Worx Group News
Mirela Ehlers comes to The Worx Group with more than five years of marketing and business development experience in the consumer packaged goods, retail and healthcare industries, where she was responsible for the development, production and launch of several product lines. She has also consulted for the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CCEI) , where she developed strategic road maps and sustainable business models for Connecticut technology-based start-up companies. She holds an MBA in Marketing Intelligence and Venture Consulting from the University of Connecticut.
Tambra Balch joins the Worx Group as a Senior Designer after playing an integral role in the development of creative and promotional programs for Nestlé Waters North America , New Balance Kids Shoes, Kunde Family Estate Wine, Dunkin Donuts and Energizer. Balch is a graduate of the Paier College of Art.
Pez, the pioneer in "interactive candy" and part of the fabric of American culture for half a century, has engaged with The Worx Group to rebuild its U.S. corporate and sales websites. The site experiences will feature improved functionality with substantial additions to brand, product and historical content. PEZ is manufactured in Orange, Connecticut, and is known internationally for its unique candies and dispensers. More than 3 billion PEZ candies are consumed annually in the United States alone.
Grant Copeland, President and Chief Creative Officer of The Worx Group, contributed to the premiere issue of Connfluence, a new magazine showcasing Connecticut creatives at work and at play. Copeland is featured with other agency leaders who were asked to answer the question "Why Connecticut?"
The Worx Group has been selected as the agency of record for Newtown Savings Bank. The agency will support the bank's overall objectives of enhancing loyalty, broadening customer relationships and attracting a younger demographic. Responsibilities will include offline and online programs – including advertising, collateral, television, radio, events, promotions, web and banner advertising.
Madden brings marketing, public relations and relationship management experience in sports marketing, broadcasting and software, and will be counted on to develop new strategic business opportunities. Madden comes to The Worx Group after six years in business development with Transworld Systems, the nation's largest profit recovery management system. He previously worked as a Registered Client Associate at Merrill Lynch and Director of Business Development at Service Fair Technologies – while serving as the Director of Broadcasting and Public Relations for the Worcester IceCats (now Worcester Sharks) of the American Hockey League.
Allen will play a critical role in developing business opportunities for new clients by leveraging her experience in financial services, branding, advertising and media. She comes to The Worx Group having worked for such notables as Travelers, Aetna and MassMutual Financial Group. Most recently, Allen served as National Sales Executive for Summit Business Media, developing comprehensive advertising opportunities for Fidelity, Prudential and TD Ameritrade.
Cool Beans, the coffee brand owned by Crystal Rock / Vermont Pure waters, has tasked The Worx Group with evolving their brand. In 2010, Cool Beans will begin offering its own product line of specialty-style blends for New England- and New York-area workplaces. Brand work will include a new logo, brand positioning, product naming, packaging and marketing activation offline and online.
When Aetna Customized Communications Group wanted to promote health benefits to Home Depot employees - and drive enrollments - The Worx Group developed livethehealthyorangelife.com. Featuring information organized by region and employment level, Aetna annual enrollment has increased and nearly 250,000 Home Depot employees continue to visit the site to participate in contests, share success stories, obtain recipe and lifestyle tips, and a host of other options. A custom Content Management System was also developed by The Worx Group to allow Home Depot to make real-time updates and upload its monthly lifestyle newsletter – Live! – which gets distributed to all Home Depot employees.
Clint Bowyer and the No. 29 Holiday Inn team won the Jalapeno 250 in Daytona. Holiday Inn competes in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The Worx Group, in partnership with experiential marketing agency Velocity Sports & Entertainment, handles creative responsibilities for Holiday Inn's NASCAR sponsorship. To support the worldwide unveiling of the new Holiday Inn brand, the new car paint scheme designed by The Worx Group will run at Chicago this weekend.
The Worx Group has promoted Grant Copeland to President and Steve Harris to Chief Strategic Officer. The promotions are a direct result of the agency's record growth in 2009 and a method of building the infrastructure to support an elevated level of strategic marketing value provided to the agency's clients. Copeland will continue to lead brand and communications initiatives as Chief Creative Officer, and will also have oversight responsibilities for positioning and business development goals. Harris will lead business, communications and technology strategies, as well as measurement and analytics for top-level marketing campaigns.
News coverage:
PRLog
Conntact.com
One of the marketing and design industry's top publications, Graphic Design USA magazine, is showcasing the Hoffman Auto Group rebranding by The Worx Group as its Project of the Month. The feature is being distributed via GDUSA's online newsletter, which has a subscription base of more than 35,000 marketing professionals.
See the Graphic Design USA newsletter here.
New Milford Hospital has officially launched its new positioning, featuring the slogan "Your home for health". The brand positioning and integrated campaign was developed by The Worx Group, marketing agency of record for the Hospital. Initial activation includes out of home billboards, print advertising, radio and newspaper inserts.
New Milford Hospital press release
Brand work in our Branding/Identity section
Agavue, a new broadband and high-speed internet provider based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has entered the communications market. The new brand was developed by The Worx Group; responsibilities to date include brand naming, strategy, identity and customer communications across all media. Agavue is a combination of three words: Agave (a reference to the plant indigenous to the area, and Southwestern culture), view (a reference to the product and one's personal vision) and you (a reference to the brand philosophy of individuality).
The Worx Group was engaged by Hartford-based Woodside Capital Management, a leading investor in the new company, to build the brand.
See the Agavue brand work in our Branding/Identity portfolio section.
"The Ultimate Guide to Solo and Small Firm Success," a recently-released book by Attorney Renee Berman, contains content from The Worx Group in the chapter on how marketing can provide insight into differentiating one's law practice using both traditional and non-traditional approaches. Steve Harris of The Worx Group was approached by Berman after attending his marketing workshop at the Business Women's Forum in September 2008. More information on the book can be found here.
WFSB-TV Channel 3, Hartford's CBS affiliate, broke the story of the upcoming television commercial by The Worx Group for Blue Back Square on its evening news. Channel 3 reporters and cameras were on hand for the filming of the commercial, which takes a nostalgic look at a time when shopping, dining and entertainment was more pure, simple and fun – a time that still exists at Blue Back. The Worx Group is the agency of record for Blue Back Square, handling all strategic and creative responsibilities. Video production for the commercial was handled by Waterford, CT-based Sonalysts Studios.
See the news story and video here.
David Katz has been named the Director of Account Services for The Worx Group. He will serve as a lead executive on some of the agency's largest accounts while managing the accounts team & streamlining project production and client expectations. Katz brings nearly thirty years of experience to The Worx Group, having served as a senior executive at some of Connecticut and New York's most respected agencies, including Young & Rubicam and McCann-Erickson. Most recently, Katz was a Vice President at Cronin and Company, where he led account management for clients including Konica Minolta, CVS Caremark, Sectra and Vytra Health Plans.
Worx Group Vice President Steve Harris is presenting a modern marketing and communications seminar to the University of New Haven's Center For Family Business at the Oak Lane Country Club on June 3rd and 4th. Entitled "Finding Your Voice: Communicate Like a Pro and Measure Your Effectiveness," the seminar discusses topics including brand differentiation, message continuity, measuring marketing effectiveness and social media.
The Worx Group received word that it has won a prestigious Connecticut Art Directors Club award for its rebranding of the Hoffman Auto Group. The juried show recognizes the best communications work from Connecticut-based marketing agencies. They will be honored at the 34th Annual CADC Awards Show on June 18th at the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration. This is the second CADC award for The Worx Group, having also won in the past for its multimedia presentation for global logistics provider Kuehne + Nagel.
See the Hoffman rebranding in our Branding/Identity portfolio section and the Kuehne + Nagel presentation in our Online/Multimedia portfolio section.
Holiday Inn has released its new co-positioning platform with Major League Baseball, called "Official Partner of Road Trips." The new positioning was developed by Holiday Inn's experiential agency of record, Velocity Sports & Entertainment, with creative responsibilities for the branding by The Worx Group, a Velocity partner. The logo will be activated across all media and communications – such as print, out of home, television, online, promotions and stadium advertising - by Holiday Inn's network of agencies, including Velocity, The Worx Group, Fallon and Digitas.
Integrated Security Group - a regional security solutions provider for institutions such as banks, municipalities and universities – introduced their new brand to the market at the Bankworld 2009 trade show at the Crowne Plaza in Cromwell, CT. The brand was developed by ISG's agency of record, The Worx Group, and will be activated across all communications in the coming months, including collateral, advertising, direct marketing and online.
See the ISG brand work in our Branding/Identity portfolio section.
After the brand launch event at Rentschler Field last night, the new Hoffman Auto Group brand hits the small screen with a 60-second television commercial by The Worx Group. The commercial is an abridged version of the brand film developed for the launch event, and features Hoffman employees and customers. The commercials will run throughout the spring on CBS affiliate WFSB Channel 3, FOX affiliate Channel 61, Comcast and Cox cable.
Watch the commercial and brand film in our Branding/Identity portfolio section.
Read news coverage of the event:
Hartford Courant
Business New Haven
Newsday.com
The Hoffman Auto Group, one of Connecticut's premier family-owned businesses, will launch its new company brand today at an all-employee kickoff event at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. The brand, developed by The Worx Group, features a modernized logo, stand alone icon, consumer-inspiring slogan and brand manifesto. The kickoff event will be MC'd by Dennis House and Kara Sundlun of WFSB-TV Channel 3 and will feature the University of Connecticut Pep Band and mascot Jonathan the Husky.
Blue Back Square has retained The Worx Group as its agency of record. Located in West Hartford, CT, Blue Back Square is an ecclectic mix of new shopping, dining and entertainment experiences – with everything from national retailers to fine restaurants to condominiums. Initial responsibilities for The Worx Group will focus on brand positioning and the development of an integrated advertising campaign, including print and television.
Charlie Callahan, Director of Client Marketing for The Worx Group, provided an overview on the value of a strong brand, rebranding and how to realize unique branded identity for the Waterbury Regional Chamber's Small Business Council series. The three-part seminar was co-hosted by Michael Eck of Wolf ColorPrint.
ConnCreatives.com , a portal and forum for creative professionals in Connecticut, recently showcased a list of Connecticut firms winning Graphic Design USA American Graphic Design awards for 2008. The Worx Group tops the state list with nine awards; the next closest firm won five awards. The nine awards for 2008, coupled with 25 other awards since 2005, are the most GDUSA awards of any marketing firm in the state – and the country.
See the 2008 American Graphic Design Awards list here.
In a three-firm review including the incumbent agency, New Milford Hospital has selected The Worx Group to be its lead integrated marketing firm. The Worx Group was selected by the New Milford Hospital Marketing Advisory Committee based on its acute understanding of the hospital's stated goals and the healthcare space, as well as the strength of its proposed brand positioning platform. The hospital's marketing committee is a diverse collection of executives, clinicians, philanthropists and local residents, including former McCann-Erickson advertising great Bob Lenz (best known for creating the "Tastes Great, Less Filling" campaign for Miller Lite ) and Marydale DeBor (one of the key engineers of Avon's programs to fight breast cancer globally).
Integrated Security Group (ISG) , a regional provider of security and life safety solutions for government and corporations, has retained The Worx Group as its marketing agency of record. Duties include brand positioning, brand and market-specific messaging, strategy, print, direct mail, trade shows, web, email marketing and measurement.
Nearly 18 months after The Worx Group developed the AT&T U-verse campaign in Norwalk, CT, the product demonstration video from campaign figurehead Bobby Choice has now surpassed 20,000 views on video sharing site YouTube . On YouTube searches, the video is top-ranked when searching for U-verse and in the top ten when searching for AT&T U-verse. Interestingly, it has over 10,000 more views than any other video posted on the site about the U-verse product, which has a national reach.
Watch the Bobby Choice U-verse demo video here.
The Hoffman Auto Group , one the largest and most successful auto dealers in the state of Connecticut, has engaged The Worx Group as a marketing partner. Initial duties will focus on standardizing the Hoffman brand across all media, including print, radio and television.
Hoffman has locations in East Hartford, Avon and New London with franchises including Lexus, Audi, Porsche, Saab, smart, Toyota, Scion, Honda, Nissan and Ford.
Marysia Walker, art director at The Worx Group, has designed the "Best of 2008" CD for local morning radio show Chaz & AJ . In a recent broadcast on New Haven-based WPLR , the radio personalities asked if there were any graphic designers interested in volunteering their time to design the CD. Unbeknownst to each other, both Marysia and her husband called the show to nominate her. Proceeds of the disc go to the WPLR Toy Drive , which supports children and families around the holidays.
At an invitation only event held at their Prospect office, The Worx Group gave their network of contacts the chance to discuss business opportunities. Network Night was attended by many of the state's best organizations, who learned about how the agency is innovating to provide the most unique business model of any marketing firm in the area. The event was sponsored by Red Hat , a world leader in open source software solutions and business partner of The Worx Group.
See a list of organizations in attendance.
In an announcement by Graphic Design USA magazine, The Worx Group has won nine American Graphic Design Awards in the annual juried competition. The nine awards bring the agency's four-year total to 34, the most of any firm in the country. This design competition is regarded as the toughest in the industry, with over 10,000 entries and less than 10% selected as winners.
Said Gordon Kaye, Graphic Design USA publisher, "The Worx Group is once again among the most honored firms in the very competitive American Graphic Design Awards, presented annually by Graphic Design USA magazine and sponsored this year by NewPage. Their performance this year, and indeed in this competition over the past four years, has shown The Worx Group to be exceptional at combining creativity and strategy for clients."
Mix Unit, a leading source for exclusive and unique hip-hop content, has rebuilt the company to sell clothing, magazines and other items in the wake of the government ruling it was illegal for them to distribute music online a year ago. A new offering will be the MixTapes.com portal, which provides an otherwise non-existant place for artists to distribute their music legally, especially artists who are unsigned to a label. The Worx Group was engaged to develop the new logo for the site.
MixUnit.com is ranked amongst the 25,000 most viewed sites on the web, and the new MixTapes.com site will be "one of the most heavily viewed portals for hip-hop information in the world," says MixUnit president Mike Rios.
The Worx Group has released a new multimedia spot for Hotel California Tequila, the new ultra premium sipping tequila. The 30-second piece will be used at launch parties, public events, in distribution marketing and online including YouTube and the Tequila's main web site. Broadcast television is a possibility. The Worx Group also handles online and viral marketing responsibilities. The brand, which has no affiliation with the Eagles band, is based on the namesake hotel in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Hotel California Tequila is licensed exclusively in the United States by Sipping Spirits LLC.
Watch the piece on YouTube or in The Worx Group web site multimedia portfolio.
Advantage Human Resourcing, a market leader in consultative staffing solutions, has engaged The Worx Group to rebrand the $200 million organization. Advantage is looking to expand its footprint into European and Asian markets while sustaining and growing domestic market share.
The scope includes naming of the macro and sub-brands, brand positioning, global communications and acquisition strategies.
On the heels of winning three national awards in the 2008 CUES Golden Mirror Awards in Minneapolis, The Worx Group's integrated campaign for the Waterbury Firefighters Federal Credit Union has struck gold again, this time receiving first place in the Credit Union League of Connecticut Marketing Excellence Awards contest. The integrated campaign includes television, print, online and environmental work.
See the award-winning MoneyOne Dog campaign creative in our integrated portfolio.
Scott Wimmer and the No. 29 Holiday Inn race car won a thrilling Pepsi 300 race in Nashville. Holiday Inn competes in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The Worx Group, in partnership with experiential marketing agency Velocity Sports & Entertainment, handles creative responsibilities for Holiday Inn's NASCAR sponsorship and event marketing account – including the design of the race car and team firesuits.
Grant Copeland, Vice President of Design and Creative Director, contributed a behind-the-scenes look at the development of the award-winning Sheaffer website. The article on the Connecticut Creatives site gives unique insight into the creative process – from strategy to execution – with exclusive content including concept sketches and early designs. The Sheaffer site is one of ten American Graphic Design Award winners for The Worx Group in 2007. Connecticut Creatives is a portal devoted to all things creative in Connecticut, including agency news, noteworthy projects, and event information.
Read the article here.
The recent print advertising by The Worx Group in Italian Food & Wine magazine for Brioni's Coffee has seen an enormous amount of interest. The ad, which features a unique promotional code to get a free coffee sample, has gotten over 1,700 requests in the two weeks since the publication was released.
See the Brioni's Coffee ad in our print portfolio .
Harold Spratt, a visionary philanthropist and board member of the Danbury Hospital, was honored by the New England Association of Healthcare Philanthropy as its 2008 "Philanthropist of the Year." As part of the award presentation, The Worx Group developed a long-form, documentary-style video called "Critical Caring" that details the enormous impact that Harold's philanthropy has had on the organization, and himself.
Steve Harris led a workshop on new marketing for executives at BIC, a worldwide leader in consumer products ranging from pens to lighters to shavers. The full-day workshop highlighted by Harris included his insights on viral marketing, non-traditional or guerilla integration strategies, with relevant examples from recent campaigns by Go Daddy and Doritos, as well as examples from his direct experience strategizing on campaigns for Volvo, JetBlue and AT&T.
Steve's recent presentation entitled "The Power of Non-Traditional Marketing" can be seen here.
See the award-winning MoneyOne Dog campaign creative featured in our integrated portfolio.
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