The Season of Giving

During the holiday season, it seems like food is always around. We're consistently trying our best to resist those large-quantity trays of unneeded holiday treats, making it hard to imagine what it’s like to feel truly hungry. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for millions of Americans who go hungry on a daily basis.

In an effort to jump start their own season of giving – and to fight this suffering – the 15 employees of OnMessage, a Dallas-based integrated ad agency, recently came together to build a Christmas Tree made of nearly 700 collected cans of food (roughly translates to 2,500 meals) to donate to the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB). 

Using their expertise as advertising/marketing professionals, OnMessage employees have gone above and beyond by using this Christmas Tree CANstruction event as a “kick-off” to a full viral campaign, “AJoyFULLHoliday,” to drive donations to the North Texas Food Bank Web site and raise awareness of how one can make a difference. The campaign kicked off earlier this month and will run through the end of the year.

We hope you’ll join OnMessage in providing A JoyFULL Holiday for someone in need - and spread the word. Check out the campaign’s promotional video and Fox 4 news clip below. You can also follow the campaign on Twitter @AJoyFULLHoliday.

The Season of Giving

Bull's Eye! Staying On Target With Company Messaging

It seems like we are constantly bombarded by brand messaging—Just Do It. Eat More Chicken. It’s enough to make businesses wonder, how do you stand out against all the chatter?

Jim O’Gara, president of Dallas-based integrated ad agency OnMessage, recently interviewed with “That Marketing Show” to discuss the importance of clear and concise messaging and telling your brand “story.”

A few of Jim’s take-home points are below. Click here to listen to the full podcast, with additional tips!

• What’s your story? Do your employees, especially those dealing directly with customers, know how to tell your company’s story? Is it aligned with your current business strategy, service/product offerings?

• Turn your typical marketing model on its head: Leading the attack with full-blown campaign tactics and execution before nailing down clear, laser-focused key messages for your company will earn you a one-way ticket to jumbled messaging, which can result in a significant amount of wasted sales and marketing dollars.

• Hearing Voices: Every company needs to get close to the voice of its customer, routinely – not just during that initial, one-time focus group or interview. Your product/service needs to adapt as your customers and technology do….and when it does, your company “story”/message must be adjusted to reflect those changes, also.

• Fancy Schmancy: Go beyond the elaborate logo and catchy tagline—these won’t matter at the end of the day if your message doesn’t resonate with your target audience.

Bull's Eye! Staying On Target With Company Messaging