We’ve seen some big changes at Phoenix Group this week, starting with the retirement of the big man, Gus.
It was a subdued affair by Phoenix standards, the entire staff gathered at Golf’s for lunch, laughs and goodbyes to our long-standing production manager, Gus. Wow. End of an era. Here you see the piece JJ and Lee put together for Gus.
Gus heads into the sunset
Taking Gus’s seat, our own Sue Norsworthy moves into the role of Production Director.
Also moving up, Rachel was promoted to Media Director (more on that coming). Rachel has been outstanding in her first week in the big office, with great media plans being built for the U of R and many other clients (details to come!)
Natalie announced she’s leaving and Chelsea is also heading off this week.
Which leaves us looking for an Art Director, Account Planner and Production Designer.
And after a week like that, it’s time to hit the Rock Band!
Kickin' back before the loooong weekend
Our landlords, Milt Walker and Francis Bast threw a bit of a party yesterday, with the grand opening of Regina Centre Crossing. We did our part to make it a good party adding the Brecknock beer, and our friends at Crave provided the nibblies. Super thanks to the boys from DaCapo in Winnipeg who drove down for the event and bought us RockBand for our Wii! (And they helped us put on a concert later!)
About 800 friends came by to tour the old SuperStore, now home to us, our clients the Roughriders and Toursim Saskatchewan, as well as AECOM, Century West and Walker Projects.
Pat Fiacco cut the ribbon, with our lovely neighbour Lynda Haverstock helping out, and our president Pam, looking stunning in white
We took the DaCapo boys on a tour of the Rider training facility, where Olaf showed off his super strong thighs and demonstrated some new sound effects for us. Argh! and Grrr! and Ouch!
Read all about it in the Leader Post story
Thanks to Greg Huszar for taking pictures! and to Mosaic for the lovely fruit!
August 16th was very special. The 11th annual PGCC was very successful and rewarding. Our clients, friends and partners led us to new heights in funds raised- $33,000 for the North Central Family Centre. To everyone on and off the course who helped make this happen – thank you!
Oh sure, she made it look easy, our Chairperson Amy ran a perfect tournament - and she doesn't even look stressed!
Lovely greeters! Dressed in style with the official Phoenix Group Plus 4s
Jim Hopson getting some love
We’ve finally made a mark on our piece of Regina Centre Crossing.
Our excitement began to grow when we came to work and saw bright, colourful bits of what appeared to be our logo and new branding scattered like a jigsaw puzzle in front of the building. We became even more giddy when the crane showed up and our new signage really began to take shape.
Now it’s up for the entire city to see and we’re thrilled about how it turned out. It symbolizes the months of hard work and dedication our team has put in to make our new move and new look a reality.
So the next time you’re driving by the corner Albert St. and Dewdney Avenue look up and let us know what you think!
Turned out to be a gorgeous night for a barbecue. We hosted a few friends at the pre-game barbecue as the game day sponsor. Thanks to everyone who could make it, nothing beats burgers, beer and Rider football!
On Saturday, August 7th, the Interview 2009 won a WAB Gold Award at the Western Association of Broadcasters Annual Meeting. The Gold Award was given for innovative and outstanding contribution in the area of community service.
The Western Association of Broadcasters (WAB) is an association of and for the independent radio and television stations of Western Canada. Its objective is to foster and promote the development of the art of broadcasting.
This is a great honour for our client and their Interview partner, 104.9 The Wolf (and we’re pretty excited about it too)! Chelsea Gray – Account Planner To read more click here >>
Watch the news story reported by Global and featuring our very own Darren Mitchell by clicking here.
By now you may have seen the billboards posted in Edmonton that poke a stick at the Rider Nation. Before you get too upset, you should know that we’ve been heating things up in other CFL cities for years.
It started with one, solitary billboard placed in each “enemy” city in the days leading up to when the Riders were coming to town. Initially, this was done to entice Saskatchewan expatriates to visit the Riderville website and pay to become a member of a fan forum. The billboards drew such a reaction from fans and media that the annual campaign continues to this day, even though the website has been free now for years. Frankly, stirring the pot and heating up CFL rivalries is just too tempting and, in the end, it benefits the entire league when done tastefully and keeps Rider Pride alive and well across the country (something which is evident in the stands at every Rider away game.)
So, before you give the Esks the stink-eye, know that we drew first blood. Also, from a sheer marketing standpoint, you have to ask yourself, “Why did Edmonton create this billboard now? And, why did they place it in Edmonton and not Regina?” Well, one look at the CFL standings and you’ll get your answer. The Eskies are off to a dismal start to the season; and what better way to help sell tickets to the Aug. 28 SK at Edmonton game than to draw the ire of the thousands of Rider Priders living near Commonwealth Stadium? It’s a smart strategy and I can’t knock the logic. The Rider Nation will show up in droves to support their beloved green and white. And, as we said last year to the Eskimos faithful, “We’ll save a section for ya!”
Advertising Phoenix Group by .
Phoenix Group Interactive & Media used YouTube ad servers to geo-target Rock Bridge Realty’s 2010 online campaign. Specifically targeting Regina users, the Rock Bridge campaign was placed within pop culture categories on YouTube. Rather than placing these banner ads where Realtors® are expected (real estate sites for example), “Realty done differently,” hits the audience as they search their favourite content. To view them in action click here or on this image.
We’re a pretty small market in the vast world of professional sports. We’ve won only three titles in our 100-year history. Yet, our fans top the league in passion and pride by leaps and bounds. What is it that turns an entire province green? We say it’s great advertising 
. But, read what Suitor, “Dutch” and the TSN panel have to say about the enigma that is Rider Pride by clicking here.
Advertising Phoenix Group by .
Since we were moving to a new space, and we needed to order new business cards and letterhead anyway, why not take advantage of the opportunity and order new mugs, glasses, a new web site, forms, signage, banners … well you get the idea.
Our previous identity survived over 10 years of Art Directors, Creative Directors, Designers and Partners—that’s really not that long for a logo, but when identities are what you do, it’s an eternity.
This is, I believe, the 4th identity for Phoenix Group, and the first that explores the theme of fire. Although there is also a nod to the bird. Rising again like our namesake the new identity was created by Jared, who also designed the new website.
Having led so many clients through our brand discovery process, we had loads of fun turning the tables and going through the process ourselves. Exploring who we are led to some great discussion. It was unanimous that Good Thinking should remain as our tag line. What does it mean? Well here’s a excerpt from our brand guidelines:
We’re about more than just making ads.
We’re about making noise.
We’re about making things happen.
We’re about thinking. Good thinking.
Good Thinking is great creative that gets results.
Good Thinking is ideas and solutions
Good Thinking is taking an extra step
Good Thinking is helping each other out.
Supporting our coworker’s idea. His workload. Her dream.
Good Thinking is being thoughtful
Our tagline celebrates ideas, creativity, results and caring.
In conjunction with the new identity is a new virtual space to go along with our new physical space. The website celebrates our clients, our friends and the wonderful men and women at Phoenix Group. Explore!
We will still send out our eBlasts, and Tweets, and now we add this stage, the burning blog, to share the more personal side of Phoenix and our clients. I’m sure it will develop its own personality and no doubt, in its own way, reflect who we are. With multiple authors and contributors from in the agency and perhaps even some comments or entries by you, the promises to be a fun place to visit.
Please comment, feed back, and most of all enjoy!
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