The TRACK at New Balance has officially opened at the company’s Boston Landing Headquarters. This new venue adds to the array of facilities that has made this area a sporting hub for both athletes and fans alike. We are proud to have worked with New Balance on video content strategy, development and production to help introduce this new space. The TRACK bridges the gap between sports and culture, as it is home to a state-of-the-art athletic center, music venue, beer hall, and a sophisticated Sports Research Lab.

To learn more, check out the full press release here.

We are excited to share that our “Life. At Your Pace.” TV campaign for Visit Williamsburg has been awarded a 2021 Silver HSMAI Adrian Award, which recognizes excellence in advertising, public relations, and digital marketing. These TV spots highlight the variety of entertainment and attractions that Williamsburg has to offer, in addition to its rich history. 

In addition, we are proud to announce that Visit Williamsburg’s Chief Executive Officer, Victoria Cimino, was recognized as a leader in the hospitality, travel, and tourism industry. She was named one of the “Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales, Marketing, and Revenue Optimization” by HSMAI.

This award marks the eighth in a series of accolades awarded to our work with Visit Williamsburg, including:

• Travel Weekly Magellan Awards: “Destination Marketing Campaign” (Gold) and “Destination Blog” (Silver)
• Virginia Public Relations Awards: “Reputation and Brand Marketing Campaign,” “Sponsored Content,” “Influencer Marketing,” and “Blog” (all Commonwealth Awards of Merit)
• eTourism Summit Excellence (eTSY) Awards: “Best Content Marketing Program – Large Budget”

Andrew Velichansky, Brand Supervisor 

Most brands nowadays have defined their “Purpose.” Beautifully cast in size-64pt font on a cardstock hand-out given to everyone at the corporate office. Two weeks later, it ends up in a Waste Management truck and forgotten until the next annual company meeting where it shows up on the “agenda” slide. 

Box: Checked.

It’s not ill-intentioned. We’re busy, and accountable to hit numbers that are black, not red, no matter how we get there.

But, if an organization is solely focused on selling products or growing share, it’s leaving a lot of value on the table.

What is a brand’s purpose?

It’s its reason for being—the why it exists. A north star that guides the whole organization, inside and out.

We make decisions daily: Is the new product viable? Do we support the social cause? Will the job candidate drive us in the right direction? Having a north star focuses every decision, giving clarity and meaning for employees, customers and beyond. Think: Does the outcome of this decision align with our purpose?

Why do brands need a purpose?

Because without it, they sell commodities and employ uninspired people. 

Take socks and shoes. Common goods, and with too many known (and unknown) brands to count. How was Bombas able to surpass $100MM in revenue in 2018 selling socks in such a highly fragmented market? Their brand purpose is clearly and demonstratively rooted in helping to clothe those in need, donating one pair of socks for each sale. Toms shoes was an early leader in that business model. Comfortable and aesthetic socks and shoes were cost-of-entry. Rooting their commodities in a larger purpose let them break through and scale.

Brand purpose doesn’t end at philanthropy. CVS boldly stopped selling profitable tobacco products in 2014. Their redefined purpose to “Bring our heart to every moment of your health” led them to ditch tobacco products and launch their “Start to Stop” program to help people quit smoking. Weeding out products that didn’t support their purpose freed up space to innovate and sell ones that did. A short-term sacrifice, but long-term bottom-line driver.

Ask Unilever, which reported in 2019 that its purpose-led, sustainable brands (Ben & Jerry’s, Vaseline, Dove, among many others) grew 69% faster than the rest of their business. And a 2019 study by Deloitte uncovered that purpose-driven companies grow three times faster than their competitors. 

The bottom line is better for it, and so are the employees.

The Great Resignation agitated the labor market, sending companies scrambling to adapt their culture and benefits to be more talent-friendly. Businesses are still struggling with retention. Yes, we want money. But that’s not all.

According to a 2021 McKinsey study, employees are more than five times more likely to feel fulfilled when their purpose aligns with their employers’. Two-thirds of millennials consider an employer’s social and environmental commitments when deciding where to work.

Gen-z is already a core part of the workforce and realizes the power brands have in driving DE&I. They’ll orchestrate brand boycotts. They’ll spike viral sales. And they aren’t afraid to resign from purposeless product-driven companies. They want to feel they’re impacting people, and they want the companies they work for to use their position of financial strength to make peoples’ lives better.

How do we put it into action?

Building a purpose takes time. It’s an ongoing commitment from R&D, HR, marketing, finance, production, and operations. It takes months to develop a meaningful initiative. It takes years to build an authentic purpose backed by substance. And it takes leadership that recognizes the significance of embracing that purpose every day.

We’ve worked with clients to both lay the foundation, and also help those with established purposes find authenticity by crawling, walking and eventually running toward that north star. What does the Defiantly Human methodology look like?

Take our client, Liberty Bank, where we:

• Hosted a series of stakeholder interviews to uncover how their employees viewed the organization’s new mission/vision, and what role they saw the bank playing for customers and the broader community. 
• Landed on a positioning and tagline that embraced who they were at their core and addressed the larger purpose they needed to serve: Be Community Kind.
• Led a set of employee ideation groups to brainstorm products, services, events, hiring/onboarding programs, community relationship building, and much more, all through the lens of Be Community Kind.
• Concepted and helped execute surprise & delight initiatives, including a new brand ambassador program focused on rewarding and paying everyday kindness forward in spontaneous ways.

The secret to building lasting, institutional purpose in an organization? Involve everyone. The whole company–all levels, all departments. Workshops and ideation groups without guardrails–ignore budget, timing, and current products and services. That’s when the ideas really flow. It’s easier to take a big idea back down to earth than the other way around.

Most importantly: It’s not a project. Or a task force. Or CSR. It’s a philosophy that requires an ongoing, honest review to ensure everything we do points us toward that north star.

Ideate, evaluate, act. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Williamsburg, Virginia is widely known for its rich, American history. However, there is so much more to this destination than just museums and colonial costumes. Williamsburg is home to a variety of state-of-the-art restaurants and lively activities. We partnered with Bon Appétit to highlight some of these dining spots. From brewpubs, to fine dining and wineries, Williamsburg has it all.

Check out the Bon Appétit article for more information.

We’ve spent the past two years watching our world get hit by a global pandemic, civil and political unrest, war and violence. In times like these, it’s hard to see positivity in anything; it sometimes feels as if the world is falling apart. However, Steve Connelly shares that we have good reason to believe that everything is going to be alright. Good always perseveres, no matter how bad things get.

Read the full story here. 

This week marks the beginning of Women’s History Month, and to celebrate, we asked a few of our leaders to take a moment to reflect on some of the major influences in their lives that helped shape them into the people they are today. Here are some things we can all learn from these remarkable women. 

Find your people

If you were to ask me how I became the first female CCO in the city of Boston, I could mention the hard work, the campaigns I helped create, or my relationships with clients. But really what it comes down to is that I found my people early on. Probably the single most important piece of advice I could give to any aspiring creative director. You have to surround yourself with your personal Board of Directors. I am inspired by mine. The person who will ultimately be your boss of 25 years who sees you as a creative person regardless of gender. The person who develops concepts with you and will take the time to discuss mutual parenting strategies before heading toward an idea. The people surrounding you on a daily basis who are open-minded enough to hear all perspectives but opinionated enough to tell you theirs. And make you laugh. It’s so important that they make you laugh. Most importantly, I’m inspired by my family who lets me be my authentic self while simultaneously reminding me why it’s all worth it. I’m not sure I can pinpoint any one person or thing or event that has inspired me the most over the years, but I know this: I did not do this alone.

– Alyssa Toro, Sr. Partner, Chief Creative Officer – CP Boston 

Don’t be afraid to fail

I have been the beneficiary of three incredible leaders in my career who all helped to shape me into the leader I am today. One who taught me the importance of pushing past comfort zones (by literally shoving me into a role that I didn’t think I was ready for), one that showed me the strength in being an empathetic leader (and how as women that is a huge advantage), and one that attuned me to listening – really listening (what isn’t being said, that you are hearing). However, in each and everyone of those leaders, never once was I made to feel like failure wasn’t acceptable. They collectively led from a spirit of encouragement and never fear. Fear-driven leaders can breed a toxicity that debilitates their staff and the damage often can be unrepairable, thus negatively impacting culture. My advice to any aspiring leader is to provide clear guidelines around expectations, offer all the support when they need it, then allow people the wiggle room to succeed and fail. Let them show you what they are capable of. And in the worst case that there is failure – this is where people will grow the most.   

– Nadine Cole, President, VRX Studios – Vancouver

Compassion and determination are the keys to success

My mom, Marian, has inspired me to lead with determination and compassion. As a divorced single mother, she fearlessly pursued her own career ambitions in education, which is something that I always admired. Beginning as a 5th grade teacher and ending her career as an Assistant Superintendent, she wore many different leadership hats, including Troop Leader for my Girl Scout group! My mom had high expectations for her students and fellow educators, but never let her firm approach affect the relationships she built with everyone she encountered. To this day, students she taught decades ago still keep in touch! That’s the kind of leader I strive to be. 

My advice for aspiring leaders is to strike a delicate balance between being assertive and direct, while still allowing your personality shine through. When it comes to team building, it’s important to create strong relationships with your peers. If you’re all business, all the time, it’s harder to foster those long-lasting connections. Instead, find a way to lead with empathy, as it will earn you respect, and ultimately help your team to achieve its collective goals. No one wants to work for a leader they fear and I’m a firm believer that compassion is the key to success. 

– Alyssa Stevens, Director of Public Relations and Social Media – CP Boston

Be fearless

I have been inspired by so many people in business. Each job I have done, no matter how random and unrelated to my current role, has taught me a skill that helps me today, taught to me by someone I admired. Most important for me, was how the task was done, and by that I mean how people were treated. Respect and kindness can never be overrated.

More than anything, I admire and am inspired by people who, through curiosity, sheer determination and tenacity, have achieved great success. Especially people who did not have support to guide them in their younger years. I firmly believe everyone has it in them to do well in whatever field they choose – extraordinary people are just ordinary people who go that extra mile, but having a mentor along the way helps.

I grew up in a family of successful entrepreneurs. I am one of six children, and am currently the only one not self-employed (though I did have my own business for 10 years – I had to!) My dad, although no longer on this earth, still inspires me. After he graduated with a degree in engineering, he, like so many Irish at the time, headed for the USA. As part of this programme to get his visa, he did training with the Marines. One of the key takeaways was something that stayed with him all his life, and influenced me as well. It was these four words: “Just one more step.” No matter how big a task seems or how overwhelmed you feel by the scale of it, just focus on one more step and you will get there – you don’t have to have everything figured out, just the next thing on your list. 

My current inspiration is a mantra I repeat daily as I strive to be more focussed and efficient in a world where we are pulled in so many directions each hour – it’s the following quote from Aristotle: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

So many of us suffer from imposter syndrome, thinking we are not as bright or as gifted as others, when really it boils down to determination, being fearless and getting into good habits. 

– Vaunnie McDermott, Client Business Director – CP Dublin

Don’t give up, even when things are hard 

This may be cliche, but I owe so much of what I’ve been able to do throughout my career to my mother, who was from a generation of women caught in the middle of the working mom movement. She grew up in the late ’50s when women were schooled in homemaking, only to be told by society in the early ’80s that, not only could she have it all, she was expected to do it all. The issue was that the culture of pressure and expectation hadn’t yet shifted to be supportive of working moms. I watched her juggle those expectations – going back to college, starting a job with young kids, finding her voice – and the toll those expectations took on her, her family, and her marriage. Yet, I watched from the safety in knowing that I was blessed with so many options.  This taught me that doing hard things was not only possible, but so very important.

– Michelle Capasso, Partner, Director of Media Services – CP Boston

The winners of the Anthem Awards have been announced and we are excited to share that our client, Tracing Health, has placed in two categories! The Anthem Awards, an offshoot of the Webby Awards, are dedicated to honoring work that is aimed at promoting social change and creating a long-lasting impact on the world.

Tracing Health, launched by the Public Health Institute in response to the public health emergency pandemic of Covid-19, won bronze in two of the Health categories, Community Engagement (Not-for-Profit) and Product, Innovation, Or Service (Not-For-Profit).

All the Anthem Award winners will be celebrated on February 28 in a virtual awards ceremony. 

Featuring: Scott Madden, Sr. Partner, Director of Strategy and Paul M. Capobianco, Cultural Anthropologist 

What is new nostalgia and why is it such an important component of advertising today? Simply put, it is looking at the past and revealing new ways forward for the future of humanity. It is directly addressing the backwards ideas of the past and thinking about what the future ought to be. 

In this session, we delve into the role of nostalgia in advertising and examine various uses of it. We also discuss the “Great Resignation” and how the Pandemic has caused people to re-examine their values and what they now look for in an employer.

 

Featuring: Alyssa Toro, Sr. Partner, Chief Creative Officer, Michelle Capasso, Partner, Director of Media Services, Sarah Taylor, Group Brand Director, Ally Chapman, Senior Brand Strategist, and Kristen Kearns, Executive Producer at Element Productions 

Did you know that women make up over 80% of purchasing decisions? Or, that almost half of those watching the Super Bowl are female? It goes without saying that women are an important demographic that brands should be paying close attention to. In this discussion, we examine Super Bowl advertising from a unique, female perspective. 

We discuss the role of humor, relatability and authenticity in commercials, as well as recent trends in roles and stereotypes, concepting and execution. Using Super Bowl spots and our own survey findings, we explain why the spots were successful or where they missed the mark. 

 

Connelly Partners Benefits Administration

The recent Massachusetts State Legislation bill H-2985 proposal introduced by Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian is a major development to help address the crushing student loan debt crisis. The proposal would offer companies who contribute to their employees’ student loan debt with an annual $2,000 state tax exemption per employee. It’s no secret that the cost of obtaining a college education has skyrocketed in the last twenty years, far outpacing wage growth. This concerning trend shows no sign of stopping and, as a result, an entire generation of the workforce faces a perilous financial headwind. Four-year colleges costing upwards of $300,000 is an eye-watering amount for both parents and students alike. 

As an employer, we share a responsibility in the student loan debt crisis.

At Connelly Partners, we feel that we share responsibility with our employees, as job requisition requires a college degree to maintain a talented workforce to best serve our clients. 

An alarming trend developed at Connelly Partners as 401k participation rates among our younger employees was low. A benefits package should address the needs of the entire workforce demographic. Building a generous 401k matching program and supporting robust medical related insurance offerings is an obvious starting place. As benefit administrators, we must consider that our “under 26” employees in their first or second job out of college are most likely still going to be dependent for medical insurance purposes. Therefore, a benefit this employee can take advantage of is starting contributions to their retirement savings. Well, let’s face it, it’s extremely hard to save for retirement with tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt payments looming ahead. 

At Connelly Partners, we wanted to do something about this. So, we did. 

In June of 2016 we became the first advertising agency to partner with Gradifi to introduce a Student Loan Paydown benefit for all our employees. The program is a five year long commitment to our employees to help pay down their student loan debt faster with monthly employer contributions paid directly to the student loan balance. 

The long and short of it? We make direct monthly contributions to employees’ student loan principals over the course of five years for a total of $10,000 per employee. Since June of 2016, Connelly Partners has contributed over $300,000 and counting to our employees’ student loan debt. 

Offering the Student Loan Paydown Program has not only added an important benefit that appeals to the younger workforce, but also increased the participation rate of our 401k retirement plan to one of the highest percentiles in our industry. We couldn’t be happier with the trend reversal to support long term financial wellbeing for all our employees. 

We understand there is no easy solution to the student loan debt crisis. We applaud bill proposal H-2895 as a step in the right direction between government and employers. However, it’s not enough. According to 2022 State House News Service, this bill tax proposal is estimated to cost Massachusetts $1.8 to $6.7 million annually. For perspective, Massachusetts collected $34.14 billion in taxes in 2021. For the greater good of confronting the student loan debt crisis, we hope there will be much more to come by both state and federal governments.  In the meantime, we continue to combat this crisis with our paydown program. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do.