At Oswego Creative, we measure our success by the success our clients achieve from the executions we produce for them. The following are just a few success stories our clients can tell after working with us.
Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD)
The 2008 election was a critical and divided election for the entire country. In any election, voters cast their vote based on which candidate most supports the individuals’ interests and shares their beliefs. This is especially true when it comes to big businesses and large organizations. For groups that represent large numbers of people, it was especially imperative that the chosen candidate was someone who had a positive impact on the future of the group membership.
This election was especially important to the Building and Construction Trades department of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (BCTD, AFL-CIO). Comprised of 13 construction labor unions with more than four million members, the BCTD knew that whomever took office in Washington would directly determine the potential for their struggling membership to have a chance at getting back to work. After determining which candidate would give them that opportunity, it was up to the BCTD to make sure that their four million members showed up at the polls on voting day.
They knew that communicating a message to millions of people spread throughout the country was easier said than done. The BCTD needed to develop a comprehensive message that touched upon the multiple factors that were important to their position on the 2008 Presidential race. Knowing that they needed to get the word out but having a limited budget and resources, the BCTD needed an execution that clearly and passionately stated their position but was also flexible in structure so it could be used to reach members in a number of different ways.
The BCTD came to Oswego Creative not only needing a dynamic deliverable, but also needing it right away. The Oswego Creative team moved quickly by working directly with the BCTD team to understand their message and share in a way that would compel the membership. Once this was done they moved into conceptualizing, writing, shooting, editing and duplicating thousands of DVDs for use on the campaign trail.
In just a few weeks, Oswego Creative developed a solution for the BCTD that helped them position, educate and mobilize their membership and the public at large on their position in the 2008 presidential race. From a single project, Oswego Creative produced a final execution that the BCTD was able to use as a positioning DVD, website content, membership education and even as content used at rallies. With the help of Oswego Creative the communication of this campaign position inspired record numbers of BCTD members to support a unified message and to make their voices heard in an election that ended up positively impacting their futures.
Sonnenalp Resort of Vail
Recognized as one of the leading hotels of the world, The Sonnenalp Resort of Vail is a Bavarian themed world-class hotel and spa located in the picturesque Vail Valley. Built upon the German philosophy of Gemutlichkeit, or coziness, The Sonnenalp Resort boasts exceptional dining, outstandingshopping, a full service spa, and an 18-hole private golf course all the while being located just steps away from the slopes of Vail Mountain. Embodied by the welcoming and accommodating spirit of Rosanna and Johannes Faessler, whose family who has owned and operated the resort for four generations, the Sonnenalp provides incomparable amenities supported by a staff completely committed to creating a treasured vacation experience.
With so much to offer guests, the Sonnenalp was looking for a better way to not only showcase their exquisite amenities and the offerings of the beautiful Rocky Mountain setting, but also to truly convey the warmth and friendliness of the Bavarian culture around which the property had been designed.
Oswego Creative worked with the Sonnenalp team to capture the familial spirit that permeates this special hotel and also developed a solution that promotes all the services and amenities offered to guests. With the creation of Sonnenalp TV, Oswego Creative designed an in-room channel that would provide guests with “Today Show” style programming that promoted everything that the hotel and Vail has to offer. As a way of bringing that feeling of Gemutlichkeitbut to guests, Sonnenalp TV was hosted by none other than the Faessler’s themselves. Not just simple an overview of services, Sonnenalp TV content is as engaging and entertaining as it is informative. With in-room videos that promote everything from the Sonnenalp’s restaurants to the process of making snow on Vail Mountain, Sonnenalp TV draws the viewer in and shares with them everything that makes the Sonnenalp special.
With the launch of Sonnenalp TV, the Sonnenalp noticed an increased usage of all the amenities and services offered to guests. As a result of benefits attributed to Sonnenalp TV, the Sonnenalp decided to utilize Sonnenalp TV as the primary marketing vehicle for the rollout of their new Ski Concierge service. By featuring the program in the Sonnenalp TV programming, the Sonnenalp was able to exceed their initial adoption metrics for the Ski Concierge program.
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) is one of the largest unions in North America. Representing more than 725,000 members in fields ranging from utilities, construction, telecommunications, broadcasting and manufacturing, the IBEW is constantly challenged to find ways to communicate with their diverse and expansive membership. This challenge not only involves the sharing of critical work-related information but also information promoting the benefits of a life in the IBEW.
Looking for an innovative way to directly engage with their membership, the IBEW turned to Oswego Creative to develop a solution that both informed membership and would foster pride in them. Their request resulted in the development of IBEWHourPower.com. Developed by Oswego Creative, IBEWHourPower.com is a streaming video website dedicated to providing relevant, informative and entertaining content for the IBEW membership. With video features ranging from the mission critical (launch of the Code of Excellence program) to the educational (member-driven Job Tips) to the purely entertaining (IBEW Solidarity Motorcycle Ride), IBEWHourPower.com provided the IBEW with a unique portal to communicate directly with their membership.
Since its launch in April of 2006, IBEWHourPower.com has produced over 200 videos that have been watched more than 8 million times. Eleven IBEWHourPower.com stories have been recognized for their excellence by the Telly Awards and the IBEW has utilized IBEWHourPower.com as the main medium to communicate and rollout mission critical programs, including the IBEW Code of Excellence that redefined how IBEW members were required to behave and work. This program has been critical in helping the IBEW secure a number of large-scale projects, helping put hundreds of IBEW members to work.
O’Toole’s Garden Centers
O’Toole’s Garden Center, a locally owned and operated greenhouse in the Denver Metro area, has become accustomed to the various seasons that come with life in Colorado. Typically relying on seasonal print and television advertising, O’Tooles has become a successful and well-known garden center with service in three locations.
On July 20th 2009, a completely unforeseen and devastating hailstorm hit Lakewood Colorado quickly inflicting hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to homes and businesses in the area. The storm was especially devastating to O’Toole’s Lakewood location where the storm caused over $250,000 worth of damage and a potential complete loss of the recently delivered product inventory.
Having worked with Oswego Creative on TV commercials in the past, store owner Adele O’Toole quickly looked to Oswego Creative to come up with an idea to help sell the damaged products and minimize the financial impact of the storm.
With no time to delay, Oswego Creative quickly jumped in and within two days had conceptualized, wrote, shot, edited and completed the media buy for a TV commercial promoting a storm damage sale.
The “Storm Sale” spot hit the airwaves the Friday after the storm, encouraging people to rush to the Lakewood O’Toole’s Garden Center location for unbeatable savings. As a result of the spot, not only did the store recovers the losses caused by the storm, it saw a revenue increase from the prior year’s weekend sales.
IBEW Local 103–International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers stands as the largest building and construction union, having over a thousand local councils spread through out the United State and Canada. Of these thousands of councils, Boston’s IBEW Local 103 has been known as one of the largest and most innovative memberships in the brotherhood. Over the years, their success has relied on strong communication between the over 4,000 members, and a dedication to keeping every member informed about critical issues facing their trade. In 2010, Local 103’s Business Manager, Mike Monahan, was realizing that the days of calling everyone to gather at the union hall to discuss pressing issues was losing it’s practicality and effectiveness. With the complicated issues surrounding the health care reform debate, Monahan needed a way to address the issues and share vital information without depending on 4,000 people convening in one location.
Mr. Monahan enlisted Oswego Creative to develop an inventive way to communicate with the membership outside of the union hall. Oswego Creative’s solution was to create a virtual union hall meeting through a live webcast. This would allow members to see and hear Monahan’s explanation of the issues by simply logging in online from home. With this being a complicated topic, Oswego Creative not only developed the technological structure of the webcast, but also created a series of prerecorded video segments that clearly reviewed the key issues. These segments were interspersed through the entirety of the 60-minute plus program. Finally and perhaps most importantly, the live webcast also gave members the opportunity to submit questions online to be answered on camera by Mr. Monahan.
With Oswego Creative handling all the logistics and production, Mr. Monahan was able to solely focus on his role as Business Manager and the important task of clearly communicating the issues to his constituents. In a single session, the membership of IBEW 103 was offered a thorough explanation of the important issues surrounding healthcare. As a bonus, IBEW Local 103 was able to post a recorded version of the real-time live webcast on their site for any member that had been unable to attend the event.
IMPACT–Ironworkers Management Progressive Action Cooperative Trust
IMPACT is a labor-management partnership designed to provide a forum for union Ironworkers and signatory contractors to address mutual concerns and encourage reasonable, balanced solutions. Its primary goal is to discuss issues in the industry and create resolutions that result in job opportunities for ironworkers. In 2007, IMPACT developed the North American Iron Workers / IMPACT Labor-Management Conference as an annual event focused on helping members learn about the activities of the Ironworkers International Office and the various IMPACT National and Regional programs. The purpose of this event was to provide labor and management with the opportunity to share information and leave with ideas and programs that might help expand market share. But as a new conference being launched during a time where this and every industry has reduced budgets, IMPACT knew that they needed to make sure that they promoted the unique purpose of this particular event and then maximized the value for attendees.
IMPACT came to Oswego Creative to help them not only market the event but also develop a unique and informative content stream to help differentiate the event. Oswego Creative developed a series of marketing videos to invigorate IMPACT’s initial attendance generation efforts and to help them hit their attendance goals. These marketing efforts included personal appeals from Ironworkers President Joseph Hunt and Management Co-Chair William Brown that articulated the distinctive benefits of the conference. Additionally, Oswego Creative developed a series of orientation videos that introduced attendees to the conference’s featured issues, allowing them to arrive at the conference fully prepared. Perhaps most importantly, Oswego Creative offered the conference a package called CCN: Convention and Conference Newscast, which include on-site filming of the event that is transformed nightly into unique daily recaps of the day’s events that are delivered directly to attendees via the in-room channel.
In 4 short years, IMPACT has been able to grow the North American Iron Workers / IMPACT Labor-Management Conference into one of the most important and widely attended events in the construction industry. Through Oswego’s marketing support, people were made aware of the excellent programming offered at the IMPACT conference and the CCN updates have served as an aid in conference attendance growth. When surveyed at the 2010 IMPACT conference, over 70% of attendees stated that they watch the CCN nightly recaps and found them to be a differentiating factor in the conference.
UDR
Real estate investment has always been a competitive marketplace where every organization is focused on distinguishing themselves and their properties from the rest of the competition. With the recent economic set-backs and market slow-down, the competition in the real estate market is particularly high. UDR was a classic example of a real estate organization looking for innovative ways to showcase their recent purchases for investors and ensure that the properties were filled to capacity. UDR had realized that the new-age media had made brochures and spec sheet outdated and that they needed marketing and investor-relations executions that were accessible and interactive.
UDR turned to Oswego Creative for help in developing marketing material for both investors and potential property tenants. Despite the unique interests of the two different audiences, Oswego Creative was able to execute both deliverables in just one single production effort. The piece intended for Investors focused on presenting the facts of the property and highlighting the potential financial opportunity. The video designed for renters or buyers offered a more creative and engaging approach meant to generate a more emotional attraction to the property.
Utilizing this single production turned multiple deliverable approach, Oswego Creative provided UDR with one cost effective solution that met multiple needs by effectively communicating with investors and potential renters or buyers.
IBEW Local 26–International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 26
In the American workplace, more and more emphasis is being put on the importance of diversity and acceptance in the workplace. It seems that new rules and regulations regarding gender equality, harassment prevention and overall political correctness are constantly being developed and redefined. One industry that has battled the reputation of discrimination and sexism is Construction. The claims of sexism and inappropriate behavior on the worksite have lingered even after years of reform and improvement efforts. Both labor and management were challenged to develop a workforce and image that shows that the negative stereotypes that have haunted them are in fact outdated and that their industry is as diverse and accepting as any other profession.
The IBEW’s Local 26 has one of the industry’s largest and most powerful memberships. Being located in Washington D.C., IBEW 26 is constantly working on government and public sector projects that require documented levels of diversity training before contracts are granted. Fighting to stay ahead in one of the countries most competitive construction labor markets, IBEW 26 board members joined with their union contractor partners, the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), to develop a diversity training program.
After discussing the issues both IBEW and NECA felt most apparent, they had formed a general idea of what topics a diversity-training program needed to cover. However, being contractors and construction workers by trade left them needing some assistance in how to actually execute the most effective program possible.
Having worked together in the past, IBEW 26 immediately knew that Oswego Creative’s experience in developing training programs and solid understanding of the construction industry made them the best resource for this project. After providing Oswego Creative with their overall objectives, Local 26 turned the project over to Oswego Creative’s content development and video production teams. From these initial marching orders, the staff at Oswego Creative was able to quickly conceptualize the diversity-training program, identify diversity experts, storyboard the program, write and produce the program and implement the online delivery system.
The final diversity program that Oswego Creative developed for Local 26 was a combination of studio sessions with diversity experts and Local 26 members as well as dramatic recreations of diversity-related scenarios. The final diversity program was delivered via the online delivery system and on DVDs accessible to the over 8,500 IBEW 26 members. Post-program data showed that 92.2% of program users were able to pass the final program examination. With the successful implementation of a comprehensive diversity program, IBEW 26 was able to stay competitive in the market by proving that their entire membership understood proper behaviors and was committed to creating a positive work environment for all.