Sometimes being productive requires taking a step back, or in our case turning out the lights. With social media running wild over the last year and everyone jumping on the bandwagon, it’s hard not to get swept up in the euphoria.

But at Park&Co we pride ourselves on Word of Mouth based on strategy. So when we took a hard look and realized our agency Facebook page wasn’t generating any Word of Mouth we decided to go dark. At least until we can give people a reason to talk about us.

Until then, we replaced the usual self-aggrandizing agency drivel with something far more valuable – fishing bloopers! Take a look.

Park&Co Debuts Business Cards With A New Twist

The business card is one of the most boring or interesting or silly or downright weird things you might ever get from a person. A small piece of thick paper or lightweight card stock, it says something about a company and possibly about the person. A business card can even lead to a jealous murderous rage. Well, at least in a Brett Easton Ellis novel it can.

What would make someone do anything more with that business card than just file it away or toss it in the nearest wastebasket? The simple answer is make it eye popping. Blind the person you’re giving it to with a dazzling display of visual daring do, or something like that. The card though, can be just as effective and memorable by asking you to do with it something that you’ve never done.

We recently decided at Park&Co that it was time for a new look, and to merge several ideas in one very simple, elegant little card.

This card, as you can see, is modest in its print execution, with two colors and an inviting sans-serif font. Free of distraction, you’re provided the necessary information about the individual giving it to you. The card also has some curious text in the upper right hand corner. Web and print are married by the request that the holder visit Google and search that very unique phrase. Go ahead and give it a try. This one is “The Fastest White Man Alive” Won’t forget about that too soon, will you?

You visit the page and learn a little more about the card’s issuer. With a story unique to that person, you find something about who he or she is and what makes him or her great at the job. We tried to create a business card that melds media in a creative way and leaves an impression on the person who receives it. Maybe we’re off the mark though. We could’ve just gone to this guy.

Natural evolution is the ultimate form of innovation. If you pay attention, nature can teach all businesses how to thrive, no matter how nasty the economic environment.

Earlier this year, we were privileged to help rebrand Clinica Adelante; a community clinic that was founded to serve the health care needs of farm workers in Maricopa County, AZ 30 years ago.

In that time, their business environment has changed dramatically. Immigration laws and urban sprawl have significantly impacted their patient population. State and federal funding is harder to secure, especially with patient count in decline. And competition from private practices is growing as subdivisions replace farms.

Yet even with all of these impacts, Clinica Adelante remains true to it’s mission:

“Adelante Healthcare continually seeks to improve the health of our communities by providing quality, comprehensive primary health care within each patient’s ability to pay.”

However, in order to continue to serve the underserved, Clinica Adelante needed to evolve, and innovate quickly, to attract privately-insured patients. In January we took their leadership through a branding program. We discussed their nine convenient locations, top-notch doctors, electronic health records initiative, etc.. These are all great features, and yet none of them are brand differentiators. So we dug deeper.

The key to their new brand is in celebrating the organization’s heritage of growing from the land, while making it relevant for the next 30 years. But being relevant wasn’t enough. Clinica Adelante challenged themselves to be leaders. We started by updating its name and organizational persona to reflect its new brand position: “Sustainable Healthcare.”

The original logo depicts the organization's heritage, while the new brand celebrates its relevance today.

Sustainable Healthcare

The “Sustainable Healthcare” platform isn’t just about going “green.” The brand position has three equally significant legs.

1. Sustaining the health of the individual patient: Sustaining individual health includes all of the above features, offering multi-disciplinary services, and becoming an online and offline resource for healthier lifestyles through diet, fitness and green living.
2. Sustaining the availability of health care for all: True to its mission, Adelante Healthcare will continue to serve the needs of all patients – regardless of their ability to pay – through central locations, convenient hours and a multi-cultural staff.
3. Sustaining the environmental health of the communities they serve: Adelante will become a leader in green clinic operations, educate on living healthier lifestyles, and promote environmental sustainability.

Another way to view Adelante’s position is: “Healthcare that is bigger than you are.” That’s a ubiquitous “you,” meaning that when anyone associates with Adelante as a privately insured patient, they are healing more than just themselves. They are helping others benefit from high quality healthcare, while also contributing to a community that strives to make the home, neighborhood, and planet a healthier place.

Adelante's new Sustainable Healthcare website

Operationally, becoming a model of sustainable healthcare is an ambitious goal. It doesn’t happen overnight. The goal is to have a definitive plan in place with measurable outcomes. Adelante is relying on organizations like the Teleosis Institute, Practice Greenhealth, and CleanMed for best practices in sustainable operations. They have also hired a new sustainability professional to enact change throughout the entire organization for waste reduction and recycling, energy efficiency, organic cleaning and maintenance, and green building materials for expansion and renovations. Adelante recently moved into its first LEED certifiied clinic in Buckey, AZ, with more to come.

Avein Saaty-Tafoya, MBA, HCM, is CEO of Adelante Healthcare. She said one of the challenges in their evolution was defining what “Sustainable healthcare” means.

“Our greatest obstacle was clarity. There were many assumptions about our new brand given the new focus on sustainability, as well as all the activity outside our industry in the green movement. Park&Co helped make this brand identity relatable and easy to understand.”

Here’s what Avein had to say about the opportunities the new brand position presents.

“It honors our mission, which is grounded in continuing the provision of health services whether a patient is insured or loses their coverage. It touts our business model, which as a non-profit community based collaborative must drive revenue and cover expenses, while at the same time increase efficiency and contain costs. We are exceeding expectations when it comes to quality and financial metrics. We are becoming a state and national model because of innovative programs like our collaboration with the Farmers Market Association at our centers. This partnership helps our patients gain access to affordable and healthful organic produce. Simple initiatives like this one have made a positive impact on our staff, patients, and the communities we serve.”

By helping Adelante healthcare share its mission of sustainability with a broader audience, we helped it secure its own sustainability as a business and a brand. We’re proud to be part of their innovative evolution to thrive in the next three decades and beyond.

On October 13, Park&Co hosted the Phoenix creative community for its latest “Creative Connect” gathering. At the event we wanted to see what would happen if you arm some of the Valley’s most creative people with a blank canvas and a few sharpies. The result was truly remarkable.

If you were at the event you likely participated in our “conversation board” experiment. If not, then watch the video below to see what happened when the people in attendance were asked to do what they do best - be creative.

Did you know that Arizona has nearly $4 billion in annual bi-lateral trade with our neighbors to the north? No, not Nevada, Utah or Colorado, but Canada. The Great White North is the largest foreign investor in Arizona, according to Glenn Williamson, CEO and Founder of the Canada Arizona Business Council (CABC).

The CABC was formed seven years ago to promote a single mandate: To increase bi-lateral trade between Canada and Arizona to $5 billion by 2010.

Currently:

• 128,750 Arizona jobs have been created by Canadian businesses
• More than 140 private companies are directly involved
• 517,000 annual Canadian visitors spend upwards of $441 million in Arizona
• Conversely, 161,800 Arizonans visit Canada spending $110 million annually

Park&Co recently launched the new CABC website during the quarterly board meeting hosted at Henkel, owner of Dial, Purex, Right Guard and other popular consumer product brands. Park&Co is a title CABC partner, along with other notable companies such as the Toronto Stock Exchange, Henkel, Air Canada, Chase and Snell & Wilmer.

From the site: Membership in the CABC is by invitation only. This membership philosophy assures each member one degree of separation with decision makers in any field on either side of the border. If you are an engaged industry player, we welcome your membership inquiry…of course, only deal makers need apply.

Richard Bazinet, Founding Director of the CABC, said,

“Rebuilding our website was an important part of our web-centric communications strategy. Not an easy task for a bi-lateral trade organization like the CABC. However, Park&Co rose to the challenge and they actually mastered the subject matter quickly. Our new site was accepted unanimously by our members.”

Join Park&Co and the rest of the Phoenix creative community on Tuesday, October 13 as we host the latest Creative Connect. Meet some new faces and mingle with the old throughout Park&Co’s courtyard starting at 6 p.m.

Also, to support a good cause we’re asking that each person in attendance bring a bag of donations for Goodwill. There’s a Goodwill donations bin in the parking lot.

For more details, including a map to the office, check out the official Creative Connect page here. We look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday.

Park&Co’s Summit Building has 1,589 square feet available. This fantastic space is in the heart of the Arcadia neighborhood, next to Pei Wei, Pita Jungle, Starbucks, Wildflower Bread Company, and other great amenities.

Check out some great photos of the nearby amenities at our flickr page for a look around the neighborhood and the great space.

See the Summit Building location on a map.

For more information, please call 602-957-7323.

I was blessed with the name Park. It gets attention. No, I’m not Korean. And in some future post, I’ll tell you where it came from.

For now, I thought I’d give you a little more background on the guy behind the name. The following are my responses to the Phoenix Business Journal’s “2 Minutes With” section that just ran.

Does that mean I only have 13 minutes of fame left?

And of course, all of my best lines ended up on the cutting room floor (I guess you can be the judge of that), so I’ve included my entire  interview here.

What advice do you have for entrepreneurs just starting out?

I like the famous photographer’s line, “F8 and be there.” You don’t have to be an incredible business mind to be successful, just like you don’t have to be a world renowned photographer to take great pictures.  You just have to show up everyday, give it your all, and keep it simple.

What is one of your business goals for 2009?

We’re going to grow Park&Co by 10 percent this year due to our work in green marketing and sustainability.  We call it “Responsible Marketing,” and the timing couldn’t be better, given the growing economic and environmental sensibilities of the market.

How have you changed your business strategy to reflect current economic conditions?

We took a page out of the survival manual from Arizona Mountain Rescue: “High speed, low drag.” This perfect economic storm is an IDEAL environment for our agency – and our clients – to capture market share that is often more difficult and more expensive to do in bull markets. We are more efficient and nimble than ever with our staff, operations, and bringing campaigns to market. We look for and work with clients that are driven by realistic opportunity and not fear.

What resources did you use to help develop your business and marketing plans?

Fortunately, this cobbler’s kid has shoes, and pretty nice ones too. We rely on our brilliant staff for our own marketing strategy and creative. We also work with outside consultants, like Pete Walsh of Peak Performance Coaching, to test our assumptions and plans.

How do you use technology, i.e., social media, Internet marketing, etc., to promote your business?

Technology and internet marketing is a tactic, not a strategy. We always tie our online digital footprint – Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Pay-per-click campaigns, organic search, Ning groups, etc. – to tangible, in-person marketing so customers can experience us real-time, not just virtually. I also write this blog called “A Brighter Shade of Green Marketing,” at ParkHowell.com. This is a great way for potential clients to get a better understanding of how I, and the agency, approach sustainable, responsible marketing.  You’ll find a lot of free advice there.

How do you recruit and retain quality employees?

We recruit quality employees by a very selective word of mouth and referral program.  We retain them by respecting and appreciating what they contribute to the team.  And we challenge them to do their finest work here; in an accountable environment that promotes their personal and professional growth.

What is a significant goal you achieved in the past 12 months?

We have dramatically increased our online marketing and social media capabilities, and have experienced tremendous results combining this virtual world with real world word of mouth marketing for our clients.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve overcome in growing your business?

Getting out of the way of our talented team. I love rolling up my sleeves and diving into strategy and creative challenges for our clients. But I am surrounded by an insanely talented group of pros, and I need to give them the freedom to do what they do best.

Do you have an exit strategy or a succession plan for when you retire? What is it?

Besides driving my business into the ground through a series of ridiculous and avoidable blunders and waiting for the government to bail me out, I haven’t found a succession plan I like yet.  Too young, I suppose.

Did you ever want to call it quits? If so, why, and what stopped you?

No, I can’t say I ever wanted to call it quits. I don’t have enough dough to retire, and I can’t see myself in a corporate environment. I tend to be a free thinker and like to push our clients beyond their comfort zone to help them grow. These are qualities that often go unappreciated as an employee.  Plus, I can’t color inside the lines very well.  Never have.

What do you know now that you wish you had known when you started your business?

Numbers and Little League coaches often lead to unrealistic expectations. It’s actually impossible to give 110 percent. Ninety percent effort with concerted thought is typically 20 times more than what most businesses offer 60 percent of the time.

How do you market?

We market our traditional and nontraditional advertising services through social media, online marketing, and in-person workshops and presentations. We seek out and ignite the growth of those people, products, services, and businesses that are having a measurable positive impact on our planet.

What mistake have you learned from?

When I started Park&Co in 1995, I tried to be all things to all people. Then we began doing a lot of work in sustainability and cause marketing long before green became cool. This focus is a reflection of the first of our seven operating tenets: “Run a profitable, socially conscious company.” Given the current global economic and ecological meltdown, the market has found us in a big way. Find your niche, and if you don’t, sometimes it finds you.

What’s the best piece of business advice you ever received?

Actually, I have two “Best pieces of business advice” that came from my Dad: “A deal is only good if it’s good for both parties,” and “Make more than you spend.” which is pretty good advice these days.

Do you have a question for me? Please ask in the comments form below, or shoot me a note from my contact form.

Long-term client Forever Living Products put Park&Co’s Film and Video Department into its annual summertime high gear for the production of over 15 different video pieces in support of their 2009 Super Rally in Dallas, TX. Lending a hand in the effort were some of our favorite vendors at BigU Music and Leighton Agency, plus a few new friends, like motion graphics guru Anthony Hurd.

The Super Rally is an annual celebration of FLP’s highest achievers from around the world. Forever Living has over 9 million distributors in over 130 countries, and the Super Rally hosts the top 3,000 distributors for a week of recognition, fun events and new product introductions. It’s like a UN summit for health and beauty.

Product introduction videos featured Freedom 2Go, a joint relief drink infused with pomegranate juice. Fun, 2D motion graphics were used to give this on-the-go product maximum freedom of movement. See for yourself.

For Forever CardioHealth, a new heart-health product, we changed the mood completely to take a sobering look at the effects of cardiovascular disease. The piece begins with a beeping electrocardiograph, a pounding heartbeat and flashes from a fulfilling life. The whole scene then flatlines before a transition brings a new day and the benefits of this healthy supplement. Take a look.

Editor, film student and 3-time bareback champion Parker Howell was dispatched to roundup footage of each day’s events and put together highlight montages for distributors to watch on the hotel’s cable channel and on the huge atrium screen at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center. Here’s Thursday’s show.

Thanks to FLP for the opportunity to keep our creative juices flowing throughout the dry desert summer and to be part of such a unique international event. See y’all next year in Denver!

Park&Co in Phoenix, Az, is one of the first carbon-neutral ad agencies in North America.

As a sustainable green marketing firm, it’s only natural that we’d be a carbon-neutral operation too (pun intended). And it’s much easier than you might think.

I look at it like a voluntary tax, in some respects. I figure we can’t help but spew out carbon through our daily activities. So why not start an offset program ourselves?  This way we can do our small part to help curb our impact on global warming.

Then I read about EcoAid, a carbon offset consultant and broker, joining Valley Forward here in Phoenix, and I dropped them a line to ask for help.

It’s a learning process, and we’re approaching our carbon neutrality through a number of steps starting at 50,000 feet.

1. EcoAid has calculated our initial carbon footprint that is created by our 10,700-square-foot building in Phoenix. This number is based on an EPA average for buildings of our size in our desert climate.  We have purchased $1,052 in carbon credits for a Michigan reforestation project. Ideally, we’re looking for something a little closer to home; like renewable solar energy in the desert, wind farms closer to the coast, or even reforestation in the Pacific Northwest (the forests of my youth). But Michigan will do for now.
2. Next, EcoAid is performing a Carbon Management Plan for our entire agency. This plan reviews numerous sustainability practices, including our travel and telecommuting, paper and printer use, number of computers, lighting, AC settings, etc., creating an even more exact carbon footprint for our green marketing firm.
3. Step three examines the carbon created through our film and video production services. Since we hire large shoot crews outside of our office, and often find ourselves on location, we need to account for the carbon created through these productions in addition to our day-to-day agency operations. We will pay for these carbon offsets out of our own pocket, and we always invite vendors and clients to participate if they like, but it certainly is not mandatory.
4. The fourth step is a complete energy audit of our facility to determine how we can make the agency more energy efficient.
5. Step five is working with Solar City and other solar providers in Arizona to bring solar to our building and agency.

Each of these projects are underway. It’s important to note that making your office more sustainable doesn’t happen over night. It’s a process. An inspiration to get our process rolling is Deborah Fleischer of Green Impact.  I wrote a post about her approach to activating a sustainability project in your office a while back: How to Get Your Sustainability Project Rolling. The post offers a few of her insights and a handful of books she recommends.

I will continue to share with you what we learn about becoming and maintaining a carbon-neutral ad agency. Please let me know if you have any questions along the way, and I will do my best, with EcoAid’s help, to answer them.

Tomorrow, Brendan Cook from EcoAid will write a guest post about clearing the air on carbon offsetting and carbon credits (Can’t help myself). Do you have a question for Brendan or me? Please ask in the comment section below.

The Summit Building courtyard at Park&Co. Click photo for Google map of location.

BTW, we have 1,500 square feet now available in our beautiful little building at 44th street and Indian School road, in case you know of anyone looking for a fun, creative campus atmosphere.