News on the Brand with Ten Grand winners from 4imprint's perspective

Diva Craft Lounge Radio

Jessica — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 15:35:00 GMT

One of the very first people the girls heard from after mailing out the Barn Box was Danielle Forsgren, one of the hosts of Diva Craft Lounge Radio!

Dana, LeAnne, and Mary were interviewed last Wednesday (which was also Dana’s birthday) by Danielle and Rayme Royale, The Duke of Crafts.

To hear the history of River City Rubber Works from Dana herself, a great recap of their Brand with Ten Grand contest experience, as well as to find out what Mary’s favorite stamp is, and to hear a special appearance from one of the Moo-ing Stress Cows just click here.*

“We received the most fabulous box in the mail…” Danielle

“We love our little Barn Box kits.” Rayme

Hope you have a diva day!

Jessica

* The River City Rubber Works interview is about 20-25 minutes into the show.

The Finished Barn Box

Jessica — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 12:27:00 GMT

As promised…here are a couple of pictures of the Barn Box. River City completed their mailing to industry leaders and customers just the other week.

The Barn Boxed was stuffed with the following:

·         A personal letter from Dana, Mary and LeAnne
·         Summer & Fall ‘06 Supplement
·         Flyer about River City
·         Hay Bubble Stamp
·         Priceless Barcode Stamp
·         A fun time was had by all. Stamp
·         “Barn Chic” Book Kit
·         Mooing Cow Stress Ball
·         Denim 3 Pocket Apron
·         ‘Hay’ Static Decal
·         Dynamic Duos Pencil

The response has been great! They are swamped with orders for new stamps (thanks to the supplement!). And their wholesale customers are stocking up on the “Barn Chic” Book Kit. According to the letter the girls sent, the “Barn Chic” Book Kit is just one of five coming out in the new Barn Box. How awesome! I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

Hay!

Jessica — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 13:30:00 GMT

If you haven’t had a chance to catch up with the girls at River City Rubber Works, this is a great time. Things are really starting to happen now that they have officially launched their new barn boxes and held their store’s grand opening.

The first ever barn box kit, “Barn Chic,” is available on their website. If you live in the Wichita area, and would like to meet Mary, Dana and LeAnne in person, they are holding a class this Saturday! For a complete schedule of classes and tour dates click here.

If you’d like to read the article about them in The Wichita Eagle, click here.

More to come!

Finalist Update – Armstrong Dental

Jessica — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 08:20:00 GMT

Armstrong Dental was started in 1995 by Karen Armstrong with an emphasis on providing restorative and cosmetic dentistry services in a comfortable home setting.

This excerpt from their entry essay states it best:

While our office looks much different than others, designed by the doctor’s husband to LOOK like a home on the outside, the inside is setup to function as a spa-like dental office, with 5 operatories.

Armstrong Dental has set them selves apart in the world of dentistry by focusing on the customer. With a little help from promotional products, they have successfully turned a day at the dentist into a relaxing experience; something to enjoy rather than dread. Watch their video and you’ll see exactly what I am talking about.

My favorite example is the gesture of offering a patient an imprinted blanket during their visit in case they are cold. Simple, yet brilliant!

With their winnings, Armstrong Dental purchased the following items:

Item #3834 - PDQ Decals

Item #7019 - Oralabs Mini Lip Balm

Item #6167 - Viper Pen

“We have used the decals in the past. We use them on everything!! We put them on white bags that we give to patients that have their toothbrush, toothpaste and floss in it. We use them on white folders to send out welcome packages with registration forms, on white folders to present treatment plans and just about anything else you can put in a folder!!

We plan to use the ordered items as nice gifts to give to our patients. You know, something different to spruce up the usual toothbrush, toothpaste combination.”

Jane, Administrative Director

P.S. If you’re also in the dentistry field and looking for something unique to give patients, check out our new Toothbrush Timer.

Hay!

Jessica — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 08:35:00 GMT

Hay!

Things are really starting to come together now. The barn box design has been finalized, created, and is on its way to Wichita as I type! Thank you Great Lakes Packaging!

There’s an industry show coming up in mid-July and the gals at River City Rubber Works would like to get their newest stamping kit into the hands of influential stampers, or sneezers. Not only can their new barn box be mailed, as I mentioned in my previous blog, it can be used to hold stamping kits. This is ideal for retail locations and novice stampers like myself--who isn’t going to notice a bright red barn on the shelf? It would grab my attention and I would appreciate having everything I need in one box.

I don’t want to let too much out of the bag, but it is a book kit.

Make a stylish & fun little book full of pockets! Eclectic variety of paper goods, fibers & more inside!

Look for its unveiling soon at rivercityrubberworks.com!

Oh, I promised to tell you about the decal and I’d hate to keep you in suspense any longer. It is a combination of two of River City’s stamps, the Hay Bubble and the Straw Bale. It looks as if the bale of hay is saying “Hay”…you know, “Hey.” They've also included their url in small type...smart move!

I think it is very clever and can’t wait to get my own! Look for it in my rear window the next time you are in Wisconsin.

Barn Box

Jessica — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 10:13:00 GMT

With their new logo to unveil and their 10 year anniversary around the corner, River City needs to get their name and product into the hands of key people in their industry.

We are currently working with Great Lakes Packaging to produce a box for River City. Not just any box, but a Barn Box—a replica of the real barn back in Wichita. The thought behind the box is to let sneezers* experience what it would be like to visit the barn; give them a sense of River City’s culture and product line. After all, the Big Red Barn in the place to be!

If you remember, Great Lakes Packaging, helped us out in creating the largest Blue Box ever, to let River City know they were the winners of our Brand with Ten Grand contest.

Casey is once again hard at work designing the look and shape of the box. The girls are working on a flyer that spotlights them and their history, working on a mailing list, and deciding what products to include. Me, well, I’m busy keeping up on my blogs. :)

Seriously, I am helping with all the coordination, including producing promotional products that will be included inside the box. See my previous blog for more details.

The stamina of promotional products makes them a powerful tool in marketing, especially when the product chosen to hand out is useful to the recipient. For instance, including the Denim 3 Pocket Apron inside the Barn Box is perfect because the end user, a sneezer, can wear the apron when stamping, thus increasing River City’s exposure.

Look for a picture of the final box design to come soon!

Jessica

*The term sneezers was coined by Seth Godin and refers to enthusiastic and vocal early adopters of a product or service.

On to the fun stuff...

Jessica — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 12:13:00 GMT

Now that the logo is finalized, we can move on to the fun stuff…like ordering promotional products!

River City has already purchased more stress cows from us. You can get your official River City Rubber Works mooing stress cow by clicking here. They have also purchased item #8286, the Dynamic Duos Pencil, with the Cow Spot design of course. :)

Both items feature a one-color imprint of the ‘River City Rubber Works’ part of their new logo.

Also in the works, item #5589, the Denim 3 Pocket Apron and item #7363, the Die Cut Static Decal. The apron has been on River City’s wish list since their original essay. This item will “promote the barn theme… perfect for crafters!”

The apron is going to feature their full logo and tagline, “A fun time was had by all.” (Which is also a stamp).

I am going to keep you in suspense on the decal idea we are working on…you’ll have to stay tuned.

Jessica

Logos – That’s a wrap!

Jessica — Wed, 24 May 2006 14:50:00 GMT

After a few weeks of building on each others ideas, the final outcome is unveiled!!!

We have been on an exciting fast-paced ride these last few days of logo development. We’d send something to River City and they’d fire something back the very same day! With all the back and forth I could tell we were getting close and now it is complete!

I am sooo excited to introduce you to River City’s new and improved logo! I think it looks really great! It is truly something special and I am proud to have been a part of it.

As you can see the barn is very realistic—not cartoonish which was a huge concern for the girls. It is also a great representation of the real barn back in Wichita.

Thanks to the work of Casey, one of our 4imprint graphic artists, the logo can be broken into pieces as shown. And, as you can see from some quick art mock ups, this logo looks great on promotional products!

The full logo is ideal for mugs, t-shirts, stickers, bags—even signage for outside the barn. The name/text ‘River City Rubber Works’ is able to break away and stand on its own either as a one-color or two-color version making it very versatile. This is ideal for items like pens, pencils, stress cows—where the imprint area is smaller, or when only a one-color imprint is possible.

The circle around the barn is broken, conveying the rubber stamping part of River City Rubber Works, as is the photo corners around the words ‘Rubber Works.’

Even when the pieces are separated, they share a continuity that is so important when developing an image or brand for your company.

The next task at hand is introducing the stamping world to River City’s new look and their great line of products. Stay tuned for how we tackle this!

JB Out

Finalist Update – Nora’s Home

Jessica — Wed, 24 May 2006 13:13:00 GMT

Nora’s Home shelters families in medical crisis who must travel to the Memphis area for their care. Watch their video entry by clicking here.

Nora’s Home chose to purchase our Roll-Up Throw Blanket , item #8036. They ordered an assortment of colors; each blanket was imprinted with the Nora’s Home logo.

I recently heard from Dawn Vinson, the Executive Director of NORA’s Life Gift Foundation, on their experience.

In Dawn’s own words,

“The blankets arrived beautifully! I really wish you could have been here when they arrived. My office is down the long hall and to the left...suddenly I hear screaming coming from the area of the main office. Lasts a few seconds; followed by squeals from second voice, then what distinctly sounds like hysterical laughter followed by squeals in unison. I can't take it any more - either there is an axe murderer loose or someone's gotten engaged.

I turn the hallway to find that our friendly UPS guy in brown has deposited three very large boxes in the hallway in front of the office and Angelina (student from Argentina) has opened each box. Now she is showing the blankets to Joanna Marzec and, needless to say, the process is repeating as they debate their favorite colours!! I have to agree w/them - they couldn't have been more perfect. Exactly what we needed!

The Home Manager and Joanna made the rounds to the hospital waiting rooms the very next day. The blankets were well received by hospital staff and patients alike. They're both original AND they meet a very specific purpose for those that have to stay near the surgical/trauma waiting rooms. I'm sure by now they have already ordered a second set of blankets. The first of May they made the second round of visits to the hospitals and it sounds like they were anticipating the additional blankets. I'll have Joanna take a photo on their rounds tomorrow if you'd like one.

Again, we couldn't be more delighted with the results. And everyone feels they contributed to the "blanket win" by voting so you've really added a sense of loyalty among the hospital staff. We can't thank everyone enough. It's been a great opportunity and just the most fun all the way around.”

Look for a picture of the blanket to be posted soon!

JB Out

Logos, take 4...

Jessica — Thu, 18 May 2006 14:07:00 GMT

Slowly, but surely…we’re getting there. We’ve narrowed the barn down to a couple of favorites and everyone agrees that the logo also needs to convey the nature of River City’s business, rubber stamp manufacturing. So we are headed in the right direction.

Here are some of the latest from Casey and the girls. I’m showing some my favorites. It’s my blog and I’ll show what I want to!

Casey is continuing to convey stamping through the broken images and photo corners. The girls are going further with their play on the word ‘stamp.’ Soon they will be intertwined…

It will be interesting to see what happens from here. Let us know what you like and don’t like or what you’d like to see.

JB Out