertainment all ...

Gateway Analytical – CSI of Pittsburgh

Congratulations to our super new client Gateway Analytical in Gibsonia, PA on its public grand opening this week. We're proud to say we earned some well deserved publicity for the "CSI of Pittsburgh!" A subsidiary of Pittsburgh's ChemImage, Gateway Analytical provides advanced analytical testing for the forensics (police, FBI, etc.), materials science and pharma industries, and helps each to speed up their testing and reduce their costs.   The company offers services that relay vital information about product quality and investigate regulatory noncompliance issues-all things that are more relevant today and more important than ever before because of America's growing concern regarding ...

The Priory Hospitality Group

The Priory Hospitality Group (http://www.thepriory.com) properties consist of the Priory Hotel a 24-room European-style boutique hotel on Pittsburgh's North Shore rated the best in Pittsburgh by Zagat Survey® (fifth edition); Pittsburgh’s Grand Hall at the Priory (http://www.pittsburghsgrandhall.com) located adjacent to the hotel and situated in the former St. Mary’s German Catholic Church, which offers a breathtaking space for weddings, banquets, parties, charity events and gatherings of all types; and the award-winning Priory Fine Pastries (http://www.prioryfinepastries.com) custom bakery. In addition, it is a leader in the revitalization effort of the National Register District of Deutschtown. For several years, BrandMill has served as ...

New iPad Wine List Rocks

I got my new iPad back in May - a moment in time I'll always refer to as my "Christmas in May" and am having a love affair with it. Sure there are things about the iPad that I wished it had, but the positives outweigh the negatives. When I started to play with the iPad, I started to think thought long and hard about how we can apply it to improve our client's business. We do a ton of hospitality marketing work and this past summer, one of our great clients, Kevin Joyce owner of The Carlton Restaurant in Pittsburgh had closed ...

BrandMill Clients Win Big at Restaurant Gala

'm proud to announce that two BrandMill clients, John Graf of the Priory Hospitality Group and Kevin Joyce of The Carlton Restaurant both won two of the three most distinguished awards from the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association. John won the Wilmer S. Lapp Keystone Award and Kevin won Restaurateur of the Year! Our Winter White Wedding Campaign for the Pittsburgh's Grand Hall at the Priory lifted sales an amazing 433% and our new Web site, Blog and email marketing campaigns for The Carlton have driven Web site views nearly 1000% - yes, not a typo - that's driving one thousand percent Web site ...

American Marketing Association – Pittsburgh Chapter

As president of the Pittsburgh American Marketing Association (http://www.amapittsburgh.org) for the 2007/08 season and members of the programming and communications teams, Stephen Wayhart led the 63 year old Chapter into the record books by building the largest membership of Pittsburgh marketing executives in its long history and achieved its highest increase in Revenue-to-Expense Ratio of 122+%! AMA Pittsburgh Chapter goals were met working under an aggressive "Raise the Marketing Bar" Mantra. The Chapter delivered more member value (3X the number of speakers than prior years), more innovative programming offerings such as Summertime Marketing Mixers, Fall and Spring Marketing Summits (Digital and Target ...

Whiskey Rebellion II

We led the “Whiskey Rebellion II” marketing strategy and rebranding of the Friends Against Counterproductive Taxation (F.A.C.T.) (http://www.stopdrinktax.com) campaign to, “Axe the 10% Drink Tax”imposed by Allegheny County government on Pittsburgh area restaurants, taverns and banquet halls. We provided expert Web site, email marketing and analytics, Web 2.0 strategies and executions and Public Relations counsel which led to national media coverage by the Associated Press and Wall Street Journal and a ton of media coverage throughout the Pittsburgh region! Our award winning and record breaking marketing effort helped F.A.C.T. collect over 40,000 signatures (nearly 2X required) for a ballot vote of the ...

Honor Flight Akron-Canton

Since 2005, the Honor Flight Network (http://www.honorflight.org) has had one simple goal in mind, to safely transport America's veterans for free to Washington, D.C. to visit those memorials dedicated to honor their service and sacrifices. Priority is given to World War II veterans – who are dying at a rate of 1,000 every day – and then Korean and Vietnam War veterans and so on. HFN presently has 71 hubs in 30 states and by the end of the 2009 flying season in November, it will have transported more than 42,000 veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam to ...

Honoring our Fallen Heroes

Memorial Day is a time we’re reminded of the sacrifices of the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces who have paid the ultimate price to defend our freedom. We pray that they have never died in vain. Today, we honor you our fallen heroes, but every day we thank you for freedom in our lives. May God bless you all and may he grant you eternal rest and peace. You will never be forgotten.  Read More →

Entrepreneur Growth Conference at Duquesne

Please join us at one of Pittsburgh’s largest entrepreneurship events and fuel your engine for the road to business growth. We’ve accepted an invitation to speak at the 15th Annual Entrepreneur’s Growth Conference on Friday, May 10 at Duquesne University.  This conference is led by  Small Business Development Center at Duquesne. Our topic is, ‘How to be a Marketing Rock Star!’... [Read more]

Dove’s Beautiful Experiment

Everyone is more beautiful inside and outside than they think. Thanks to this great commercial by Dove for reminding us. Everything you need to know about marketing you learned in Kindergarten via ‘Show and Tell’ Days!  Read More →

Happy Easter

May the light of Jesus shine continually to drive away all darkness. May Christ, the Morning Star who knows no setting, find his light ever burning in our hearts—he who gives his light to all creation, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen. adapted from the Book of Common Prayer -1979, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America.  Read More →