Sometimes getting your mission or big idea out calls for video to fully tell the story. Here are some examples created in support of event communications, grant applications, social media campaigns, and overall marketing goals.

CLIENT: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

OPPORTUNITY: Many students have negative emotions about learning math, and those negative emotions can make it harder for students to persist. Narratives that adults—like teachers and parents—hold about math can also discourage kids from learning math before they even get to algebra. So we wondered, how do studentsfeel about learning math, and how can adults help them persist when learning math feels hard?

WHAT WE DID: Launched the Math Narrative Project, where we listened to young people, teachers, and parents tell us about their experiences learning math, then analyzed what cultural narratives exist, and how and who can disrupt harmful narratives when it comes to math. Collaborators include Wonder: Strategies for Good, Goodwin Simon Strategic Research, Caroline Czajkowski, Hive Design, RocketBoy Creative, Threespot, and YR Media

RESULT: The Math Narrative Project website was highlighted by President of U.S. Programs at Gates Foundation, Allan Golston, as part of Math Stat Month and over 1,000 educators joined the webinars to learn more about the research.

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CLIENT: Eliel Cycling

OPPORTUNITY: Eliel was seeking ways to expand beyond their core audiences on social media and give women more visibility in the realm of gravel biking and racing.

WHAT WE DID: Created a week-long social media takeover in partnership with NorCal’s largest all women’s race team, Breakaway Women’s Racing, to feature 3 of their teammates in the lead up to a local gravel event, the Flannel Grinder.

RESULT: From Eliel’s Head of Marketing, “Eliel as a brand received recognition for giving women time in the spotlight last week. The Unbound Gravel Race Director and Shimano Gravel Alliance staff all asked about how the takeover was orchestrated, set up and how to bring that to their brands!” Check out the takeover here.

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CLIENT: SACNAS, American Chemical Society, American Geophysical Union, American Psychological Society, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, American Society for Cell Biology, and Professional Development Hub

OPPORTUNITY: The maxim goes that “you can’t be what you can’t see” and the primary mechanism for visibility in the STEM field is who owns the narrative. 6 scientific societies were seeking ways to allow their members to practice their storytelling, to convey who they are and how their backgrounds have shaped the value they bring to the field.

WHAT WE DID: Curate a blog series inviting scientists to share reflections on diversity, belonging, and inclusion. As part of the campaign, create an interactive webinar with guest authors, individual reflection, exploration of the components of a great story and an invitation to participants to submit a written pitch of their own to scientific societies. View the recording here.

RESULT: 650 attendees, 313 unique viewers, and many followed up to pitch their story to their scientific society.

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CLIENT: Project Basta

OPPORTUNITY: Invite hiring managers within corporations to challenge their hiring practices when it comes to diverse candidates.

WHAT WE DID: Write a LinkedIn article that busts common hiring myths like using GPA as a top indication of fit, hiring from elite colleges only, and accepting candidates who have had an internship.

RESULT: Comments and response to engage with Project Basta from Slack, Goldman Sachs, CrowdFill, and other HR professionals at tech companies.

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CLIENT: Venture North Funding (www.venturenorthfunding.org)

OPPORTUNITY: Improve deal flow for small business loans to create more economic opportunity throughout Northern Michigan and find a clear and simple way to convey all that Venture North does for the region.

WHAT WE DID: Re-design a web presence that features user-friendly navigation, smooth presentation of Venture North’s financing offerings and client success stories to attract investors and establish credibility with partners.

RESULT: Paired with an overarching communication strategy and segmented newsletters, Venture North now has a platform from which to increase their clientele in Northern Michigan. They’ve now disbursed over $5M to businesses that have created over 300 jobs.

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CLIENT: Sanergy, a social enterprise in Nairobi, Kenya (saner.gy)

OPPORTUNITY: Upgrade digital presence from a simple blog to a full website and newsletter development to provide partners, investors, and fans more information.

WHAT WE DID: Brand new website with new photography, customer profiles, founder's story, clearer commentary on the need for Sanergy's model.

RESULT: The creation of a digital resource (created all in-house with no budget) that helped secure Sanergy's second investment round of $1M.

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CLIENT: KIPP Bay Area Schools Ping Pong Smackdown

OPPORTUNITY: Get the word out about a fundraiser (KIPP Ping Pong Smackdown)

WHAT WE DID: Designed a communications plan that connected corporate sponsors of the tournament to a specific KIPP classroom. Sponsors played on behalf of KIPP students and received photos and messages from the students, thereby reinforcing the organization's mission for sponsors. Social media supported this strategy, in addition to a full toolkit of collateral (flyers, invitations, sponsorship packet, microsite)

RESULT: The Ping Pong Smackdown exceeded its fundraising goal of $650,000 and brought in 700 guests, many of whom engaged further with KIPP beyond the event.

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CLIENT: Coalition for Climate Education Policy

COMMUNICATION CHALLENGE: How does climate education policy come to be? What narratives, messages, and messengers are most effective? CCEP wanted to showcase successful examples of state-wide and local climate education policy change.

SOLUTION: Sea Change, a report with three case studies that lays out how the New Jersey, Maine and Montgomery County policies were messaged, which strategies were used to engage stakeholders, and how communications challenges were overcome.

RESULT: The findings and recommendations are designed to serve as a roadmap for climate change education advocates, so they can blend curriculum and facilities, arts and sciences, public policy and private advocacy in ways that scale climate literacy within their own communities. The campaign to rollout the report has just launched!

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CLIENT: The National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma and Mental Health

COMMUNICATION CHALLENGE: Raise awareness about the significant mental health and substance use effects of domestic violence and highlight the need for collaboration between treatment and recovery systems.

SOLUTION: Collaborate with Williams + Kunst Design on a Partner Guide, infographics, social media, talking points, blogpost, presentation slides, press release and a marketing plan to mobilize and inform state and tribal treatment providers, as well as domestic violence coalitions.

RESULT: Over 200 downloads of the research memo and 650 signups to the webinar where Dr. Warshaw (ED of the Center) walked participants through the implications of the research. The agency also established leads for providing technical assistance that could bridge needed collaboration.

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CLIENT: Crosshatch Center for Art + Ecology

COMMUNICATION CHALLENGE: Inform major donors about the impact of Crosshatch’s mission to build resilient communities through the intersections of art, farming, economy and ecology.

SOLUTION: Tagteam an annual report design with Hive Event Planning + Design that includes program spotlights, interviews with collaborators and financial data.

RESULT: The report was leveraged as part of Crosshatch’s development campaign to secure sponsorships, corporate giving and grant funding.

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CLIENT: Up North Pride

COMMUNICATION CHALLENGE: Cover operating costs and volunteer staffing to bring a week of visibility events to the Grand Traverse area in support of the LGBTQ community.

SOLUTION: Create a fundraising plan, case statement, donor script and a sponsorship guide so that board members can engage the community.

RESULT: The organization is moving from a volunteer working board and building towards full-time staff so that events can happen year-round and reach further into Northern Michigan to serve more rural LGBTQ folks.

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CLIENT: Huron River Watershed Council

COMMUNICATION CHALLENGE: Citizens often lack the tools and knowledge to preserve natural areas that matter to them.

SOLUTION: Collaborate with Parallel Solutions to create a toolkit outlining the steps needed to run a successful millage campaign from review ordinances, exploring feasibility, to getting on the ballot and connecting with voters.

RESULT: The Huron River Watershed Council will be distributing the toolkit amongst their conservation network throughout the state of Michigan.

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