Fluent in Java Script and Klingon
January 19, 2012
Good thing nerds are cool because Junior Web Designer and Digital Strategist Alex Knust just joined the HenkinSchultz team.
Now, before you pull out your light sabers to defend his honor, know that Alex is a self-proclaimed nerd. He’s more than happy to talk about new web stylings, cool fonts, great new independent music or classic sports uniforms. And if you’re really, really lucky, he’ll do his Gollum impression for you.
Fortunately, Alex’s nerd cred goes beyond being a fan of Lord of the Rings. He’s definitely got the smarts to qualify. While earning degrees in marketing and interactive web development from Creighton University in Omaha, Alex interned at several marketing and design firms. He also studied for five months at the Florence University of the Arts in Florence, Italy, and traveled all over Europe at the same time.
Now if you’ll excuse us … we need to get back to debating with Alex what would be better: running a record label or owning a vineyard in Tuscany. Jinkies! Even Alex’s fantasy careers are creative, nerdy and awesome. Just like him.
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A Journey of Faith
January 11, 2012
Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center challenged HenkinSchultz with producing the hospital’s 100-year celebration at the end of 2011. The event needed to acknowledge the hospital’s current success while honoring its rich past.
Avera McKennan began as a small seed planted in the mind of Helen McKennan, who donated the money to open McKennan Hospital in 1911. Since then, Avera McKennan has grown to be a 545-bed tertiary hospital that employs 550 physicians in 60 distinct specialties. According to Regional President and CEO David Kapaska, the hospital’s first 100 years has been a journey of faith.
So, too, was the planning of such an ambitious event, which appropriately honored the hospital’s donors, sisters, doctors, nurses, employees, volunteers, innovative leaders and patients. Congratulations to Avera McKennan on 100 incredible years.
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An Emotional Appeal? Check!
December 27, 2011
Many people over the age of 50 know that screening for health disease is a good idea. But it often takes a heart-wrenching true story to motivate them to make an appointment.
In the latest TV commercials for Avera Heart Hospital’s Planet Heart screenings, people with heart problems tell their own stories. So many people think heart disease can’t happen to them—including Linda Olson.
To encourage others to go for a Planet Heart screening, Linda Olson talked about when she had a heart attack. Hear Linda tell her story below in this video produced by Avera Heart Hospital and HenkinSchultz.
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Spotlight on Our Thinkers: Chris Huls
December 8, 2011
Six years ago, a small group of young professionals in Sioux Falls began talking about starting a networking group for professionals in their 20s and 30s. This group would have three tiers: civic opportunities, social networking and professional development. In May 2006 when Synergy kicked off, our very own Chris Huls was one of the first members. Since then, he’s been an active member and even served as the Civic Chair and maintained the Synergy website from 2007 to 2008.
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White Open Spaces
November 29, 2011
Although some see it as “wasted” space, white space is necessary for good design. White space may not necessarily be white—it could be black, a texture or any other color; it’s simply the area of the design where there’s intentionally nothing going on. Here are a few benefits of white space:
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To Be Frank, You Should Be Impressed
November 15, 2011
If Brooklyn-born, 100-percent Sicilian Frank Fradella says he’s coming for you, should you be scared? Only if you’re Jackie Chan.
That’s because Frank’s determined to meet the actor some day. And if Frank sets his mind to something, well, it’s probably going to happen. Need proof? Frank’s the author of a dozen or so books. He studied Mandarin Chinese for three years before moving to China for pre-production on his first feature film. Then, he developed a language-learning podcast that was the #1 rated educational podcast in the world on iTunes (beating out CNN and Anderson Cooper, no less).
Oh, and we should mention the reason we recently hired him. Frank’s a talented video producer who loves his career because it allows him to be creative in so many ways.
Yet Frank says his favorite role in life so far is being a husband. All those accomplishments and he’s mushy?! Awwww. We take back that jab we made up there about New Yorkers.
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I came to dance, dance, dance, dance, dance.
November 1, 2011
It’s tough to get out of dancing if you hang out at HenkinSchultz for a while. That’s because at every anniversary and holiday party, House Lyricist and Choral Instructor for Big Events Lynell Unruh (also known as our creative director) leads a song and dance. And this year, my friends? This year’s anniversary performance is a doozy. It has to be, in honor or our 20th anniversary.
We’re not going to ruin the surprise by telling you what the song is. Come see for yourself! You may even feel moved to join in.
HenkinSchultz. Thursday. 4:30. Be there.
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Window Dressing
October 4, 2011
Will we be bragging if we say this just may be our best building display ever? Spoiler alert! It will feature what makes us so great: our creative thinkers. Today, Designer Jason Jellis is preparing our windows in anticipation of HenkinSchultz’s 20th anniversary party later this month. (Jason’s watched the movie Fargo a lot.)
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Cures for the Viral Craze
September 20, 2011
Viral marketing campaigns have a certain allure. You simply give the customers the message, and they do the work for you, right? Sadly, it doesn’t happen like that. Viral marketing campaigns take a lot of effort, but if you do them right they can pay off. However, the risk is that there’s no guarantee that they will.
Let’s start with the basics. Viral marketing, quite simply, is getting a message to spread rapidly, just like a virus does. Viral marketing campaigns are trendy right now—remember the Old Spice Guy? There have even been literal viral marketing campaigns (yuck). Viral marketing doesn’t work for every business, but paired with a strong traditional marketing campaign and aimed at the right audience, viral marketing efforts can take off.
If you’re thinking about such a campaign, take the temperature of your campaign before making a decision. Here are some points to keep in mind:
Consider return on investment. Will your viral marketing campaign help you sell your product or spread your message? If the answer is no, it’s not helping your business and it’s not worth the effort.
You still have to plan. It takes ample thought and strategy to make any campaign successful, especially a viral marketing campaign. Strategizing on how to spread the message is an integral part of the campaign, and making a misstep could mean the campaign doesn’t produce the desired results.
Sharing must be built-in. Customers need the tools to quickly share your campaign with others, or its not going to spread. During a South Dakota Department of Education campaign aimed at high-school students, we provided students with sidewalk chalk and wording to spread the message themselves. Built-in sharing can be as simple as links to share on Facebook or forwarding the message to friends.
It doesn’t work for every business. It’s hard to predict what goes viral. While not a marketing campaign, this video of grandparents trying to figure out their computer has more than 7 million hits on YouTube. Having a thorough understanding of your audience and your company’s goals can help you determine if viral marketing campaign is a good fit.
You can’t control what customers say. You can, however, start the conversations and see where they go. Interaction with your customers during these campaigns can help propel the campaign further.
All your campaigns should be shareable. Sure, it’s appealing to think your viral campaign could spread like wildfire, but don’t you want all of your campaigns to have a strong message for people to share? Any campaign, traditional or otherwise, should have a strong message and value for your customers.
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Live Your Passion
September 6, 2011
It’s easy to just go through the motions from day to day. Go to the weekly staff meeting: check. Make a phone call: check. Respond to emails: check. But when was the last time you checked on your passion for work? Ideally, joy for the work you do supersedes all those mundane daily tasks and makes you excited about waking up every weekday.
Passion for creativity is the foundation that HenkinSchultz was built on 20 years ago. We strive to be inspired every day and to inspire our clients, too. After the jump are some fun ways we promote creativity and passion for work among our employees.
An actual HenkinSchultz party. Yes, they get can a little theatrical, but that’s because we’re passionate about throwing parties.
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- Fluent in Java Script and Klingon
- A Journey of Faith
- An Emotional Appeal? Check!
- Spotlight on Our Thinkers: Chris Huls
- White Open Spaces
- To Be Frank, You Should Be Impressed
- I came to dance, dance, dance, dance, dance.
- Window Dressing
- Cures for the Viral Craze
- Live Your Passion
- Val Anderson: We are so happy to have you as a member Chris! Keep getting the word out about Synergy! Val Anderson,...
- Lynda Billars: Chris has always been a person with concern, passion and conviction when it comes to growing our...
- Deane: Our largest client last year was in Toronto. I went there 11 times in a single year. I drove by this every...
- craig: That was a great idea Corey. We should have at least been invited back as guest judges or something.
- Diane: IHop or CiCi’s Pizza!!
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About HenkinSchultz
HenkinSchultz is an agency. An advertising and marketing and branding and design and production agency. All of those things, and then some.
But, underneath all that, we're really a bunch of thinkers. As in, we think about stuff, both pertinent and not, with and without boundaries, as if our lives depended on it. And this right here, Post Haste, is where we write about it.
Visit us at http://www.henkinschultz.com.