As a daughter of a mother, a mother of daughter with a daughter, the sister of a sister, and a girlfriend to many girlfriends, I’m pretty tuned in to what it means to be a woman today.

With this blog post we are announcing and publishing our third Certified B-Corp and Oregon Benefit Company Annual Report. Coates Kokes is proud of its continued growth in B Corp activities, with the highlight being our renewed certification late last year. The bar keeps getting higher, and that’s as it should be.

Last year, I had a friend move to Portland from out of state, and as I was helping her settle into the local culture, she had some questions about recycling. Some of these answers were straightforward, like “what goes in the yellow bin?” But other questions I was left answering with a bit of shrillness in my voice. Because I know how to recycle, right? I recycle every day. There’s no reason for me to be this unsure about a few questions from a friend.

A year ago, when I was living and working on my mom’s new farm, I would wake up to the noises of chickens, goats and sheep welcoming the day with their cacophony. I had alfalfa hay in every single one of my jacket pockets. Never would I have imagined that in six short months I would be working on the 13th floor in downtown Portland for a communications agency. Talk about a change of scenery!

The first time my mom mentioned to me that my grandpa was an alcoholic, I was shocked. I always knew he liked to have a good time, but it took me by surprise because I was very young, and he didn’t fit my stereotypical conception of what someone going through alcoholism was like.

We all have an HIV status, regardless of who we are or where we live. And we should all be tested for HIV at least once. Yet 6 in 10 Oregonians have never been tested. In rural parts of the state, it’s even more evident there’s work left to be done to increase testing for HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI).

After nearly two years of working at home alone, I was feeling burned out and creatively drained. However, 2022 brought some new inspiration in the form of “Rethink the Drink,” a campaign we’d been developing for the Oregon Health Authority to address excessive drinking in the state.

While using the phrases, “off the record” or “no comment” might seem like a good idea, there are other, more effective ways to prepare for a media interview. Read more…

“What do you want to be when your grow up?” was a question I remember being asked often as a kid, though I never really had a good answer. A wedding planner? A professional crafter? Is that even a thing? Though I always knew I wanted to do something “creative” when I grew up, zeroing in on exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life was a daunting decision for a high school student.

Some businesses survive less than a year. Others, like Gentile Pastificio, survive for hundreds and more. Only days ago, my family and I visited Gragnano, the tiny Italian town celebrated for its air-dried pasta. As we entered the massive stone building, I couldn’t help but wonder what the workings of an 1876-founded business might look like inside.

With tourism down in the Portland-metro area because of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with ongoing protests in the city core, sales stalled for Orox Leather Co., a family-owned business that prides itself in its craft leather goods and Mexican heritage. Adding to this already challenging time for small, local businesses, the Orox team was robbed not once, but twice over the course of two months, losing tens of thousands of dollars of leather bags, wallets and other products.

2020 was, needless to say, a year full of changes. We saw consumers shifting their needs, wants, perceptions and behaviors, and we along with our clients had to learn to evolve quickly. But what do you do when your consumer feels they can’t do anything?

With this blog post, we are announcing and publishing our second Certified B Corporation™ and Oregon Benefit Company Annual Report. It provides a window into our world including the tribulations and the triumphs during the last year or so of our journey to improve the social and environmental fabric of our communities.

2020 was a difficult year, and as marketers, we found brands not immune to these challenges. How do you break through the noise to reach an anxious, angry and skeptical audience?

The year is 2020 and as I sat in my tiny work-from-home office, I smiled as I read the theme MAGNET (Marketing & Advertising Global Network) had chosen for their inaugural virtual Summit.

As a white person I can never really know what it’s like to be Black in America. After a seemingly endless streak of wrongful deaths from state-sanctioned violence. After listening to all the rhetoric about the American dream only to find closed doors and rigged systems at every turn. And after navigating daily doses of micro-aggressions and the weight that comes with them.

Full on mushroom ravioli and white wine, as a reward after a long day, I ambled my way south through downtown Portland to Keller Auditorium. Solo and feeling uneasy, this night was as much about dinner and a show, as it was confronting my inner anxiety.

2020 – The start of a new year, a new decade, and the beginning of new opportunities. The CK team is back from our winter hiatus and sharing our visions and goals for the future.

Last Sunday, we loaded 10-month-old Emma Pearl in the back of the SUV and headed off for her first visit to 1000 Acre Dog Park on the Sandy River Delta. Non-stop, Chuck-it fetch madness ensued. Finally, having revved her engine to an ear blasting 200-RPM pant, we traveled two more miles down the road and back in time to Tad’s Chicken ‘n Dumplins in search of soothing sustenance. I first learned about Tad’s from my Uncle Norm, a no-frills traditionalist born in 1909—pre-empting the historic Columbia River Highway roadhouse by nearly two decades.

Our client, the Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace, helps people buy their own health insurance. In preparation for this year’s open enrollment campaign, we worked with DHM Research to learn more about our target audience of young, low-to-moderate-income folks. We conducted four focus groups in the Portland metro area focusing on communities of color and Spanish speakers and three around the state in Eugene, Medford and Redmond.

With this blog post we are announcing and publishing our first Certified B-Corp and Oregon Benefit Company Annual Report.  You can read it here.

How often do you look at the calendar and wonder what your plans are for the weekend? Do you cram your schedule on Saturday and then spend Sunday doing laundry and binge watching Netflix? Or wonder if the forecasted sunshine is going to hold out long enough for you to spend the weekend enjoying the outdoors? For me, managing a work-life balance is important to ensure I continue feeling fulfilled in both my career and my personal life.

As early as I can remember my mom would take me thrifting. We’d each go to our respective aisles and meet back at the cash register to unveil our fashion finds. As I’ve gotten older, not much has changed, except I’ve gotten a little more knowledgeable on the items I curate for my closet, and on the environmental, social and personal purpose behind second-hand shopping.

After two and a half years of working on our B Corp application, certification has finally become a reality.  As we celebrate this milestone, I’m reflecting back on the journey we have taken.

I have had the same employer for more than 33 years. (Crazy, right?) I feel like I have to phrase that really carefully. I can’t say I’ve worked at Coates Kokes that long (I’ve been through 3 name changes). I can’t say I’ve worked at the same place (5 different offices). And I can’t say I’ve had the same job. I’ve had…well, I don’t know how many jobs/titles I’ve had here, but it’s a lot (receptionist to partner and VP of Ops, however many that is). How did I manage to stay with one employer so long? I suppose there are as many reasons as “hats” I’ve worn. Or maybe there’s just one…

In 2016, Coates Kokes helped the Oregon Health Authority launch a marijuana youth prevention campaign. The research indicated teens wished to hear from adults who had used marijuana in the past. We conceived of a video to test in focus groups that featured a former pot smoker who questioned his marijuana use as a teenager.

As a designer/brand manager, one of the greatest privileges of my job is learning. To make an ad, you have to understand the customer. To make an infographic, you have to understand the process. To open a 5-star luxury lodge on the Oregon coast, you have to understand a lot more than business cards. It’s a learning process.

This spring marks three years living in my 150-square-foot apartment in Northwest Portland. While I could go on about how living at my means, reducing my carbon footprint, and generally adopting the minimalist lifestyle of every aesthetic blogger’s dreams, let’s be honest with each other – tiny living is really hard.

It’s been cold out these days. “Coat weather” as they say. Each morning before I head to work, I look in my closet and try to decide which coat to wear. Do I go with the soft fluffy cream or fleece-collared gray? Or is it the trench coat, the pea coat or one of my down-filled jackets in tangerine, sandstone or snowflake? Oh, but it might rain. Maybe the blue plaid, the belted black or the poly-tech raincoat would be a better choice. Then, again, there’s always the puffy coat with fur-trimmed hood lurking in the back of my closet. Choices, choices.

In light of recent tragedies, I’ve been reflecting on the role social media has taken in the aftermath of disasters. The responses to the hurricanes in the Southeast and the earthquakes south of our border remind us of the impact wide exposure of humanitarian goodwill can have to inform and inspire additional relief efforts. I’m…

If you’ve ever participated in a team relay, you know what a labor of love it can be. There are 12 runners to a team, 6 in each van and you are coordinating from van to van to pass the “baton” off to the next runner at each exchange point. Each van has to account…

There’s no doubt about it – the Coates Kokes office is beautiful. We moved into the Commonwealth Building in downtown Portland in 2011 (before my time here), onto the “unlucky” 13th floor. Superstitions aside, we have whiteboard walls, a fridge stocked with sparking water, a stunning, in my opinion, a 360-degree view of Portland –…

In the aftermath of the Pulse Nightclub shooting, Justin Torres for The Washington Post wrote “In praise of Latin Night at the Queer Club,” a tribute I shared among friends, many who identify with a letter in the LGBTQAlphabet, and many who don’t. The outpouring of support and the unity that followed that brutal attack…

Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood. Really, every two seconds. Most of us probably take for granted that the blood will be there, waiting for transfusion, if and when we or a loved one need it. But there’s no guarantee of that… unless we all do our part to contribute to…

She did it. And we did it. With Tuesday’s historic vote, America fulfilled one of its original promises. Since the founding of the country, we’ve hoped to hold this truth to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. Now, to paraphrase Lin-Manuel Miranda, we can include women in the sequel. Women fought for 144…

“Where are you from?” That’s a common question I dread being asked as I never know how to answer it. Do I say where I was born, or my two nationalities? Or should I mention all of the places I’ve lived? Due to my dad’s job, my family and I moved approximately every three years…

The ash kept falling like snow, but it just wouldn’t melt. Citizens roamed the streets, their anxious faces dressed in unfamiliar surgical masks to protect their lungs. Nervous cars hid in their garages fearful of clogged air filters. It seemed Portland, my beloved hometown, would be forever lost to unpredictable Mother Nature. I celebrated my…

Growing up in North Carolina, I don’t remember listening to much country music. Now that I live on the opposite coast, I can’t get enough of it. That’s partly because, as much as I love Portland and the Northwest, I miss the touchstones of home: Southern accents, properly-fried okra, four distinct seasons (as opposed to…

My son Cameron came home last night for a visit from college.  Catching up with him reminded me of our trip about a month back for spring break.  The two of us and my wife Madeline headed to Utah and hit the slopes.  In these last years of our kids growing up and leaving the…

It was the jazz-loving beats of 1950s San Francisco. Then it was the raw talent of a few fearless kids that brought skateboarding to life in 1970s Venice Beach. Now it’s the rain-soaked cyclists of Portland. The bike scene in the Pacific Northwest is a movement all its own and Tim Jacks, one of our…

Last December, I moved back to Portland after having lived in Seattle for the past eight years. I began working at Coates Kokes as a Senior Account Manager, and one of the first clients I started working on was Metro, the governing agency for the three counties that make up the greater Portland area (Multnomah,…

Not every city can say that they are home to a 12,500-pound celebrity, but Portland sure can! Packy, the big guy, is a household name around these parts. He also shares a birthday with our account manager for the Oregon Zoo, Christina – so it goes without saying we’re pretty excited  to see the progress…