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 ...
Featured
Target’s Super Black Friday Ad Campaign
Kudos to Target and its Ad Agency Weiden + Kennedy for their spot on Black Friday advertising campaign featuring this overly excited and anxious shopping FANatic. And, file this effort in my “Darn I Wish I Did This Ad Campaign” folder. Target is using 5 spots from last year (why not – who says an old great campaign can;t be re-engaged?) combined with another 30 online. And, he talent... [Read more]
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... [Read more]
Every Day Should Be Checklist Day
For the past few months, I’ve been reviewing our work processes to evaluate why, where and when we’ve hit our mark and missed. Time and again, I’ve come to the conclusion that our processes would greatly improve with new, improved, and more checklists. And, strict adherence to them. We use checklists throughout our marketing engagements such as “Countdown-to-Go” checklists... [Read more]
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... [Read more]
Join BrandMill’s Bosom Buddies
Join our BrandMill Bosom Buddies Team and help us Make Strides Against Breast Cancer! And, when you donate $50 or more to our BBB team, you can get a FREE limited edition T-Shirt with our team logo! Click here to donate now! Or help us save lives from breast cancer by joining the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K walk in Pittsburgh. Here are the details: Saturday, October,... [Read more]
Why Southwest Airlines Keeps Rocking
I haven’t flown on an airline other than Southwest Airlines for some time and it will be a long time before I fly any other domestic airline if I can prevent it. Unfortunately for me for an upcoming trip, Southwest’s schedule didn’t work out so I had to make my reservation with another airline. Without mentioning names, here’s just one of the disclaimers I encountered booking... [Read more]
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 –... [Read more]
Thanks for Making a Dent in Our Universe
Our world lost a great man yesterday – Steve Jobs. Jobs impacted my life in numerous ways through not only his great innovations and style, but also in his words. Here’s my top 10 list of Steve Job quotes that have resonated with me over the years. God bless you Steve and many thanks. You’ll be missed. Steve Jobs Top 10 Best Quotes “We’re here to put a dent in the universe, otherwise... [Read more]
Pittsburgh Gives Today
Here’s a great opportunity for Pittsburgh brands and every day people to do well by doing good! Today, Tuesday, October 4, is the Pittsburgh Foundation’s “Day of Giving” when online donations ($25 minimum) via the PittsburghGives website can help your favorite charity in western Pennsylvania receive a pro-rated match. This is a great opportunity to leverage a tax-exempt contribution... [Read more]
Remembering Where You Came From
In marketing circles today, all the rage is about being ‘authentic’ and ‘transparent.’ It’s sad that we even have to discuss the topics such as ‘being real’ because we should all be operating from our core. A big reason why open and honest relationships for people and brands are tough to engage in, is because so many of us – people and brands –... [Read more]
All Hail Duquesne Beer the Prince of Pilsener
Earlier this week, I attended the Pittsburgh American Marketing Association’s annual kickoff dinner at Pittsburgh’s Grand Hall at the Priory. I was delighted to hear Duquesne beer president Mark Dudash talk about how his wife Maria and he are reviving the Prince of Pilsener, Duquesne Beer. Here’s the back story from their Website – it’s a great one too. Mark’s an... [Read more]
Be Wary of Vulgar Marketing
Back in December of 2009, Nicorette launched a $15 million integrated marketing campaign complete with a fictitious ‘Suckometer’ around the bold statement that, Nicorette makes quitting smoking suck less. In addition, it was the GlaxoSmithKline brand’s first foray into social media. Nicorette Makes Quitting Suck Less Campaign As a quick backgrounder, here are a few select statements... [Read more]
Idlewild & SoakZone Repeats as Best Children’s Park
Congratulations to our super client and all of our super friends at Idlewild & SoakZone for repeating as the ‘Best Children’s Park in the World!’ Here’s the press release we put on the wire earlier today. What a well deserving bunch! Idlewild & SoakZone Repeats as Best Children’s Park in the World LIGONIER, PA – September 17, 2011 – Today, at its Golden Ticket... [Read more]
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