Credit Union Opens Account with Coates Kokes

Posted by karl on Monday, February 15, 2010

Advantis Credit Union selected CK to help launch a new campaign for their fusion checking. Advantis is consistently ranked in the top 1% of credit unions nationwide – and first in Oregon – for the value they return to members by Callahan & Associates, a national research and consulting firm that analyzes credit union performance. And that's a good thing. We're excited to get started. Watch for the campaign to hit town soon. 



The Oregon/SW Washington BetterBricks Awards 2010

Posted by karl on Friday, February 12, 2010

The seventh annual Oregon/SW Washington BetterBricks Awards honored a total of 12 green building professionals. Over 250 people attended the event at the Nines yesterday morning and were inspired by words of wisdom from the winners. Portland artist Natalie Warrens designed and made each of the unique awards again this year. Congratulations to the winners, the BetterBricks team and everyone else at CK that helped create another successful event! More shots from the event here.

 

 

 



503-234-3000

Posted by karl on Monday, February 1, 2010
As recycling and disposal goes, when it doubt, call 503-234-3000. Or at least that’s the action Metro is after from the Portland area’s businesses and residents.
 
Living, breathing and knowledgeable staffers answer calls Monday-Saturday 8:30-5:00. What might one call about? Anything related to recycling or disposing of hazardous waste, construction materials, electronics, yard debris, and much more. Additionally callers can get answers about alternatives to toxic household products, natural gardening, reducing junk mail and other tips. In other words, it’s a seriously robust resource.
 
So the folks at Metro Recycling have tapped us again, this time to boost awareness and usage of the hotline. In the coming months, we’ll be developing traditional and social media (maybe even a smart phone app) to get the word out and encourage calls. For a look at some of our previous Metro Recycling pieces, see below. 



Our Own Kate Kauffman is an HGTV Star!

Posted by karl on Monday, January 25, 2010

Kate and her husband will be featured in an episode of My First Place this Thursday on HGTV. Will they score their first home or will an ugly shed spoil their dreams? Tune in and see. Or if you can't wait, email Kate for the spoiler.



The Kilowatt Crackdown New Logo and Site

Posted by karl on Monday, January 25, 2010

 

Seattle-area building owners and managers are getting ready for the 2010/2011 Kilowatt Crackdown. Just launched is a new, CK-designed site and logo for the competition. The short of it is that owners and managers compete to save the most energy. Last year's competing properties made up 20 percent of the Puget Sound office market. The combined energy savings from the participating buildings equals the annual electric consumption of 1,000 Northwest homes or over 700,000 gallons of gasoline.



AASHE Webinar a Success

Posted by karl on Tuesday, January 19, 2010

 

AASHE's webinar about their new STARS program went off without a hitch today with over 1000 estimated listener-inners. Following the session, AASHE received many requests from faculty members and others for a copy to rewatch and share. AASHE's already planning their next web session. Congrats to our PR group, interactive team and our client on a job well done. 



Coates Kokes Helps to Standardize Sustainability on College Campuses

Posted by anne on Sunday, January 17, 2010
Everybody from the Princeton Review to the Sierra Club is rating colleges and universities on their own “green index.” But what’s been needed is a common standard rating system open to all college and university campuses in the US and Canada from community colleges to research institutions that is comprehensive and transparent. All of this is ideally administered by a group steeped in both academic and sustainable experiences. Enter AASHE, The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Already well known among academic institutions for the resources and knowledge they provide when it comes to sustainability, AASHE decided to launch a new program, STARS (Sustainability Tracking and Rating System) to help further the sustainability movement on campuses. Coates Kokes developed a logo for the new program, website design and helped with public relations efforts, which formally launches the program to the nation on tomorrow, January 19th.
 
In addition to the logo, our designers developed “seals” which recognize individual campuses on their level of achievement within the program (Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze). To date the STARS program has over 120 academic institutions (and counting) signed up to be STARS charter participants. 
 
In addition, over 750 people have registered to participate in the interactive webinar launch event on January 19th. The newly designed website will be unveiled after the webinar for charter participants to start registering their institutions. The agency continues to work with nationally known publications to help spread the word that STARS is the premiere rating systems for sustainability activities on campus.



Elevating Customer Service through a Microsite

Posted by barb on Saturday, January 16, 2010

Between the economy and harsh Northwest winters, more and more people have difficulty making even basic ends meet. One of those basic needs is energy— to heat homes and water, power lights and cook food. Our client Avista has many programs, as well as connections through other programs, to tailor bills to individual customer needs and provide assistance when necessary. Avista came to us to create a central place to promote all of these resources. The difficulty with using avistautilities.com (their main website) to promote specific billing and rate information is that the site serves multiple functions and contains so much content that information can sometimes be hard to find. The solution was to create a microsite with easy-access and helpful information for customers. The new site emulates the established corporate look and design standards, allows them to house comprehensive and informative videos, includes information and links to additional resources, and is easily updateable as needed for this ever-evolving subject. More importantly, the site is user-friendly and approachable. Take a moment to check it out. www.avistainfo.com 

Below is the before shot:



25 Years? Where Did the Time Go Ms. Frank?

Posted by jeanie on Friday, January 15, 2010

According to today’s labor statistics, the average person will work between five and fifteen jobs in a lifetime. If that’s the case, then Lindsay Frank better get a move on since she’s already worked at Coates Kokes for 25 years as of the 17th of this month. Then, on the other hand, the last thing Lindsay aspires to be is “average.”

On Friday, January 15, Coates Kokes honored its long-faithful employee with an anniversary celebration in her honor. Current employees along with a few former employees and friends all offered Linz their congratulations at Ruth’s Chris Steak House located in one of the agency’s former office buildings. To honor her many years of service—everything from receptionist to V.P. Operations—Lindsay was given an oversize commemorative photo album lovingly made on a Mac. In spite of that, she happily accepted it even though she’s an ardent forever-PC kind of gal. 



Are Shoes Recession Proof?

Posted by karl on Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Imelda’s and Louie’s Shoes like all retailers was anxious going into this holiday season. After all, boutique stores have been especially vulnerable. So how does a local shoe shop avoid getting scuffed up by the competition and catch the eyes of budget-strapped shoppers? Fortunately Imelda’s has been a steady advertiser, building on a consistent voice, look and feel each year. And like any good investment, it’s paid off.

In yet another recessionized holiday shopping season, Imelda’s was unwaveringly present in all the usual places. We created a fresh series of newspaper ads to appear weekly as the holidays approached. Email blasts went out to customers and social media updated followers on product and served up gift ideas. The result was a 4% increase in sales over last year’s figures. In an economy where flat is the new up, that’s not bad. So, are shoes recession proof? With stalwart marketing, it would seem so.