Insight Categories: Culture & Events

Every company has at one time, or another, faced the inevitable turnover of employees. This change sends waves through our teams, our processes and even our client relationships. Over our 45-year history, Grafik has not been immune to these waves. In this journey, we’ve found that the cost to replace an employee is much larger than the cost to build a culture that our team feels they belong in, one where they want to stay and see opportunities to grow. 

According to a recent Gallup survey, “​the cost of replacing an individual employee can range from one-half to two times the employee’s annual salary — and that’s a conservative estimate. So, a 100-person organization that provides an average salary of $50,000 could have turnover and replacement costs of approximately $660,000 to $2.6 million per year.” However, it’s not just the money that costs the company. It is the compounding cost of time to find a replacement. Interviews by department heads, HR professionals, recruiters, etc., plus the time for onboarding and training a new employee and helping them enter the company ready to succeed. With this in mind, we must ask ourselves, how then do we retain our employees and strengthen our teams? It all starts with a willingness to change, as an organization, as leadership and as teams. But the truth of the situation is this – and we can’t ignore it, or hope it solves itself – change is hard and it takes time. 

So, how do we start this change? 

We do it with our people in mind. And while some of the most practical, economical and innovative ways to grow an organization and build healthy teams feel out of reach (financially, time restrictions, etc.), we’ve compiled a list of the top five things you can do to retain employees, increase productivity and build a culture at your organization where everyone is proud to be a part of the team.

1. If you say it, do it. Saying you want to make a change isn’t enough, action is required.  It’s not enough to hope for and wish for positive change, much more is needed. Investing in culture, building processes, and fully exploring and implementing the capabilities of the subscriptions/services we pay so much money for, that’s where the magic happens. When we put intention—be it funds, people, time, or a mix of all three—behind a new plan or strategy, that’s when change begins to happen. That’s when our goals begin to appear within reach and not just a “maybe one day.”

2. Process documentation is KEY. One of my favorite authors, Jon Acuff says, “my approach was like I was a chef and I refused to write down recipes. Every time someone ordered lasagna, I would make it completely different from the last time. I wouldn’t keep the ingredients in the same place in the kitchen. I wouldn’t keep the knives or pans or plates in the same place. I wouldn’t do any prep before the restaurant opened, I’d just sit there anxiously waiting for someone to order something and then I’d panic to create it. Never really improving on the recipe.” If you don’t write down the process, you are this panicked, anxious, hurried chef and you end up making every customer a brand new lasagne, wasting a lot of time and burning out your team and yourself. Recording and publicizing processes across the organization is so vital to the ability of the organization to grow. Otherwise you are repeating some of the same items over and over in new and changed ways, which can lead to confusion among your employees and clients. 

3. Invest in tools for efficiency – here are a few of our favorites:

• Confluence – the Wikipedia of our company. This is where the documents, details, processes, onboarding lists (for new clients and new employees), and many other details that slip through the cracks of employee turnover or org chart rearrangement. Keeping these items all in one easy to navigate place that everyone has access to, has REVOLUTIONIZED how we make things happen at Grafik. It’s a space to store all the details of a process, clean it up a little (so other humans can understand it) and then go back to it when you forget the next time. If we only kept count, but I would bet that the most said phrase at Grafik is, “is that in confluence yet?” or “where can I find that in Confluence?” not because it’s unorganized (it’s quite the opposite) but because our team knows that this is where we keep the most sacred, tested and true practices of our company. (Now don’t get any ideas and try to hack into ours, because Atlassian is super secure.) 
• Google email templates – This simple trick will save you HOURS of your life if you ever find yourself re-writing the same emails over and over.
• Slack – creating unique and even fun channels! Grafik has a general channel for everyone to post client wins, general updates, celebrations (anniversaries and birthdays) reminders for the team, etc. It’s like the white board at the office, only everyone really looks at it. Some of our fun channels include: momswhografik, diversity_inclusion, well-being-grafik-values, photo-scavenger-hunt, and current events. We also have client-specific channels, channels to reach our invoicing team, and department channels.
• Divvy – oh my word, how this has changed the game for our company! No more hours spent begging for receipts across our agency. Gone are the days of manual entries into quickbooks. This system has revolutionized how we track our spending and monitor our larger budgets like media spending and subscriptions. I’m not selling Divvy, I promise, it has just changed the way we do accounting and how our team understands the financials of our agency.
• BambooHR – this platform brings together all the beauty that is human resources, with all the tracking of time off, anniversaries, birthdays and evaluations (self and team).

4. Invest in the mental and emotional health of your team – according to Forbes, “One study found that happy employees are up to 20% more productive than unhappy employees.” Employee burnout is also a global concern. In a survey of over 1,000 respondents by Deloitte, 77% say they have experienced burnout at their current job. So how do we innovate and grow our businesses without burning out our teams? We need to keep evolving and looking for the next thing that will define our organization and for the next way to best serve our clients as they serve their customers while also protecting and providing for our teams. Here are a few of the ways we invest in our team at Grafik:

• Access to fitness – Gympass
• Support their Mental Health – through Gympass, our employees also have access to many mental health apps like Headspace, Fabulous, Sleep Cycle, Meditopia, ZenApp, and Calm. 
• Support and create inclusive events that celebrate diversity across your organization.
• To help our employees avoid burnout, we have a summer hours program where they get to sign off 2 hours early on Fridays in the summer (no making up hours required!)
• Our staff also blocks off 3 hours 2 days a week, so that as an agency we don’t schedule any calls (client or internal). We call these our Productivity Hours. Employees are encouraged to use these agency-wide protected hours to get into the work that needs to be done without interruption. 

5. Build a culture of authenticity. A place where your team celebrates the wins, supports each other through tough times, and everyone is and can be heard. This means that everyone knows about the new deal that was won or the project completed. Share the client love notes with the team in big letters and send employee appreciation gifts/tokens when employees go above and beyond (meals, gift cards, etc.). Your people are your biggest asset. Never forget that. Talking with our teams about their satisfaction and future at the organization is key to employee retention. It’s time to train your teams to have meaningful, real conversations, where authenticity is celebrated and promoted (btw this is Gen Z’s FAVORITE THING, and no, I’m not a Gen Z’er, so this is not biased). Have a true open door policy for real conversations to happen where employees are heard and real change happens from feedback. How do you do this in a work-from-home culture? We’ve found success in encouraging our teams to take a real lunch break and even schedule some fun lunches with their teammates – where no work is done, only relationships are built. Online trivia games, photo-scavenger hunts, wedding and new baby celebrations (with a stipend for a meal) are valuable culture building moments that our team enjoys. And while your team may be fully remote, there’s always the possibility of hosting an annual or semi-annual in-person event that includes time for team building and even small group breakout sessions to foster genuine conversations between department heads and employees. Maybe try a Q&A of the leadership team to really get to know them or a survey to access employee wants and needs. 

At the end of the day, we want our organization to succeed, but not at the cost of our employees. So with change, progress and new stages, we keep our employees front and center in each step, from brainstorming to implementation and beyond. I’d like to leave you with a quote from “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t” author, Jim Collins.

“When [what you are deeply passionate about, what you can be best in the world at and what drives your economic engine] come together, not only does your work move toward greatness, but so does your life. For, in the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work. Perhaps, then, you might gain that rare tranquility that comes from knowing that you’ve had a hand in creating something of intrinsic excellence that makes a contribution. Indeed, you might even gain that deepest of all satisfactions: knowing that your short time here on this earth has been well spent, and that it mattered.”

May the change begin, with you. 

Grafik will be closed Friday, June 18 in observance of Juneteenth. During this annual commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States, we are encouraging staff to learn, celebrate and reflect upon how we can collectively contribute toward a more just future for our nation and community.

If you’re interested in learning more about Juneteenth, feel free to explore the resources below aggregated by our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion committee:

Educational resources:
• What is Juneteenth? Historians Explain the Holiday’s Importance (NPR Segment)
• The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth (Smithsonian Article)
• BCA Philadelphia Equity & Anti-Racism Resources 

Ways to participate in Juneteenth:
• The DC History Center (801 K Street NW) is reopening its exhibits in honor of Emancipation Day.
• The 28 Blocks Memorial (326 R St NE, Washington DC) along the Metropolitan Branch Trail honors those who built the Lincoln Memorial.
• Take a virtual tour of Frederick Douglass’ home. While the former home of the famed abolitionist, author and orator is closed due to the pandemic, you can safely tour it right from your computer.
• Other Juneteenth Events in the Washington, DC Area
• Other Juneteenth Events in the Philadelphia, PA Area

Episode Summary:

Despite soaring numbers associated with COVID19, the future of real estate is looking bright. I know what you’re thinking. Given the nature of COVID, how could real estate be doing so well? 

The idea of visiting an open house could seem daunting (with so many strangers gathered all in one space), the future of a traditional “office” as we know it hangs in the balance as more businesses have reverted to being completely remote, and the idea of moving during a pandemic could make anyone uneasy.  

But according to a study done by Realtor.com, homebuyers are not only optimistic about buying a home right now, but 46% of respondents said that the pandemic has actually moved them towards purchasing sooner rather than later.

Not unlike any other industry, those in real estate have been quick to reimagine standard business practices, creatively. 

Because when it comes to a global health crisis, details are vital.

In March, we began working with the EYA, LLC affiliate sales and marketing teams to rethink these details when it came to their sales center experience.

In order to properly facilitate social distancing, everything from adding touchless fixtures, to in-store signage and other imperative design features, had to be completely transformed. 

Now, eight months later, that new COVID-friendly EYA sales center is up, running, and offers a unique and tailored sales experience unlike any other. 

Clara spoke with Johnny Vitorovich, our Principal Creative Director, about what the realities of reimagining a center like this looked like, the research and diligence that went into it, and the results that followed. 

Take a listen, and we hope you enjoy.

Host: Clara Shannon, Marketing Associate

Interviewees: Johnny Vitorovich, Principal Creative Director

For a visual representation of a sales center, review this video tour from our clients at Northbank.

 

Transcription:

Clara:

Johnny, thank you so much for being here today. We’re really excited to have you on. 

Johnny:

It’s a pleasure, Clara. Thank you for having me, and really appreciate you taking the time to do this and including me on it. 

Clara:

Yeah, of course. So for some of our listeners who may not know, could you walk us through exactly what a sales center is, what the value that some of our clients have seen in them and what they were like before this global pandemic. 

Johnny:

Sure, absolutely. You know, most, if not all of our current real estate clients typically open for sales, pre sales, oftentimes, nine months or a year before they actually have a model or something to show. So it’s a little different tactic than let’s say builders who wait until they have a whole row of homes built if they’re building townhomes, let’s say and then they build a model. And then they go to sales, they’re sitting on that real estate for a while before pre sale, before sales. So the clients that we’re typically working with go into pre sales before, so pretty important that they have something to actually, something tangible, something to show a sales center and or a significant investment in CGI computer generated imagery, a vision and something to really craft that vision of what that community neighborhood, what those homes really look like. So buyers get a chance and opportunity to sort of get a sense of what that would feel like to live there, what the product looks like. And if there was a typical, nothing’s typical these days, as you know, a sales center would be part of the marketing that will help create that sense of place. And that brand, if you will, once we have a name. And once we understand what that product is, that sales center typically would sit on the site, which is pretty important. I think there’s a higher tendency of sales if it’s on or near the site, because people like to see that and walk it. Sort of pre COVID, what that was like is their signage still plays a significant role, we would have done a simple landing page, and there would have been an event, sort of a grand opening for that sales center for sales.

There’s a number of different elements and tools that would have been part of that and still, to some degree are. Sometimes there’s a scale model table, which is a significant investment. But really people love hanging around that and looking at sort of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood world of where they will be, where digital immersion, some clients invest more in the digital side where there’s sort of a 3D, Google Earth kind of exploration of what that neighborhood [looks like] and some of them will even map out each individual unit. If they’re selling condos or even townhomes, what that really looked like is what that experience is. Then, there would have been touchscreen displays. And that sales center is sort of a self-directed, floor-to-ceiling wall coverings, a display sometimes, renderings all the way up which again, still play a portion in that, looping videos and different things and collateral that’ll be handed to them when they’re ready to leave with the appropriate floor plans and such inside there. And so that’s kind of the way sort of that worked, then there was sort of one sort of grand finale, if you will, that we were getting to, which was sort of the grand opening event. And, and that’s obviously changed a little bit since, since COVID hit.

Clara:

Yeah, definitely, how many people would usually attend those grand opening events? What was the fanfare of that like?

Johnny:

Oh, there was a few 100. I mean, I know there was a number of people who would sign up online beforehand, and it used to be something when we were doing those grand openings, it was a little bit more tangible to the marketing teams, if you will, to the agency. They used to be a thing I used to challenge my design team with: if there’s no campers kind of hanging out and camping out literally with lawn chairs the night before, we failed with one of our clients, that was sort of a running joke, a mantra for years of “no campers, we failed”. And that was more of an internal thing to our team, where people would sit there and get jazzed and customers and they would be online, obviously, the landing page would would function as a repository for emails, and they would build a list that way, but it was really all about that sort of Grand Opening Day, they would get a chance to come in and learn about the neighborhood. And then typically, the next day was sales. Saturday was the big day. And they would literally camp out on a Friday night. And then wait, be the first in line, put their name [down], I want this unit, but the sales wouldn’t happen until the following, until the next day, which would have been Sunday. All that has changed now, obviously. 

Clara:

So yeah, I mean, all of those changes, just have us thinking towards how things have changed. Now, you know, given that we have been with some of our clients, at the very top of the pandemic, when they were designing some of these sales centers, I’m sure that there was just a lot going on at the beginning of March. I’d be really interested to hear your take and sort of a walkthrough of how you went about structuring a socially distant sales center and how those grand events and those openings and just getting the word out had sort of shifted. Because you know, back in March, there was no best practice or a playbook for how you’re supposed to do any of this. I remember back in the spring, everything was unpredictable. So I would love to hear some of your, you know, anecdotes of that process and what resources you sought out. 

Johnny:

Oh, good question. Yeah, there was, for one of our clients, there was going to be a fairly substantial sales center and marketing efforts towards a sort of self directed sales center experience. It was designed to capture people who maybe wanted to just spontaneously come in, and there was a vantage point on a corner that got a lot of visibility, a lot of traffic, so signage has always been, and still continues to be a large part of the marketing of those properties people drive by, and we know that people typically buy within, you know, five or six miles, typically of where they live currently to where that new community is coming. But you know, it used to be designed that it was sort of a self-directed, a flow through the sales center. We thought very carefully with the client for you know, for many years of how that would work and how that flow would work. If there wasn’t a salesperson available the minute they walked in, because they typically had no idea they were coming in, we tried to make it intuitive. So they would sort of go clockwise, if you will, through the sales center. Eventually a salesperson, if they freed up, would kind of, you know, join them at some point in there and help them in their journey. 

About midway through getting ready to open on a recent community I think it was going to be, we put the brakes on stuff in the client did probably in in April. And we had to really sit down and evaluate what’s going on with COVID. And how is this really going to affect nobody really had a clue. As you remember, at the time, it’s easy to sort of look back now at 2020. And, you know, hindsight is always that way. And why didn’t you do this? Or how did you do this? Or how did you not see it coming? But we really had to look at that with the client and said, let’s sit down and really think about that experience now [and] what it needs to be. We really looked at the CDC guidelines at the time that were being developed for sort of social distancing inside of a closed environment. And we quickly realized that this is going to be an appointment only sort of scenario. So fundamentally, the sales centers have really changed, at least with our clients to be less of a self-directed [experience] and really more of an appointment only. And there’s a certain time that you come in and the salesperson knows you’re coming and the big grand opening kind of hoopla is kind of over. But it’s preceded by a virtual event. And I remember the first time we’re working on that we’re all kind of making it up as we go along. And we had a couple long sessions with the client talking about, if we did that, what would that look like? When would that be, you know, before sort of the physical sales center would open and think we’ve sort of fine tuned things a bit where now there’s a landing page, and there’s advertising and digital, there’s a whole campaign that’s geared towards a virtual event, which is very unique for, or new to all of us, including the clients, and real estate, where there’s a big event ended. It allows some different folks from the developer side, from the home builder side to be present. And I think in some ways, it’s a richer experience for the prospects because they’re hearing from key stakeholders, and folks who normally, they’re not on the sales side, get a chance to present their portion of this sort of our presentation.

Maybe it’s on a Wednesday night before sales, before appointments started happening. So there’s a number of people who will sign up based on the buy and awareness of that event. And then they’ll either sign up, or they’ll show up. And most, you know, there’s a good percentage who actually actually show up and register and actually show up that night for the event. And they become a lot better educated. So by the time there’s an appointment, which really is the next step, for sales, they’re that much more ahead of the game, they really know what’s going on. And they’ve heard from the land planners, they’ve heard from a number of different folks who would really never be there for opening day at the hoopla, if you will, that it used to be. And they’re getting a chance to hear from these people and totally get educated more than you would have on a landing page. Certainly, it’s a richer experience. And making appointments, you sort of get rid of the sort of people who are just there to sort of kick the tires a little bit, or the nosy neighbors kind of thing. And you’re really getting appointments from people who are now very interested, educated, already up to speed. In many cases, they’re coming in sort of ready to walk in on a certain lot and make a purchase or, or, you know, make a substantial investment in a down payment, and secure their lot there. And there’s also that, you know, when people are coming in to, in the old days to a sale center on a random Tuesday, they may be the only one in there. And it just felt a little bit like oh, there’s nobody here and there’s no traffic, there’s nothing going on. But when you’re making that appointment, I know you and I were chatting about that a little earlier, there’s sort of, first of all, it’s a one on one, which is really a nice experience for them. They have sort of the unadulterated immersion, uninterrupted with that one salesperson. And they really don’t know how many people were ahead of them or behind them, so it might create a sense of urgency that may have not been there before. And certainly it’s a, it’s a richer experience when they come in, because it’s a one on one.

Clara:

That really kind of underscores the opportunities that maybe Coronavirus has helped if, if there is any silver lining, it sounds like that experience is so much more personalized and maybe in a way more premium. You’re getting a more personalized experience where you know, a sales associate is really helping you and understanding your needs. And you’ve met them probably before online. And so they have a deeper understanding of all of your questions and what you want answered as a prospect. When you’re talking about having that personalized one on one experience, though, physically within a space. What does that look like? How did you sort of design a space where you know, a sales associate would be safe that a prospect would be safe? On the other side of a room or are they next to them? Could you walk us through some of your

Johnny:

Absolutely, you know, Clara, really starts online at that virtual event. Because that’s explained which is really a cool step, and it’s evolved. Although the client really owns the content, the presentation, the different folks over there, whoever that client may be, they really own that. They make it to meet the salespeople all that but one of the things that is explained is when you do come in [for] the appointment, the extent at which you know the company that the builder is going through to make it a safe experience for them. First of all, it is by appointment only. So when they come in, they park in the parking lot, if you will, and then they let them know, they either text them or call them that they are there. The door is then unlocked for them in waiting. So there’s all these protocols and steps put in to make that experience safe. What we did was we designed these sort of safe with graphics on the floor, although it’s not a classic retail experience, like if you go to Target where there’s many people at the same time, there’s still that sort of one appointment per that that session. But still, they know kind of where they stand and where they sit.

 It’s less of a self exploratory experience now, as opposed to more of a presentation, if you will, although there’s some things that they can sort of look at and sit, they have their own table. In one instance, with one of our clients, there’s a table set up for the customer and at least six if not eight or ten feet away. On the other side is another table, in between them is a scale model table or a site plan that’s there. And then they may even have a separate monitor in front of them where they’re sitting. And they’re looking at the monitor, and simultaneously, the salesperson is you know, eight to ten feet away. Obviously, everyone’s wearing masks, everything has been cleaned in between appointments. So there’s time in between where they’re cleaning it and using, you know, the sterilized wipes to clean everything down, that’s sort of a given at this point. There’s different air filtration systems that some clients have actually gone to, and, and made those arrangements and tweaks in the sales center, if you will. But that experience is now the salesperson maybe had a large monitor, a touchscreen that only they touch, there’s sort of a tape on the floor design tape saying you know, “customer zone, sales, sales representative zone”, and they’re, you know, interacting with the touchscreen, but it mirrors right on the screen that’s right in front of a 24 inch monitor at the station that the customer is comfortably sitting at. And there are graphics now on the wall that pre COVID were designed to be walked up to and sort of interact with, and maybe smaller type or smaller messaging on there. Now we’ve really bumped up the point size to increase the legibility more from a distance. In some cases, we’ve even simplified what they’re looking at, simplified how much type or messaging or verbiage is on those displays on the wall, making sure from the vantage point of the customer, that they can read it from where they are, within reason. So it’s larger, more legible, the readability is a lot easier. And in some cases, like I said, simplified. So it’s a little different experience. But it’s definitely less self-directed now and more of a presentation. And once again, that they’ve already been through if there’s an appointment, chances are they probably were at the virtual event, which is very thorough, very comprehensive. And so they come to the sales center, with a lot more knowledge than they would have come in the past. Of course, that landing page is much more robust these days than we did in the past, a lot more knowledge up ahead of time. And then the site, of course, is robust, we’re still doing displays in there, we’re still doing wall graphics and still doing I mean, the CGI, that imagery is as important as ever, because it’s still pre sale, so that’s important. And videos are important actually to show what that product looks like and sort of paint that picture of what it will be. But it’s a vastly different experience than it was and they know they have assurance that nobody’s just gonna wander in, even Grafik who used to sort of wander in to talk to sales folks, and whatever, we have to make sure that we have to make an appointment to actually to go in and look at stuff or photograph stuff and we don’t have that liberty as well. So it’s really all about keeping the client safe, the customer really feeling confident that everything’s been cleaned prior to them arriving. And they’re the only one other than the sales agent, who they’ve met online, who they’ve seen online, they already kind of had the opportunity to hear from them. And it’s a familiar face by the time they get there. And they know they’re the only one there at that point in time. And there will be no overlap, they may see someone on the way out or there’s probably more than likely a buffer between who the next customer is and when they come in, because there’s going to be a thorough cleaning in between each appointment. 

Clara:

That’s really interesting. I think that it probably puts the customer more at ease if they’re interacting with someone who isn’t a stranger. When you mentioned that you were trying to limit obviously walk-ins, which is a big change in the real estate space, does the salesperson literally lock the door?

Johnny

That’s a good question. Yeah. They do actually lock the door. With one of our clients, all those doors are locked and in some cases they may even, we may even put graphics over the door of the glass door, the window where you’re not just peeking in because it’s by appointment, and it does say on the door by appointment only. And again, that’s one of those trial and error sort of beta testing is, how big do you get that where people look into trying to pull on it, and then they may, you know, as an afterthought may look at what’s going on. And they go, oh, by appointment only, you really can’t enter before you park and we designed some signage, right where you park, you know, sort of the nose of your car comes in, and there’s a sign there explaining what to do. And again, that’s would more likely have been covered in the virtual tour, provided you missed a virtual tour, and there’s a good chance you did because it was only in the very beginning, your customer three months into it, and you missed the tour, but you saw the signage, at least there’s some signage when you arrive.

That sort of explains what the process is. And online as well. When you make that appointment, there’s contact when you make that appointment telling you what to do. So all along the way, there’s some touch points, sort of mitigate any misunderstanding. So there’s a clear expectation of what’s going to happen when you arrive, and the protocols put in to keep you safe. 

Clara:

Other than the obvious, getting social distancing, you know, lines in check and understanding safety precautions. What do you think was the biggest challenge? You said that hindsight is now 2020. Looking back on those projects from early March,  What is your biggest takeaway?

Johnny:

I think the biggest takeaway was designing, from years of doing sort of that self-directed, because you always had to have the idea in mind that there will be potentially someone with one of two sales managers. And you may get on any given Sunday or Saturday, more people coming in, that are not able to talk to a sales agent for a little while, and you had to make it sort of intuitive enough where they would follow sort of certain course that made sense. They could come up, if they wanted to, they could use the touchscreen, if there was one, sometimes there was they could certainly lean on the ledge of the scale model table, they could, you know, interact with stuff, there sort of there was, you know, water coolers, where they would just grab a cup and push the button and do so it was really thinking about a different way to think about it where it’s by appointment. Now only we’re not having so many sort of interactive things, it’s not self directed, and it’s it’s not certainly not going to be people wandering wherever they want as many people as, as we had before, and not coming right up to a display, not reading as deep interactively or having as much content because they’re not gonna be able to see it. And they’re really trying to minimize how much access they have to the sales center, how much wandering around, you know, so it’s thinking about, if the customer is generally going to sit in one location, it’s going to be by appointment only, how do we from the get go, from the virtual event, make that compelling enough, think about that online content that gives them maybe more information and paints even a broader picture. And then when they arrive there, how do you make that experience for them discernible and they feel very comfortable, knowing that they are safe. And then once they get in, designing it in such a way that they can see everything they need to see right there without necessarily having to get up. Everything’s kind of right around them, and the legibility, the points that everything, and simplified. So it’s all right there for them. And really leaning more and more on what the analytics are online and who’s signed up and, and we’re learning every day you know, how many people actually sign up for the event is different than how many people actually show up for the event and really thinking about it from that perspective. 

And also, signage is still hugely important. We’ve had to tweak signs and say, by appointment only and even put it everywhere, because the last thing they want is somebody just kind of walking in on him when they told him no one would be and that’s happened a few times where we’ve had to go back and update signage and really sort of educate the client as well as make it very obvious that by appointment only is maybe one of the first things they see sales center, but by appointment only is now huge, and we’ve tweaked stuff and almost like beta testing that signage, if you will so people understand they’re not just going up and pulling on the door knocking which in some cases they’re doing because they haven’t they haven’t quite understood that not everyone is doing that. So I don’t think the industry is by any means all on the same page with that. They may come out of one sales center a mile away where they just kind of walk in, and it’s still not by appointment only and it’s wide open. And then they go to one of our other clients where it is, and they’re just pulling on the door and they just don’t see it. So we’ve had to tweak things. And, you know, it’s still a work in progress at this point. 

Clara:

Well, I think this is a work in progress for everyone across every industry. We’re still very much in a pandemic. But I think the good news for real estate, even in this time of Coronavirus, is that the industry hasn’t really stopped. A study done by realtor.com has actually revealed that homebuyers are not only optimistic about buying in the current environment, but 46% of those respondents noted that the pandemic has actually moved them towards purchasing a home sooner rather than later, you know, people are much more likely to buy in this time. But you know, being in sales and marketing, we also understand that with an influx in interest, there’s also going to be, you know, shifting consumer expectation, you know, and how these things sort of change over time, especially within home search. Given the success of some of these sales centers, what do you predict is going to be the future of real estate moving forward? What will be the new normal? Do you think that these sales centers will take over? 

Johnny:

You know, nothing that gets stretched into a new reality ever kind of goes back in the same and I think, and that’s a good thing. I think we evolve and we learn. And there’s some, definitely some positives that came out of it. I know just from selling my own house and moving within the last three weeks and buying a new house, that whole experience on both sides of that granted, they’re single family homes, a little different than some of the townhomes clients who have condos and townhomes and more, a little bit more urban environments. But that experience was, we purchased by appointment only. And this is in suburbia, and we sold by appointment only, which really, typically was reserved for these exclusive homes by Sotheby’s or whatever where, you know, they’re up in the millions. And, you know, you expect that because you didn’t try to avoid the nosy neighbors and the tire kickers and people just wanting to kind of peruse through. But both of those were classic suburban kind of neighborhoods in Northern Virginia. And in the past, there just would have been an open house on Saturday or Sunday or both. And beyond that, there may have been a few more and obviously online would have played a role. But that’s just for single family homes by appointment only, I think, certainly with our clients, I don’t see them necessarily going back, there might be a chance where they go back to just anybody. And it really depends. 

With one of our clients, they had sort of very upscale condominiums and that was certainly by appointment only at some point, it became that because it’s, you know, a little bit more of a niche buy, but I could see that being a real positive view. You get someone who’s really committed, and they’ve probably done their homework prior. And in most cases they have, unless they sat through a virtual event. But they’re going online, we’re putting everything online more so than ever even and it’s getting more robust. And that experience, I’m not supposed to say exclusive in the real estate industry, but there’s an exclusivity or there’s a feeling of importance and I’ve got the, “I’m important enough to get an appointment, and I’ve got the sole attention of the salesperson.” That’s really what I mean, you’ve got catered to, and that environment. And the salesperson knows that they’re not just somebody wandering in and just, you know, just kind of like not really serious and not really wanting to leave their name and all that this really cuts down on that. Not to say those people don’t just slip in every now and then, but it’s, I think it’s it’s a better experience, ultimately all the way around. I don’t see it going back to that. I do think though for you know, with the sort of digital natives that are coming of age, the buying online experience, certainly for homes, maybe not in the, in the presale as much. But if there’s a product already up and running, and there’s a model to see or online, you can literally tour the actual home and the sort of neighborhood is being built or somewhat built. I think they’re more apt to just purchase online anymore. I think that’s going to be a trend going forward.

Certainly with resales there are in homes, people buy from a distance whether in the military or not they’re overseas, they’ll buy. It’s a little tricky with pre-sales. I think people still may want to see because for a long time, it’s just going to be there in the field. And some clients can adapt and see and be those early adopters, and they get it even from maybe a poorly rendered community up to a much more immersive experience. Some people want to see the model home they actually want to see, you know, they want to see vertical and they want to actually get a sense of it and it really depends. But given the tools today, given the immersive experiences that we can sort of render things out and fly-throughs and different things, you know, use all different technologies. It’s a lot more compelling to think that people will start buying earlier in that phase online. There’s something to be said, though, for something going vertical in a dirt field that is a sales center, because it’s a commitment from the buyer, or from the builder, if you will, they actually get to see the real location because there’s nothing like sort of boots on the ground for a buyer and get to see which orientation the home is east, west, north south, whatever, get to see the view getting really to sort of walk the ground and really getting a sense of it and walking the neighborhood around there if they weren’t familiar with it, so I don’t think those are going away but I do think it is rapidly changing. And I don’t think it’s ever going to just go right make me back and nor should it.

For starters, no, that’s not a typo in the headline—but I’ll get to that in a moment.

I’ve traditionally used the holidays to decompress from work and reflect back on the previous year. But this year was different.

It was a year that changed us all—personally, professionally, and culturally. As a small business, Grafik has fortunately been able to confront, adjust, adapt, and navigate through each new challenge, while at the same time helping our clients do the same. But as we set our sights on the year ahead, I’ve been focused on planning a new chapter for our agency—one that will make Grafik even stronger and better positioned to support the industry-leading organizations we’re proud to call clients.

I am so excited to announce that we have acquired 2120 Creative, a digital marketing and technology agency whose talented group of strategists, creatives, technologists, and project managers joined our team under the Grafik name as of January 1st. 2120 has been a leading Philadelphia-based agency since the early 2000s, and welcoming them into the Grafik family signifies an expansion of not only our services and expertise, but an expanded reach into new geographic areas and industry verticals.

Over the course of our 42-year history, Grafik’s growth has been fueled organically. Longstanding client and partner relationships, good strong hires with very little attrition, and fiscally-sound business decisions have always been part of our D.N.A. and have carried us through various economic cycles. But organic growth does have its limitations. And in a year where nothing was normal, we were hyper-focused on how best to evolve the agency in a manner that wasn’t necessarily traditional, or normal, for Grafik.

Members of the Grafik and 2120 teams have been collaborating as both peers and partners since 2019, and what started as a casual conversation about officially joining forces this past May quickly materialized into a business venture to excel as one agency. Grafik’s strength has always been branding. And as digital natives, 2120’s reputation has been built around harnessing the power and impact of mar-tech.  By combining our collective skillsets and experience under one roof, we’re well-positioned to bridge a gap that exists in the market, where branding, marketing, and technology are all working in unison to support client business goals.

So we enter 2021 celebrating not just a new year, but also this critical step forward for Grafik. We can’t wait to realize the full potential of our growing agency.

Grafik is pleased to announce that we have been awarded a new expanded contract, extending our 15-year engagement with the U.S. Census Bureau. Since 2006, Grafik has led research, strategy, planning and campaign development to promote response for the Economic Census, the nation’s official five-year measure of the economy. We have also worked to increase awareness and participation for the Bureau’s more than 50 monthly, quarterly and annual business surveys, including the key economic indicators.

This new contract now significantly broadens Grafik’s role beyond response promotion to include data user marketing—encompassing strategy, campaign development, digital marketing and media planning to promote Census economic data to U.S. companies, business associations, state and local governments and academic institutions. 

Jay Kerness, Grafik Director of Client Strategy and Account Lead for Census, comments, “Integrating our strategy, creative and digital marketing teams to bring response promotion and data user outreach together is a game changer. We’re very proud of our work with the Census team and are excited to continue our partnership through the 2022 Economic Census, and beyond.” 

Grafik’s government client experience includes the U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Homeland Security/Federal Protective Service, NIH/National Human Genome Research Institute, Naval Research Laboratories, Department of Defense, United States Department of Agriculture, and government contractors Booz Allen Hamilton, Accenture, Alion Science and Technology, and IAP.

I will never forget the day of August 4th, 2020. 

It was just after 11AM that I had wished one of my closest friends in Beirut a happy birthday before jumping into my third Zoom meeting of the day. It was only 15 minutes later, after logging onto Twitter, that I saw the hashtag, #BeirutExplosion trending on the right panel of my screen. My eyes jumped quickly from the trending section to my timeline, where I saw video after video of my hometown being demolished. 

My heart dropped. “صار إنفجار” (An explosion happened), I told my brother. We both sat in front of the computer screen. Shocked, bewildered, and utterly speechless. 

Explosions in Beirut typically do not surprise me. As a proud citizen of Lebanon, I can say that I am all too familiar with the dangers and unfortunate circumstances of living in a third-world country. But this was different. 

After calling my mother and checking in with other family members, I sadly discovered that my childhood home was full of broken windows and cracks. 

 

“I don’t want to die” a young girl screams as the blast hits. Those responsible for this must pay. pic.twitter.com/yTyCaoPtvc

— Timour Azhari (@timourazhari) August 4, 2020

The days that followed were uneasy, difficult, and challenging for me, as I had to virtually communicate with family and friends amidst the chaos. It’s an impossibly horrific feeling to have to call everyone you love just to make sure they’re alive.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Yaz (@yasminahilal_) on Aug 12, 2020 at 9:39am PDT

While relegated to my duties in DC (and the travel precautions instituted due to COVID-19) I was unable to travel home, and relied heavily on social media platforms to get a sense of how many people were still alive, which areas were in most need, and how rescue efforts were being executed. 

In a country like Lebanon, you can’t always trust news outlets, as they are owned by incomparably corrupt mafias. So I, and many others in the States, searched frantically through the Twitter profiles of independent journalists on the ground. It allowed me to receive real-time updates, and unfiltered news that gave me some peace of mind that my family and friends were safe.

There were minimal signs that the government would provide any aid to the people. So, the people took it upon  themselves to help each other, because that’s what happens when you know you have to rely on your neighbors more than you can rely on your government. Swarms of people went to the streets with broomsticks and started cleaning the rubble; many helped strangers clean their homes and rebuild whatever was left. NGOs had stations to spread food, send volunteers where needed and professional engineers to help in any way possible. 

All this mobilization was possible because of Facebook groups, Instagram stories, the simplicity of communication on WhatsApp and the will of the people to help each other when no one else would.

 

 

The beautiful people pic.twitter.com/qSDpH1ds4W

— Timour Azhari (@timourazhari) August 7, 2020

 

 

A sea of people in #Beirut. Huge anger, largest participation in rioting that I’ve seen so far. pic.twitter.com/mJXUMgfiQX

— Timour Azhari (@timourazhari) August 8, 2020

Fast forward to present day, and the outpouring of love and support I’ve witnessed through social media continues to multiply. Donations flew in to aid Lebanon, and I cannot stress this enough, came for the Lebanese people and NGOs and not the government. Links for donations were being shared every few minutes for over a month and are still being shared. I can’t thank people enough for all the money and awareness they donated and are still donating.

Celebrities also took a stand and helped raise awareness and money for the people of Lebanon. A touching tribute to Anthony Bourdain from Russel Crowe warmed the internet, Lebanese born singer Mika staged a virtual concert with the popular band Mashrou’ Leila to raise donations, Zuhair Murad starting selling “Rise from the Ashes” t-shirts for famous celebrities to wear to raise awareness—everyone from Jennifer Lopez to the ever-loved Palestinian Mohamed Hadid snapped a photo wearing one.

 

On behalf of Anthony Bourdain.
I thought that he would have probably done so if he was still around. I wish you and LeChef the best and hope things can be put back together soon. https://t.co/VHYCJujJ6y

— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) August 13, 2020

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Jennifer Lopez (@jlo) on Aug 21, 2020 at 7:44am PDT

We’re living in a time where social media is constantly being questioned and has taken over our lives. From alarming studies of the neurological effects it has on our brains, to the dangers of data privacy and rigging of presidential elections, there’s a lot to be worried about. 

However, the ways in which communities have been able to band together in times of crisis has been astounding, and it gives me hope for our digital future. 

For anyone who would like to donate to Lebanon, you can here:
The Lebanese Red Cross: 

American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC): 

Impact Lebanon

Children’s Cancer Center

FoodBlessed

Considering the stresses of the pandemic, sheltering in place, a reckoning of racial injustice and everything that comes with these unprecedented events, it feels more than a little good to hear some positive news. Last week the Supreme Court delivered a major victory to LBGTQ employees, and last Thursday they ruled that the current administration may not immediately proceed with its plan to end a program protecting about 700,000 young immigrants—known as Dreamers—from deportation.

These hopeful events lead me to express what I’m grateful for, and to consider my responsibility to give back.

Prior to Monday’s decision, workers in more than half the states could be fired for being gay, bisexual or transgender. It’s hard for me to even imagine that: my sole workplace for more than 30 years has been Grafik.  While a young designer, I came out as a gay man to my “work family.” As time went on, I was asked to become a partner of the firm. While on vacation in South Africa, I was proposed to and married my husband (fabulous destination wedding story for another time!). Upon my return, there were hugs from all the staff, and a 10×10’ congratulatory scrim was hanging at my desk. I’m one of the lucky ones.

I share this today because I want to thank everyone who worked tirelessly to change minds and enact important laws that granted me the privileges I’ve been able to enjoy, that have so enriched my life.

That example of Grafik’s inclusive history leads me to now question if I, as a leader, am doing all I can. Is it enough to be a group of individuals who are inclusive and enlightened, or do we need, as a company, to codify this spirit? Are we doing all we can? To that end, we’ve formed a diversity and inclusion committee to examine how we operate and where we can improve. One of the many articles I’ve read recently stressed the importance of thinking about an instance where you could have done better, been more inclusive. I’ve shared the example below with our team; I’d love to hear your stories when we meet as a larger group.

A while back, a young and talented student was referred to me for an internship. Her recommendation was glowing, and I was more than eager to view her portfolio website. I began to review her work and felt it was, well—okay. I declined to invite her in for an interview. My mindset at that time was we’re all very busy, on deadlines, and this candidate may require more mentoring time than we can afford.

I had lost track of the real purpose of internships. I saw raw talent; I made that decision based on what SHE could offer US, instead of what WE could offer HER. And this tells me it’s time to rethink what I may have considered as “the smallest of decisions” if today I’m serious about re-evaluating my mindset as a leader of a firm that’s done so much for me.

There’s a costly barrier of entry into our profession. You need a computer—a not inexpensive Mac. You’ll need Adobe Creative Suite and other programs. You’ll need access to fonts, maybe a scanner and printer, or expensive Pantone ink books. And if you want to attend a good college program, that’s another story. This is why Grafik has been a long supporter of the AIGA Continuum Fund championed by our founding partner Judy Kirpich and Mila Arrisueño, a senior art director at Grafik. The Continuum Fund provides scholarship opportunities to promising young talent.

I realize I was very privileged to have found Grafik when I did, and to have had the opportunity to contribute to our success and culture. But we don’t stop learning, folks. I know that as an individual I can give more, do more. (So can you.) (So can we all.)

What happened in Minneapolis, and its aftershocks, have had a profound impact on our world, and me personally as CEO of Grafik. As I watched what was happening all around us, I struggled initially: not knowing exactly what to say nor having the answers on how we as an agency can best respond to deaths of people of color and their treatment that, unfortunately, underlies the fabric of our society. Over the last few weeks I’ve reflected on my own actions; I’ve pulled my staff into conversations to hear their thoughts; I’ve reached out to clients who are community leaders, equally challenged in how best to respond in an impactful way. And I continue to spend a lot of time reading, listening, and learning from every resource I can.

The search for answers is not mine alone. In fact, it seems there are as many different answers as there are roles, responsibilities, upbringings, stages in life and prior histories that all need to be considered. To take a stand with resolute clarity around my actions is nearly impossible. But there is one important thing I’ve learned over my years, and that’s if you wait to take action until things are truly clear, it’s often too late. While I can’t necessarily control what’s happening in our world, there are things I know I can control as part of Grafik. And it’s time to act.

Over the course of our 40+ year history, Grafik has built a culture based on inclusivity embracing all races, religions, genders, sexual orientations, and social beliefs.  We’ve created an environment where our staff has the flexibility and freedom to support causes that they’re passionate about and we as an agency have consistently worked to better our world through many philanthropic and pro-bono efforts. But I now realize there is so much more we can and must do to combat not just explicit prejudice, but systemic and unconscious bias. And we must fight for those who feel anything but equal in our industry.

A few years ago, we did an internal strategic planning initiative with a focus on better defining our purpose and vision as an agency. The concept of Inspiring New Possibilities is where we landed and has been a driving force for the work we do for our clients. I personally believe this can take on an even greater meaning, right now.

For starters, the creative community and agencies in particular are drastically underrepresented by people of color. And as groups such as 600 & Rising work to reform what has been an issue in our industry for far too long, Grafik will do our part to inspire new possibilities for the industry through our own hiring practices. That means not just hiring the best talent, but proactively looking at new recruitment channels (i.e. partnerships with HBCUs) to ensure we’re filling our pipeline with diverse candidates who might otherwise not have found Grafik.

Next, our platform as an agency and as communicators must be leveraged to explore and inspire new possibilities on actions we can all take that will someday make the need to state Black Lives Matter obsolete. We’re already seeing a lot of interest (and demand) from clients on how best to evolve their own brand marketing, recruitment and media strategies in support of both BLM and social justice and we look forward to further consulting on and amplifying the positions and voices of our clients in support of change.

Lastly (for now), we will start to hold ourselves accountable. We are in the process of forming a Diversity, Inclusion, & Equality committee. The focus is on best practices, education, community collaboration, and ongoing open dialogue. We’ll be using our website and our social media channels to provide transparency on progress hoping that our sharper focus is having an impact, is making a difference.

Grafik is pleased to announce that it has been honored among the world’s most effective transformations in the 2020 REBRAND 100® Global Awards. This highest recognition for excellence in brand change underscores the impact for organizations like Australian Energy Foundation, Baker Hughes, and Accor Hospitality Group. Grafik was recognized for two of its recent initiatives: C-SPAN and Van Metre Companies.

Grafik’s rebrand of C-SPAN encompasses a new logo and visual identity that works seamlessly across broadcast, print and online. The brand rollout campaign, “Your Unfiltered View of Government,” coincided with the organization’s 40th anniversary and garnered 250,000 views in its first two weeks as #CSPAN40 trended on Twitter.

Grafik’s rebrand of Van Metre Companies encompasses a new brand architecture, positioning and digital strategy, messaging platform and visual identity. As part of the rebrand, we also leveraged a multisite solution for Van Metre’s distinct web properties, starting with a new corporate site that provides an overarching view of its real estate enterprise.

Marisa Güntlisberger, Director Omnichannel Experience at Branders offered, “Branding has become such an interdisciplinary craft, it’s fantastic to see how no matter the budget this is showing in projects all over the world.” Alexander Engelhardt, Vice President, Brand Management, Deutsche Telekom AG and 2020 juror noted, “To stay relevant brands must adjust to their context—evolving and reinventing themselves, and be recognizable and true to the brand’s core values. This is precisely what the REBRAND 100 competition brought to light. It is a cornucopia of superb examples of future-proof brands from all over the world—contemporary, smart, exceptionally creative.”

As in the past years of this prestigious program celebrating marketplace value, an international panel of industry experts reviewed the work in 37+ industries from around the world for this round.

As Shanoo Bhatia, 2020 juror, and Founder, Director, Eureka Moment describes, “The 2020 REBRAND 100 Global Awards was an eye-opener on the new challenges that prompt a rebrand as well as the solutions that drive enterprise growth and align brand with business strategy and purpose.”

Winning selections were for executed strategy that made an emotional connection and met strategic objectives with relevance to current audiences and prospects. Work launched between January 2017 and October 2019 were eligible for entry.

“Each round of this unique review of brand change, globally, never disappoints,“ said Anaezi Modu, Founder & CEO of REBRAND.” She continues, “Leading organizations continue to exemplify why brands are one of the most important business assets.”

About REBRAND™ and the REBRAND 100® Global Awards:
REBRAND is the world’s leading platform for brand transformation insights, case examples, and programs. Celebrating 15+ years of excellence, its renowned REBRAND 100® Global Awards is the most prestigious, juried recognition for repositioned brands. Featured in media like The Wall Street Journal, BBC, articles and books, results have generated the most comprehensive global library of brand change research and reference.

On March 24th, Adweek reported that “ABC World News Tonight with David Muir and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt were the two-most-watched programs on all of television last week.” They went on to say, “and it’s no secret as to why: An increasing number of Americans are home at 6:30, and they want the most up-to-date news and coverage concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.”

 

I’m one of those adults in the 55+ demo helping drive these ratings up. And, while my evening routine hasn’t yet become News-Wheel of Fortune-Jeopardy-8pm bedtime, that sure sounds appealing, especially after a nice piece fish and soup for supper.

In our home, we watch ABC. Even with cable news streaming throughout the day, at 6:30 pm we turn to David Muir. Nothing against Lester Holt or Norah O’Donnell, but David Muir is our “Anchorman.”

I know people under the age of 35 have no idea what I’m talking about. Who watches television news when we get alerts from social media all day? Who turns to live network broadcasts for anything except sports? Who even sits down in front of a TV anymore? (“no, it’s okay Dad, I’ll watch Endgame for the fourth time on my phone.”)

And, why would anyone use the term “Anchorman”?

The answer? We all need anchors right now – things that steady us and keep us moored. We want our anchorman. No, not Ron Burgundy – Walter Cronkite.

Who was Walter Cronkite?

The New York Times says it best: “It’s almost impossible to convey the place Walter Cronkite held in American life for the 19 years he spent as the anchor of “The CBS Evening News.” It wasn’t just that he narrated the spikes in modern history, from the Kennedy assassination to the civil rights movement to the election of Ronald Reagan. People tuned in to his program even on routine days… Mr. Cronkite’s air of authority, lightly worn and unquestioned, was unusual even then, but nobody comes close to it now.”

I’ve asked my Grafik Brand Strategy colleague, George Nicholas – architect of our recent rebrand of C-SPAN – to add his perspective on Walter Cronkite and his thoughts about what this all means. George…

“Thanks, Jay. Allow me to illustrate, beyond just the facts, what those 19 years meant, emotionally.

 

In an era when men simply did not cry, the whole nation saw a man use his thick, horn-rimmed glasses to buy himself some time, to collect himself and his emotions, so that he could do what we all were supposed to do—keep our wits and do our jobs. That pause spoke volumes, as did his example.

And four and a half years later, now broadcasting in color, Cronkite took a moment to not simply pass on the body counts that General William Westmoreland assured us meant we were winning the war in Vietnam, but to state what had become clear to him—decisive victory was impossible. To advisors in the Oval Office as they watched the evening news, President Johnson turned and said “If I’ve lost Walter Cronkite, I’ve lost middle America.” Thirty-three days later, he announced he would not seek reelection.

The ratings Jay cited above tell us we are seeking such authority in the midst of today’s crisis. But can such authority and trust truly exist today when there are not simply three networks to tune into?

We turn to anchor men and women—on broadcast, on cable networks, on PBS, on podcasts and YouTube and even Comedy Central—for personal consistency and grounding. And each day we turn to other anchors. The anchors of home and hearth. And we do so with rapid-fire consistency through every brand choice we make.”

Back to you, Jay…

Thank you, George. Let me share a quick example of my own brand choices, my own “home and hearth” anchors. Well, mostly “hearth…”

Yesterday, I decided to make Jambalaya for dinner. (My Giant actually had top-quality chicken, shrimp and andouille sausage, so I scored!) After dark roast Peet’s coffee brewed perfectly in my Keurig, I prepped everything for my Crock Pot including exactly three teaspoons of Tony Chachere’s original Creole seasoning. Then I ate my bowl of Wheaties with Horizon organic milk before my Zoom call with my team at Grafik.

My trusted brands are my anchors. Each of us has them. Every day we turn to what is solid, consistent, trusted, even cherished. (Of course I cherish Grafik, but that Creole seasoning is like powdered gold…)

Strong brands are an organization’s strategic anchors. When you take the time to build them and maintain them, customers and clients turn to them again and again. As we emphasized in our latest podcast about brand responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is especially important now when we need them the most. I know I do.

The Jambalaya was great last night; we ate it while watching ABC News. They don’t call it comfort food for nothing.

Episode Summary:

On November 20th, 2019, we had the pleasure of joining local marketing leaders representing 250+ brands to share fresh ideas on topics and trends emerging in the marketing industry at IC Summit’s D.C. Marketing Summit. We also had the opportunity to moderate a panel about “The D.C. Brand”—what it means to be a local brand here, what this city has to offer its residents and visitors, and what it takes to differentiate in such a crowded market. Take a listen to our discussion here.

Host: Clara Shannon, Marketing Associate, Grafik

Moderator: Lauren Leva, VP of Marketing at Grafik

Panelists:

Robin McLean, SVP of Marketing & Communications, Destination DC

Greg Menna, Co-Founder & CEO, District Donut

Julie Zito, Assistant VP of Marketing, American University

Melissa Fasano, Director of Corporate Marketing, Kettler Inc.

Krista Olson, Senior Director of Marketing, Washington Wizards

Transcript: 

Clara Shannon: 

Born and bred in the DMV, our agency has always been proud of its roots. But we’ve often wondered what exactly is the DC brand? What does it represent? How has it evolved?

Last week we got the chance to answer these questions and more at the DC Marketing Summit, joined by local leaders repping upwards of 250 brands. Our very own VP of Marketing Lauren Leva led a little panel all about the DC brand, with leaders from local staples like District, Doughnut, American University, Kettler, Inc, Destination DC, and the Washington Wizards.

We left feeling inspired and we hope you will too. What follows is a recording of our discussion. Take a listen and we hope that you enjoy. 

[Applause] 

Lauren Leva:

We’re a full service marketing and branding agency located in Old Town Alexandria, and we’ve been in this area for 40 years proudly serving DC and east coast clients. We’ve got a wonderful panel this morning of DC brands here we’ve got, Robin McLean, the SVP of Marketing and Communications from Destination DC. We’ve got Greg Menna, the co-founder and CEO of District Doughnut. We’ve got Julie Zito, the Assistant VP of Marketing from American University. And we’ve got Melissa Fasano, the Director of Corporate Marketing at Kettler. And lastly, Kristen Olson, I’m sorry, Krista Olson, the Senior Director of Marketing from the Washington Wizards. So thank you so much for joining me today guys. We are going to go through some questions and then we’ll open it up to the audience for Q&A at the end. So be thinking of things that you want to ask this awesome bunch of Marketing Leaders. 

So I want to start out with some stats just to kind of frame up the conversation about DC and the brands that are here. The city is growing, 2018 was the 13th straight year of population growth and the district and elected officials like to taught that there are 1,000 new people moving into the city every month.

A huge factor in this growth is international migration, which was responsible for 53% of the net increase last year, and population growth. And data also shows that at least a third of people who live in DC were born here. So there’s a great mix of both newcomers and tried and true locals.

So the first question for you guys that I have is about the DC brand, what we’re here to talk about. On a macro level, we’ve seen a decade of increased connectivity and globalization that’s kind of prompted a counter trend of localization and people really craving original and unique experiences. So what do you think makes DC unique?

 Robin McLean:

Well, maybe I’ll start, since I promote the city. You know, I think given our current campaign [that] we launched in January called, “Discover The Real D.C.” We think it’s about what we all, who live here and work here, experience every day. And so it’s not what’s on TV this morning. It is really the experiences of, you know, great restaurants, and nightlife and culture. And you can experience that, you know, in every quadrant of the city, in every neighborhood. And so that’s what I think the DC brand is absolutely about.

 Julie Zito:

For students who come to American we have about 13% of our incoming undergraduate students are from the DMV. We have a huge amount of students coming from outside this area and DC is a big attractor for them. About 40% of them actually stay after graduation. So they really are coming here because of all that we offer. They also see this as a place where they can make change and fulfill their purpose, as we were talking about this morning. So DC for them is really part you know, spending the day on Capitol Hill at your internship or maybe at a protest having a conversation that you never thought you’d have with someone from a different part of the world, enjoying the Smithsonian, you know it’s a place where they can study as well as really had an experience.

Greg Menna:

I’m Greg with District Doughnut, and we were founded on essentially being something very different than, as Robin said, what you’re hearing all of the time about what DC is supposedly like. In our experience, it’s not like all of those things. We started in 2012. And so we, my co founder, Christine, who’s actually the brains and creates really good things — I create problems but she, her idea of a pastry as a very experienced pastry chef is just to take something simple, and to make it that much better things that [thing] you already like. And so we, as a brand wanted to do that. And we wanted to, we wanted to approach DC similarly. 

It’s really neat, Robin, that you said in each quadrant of the city, you can experience what we call in our brand, “happiness found.” That’s what we’re always pursuing. How can we provide a little bit of happiness found for everyone that comes through our teal doors. But the idea that there can be a little slice of that, even though everyone is always saying that that’s not what’s going on here. We believe it is. And we want to be a little force within that because we believe it’s possible and we truly do believe if you have a District Doughnut, you’re going to be more happy than before.

Robin McLean:

I can confirm that.

Greg Menna:

I mean, I love salad, you know, it’s great and all, but you can only have so many salads. You need more calories. We have five locations now, we opened the first in Virginia a couple months ago, but we have one with Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast. We started in Southeast and then we proceeded to Northwest and then Southwest and now Northeast. So we — and it wasn’t specifically by design, but we just have tried to follow where are people who are who have the same ideas we do, where they going and buying things and that has been where that’s where we have been led. And that’s been really neat. Because we have been received the same way everywhere, which is like, we’re literally just making the best doughnut. And that’s it. We don’t we’re not trying to be anything we’re not. And I think people respond well to that. And DC is a place right now where a brand can. A brand has a unique opportunity because it is a big stage. But it’s not as if there aren’t as many, there can’t be as many players because there aren’t as many people total as other big cities. So it’s a really unique opportunity. And we’re loving being a little part of that.

 Krista Olson:

So obviously, we’re part of a global brand with the NBA. But I think from a local perspective with Monumental Sports and Entertainment, with our ownership, we’re very much investing in the city and things that go into it. So yesterday, for instance, we opened a new court, actually, three courts over in southeast D.C. Today, we actually are unveiling our new city addition, Nike jerseys are very inspired by DC and the elements of the city. We have games this week that have a college series representing different schools, working with local partners with Medstar with a mental health awareness night. So for us, we’re really looking at things from a macro perspective and how we can become represented on a global scale in terms of a basketball team. But also really looking at investing with our relationships. Destination DC is a great one, you know, that I work with on a day to day basis and really investing in those relationships in the city and really trying to build monumental sports as a larger entity that really impacts both business but also our fans on a day to day basis. 

Melissa Fasano:

And I’m coming at it from a real estate perspective. I’m with Kettler so if you don’t know we are actually a locally owned and real estate development company. We also do property management and construction. So a lot of DC, also all throughout Maryland, you know, Baltimore all the way down to Virginia Beach. We’ve developed many, many masterplan communities. What we do is we actually, you know, considering DC is such a melting pot and, you know, talking much to that transit transplant, you know, audience that we have here in the area, it’s really important for us to focus on developing a lifestyle tomorrow, but just developing a lifestyle tomorrow for all different lifestyle needs. So we’re doing it for everything from affordable, all the way up to luxury Class A high-rises. And so we’re really trying to ensure that we’re capturing exactly what any type of person that is moving to the DC area or that currently lives in DC is in need of. So, you know, that is, you know, one of the things that I think makes us have kind of a unique perspective on the DC brand and ensuring that we’re encompassing that in all of our future planning. 

Lauren Leva:

Wonderful, thank you all. I love that we have a representation of kind of a lot of different and very important industries in DC here. We’ve got real estate, academia, retail, sports, and of course, tourism.

So can you tell us a little bit about some of the major local trends that you’re kind of seeing within your industries and how that’s impacting your day to day marketing or business responsibilities?

 Krista Olson:

We have a tremendous relationship with the Washington Post. So for our overarching marketing and advertising budget, we actually work with all the different properties with them on just an extensive relationship of how are we transforming our digital advertising? Unfortunately, which I’m very sad about that the Express Metro went away this year, but how are we taking that and trying to retarget in a much more efficient way, more, much more effective way. We’re also looking specifically with Google on how we can do a better job of impacting our tourism, messaging and how especially for us. We have a new player, the first Japanese NBA player to be signed. And he has been just a phenomenon, to be honest. His name’s Rui Hachimura and the number of people that have come in from both the Japanese standpoint, but also from a business standpoint, is really impacting our business this year and trying to look at that and having conversations with Destination DC and Big Bus and how can we effectively market him and try to do new things for those types of fans and bring those experiences to our games.

Lauren Leva:

Krista, can you tell us a little bit about just obviously there’s a ton of momentum around DC sports right now. And some of the things that you’re doing to capture that and build on that excitement? 

Krista Olson:

Yeah, absolutely. So I think this is actually the first like full year and a half, I would say, of us doing a really good job of sport, our sports, representing and supporting one another. I think I actually am a big Boston sports fan. Grew up a big Boston sports fan.

But having been now in DC and working for the wizards and being part of the caps and mystics championships, which is phenomenon phenomenal. Being able to see the support that we’ve all had for one another, you know, getting John a Soto Jersey shipped out was a frantic moment on our side to try to get john wall to get that so we can put that on digital. Those are all moments that we’re trying to capture. We had a game actually the night of the parade for the Nats. And so you know, how can we do kind of last minute ticket deals, you know, we put up messaging on our marquee boards, and just simple things like that, that are just small but very effective to just show that we are district of champions, we do have all these different teams represented especially for us on women’s sports, I think is phenomenal, phenomenal. And, you know, having that team as part of our overarching brand has been really Exciting.

Julie Zito:

I’ll just add to that. You guys actually reached out to us about having an AU Night. So on December 5, the wizards are playing the 70 sixers, and it’s a unite and their special merchandise and for our students, they’re really here. American University is not known as a big sports school, I’m sure that won’t surprise anyone. But they actually really appreciate having the DC teams as their teams. We had a partnership of the Nationals for a number of years. The you know, Wizards night I think is a great opportunity for them to have sort of that major sporting events, and then go back to their major event which is, you know, thinking about, you know, joining the Peace Corps and changing the world, but it’s fantastic to have that access for them. And I think that’s another benefit of going to University in a major city, where you get to sort of adopt these other brands as part of your own. 

Robin McLean:

I’ll just get on the sports train, because it really is an opportunity to promote the city and so with a spotlight shining so big on DC these last couple of years since the Stanley Cup win and, and obviously through the WNBA championship and now being the World Series champs, it has given us an opportunity along with our partners at events DC to really promote the city from a sports perspective. And that’s both you know, business and leisure. So it’s booking the venues so it’s everything from Capital One arena to the entertainment and sports arena in Congress Heights to you know, NATS Park and so it gives us an opportunity to promote venues for business purposes, event purposes, but also to bring people to the city. So I’m assuming you’re from Boston, that would be the only reason you would be a Boston fan. Okay, so um, you know if you can have that experience down here in DC, following your team if that’s what you want to do, but you can also have that extended experience in terms of the city and that authenticity. And so that’s one of the trends we’re seeing is as we go out to market people are we’re first of all connecting to people in specific personas that we’ve done research on and an enter promoting to the sports enthusiast happens to be one of those eight personas. And so it’s a way for us for people to consider DC differently. 

Lauren Leva:

Interesting, thank you. 

Melissa Fasano:

And I’m gonna go ahead and hop on that train, but kind of take a little pivot. Kettler is actually the official property management and real estate development company of the Washington Capitals, the Mystics, the Wizards, and we are partners with Monumental Sports Entertainment. We also sponsor the second floor of the Capital One arena where we have the Kettler loft level. I’m not sure if any of you guys have made that association if you’ve been to any games recently. But a part of that campaign is large in-part because we want to make sure that we are marketing to all of those different groups, but also, much to Robin’s point, you know, we’ve got all these unique opportunities included in that sponsorship to make sure we’re, you know, not only getting back from a bit, you know, going through our business transactions, ensuring that we’re taking care of, you know, all of those markets, but also making sure that we’re bringing in the community. So we also do a series of suite nights where we connect with the VA, we have different veterans come in and partake in our sweet nights where we are, you know, we’re making sure that we’re taking care of them and being a part with them. And then in addition to that, we also work really closely with the children’s ENT, where we also bring them in for a suite night. So instead of repurposing just our sponsorship for business needs, we’re also trying to connect closer with the DC community and ensure that we’re helping out and becoming a closer part with that.

Lauren Leva:

Greg, tell us a little bit about in your industry, the foodie movement, and how that’s kind of helped businesses, smaller businesses, who you know, are maybe different than the traditional DC Steakhouse or kind of like stereotypical DC restaurant take off.

Greg Menna:

Sure. Well, I was first going to say I don’t have much to weigh-in on the last question, because a big partner of Monumental Sports is Dunkin Donuts. So, we, you know, we have a beef. I’m just kidding.

But the foodie movement is, you know, is a fascinating thing to me. And we certainly are, we certainly were right at the kind of peak explosion of that, at the beginning of our company. There were, you know, like five different supposedly gourmet doughnut companies started at the same time and there was not a single one ever before here and now there’s only two. So we’ve stayed standing. And we’ve kept we’ve kept moving. But I think, as I said before, I think what has allowed us to continue growing and you know, methodically it’s felt very fast to us. We try to be more methodical and we are truly a small team. I mean, it’s not much more than me, and Christine, and then our marketing, basically VP, who has – [it’s] been all three of us has been here since the beginning. And we’ve gradually grown. 

I think what’s been most fascinating is to watch things that are trend versus things that are staple, things that people want always versus things that they might be really cool and Instagram, but not a single person buys that. I can attest to that. We are now shifting everything we do in the next few weeks to be entirely based on data. For a chef, a creative chef, that’s a very…that can be very frustrating. When she creates you’ll never have a doughnut that’s better. But no one buys the thing because it’s like daunting, or everyone buys vanilla bean glazed, you know? It’s a really interesting phenomenon where everyone is, you know, they’re double tapping. They like the really cool thing. And the really cool thing that Christine creates that we come out with is actually better than the simpler one, but, people want simple. And so that’s been a very interesting, almost conflicting piece of intelligence, that a foodie movement would tell you wasn’t true, or that the number of Instagram likes would tell you. Otherwise, it’s been very interesting to begin the process now because we are much certainly clearly a much smaller brand and an up and company than the rest of the folks on the stage. But because of that, we have to pay immense attention to detail to what every single person is saying. On every channel.

We use a thing called Intercom, which is a chat function, where one guy in our company is listening to all the time and asking people you know– it’s like, he’ll be at a store and he also does that and ‘okay, what are they saying that like this’, ‘this happened at that store’ and trying to figure out how do we take all of that information and call it into which donuts do we sell? 

Because that determines everything else. And so I think the foodie movement is amazing because then it  creates an excitement about better things, better food in general. But it’s also a very, you have to be very wise to sift through and find out what do people actually want. Because that doesn’t, I don’t think that really changes in terms of, like, in terms of a macro category. I don’t know that that changes a lot. Certainly better versions and healthier versions. But what we find is typically people are going to buy the simpler thing, you just have to do it a lot better. And you have to treat them with kindness and it’s got to be genuine it can’t be a put on like your people that that other people are interacting with. They got to be really great.

Lauren Leva:

I think that’s a good segue into the customer experience and how that can help you build advocates after someone experiences your brand for the first time, and then tells all their friends about it, whether that’s on social media or elsewhere. I really liked that Martha from AARP talked about CX. And I would love to hear some of the ways that you’re measuring brand sentiment, customer loyalty, trust, all those types of really important parts of the customer relationship.

Krista Olson:

For us, we’re constantly surveying and following up game after game as to what our fans are looking for. Excuse me. This past summer, underwent a 180 million dollar renovation to our concourses and that was a direct result of our fans saying, ‘Hey, we need to be better and we need a better experience.’ And so we’ve brought in some local vendors. We do have Ben’s Chili bowl now that has come on. We worked with Jose Andreas on some of our concession menu-ing and just in terms of like general experience, we completely renovated all of our video board. So if you come now it’s kind of a little bit overwhelming, but there’s just constant imagery and you know, really perfecting what that looks like from a brand perspective, while also implementing all of our different partnerships, and what they’re trying to get across. But that is all definitely a direct result of a fan sentiment and their feedback to us as to, you know, this is what we need for you guys to do better in terms of our in-game experience.

 Melissa Fasano:

And, and for us, one of the things you know, throughout the past few years that I’ve been with Keller, we’ve gone through a substantial surveying program as well. We actually went from serving four times a year to our prospects and residents. Taking that feedback going through a process of vetting different organizations to try and make sure that we’re bringing the right tools and resources to enhance our programs. So what that told us was for 2019 we needed to gear up all of our surveying. And we actually turned it into a full lifecycle touchpoint survey where we’re now actually reaching our residents. At the 30-day after moving mark, we’re reaching our residents at the, you know, right after a maintenance service happens right after that transaction. And then once you go to into like the lease renewal process, so we’re constantly surveying on their experiences that they’re having with our staff.

From there, we’ve taken that feedback, we’ve completely revamped our customer service program for all of our on-site, property stuff. And we’ve gotten great feedback for 2019. And so I think for 2020, we’re just going to continue to build on that. We’re building out a loyalty program right now to try and ensure that all of our residents, especially in an area like DC, where it’s very transient and people are moving, there’s a lot of you know, businesses that are up and down the east coast. We want to make sure that if you’re moving from Kettler property to Kettler property, you’re remembering our name and the service that you had, and you’re also getting, you know, perks and benefits from staying with a killer property. So these are just a couple of programs and ways that we’re taking All that feedback and data that we’re gathering from those surveys that we’re putting out, and then putting them into action to make sure that, you know, we are really changing the program and ensuring that all of our residents and prospects are really happy with the service that they’re receiving from their killer stuff.

 Julie Zito:

I’ll just add, as a community of about 8,000 undergraduates and 13,000 graduate undergrads, and then hundreds of thousands of alumni, we have no shortage of feedback coming to us all the time. You know, Martha was talking about social media of Gen Z. We regularly hear, of course, on social media, mostly, when most students aren’t anxious to say, ‘Hey, you guys did a great job today. I loved that class that I had’ or, ‘Wow, you’re bringing [inaudible] to campus, how exciting is that?’ There is some of that, but a lot of it really is feedback of concerns.

So we have a listening tool. We have a team, really in the higher education space, that sort of reputational management crisis communications management is something that, I’m looking at my colleague from Georgetown, something that universities have had to adopt and very quickly pivot to, to that sort of team, and people have an expertise in that space over the past 5-10 years. For any of you, you know, the thing about a university is it’s, it’s not just something you consume, it’s a brand that becomes part of who you are. It’s on your resume, there are very few products you purchase, that are on your resume. As much as you might love a doughnut or a team. People don’t typically put that as part of their personal brand. So, you know, any sort of institutional change, any sort of policy, anything that they’re concerned about, you know, they’re very quick to make us aware of that. So in addition to ongoing social media feedback that we’re getting, as I said all the time, and we also do a campus climate survey. You also have alumni surveys, and the university does respond to these things, but we’re talking about pretty monumental sort of shifts and, you know, a new plan for inclusive excellence and, and things that really take time. It’s our student body is also very skeptical with sort of quick fixes. So it’s something that we are constantly monitoring, discussing planning budgeting for

Lauren Leva:

Robin, what about, from destination DC, how are you kind of listening or getting feedback on the visitor experience when someone comes to DC and what they liked, what they didn’t like, is that factoring into your marketing at all or your planning?

 Robin McLean:

Well, it’s not as specific as they can speak to just because it’s, you know, we’ve welcomed 24 million people last year, for example. So it’s really working with our partners, and magnifying those experiences. So it’s both inspiring what you can actually experience before you get here, but then it’s also highlighting what these amazing opportunities are, once you’re on the ground. I will say obviously social media plays into that heavily. Just from a consumer standpoint, you can kind of track there how people are feeling but it tends to be a really positive place overall. Even given I think the dynamics of the city and what our challenges are in terms of promoting it daily, it really you can’t beat up you know, a shot of the National Mall at sunset it’s still is the most popular Instagram, you know, posts that that when we when we use that, so that surprises us because we really highlight so much else beyond that, but there still is that traditional element. And then I will say that, you know, the things that we hear most often about the city are things like how clean it is, and when you start comparing that to other big cities in the US and how walkable, and so those are things that that we feel visitors feel but also media is saying about us. So, you know, Lonely Planet just named us the Second Best City to Visit in 2020. We were first in 2015. And so we’ve made it back on that list first in the US behind Salzburg in Austria. So like, it’s, you know, it’s an interesting thing. We keep using those accolades and ways for people to talk about the city. So whether that’s number one for women in tech, or it’s how sustainable the city is. Those are all the things that I think help tell the experience of what people can have here. We don’t track it, you know, by individual, but we certainly try to enhance that. Yeah, exactly.

Lauren Leva:

So as you’re starting to plan for 2020, and your teams are having conversations about where to put budget, where to put effort, what’s one thing that you are going to stop doing and one thing that you’re going to Start doing or keep doing part of your marketing plans.

Robin McLean:

For us, we’re going to focus, we’re going to continue with Discover The Real DC. And add to that an element for the DMV region. For the last 10 years, we’ve been promoting a campaign called, ‘Date Nights DC.’ And the idea was when hotels and restaurants really need businesses in January in February here in DC, it’s you know, it’s very quiet time. And so we want to impact that with visitation. So we’re introducing actually just started this week with a marketing campaign called stay local DC. And some of our research is showing that the thing that will make a local in this region stay in a hotel overnight is both value but also having that big experience. So it’s kind of like the high end luxury getaway, but also what is that value? And so we’re building that around big weekends that you can have in January in February. So some of that’s around sports, some of that’s around Restaurant Week. And other big arts and cultural exhibits and experiences that you can have in the city. So we hope that will fill our hotels and restaurants in 2020.

Krista Olson:

We’re really excited for the second half of the season just because we have some really specific themed nights that we’ve never done before. We’re doing a Japanese Heritage Night in January. We’re partnering with the National Cherry Blossom Festival and having an actual themed night. They’ve done it very successfully with the Nationals before and we’re going to lean-in on that. And we actually have a brewery hatch for cherry blossom ticket package. So it should be really interesting and I think that’ll get a ton of fans out to it.

We’re also trying, we work with a number of different pride organizations and are trying just a bigger pride night in March as well as an international women’s themed night as part of an MBA initiative. So just really excited to try all those different things out. I think for us, just because of team performance, we really need to lean-in on single game promotions and how we can be very nimble in our messaging. Just because unfortunately, the product in terms of wins is unfortunately, probably not going to be there this year. But I think the excitement still around NBA basketball, and the opponents that we have coming in, it’s still a phenomenal night out on the town and it’s still like leaning in on that. So that’s definitely what we’re looking for for the second half of our season.

 Greg Menna:

For us, we actually begin serving in a more effective manner really just in the past year, to be honest, because we, you know, you we grew quickly from 4 team, when we open the first door to now we open five locations. And that’s a that’s a pretty sizable number. And we and we opened three last year. So we and like I said, like none of us had any experience in the industry. At least I didn’t, Christine actually has, but not in growing like a food concept. We’re not like a restaurant group, we’re not a restaurant group that, you know, had massive backing and like, that’s not where we are. And so we we’ve done everything in a, you know, it’s the most hackneyed word but entrepreneurial manner possible, like just figuring everything out as you go making tons of mistakes and, and learning and constantly reimagining what you’re trying to do and figure out the problems that you have every day and truly, truly an entrepreneurial enterprise. And part of what we found was, is kind of the rub of our product in particular, our survey was like your price is too high. And we were like, ‘Okay, interesting.’ It’s the same price as every other pastry you’ll get at every shelf on any coffee shop. But people think it’s too expensive. Every part of it’s made by hand, but it’s still too expensive, interesting. And so it’s just because the historical price for our product category is like 85 cents, you know?

 So it’s been really interesting to take that information and say, all right, well, then how are we going to deliver the same quality? And so then you’re into this whole other set of considerations. Okay, we have to tell our story effectively, people have to understand what they’re eating and why it’s so much better than other doughnuts and why you won’t feel terrible after you eat one. It’s because it started, you know, 36 hours ago with like, real French fermentation of a real dough. It wasn’t mixed in, you know, 20 minutes. And so telling a story of that, and why we do that, because we want to make something better. We want people to have something that’s ‘Wow, that is so good. And now I have a little bit of joy.’ And so we’re trying to trying to reimagine what a doughnut should be not in a, in a silly way, but just in a this is much better. Everything about it’s better. And so and it’s genuine. And if you go to any of our stores honestly and I’m not afraid to like make this bet, but are like the managers of all of our stores four of the five stores managed by our managed by, by women, like our company is founded upon amazing women that are like that are able to balance treating customers well when they’re treated terribly, which is most of the food industry. And you know, holding staff accountable and like it’s just an amazing thing to watch the effect of that and to see the amazing ways in which our leading ladies have like, have cared for people, our employees cared for customers. It’s really just been amazing and all that, like is the story.

 And so we were just trying to figure out we got to be able to tell the story better because what we’re doing is unbelievable. And what I’ve watched happen as we’ve just tried to grow and continue to be smarter in how we make our product efficiency as any good business This needs to like, and because you got to sell lots of them if they’re $3. And that’s still too expensive. So it’s really an amazing kind of combination of things that to see we have to tell the story really effectively. So that’s what we’re, we’re we’re working on right now is figuring out how do we tell the story really effectively so that it, it really hits the folks that it needs to?

 Melissa Fasano:

I think I can speak to the expensive conversation. You know, we get a lot of that pushback too, I mean, it’s the housing industry, it’s apartments in DC, ouch to your wallet. It’s very expensive in any type of living here in the city, and the outlying areas as well. And so one of the things that we’re really trying to do in 2020 is ensure that we are leading with the value. So the value that you get when you live in a Kettler community. Let’s be honest apartments right now they’re highly amenitized. Our competitors do a fantastic job and ensuring that they are developing these immaculate properties is with everything from full service concierge 24 hours, you know, to package pickup to Amazon lockers, we have that as well. But what we want to lead with is, you know is that value that you’re getting from the interaction that you have with your Kettler employees and your Kettler staff, the friendliness that you experience the community that you become a part of when you move to a Cutler building. That’s something that we’re trying to include in our marketing campaigns for 2020. Making sure that we’re sharing that on our social media channels, making sure that we are sharing that in every opportunity that we have just like a speaking engagement or a groundbreaking like we had yesterday and Florida actually. And so there’s, there’s a lot of opportunities for us. We previously were doing very much strong awareness, you know, trying to put our stake in the ground on social media and say, ‘Hey, we’re Kettler. We’re here.’ But now we’re taking the content and we’re really making a shift. We want to be driving conversion. I mean, at the end of the day, that’s what we’re all here for. And so trying to find an opportunity when it comes to real estate marketing, to position ourselves to be providing that conversion and what that ROI looks like for us. So we’re actually turning all of our campaigns in 2020 into those very conversion specific campaigns, trying to get those lead conversions from social media, from email marketing, from any of the interactions that we’re having on site, any of our loyalty and perks programs. So we’re actually rolling that out full scale. So we’re going to pull back a little bit on the awareness, we were still doing a lot of that we’re really using our color off level for that which we love, especially since conversions a little more difficult to track in a grand scale like that. However, we’re targeting our campaigns and ensuring that all of those programs that we’re rolling out have that ultimate end goal.

Julie Zito:

Yeah, so you know, I think part of the questions stop. I don’t think there’s anything we unfortunately can stop doing. You know, we are not only the central marketing, communications division for the university and have a lot of major initiatives that we need to support in every level. But we also serve as sort of a partner agency with a lot of with our internal schools and colleges and division, so I wish there were things that we could stop because I feel like we just keep starting new things. But in terms of the year, I think that, you know, just sort of to Greg’s point, you know, we tell a lot of great stories. We have a lot of amazing stories. We’re very lucky to be very content rich. I mentioned the Smithsonian earlier, the executive director of the Smithsonian Loni Bunch, is a double alumnus of American University. He’s also the first African American executive director of the Smithsonian. Susan zorinsky, CBS president, President CBS News and alumna of AU, so the first woman president of CBS News. First one president of CBS ad sales also is an angel. I’m so we have fantastic stories. We’re not super nimble about telling them quickly. And you know, stories like Loni Bunch are ones that we tell it for time, but there’s also students doing really wonderful things and the moment is gone. And, you know, we sort of catch up to it and then talk about It may be an annual report or strategic plan. So I think that something that we’re talking about in our leadership team is how can we be more nimble, and higher ed is not really typically known to be that fast moving. So it’s something that we’re going to have to kind of reconsider in terms of, you know, how we’re approaching things, the team that’s working on them and how we’re going to get those messages out.

Lauren Leva:

Thank you all. One more quick question before we turn it over to the audience. And this is off the record. Which DC brand Do you love the most besides your own?

 Julie Zito:

The NATS of course. Amazing. Super fun. What a great year. But I’m also going to add Pitango, which I’m a big fan of Pitango. It’s all about food. Greg, right. So yeah, not only do they have an awesome product, but they really work on the actual variance piece. I don’t know how many locations they have, but there may be like five in DC? They have like game nights. They have prosciutto tasting nights. And I went there once and somehow I don’t even remember signing up for an email and I get emails from them all the time, but it’s always like, well, I don’t know. I’ll go to a prosciutto tasting night! Oh, and gelato. Why not? That sounds awesome. So I think they do a good job.

Krista Olson:

I’m really into books so I love Politics and Prose, Kammer’s…I think all of them are just they they’re all are very unique. And I love, like, all the different events that Politics and Prose hosts and [I] have definitely frequented a lot of.

Robin McLean:

I’ll just say, I really shouldn’t answer that question. But I’m, I’m a big shopper. And so I’ll just say Shop Made in DC. Love it.

 Greg Menna:

It doesn’t count as a brand. It’s because it’s just one restaurant. Currently. It’s because I know the chef so well. The Dabney, the chef Jerimiah Langhorne, he’s become a personal friend of mine through really interesting connections that go back to like when I was five. But because I, I feel that if I were an incredibly talented chef, and I could start a really, you know, amazing restaurant, it would be similar. And how he approaches the people that he has on his team and his just amazing attention to detail. That’s what he cares about. And he’s just a genuinely good man. Like he’s not, he doesn’t have an ego. He’s really ingenious and I’ve loved how he approaches, serving people because that’s what he’s trying to do is like, serve people and do it with incredible specificity, according to who he is. So I don’t think he’s trying to do something that’s like contrived, he’s just, the creativity that’s there. It’s simple in some ways, but really imaginative at the same time. So I really like him and I hope, I hope he’s going to continue. I know he’s actually he’s going to open another restaurant. Sounds really cool he was telling me about so, yeah.

Lauren Leva:

Yeah, that’ll be neat. Mellissa? 

Mellisa Fasano:

So mine is actually a person, a local artist, Taylor Kampa, who I believe you probably know. And she’s actually done some fantastic work. Yeah, she so I have to go to Taylor’s I actually went to high school with Taylor Kampa. She’s a phenomenal local artist. If you are not familiar, please look her up. She’s done artwork, obviously for District Doughnut, a little PR play there. But um, she also has been commissioned for a lot of work for all the Washington sports teams. So she’s done. If you haven’t been to Circa in Penn quarter, or I guess Chinatown, I guess we should call it and she actually did all the artwork for the entire inside of the restaurant before it opened. Unbelievable. She’s got you know, art local artists like jazz artists. She’s got Capitals players, she’s got Wizards players, [there’s] a little bit of flavor for everyone. Unbelievable artists and local homegrown from the area. Definitely check her out. Her name is Taylor Kampa.

Lauren Leva:

Thank you all for humoring me with that one. Any questions from the audience for this group? Before we break? Any type of question.

Audience Member:

I’d be interested in the same question but for brands that have been around for a while, we’re in historic city and around for over two centuries. Curious what the panel thinks. [inaudible]

Robin McLean:

I’ll answer that question before anyone else can, but the Smithsonian, I think that fits the bill and it is one of the tent poles still of how we promote the city. All of those museums and the National Zoo are free, and no other city in the world can match that.

Julie Zito:

It’s great for students on a college budget, too. So it’s fantastic draw…AU has been around since 1893. So we’re one of those older brands. You know, I would say, certainly, I would think campus looks very different now than it did then not only the physical space, but the student makeup. You know, we try to evolve with the city as it evolves. It can be you know, there was an earlier question about sort of local trends. And one of the things that affects our students a lot, of course, is, change in the federal government. And for example, with the hiring freeze and the State Department, you know, a few years back that students who came here really to do that and then sort of had to, they’re getting ready to graduate and they had this plan and they have to rethink that. You know, it’s isomething that we definitely feel the change in the city, and how that can change the environment and, you know, people’s aspirations on campus.

 Lauren Leva:

We had a question over here.

Audience Member #2:

I get to be the one talking in the mic. So you all talked a little bit about telling your stories

effectively. But of course, the story is different for each of your brands. And I’m really curious what types of stories you’ve found to be the most effective, not necessarily the channels that you’re using, but actually what stories resonate the most with your demographics?

 Robin McLean:

Sports and food. And I think even going a little more micro to things like rooftops, rooftop experiences in the city is a major one and we can see in the investment from hotels that are under development will be debuting that almost everyone has that type of experience to offer.

Julie Zito:

And there’s a reason for that because they’re amazing views and DC students want to see themselves, you know, in living here being here, you know, working here So, but for graduate students and undergraduate students, it’s, you know, a current student profiles, alumni profiles. You know, we have a student who, well they were at a you as an undergrad started in our incubator, a biodegradable straw. He graduated around right around the time DC bands, straws. So, you know, he’s pretty excited, right? And it kind of started there. So those sorts of stories where people can see themselves and say, like, yeah, maybe I’m not gonna invented by a degradable straw, but maybe I’m going to, you know, do this other thing. So that’s what we tend to focus on alumni and current students. 

Melissa Fasano:

We, we find that home brand is actually really interesting to our residents. It seems like everybody is very interested in the content that’s about, you know, what does your home look like? I want to see a home tour, how are you designing your apartment, small space living? These are all topics that I never really thought about till I became a part of the multifamily industry, but they’re very relevant. I mean, if you think about your day to day life, whether you’re in a single family, home row home or apartment, community, work, condo, you know, you’re constantly or maybe not constantly, but at some point in your journey, you’re looking into ways that you can showcase your personal brand in your home brand. And we find that that content really resonates with our audience.

 Krista Olson:

Yours is definitely like behind the scenes content, anything that gets somebody into a locker room. I think the other thing which is exceptional for both the WNBA and the NBA is that we had Natasha Cloud and Bradley Beal represented as the community leaders for the entire league. They were they both received that award. And just the impact of both of those groups and the things that they’re doing out in the community especially in Morty is down content that people are resonating with but also because it’s relevant to their lives.

Lauren Leva:

So thank you all so much. This is a really great discussion about DC brand. And I think everyone will be here afterwards to answer questions if anyone has any follow ups, but thank you all.