Preston Kelly

Minneapolis, MN - Minneapolis marketing agency Preston Kelly recently announced the addition of two new members to its digital team. Bud Snead joins as a senior designer and Brian Evans will serve as senior digital producer. 

Senior designer Bud Snead comes to Preston Kelly with experience at local agencies Periscope and Larsen, where he worked on web, print and motion projects for AIGA Minnesota, Arctic Cat, Best Buy, Deluxe, Target, Threadless and Walgreens. Originally from Virginia, Bud has worked as a designer in Minneapolis since 2004.

Senior digital producer Brian Evans joins Preston Kelly from The Nerdery, where he managed digital executions for Cheerios, Ford, Hasbro, Norton Anti Virus, Samsung, and State Farm Insurance. He spends his spare time teaching as an adjunct professor of electronic marketing, innovation, social and emerging media at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

As evidence of digital growth, the agency recently won two “Best in Class” honors from Interactive Media Awards for its Regions Hospital and Walker Methodist websites. Two Internet Advertising Competition Awards were presented to the agency for outstanding achievement on the Regions Hospital site and HealthPartners’ virtuwell banner campaign.

“We’re proud to tell our clients we can develop Iconic Ideas that connect with and engage consumers at every touch point,” according to digital director Tom Schooley. “Unlike pure digital shops, Preston Kelly’s digital teams provide the hubs that unite a fully integrated offering as well as inspire a client’s entire organization. It takes a senior team to do that at every level.”

About Preston Kelly
Preston Kelly is a full-service, independent marketing agency in Minneapolis, Minnesota that creates Iconic Ideas for its clients across multiple categories. Preston Kelly was recently named as one of the top 25 Most Effective Independent Advertising Agencies in America by Effie Worldwide. Preston Kelly is a past recipient of Advertising Age’s Midwest Small Agency of the Year and Radio Mercury Awards’ Integrated Campaign of the Year in 2010. Preston Kelly is a member of Worldwide Partners, the world’s largest network of independent marketing and communications firms. To learn more about Preston Kelly, visit prestonkelly.com.

Alexandria, VA - Community Health Charities is pleased to announce the launch of its new brand strategy and program for the workplace, Engagement 365SM.

This announcement ushers in a new chapter for Community Health Charities after more than 55 years of representing the nation’s most trusted health charities in employee giving campaigns in workplaces across America.

“The way in which companies work with charitable organizations has changed dramatically over the past decade. While working with our member charities to develop the new Engagement 365SM program, we have identified synergies that can enhance the efforts of our partners in real bottom line areas, such as Health and Wellness, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Philanthropy, Community Involvement, and Employee Engagement,” said Thomas G. Bognanno, President & CEO, Community Health Charities of America.

Preston Kelly, an advertising agency based in Minneapolis, MN, worked with Community Health Charities to redefine the brand and messaging strategy. A new logo and tag line encourage engagement: Give. Connect. Help. "The new Community Health Charities brand is now adapted to a changing culture. Employees and employers expect conversations and opportunities to interact in a variety of ways-- like volunteering and wellness initiatives. The new look and feel reflects connectedness," said Peter Tressel, Creative Director at Preston Kelly.

A new website will launch in the second quarter of 2013.

Modularized in its approach, the new Engagement 365SM program offers numerous solutions that make giving and connecting to the extensive resources and support programs of the nation’s most trusted health charities simple and effective for any workplace. The modules included in the Engagement 365SM program are Health Matters at Work®, Volunteer Matters 365® and Giving Matters 365SM.

“While our primary goal is to raise more money for the health charities we represent, it is also our ambition to demonstrate to employers how we can work together with them to amplify their efforts in creating a healthy workplace culture,” said Linda Ireland, Chair of the Board, Community Health Charities of America.

About Community Health Charities
Community Health Charities of America works in partnership with more than 60 of the nation's most trusted health charities. Together with its member charities and corporate partners, Community Health Charities works improve the lives of people affected by a disability or chronic disease by uniting caring donors in the workplace with their favorite health charities. Over the past five years, Community Health Charities and its network of affiliates across the country have raised more than $330 million for the missions of its member charities. A full list of the Community Health Charities membership can be found at http://www.healthcharities.org. For more information, please call 800.654.0845.

About Preston Kelly
Preston Kelly is a full-service, independent agency that creates Iconic Ideas for its clients across multiple categories. Preston Kelly was recently named as one of the top 100 Most Effective Advertising Agencies by Effie Worldwide. Preston Kelly was also selected as Advertising Age’s Midwest Small Agency of the Year and Radio Mercury Awards’ Integrated Campaign of the Year in 2010. Preston Kelly is a member of Worldwide Partners, the world’s largest network of independent marketing and communications firms. To learn more about Preston Kelly, visit prestonkelly.com, become a fan on Facebook or join the conversation on Twitter @prestonkelly. You can also read their musings on the latest trends in advertising at Iconic Ideas Tumblr.

The Minnesota Brewer’s Association has asked local marketing firm Preston Kelly to catalyze a movement to help pass legislation to Save the Growler. The packaging in question is the 64 oz bottle sold directly from the brewery to beer lovers. Brewers are currently allowed to sell up to 500 barrels per year in growler packaging. But as a craft brewer’s production surpasses 3,500 barrels in annual sales, State Law says they can no longer sell growlers at all.

“We don’t think that success should be punished, nor should the loyal fans of a local brewery lose their ability to spread the love of their favorite beers,” says Chris Preston, Creative Director at Preston Kelly.
“We have a nice track record of creating movements rather than just ad campaigns, and craft brew is something near and dear to our hearts.”

The goal is simple: Get the “Growler Bill” passed into law. In order for the current law to change, state legislators need to hear from their beer-loving constituents. They need to hear their voices, receive their emails, read their tweets and postings. They need to see them in attendance when the bill is on the floor. They need to know people will feel the loss of the growler.

As an agency located in the heart of the affectionately named ‘brew district,’ Preston Kelly jumped at the chance to help lead the Save the Growler campaign. “It’s an incredible opportunity for us to help our friends and neighbors in the brewing community,” says agency Digital Director Tom Schooley. “Our office fridge is stocked full of growlers from local breweries like Fulton, Indeed and Dangerous Man. As craft beer lovers, we’re protecting our own rights as well.”  Preston adds, “Retailers and Wholesalers are worried about anything that might impact their three tier system, but they’ve had double digit growth in craft beer retail sales while traditional brewers are down 1%...a big part of the reason is the passion of the brewery faithful.”

Preston Kelly has reached out for support in several grass roots efforts to inform and galvanize craft beer enthusiasts across Minnesota to show up to committee hearings and contact their legislators in support of the “Growler Bill.” Preston Kelly has tapped Blue Earth Interactive as a partner in the development of the Save the Growler website. Schooley, notes “As fellow home brewers and long-time partners of Preston Kelly, the folks at Blue Earth were the perfect choice to help with the Save the Growler campaign.” SavetheGrowler.org launched Friday 2/22 and will inform supporters about upcoming events and how to support the Save the Growler cause.

About Preston Kelly
Preston Kelly is a full-service, independent agency that creates Iconic Ideas for its clients across multiple categories. Preston Kelly was recently named as one of the top 100 Most Effective Advertising Agencies by Effie Worldwide. Preston Kelly was also selected as Advertising Age’s Midwest Small Agency of the Year and Radio Mercury Awards’ Integrated Campaign of the Year in 2010. Preston Kelly is a member of Worldwide Partners, the world’s largest network of independent marketing and communications firms. To learn more about Preston Kelly, visit prestonkelly.com, become a fan on Facebook or join the conversation on Twitter. You can also read their musings on the latest trends in advertising at Iconic Ideas Tumblr.

Minneapolis, MN - Preston Kelly has been awarded the IMA “Best in Class” honor for the new Walker Methodist website design. This is Preston Kelly’s second IMA award in three months, after winning “Best in Class” honors for the Regions Hospital website in December. 

“This award continues the strong run for Preston Kelly’s digital teams,” according to Digital Director Tom Schooley.  “The team at Walker Methodist was open to new thinking and took some real leaps of faith in a normally conservative category.”

Creative Director Peter Tressel adds, “This award is validation of a more iconic and creative approach to UX and digital consumer engagement. It underscores our belief that digital doesn’t need to be boring to work hard and effectively despite what some experts may profess.”

"We are so proud of the work that earned this prestigious recognition," says Nick Kozel, VP of Marketing and Communications at Walker Methodist. "Preston Kelly has been, throughout our partnership, experts at counseling, guiding, listening and engaging to create the best results for our business. Their collaborative process is directly responsible for this incredible recognition."

The Walker Methodist website competed in the Non-Profit category and won “Best in Class” with an overall score of 480 out of a possible 500. According to the IMA, “The ‘Best in Class’ award is the highest honor bestowed by the Interactive Media Awards. It represents the very best in planning, execution and overall professionalism.”

In order to win at this award level, the website had to successfully pass through the IMA’s comprehensive judging process, achieving very high marks in multiple judging criteria including design, usability, innovation in technical features, standards, compliance and content. The IMA website notes that the “Best in Class” Award is “an achievement only a fraction of sites in the IMA competition earn each year.”

Preston Kelly continues to have a strong presence in health and wellness marketing, partnering with multiple clients including Walker Methodist, HealthPartners, Physicians Mutual, Be the Match, virtuwell, yumPower, CoOportunity Health and Medtronic.

About Preston Kelly
Preston Kelly is a full-service, independent agency that creates Iconic Ideas for its clients across multiple categories. In addition to being selected as Advertising Age’s Midwest Small Agency of the Year in 2010, Preston Kelly was honored in the national 2012 Effie Awards, its third such award in the past five years. The agency also earned recognition for Integrated Campaign of the Year in the 2010 Radio Mercury Awards. Preston Kelly is a member of Worldwide Partners, the world’s largest network of independent marketing and communications firms. To learn more about Preston Kelly, visit www.prestonkelly.com, become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/prestonkellyagency or join the conversation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/prestonkelly. You can also read our musings on the latest trends in advertising at http://iconicideas.tumblr.com/.

About Walker Methodist
Walker Methodist, a nonprofit organization, has served the community since 1876. Its eleven properties are located throughout Minnesota and offer a wide range of choices including housing with a variety of services, rehabilitation and transitional care, a dental clinic, and adult day care. Learn more at: www.walkermethodist.org or find them on Facebook.