It’s no secret that many MadMen fans work at First Generation! So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many of us tuned in to AMC’s The Pitch this past Monday. Described as a docuseries and modern day companion of MadMen, The Pitch follows different ad agencies competing for the opportunity to provide advertising services to large national companies, such as already featured Subway and Waste Management.

FG works with an impressive portfolio of clients, ones we’ve worked hard to build up over the past 25 years in business. Many of these clients require formal bids and pitches for their work, often against other ad agencies. How does The Pitch compare to our pitching experience?

Make it camera ready. While pitches are normally prepared in a short amount of time, often just 1-2 weeks, you want to put your best foot forward in providing high quality work that could be printed or published with minimal revisions. Clients want to visualize their products coming to life, so campaign pitches should be engaging and interactive, incorporating mood boards, video samples, and sample print collateral that highlight their products and services in tangible ways. First Generation reiterates the client’s goals and identifies how our presented work incorporates those messages through professionally created and executed mediums.

Differentiate. In this past week’s episode of The Pitch, SD+K of Las Vegas presented a print ad to Waste Management that used a mobile augmented reality app to have celebrities say their campaign tagline, “Turn Waste into Wow!” Their developers geeked out and developed this crafty tactic, which in our opinion, “wowed” the Waste Management team and won them the account. The competing agency, The Ad Store, only shared a short video and on-screen ad creative. First Generation offers one of the 10 largest production studios on the East Coast, plus a team of editors, producers, media planners, web and print designs, interactive developers and more, all under one roof. Our studio and breadth of in-house capabilities is our differentiator at pitches! We are able to provide a wide variety of strategic solutions, and we present tactics that play to our strengths and those of our potential clients.

Rehearse & Test. Repeat. The same agency mentioned above, SD+K, kicked off their presentation with a video in which the audio didn’t play properly.  After a bit of on-the-spot trouble shooting that made the clients’ eyes roll, it worked. Thankfully they still won the pitch, but it looked very unprofessional. Being entrenched in the Live Event and Presentation business, FG finds it vital to rehearse pitches, knowing who is speaking when, and testing videos and any multimedia portions of the presentation. We request an early arrival to set up our presentation, which isn’t always possible for the client, but it doesn’t hurt to ask! They see the pay off when the presentation runs smoothly.

While FG has no intentions of being featured on The Pitch, we like to think we offer plenty of television-worthy pitches. If your company is in the market for a new agency, we invite you to give us a call at 610-437-4300!

April showers bring…new First Generation employees! We are proud to announce the following new additions to the team and promotions: 

Sara Lorenz, Creative Director – Since starting at First Generation in 2005 as Senior Designer, Sara has continually impressed FG clients with her creativity and excellence. She was promoted to Art Director in 2008, and now Creative Director in 2011, which was no surprise to any of her peers! Her FG portfolio includes client work for Crayola, Olympus, Mack Trucks, and more. Previously, she held design positions with Red Bull Energy Drink and the Blue Man Group in New York, after earning her graphic design degree from the Art Institute of Philadelphia. Ms. Lorenz will oversee the creative team and provide creative strategy, leadership, and conceptual solutions to First Generation’s clients.

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Drew Frantzen, Art Director – Drew Frantzen joins First Generation as Art Director.  Drew comes to FG with a breadth of diversified experience, having held positions as Graphic Designer at Rodale, Web Designer at Sposto Interactive, Art Director at Etre Creative and Lehigh Valley Style Magazine, and most recently as Senior Designer and Webmaster at Active Data Exchange.  A BFA Kutztown University graduate, he has proven experience designing for print, web and flash and we all feel he will be a great asset to the team.

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Allison Drych, Account Planner – Allison joins FG in the newly created Account Planner position. Allison will be taking on Media Planning, Account Strategy and Project Management for FG’s key accounts.  Allison will also handle social media placement and strategy. Prior to joining the FG team, she held various positions in marketing at Marketing Partners, Inc., developing  and executing campaigns and promotions efficiently and effectively while maintaining a strong brand and tracking ROI. She is a strategic and organizational communications graduate of Temple University.

Last Friday evening, creative professionals gathered at the 2011 Addy Awards gala to recognize the best of the best in Lehigh Valley advertising. The event, hosted by the Lehigh Valley Ad Club and proudly sponsored by First Generation, saw an impressive turnout and showcased a variety of oustanding creative work. Work was awarded throughout categories in print, web, interactive, video, and non-traditional media. First Generation took home a total of 9 awards – gold, silver, and bronze – for our work in 2010 throughout these categories.

“We are incredibly excited to share this success with our clients and are proud to have made such a mark on this year’s ADDY awards, ” remarked Sara Lorenz, Creative Director for First Generation. “First Generation’s recognition at this year’s ADDYs continues a tradition of excellence, and I am proud to be a part of a team that consistently produces such high-caliber work.”

We congratulate all the recipients of the 2011 ADDY awards and thank the Lehigh Valley Ad club for putting together a spectacular event.

Below are First Generation’s winning entries.

GOLD: Crayola Solar Farm video

SILVER: Coordinated Health Art of Medicine TV Program, Olympus SP-800 UZ video

BRONZE: Inky the Inkblot (fginkblot.com), Crayola 2011 Products Catalog, Sprinters Edge website (sprintersedge.com), Crayola On the Go Brochure, First Gen Brain Trust Brochure, Crayola Green Products Ad

The 24-7 Fitness TV spots are the perfect visual reveal of the “You Fit Here” concept notes Tom Lazaunikas, Creative Director. Using high-definition, ear-catching sound,  the spots engage viewers and make them want to see what’s happening. Halfway through each 15 second spot, a white cutout fills in to show a regular person just like the viewer, working out at 24-7 Fitness Clubs, whether playing tennis, swimming, lifting weights, and attending a group fitness class. The tagline “You Fit Here” flows across the screen just as the person appears, delivering the message that there is something for everyone, just before 24-7 Fitness contact info is displayed. The spots are simple and clean, cutting through the average commercial clutter.

10-Point Strategy Outlines Map For Effective Presentations
By ALEXANDRA SHADE
Special to the Business Journal

Effectively communicating your business’ brand and the value you deliver to your customers is critical to your overall success. Securing the opportunity to deliver a keynote or make a workshop presentation at a conference or convention is a powerful strategy, allowing you to speak directly to and engage your target audience.

Effective communicators make the most of these opportunities by delivering presentations that make an impact on the audience — not just delivering information, but mobilizing people to take action, whether it’s supporting you, buying your product or signing up for your service. Are you effectively using a speaking strategy to promote your business, product or service? Are you delivering engaging and powerful presentations when you’re in front of your target audience?

Remember the last time you presented at a meeting, conference or convention. Were you able to enroll members of the audience in your service or product?

Here are 10 secrets to inspire convention audiences and make memorable presentations that turn listeners into customers.

1. Know your audience. If you’ve been asked to speak at a meeting, conference or convention, do the due diligence to find out who will be sitting in the seats.

More…