Crowley Webb Blog

Fox Run opens with style.

Fox Run, a brand new senior living community near Buffalo, opened its doors in early 2008 and we announced it in style. The classic Arts & Crafts theme and deep color palette we created for the branding campaign captured the high-end architectural design of Fox Run and lent an air of richness and quality to the brand.

Heap has it. And now so do lots of other people in Baltimore.

M&T Bank is the official bank of the Baltimore Ravens and has the naming rights to M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Ravens. At the start of this year’s NFL season, M&T rolled out a new ad campaign – “Checking Built for Baltimore” – that leveraged its solid relationship with the Ravens and positioned it as the go-to bank for checking in Baltimore. Ravens tight end and all-time leading receiver, Todd Heap, was one of the faces of the campaign. It was the first time M&T Bank had featured a professional athlete in its advertising.

Ads showing Heap holding the exclusive M&T Bank Ravens Check Card appeared on buses, bus shelters, truck-mounted mobile billboards, the campaign website – even on pizza boxes. A second version of the ads featured Ravens season ticket holder and “superfan”, Sports Steve, who leads cheers at home games with 48 pounds of beads around his neck. Another well-known fan, Captain Dee-Fense, and one of the Ravens’ three mascots, Poe (not to be confused with Edgar and Allen), were the campaign’s other cameos. Radio spots, special branch signage and ATM screens, and rich media online ads on the Ravens official website as well as baltimoresun.com were part of the campaign, too. At the “Built for Baltimore” website, Ravens fans could download and print out game day signs bearing a catchy headline and the M&T logo (we must admit, it was tough to do the layout for “Beat the Bills”). Specially printed Ravens/M&T footballs and pom-poms were given away at radio remotes and at branch and community events, and were tossed from the mobile billboard trucks. Finally, individuals who signed up for a Ravens Checking Package received a free order of checks with the Ravens logo, along with the M&T Ravens Check Card, a cash bonus, rewards points, and a free Ravens tailgating chair.

“Checking Built for Baltimore” launched in September and ran until mid-November, surpassing campaign goals. “Baltimore is a football-crazy town, and tapping into that emotion has been very successful for the campaign,” said Jeff Pappalardo, creative director on the M&T account.

Buffloricut. Population: 1.

by Jeff Pappalardo

I wasn’t originally thrilled about the Cingular brand being replaced by AT&T. I had developed quite an attachment to the youthful, orange dingbat. But recently, I’ve started to come around. The new AT&T campaign, with TV and outdoor featuring places called Kantucornia and Philalumbpa, touts the benefit that AT&T works in more places. The best part of the campaign is the web component, where you can plug in the places you go the most, have the site formulate your own place, and then you can order a t-shirt or mug with your place on it. My place is Buffloricut. Buffalo, Florida, and Connecticut. Find your place at http://www.attwheredoyoulive.com/

Discovering Cascadia.

Our own Jeff Pappalardo and Allison Polizzi stood in the middle of an empty clearing surrounded by trees near Seattle, Washington, and tried to envision a retirement community nestled there. Our client plans to open the new community in 2011, however, to do so they have to secure 70% capacity of the community by the end of 2008. Our challenge was to come up with a branding campaign that would inspire seniors to commit to living in a community they’d never seen before.

We branded the community Cascadia, which serves as a nod to the Pacific Northwest locale. The campaign, which has the theme, Discover Cascadia. The natural place to be., incorporates elements of nature, a soothing color palette of deep greens and other earth tones, and images of seniors enjoying a vibrant, purposeful lifestyle.