The 2008 Anvil Awards Gala is a celebration of the best work produced in Calgary for Marketing and Communications from January to December 2007. This year, the Anvils were stronger than ever. The number of entries continues to grow, the categories are streamlined and more competitive, the caliber of judges brought in are world-class, and this year, the gala was a sold out event, Friday, April 25th.

Karo Group was awarded Anvils for the following categories:
Best of Show - Alberta Securities Commission, “The Cheque”
TV Single over $50,000 – Alberta Securities Commission, “The Cheque”
Out-of-Home - The Calgary Stampede, “Mega Drop Elevator”
Public Service Print – HomeFront, “Romance Novel”
Best Illustration – HomeFront, “Romance Novel”

Merits in the following categories:
TV Single over $50,000 – The Calgary Stampede, “Fireworks”
TV Series – The Calgary Stampede, “Rodeo/ Fireworks”
Outdoor Single - The Calgary Stampede, “Rides”

Lara Presber got her first hammer from her dad when she was only eight years old and her first sewing machine from her mom when she was 10.  Little wonder that Lara grew up to be an architect and fashion designer (and integral part of Calgary Karo’s Environments department).  Lara’s second collection – for Fall 2008 - has been chosen as one of the four finalists in Toronto Fashion Incubator's New Labels competition.  Lara’s story made it to the front page of the Calgary Herald Real Life section recently.  Read it here...

Karo Group was awarded the Hastings Park Master Sign Plan by the City of Vancouver. We will create a comprehensive sign plan to assist visitor wayfinding over the long-term future development of Hastings Park. Our plan will balance a mix of commercial and community uses and maximize green space and fair activities.

Hastings Park, comprising 162 acres (66 hectares), is Vancouver’s second largest.  In its first half-century the park featured green space, fairgrounds, and a horse track. A restoration plan was approved in 1997, and in 2004 Vancouver City directed staff to develop the plan further, and this is where Karo comes in. Our sign plan will be address the site’s many features and intended changes, including the PNE Fairgrounds, Hastings Racecourse, PlayLand, the Pacific Coliseum, the Sanctuary and other park green space.

Karo Group–Vancouver has been awarded a major new assignment for the City of Vancouver—a citywide wayfinding and signage strategy. This will make it easier for people to navigate their way to Vancouver’s many attractions, and is even more necessary as the City prepares to welcome tens of thousands of visitors to the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Employees at western Canada’s only interdisciplinary creative agency, Karo, are donating $100,000 of their time to two not-for-profits; the Boys and Girls Club in Calgary and Vancouver’s Potluck Café Society.

 The employee led program – Karo Kaus - will use the donated time and expertise to develop design strategy and multidisciplinary creative to help the organizations better achieve their goals.

 “We know how to help our clients strengthen their brand experiences and be more competitive and we want to help these organizations do the same thing” says Leah Vanderhorst, a member of the employee committee that selected the Potluck in Vancouver.

 “We are thrilled to have Karo help us share our story and better market the Potluck Café Society” says Heather O’Hara, Executive Director of the Potluck; a self sustaining enterprise that  provides meals, employment programs and community kitchen programs in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.   Karo will help attract new clients, secure corporate partnerships and promote fundraising initiatives such as the Soup Project, which aims to sell gourmet soup to businesses and their employees to generate revenue.

 The Boys and Girls Club of Calgary provides safe, supportive places and activities for disadvantaged young people to experience life enhancing skills.  It’s opening an Arts and Recreation Centre and Karo will develop a strategy and creative which will attract donors and local artists to volunteer.  

 Cheryl Doherty, the Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club says “We can’t wait to get started working with Karo.  The centre will help 6,000 young people a year; exposing them to caring adults, boundaries and expectations and constructive use of time.”   Studies show that young people who engage in the arts are less likely to drop out of school, use drugs or alcohol or get arrested. 

 Karo Kaus is led entirely by the people who work at Karo.  Each of the 75 employees was involved and committees in each Calgary and Vancouver reviewed 71 proposals before selecting the two winners of the creative services grant.

 “I couldn’t be more proud of our team for coming up with Karo Kaus” says the president of Karo, Chris Bedford.  “The not-for-profit landscape is as competitive as any private sector industry, with organizations on tight budgets vying for limited donation dollars and community volunteer capacity.  We want to help out by doing what we do best; creating meaningful brand experiences.”

 Karo believes passionately in supporting employee initiatives and activities; one of the reasons it was ranked fifth in Canadian Business magazine’s 2007 “Best Workplaces in Canada.” 

On February 13, 2008, Karo Group won an IDI GOLD Award of Excellence at the annual Interior Designers Institute of British Columbia Awards for its work on the Deeley Motorcycle Exhibition.

Trev Deeley Motorcycles (“TDM”) wanted to integrate its priceless collection of motorcycles into its dealership.  After consulting with the former director of Public Programs at the Royal B.C. Museum, TDM hired Karo to create an experiential visitor environment for its new, 10,000 sq.ft. Deeley Motorcycle Exhibition.

Karo’s design showcased TDM’s new identity as well as exhibit graphics, display millwork and feature areas. It allows TDM to construct themed exhibits from its extensive and expanding gallery of motorcycles and one-of-a kind objects from around the world.

Most importantly, Karo’s design allows maximum flexibility for revolving exhibitions while supporting a strong permanent brand and presence for the Exhibition venue itself. Flexibility is crucial as the collection is rotated not only annually, but also daily for different events hosted in the space for groups large and small. Karo answered the design challenge with a fun, interactive space that is easy to maintain. Compared to TDM’s former Richmond location there has been a significant increase in both interest and visitation—leading to a benefit for TDM’s sales, showroom and service areas.

“Not only has Karo’s exhibition design supported the dealership and allowed the Harley aficionado to engage with the legacy of the brand, it allows both diehard fans and newbies to be drawn into the power of the Harley-Davidson experience. It has also become a tourist destination attraction in itself with a visitor increase of 800%.” Brent Cooke, Exhibition Manger, Harley-Davidson Canada

 Karo’s design for the Deeley Motorcycle Exhibition also placed in the category of "Institutional and Educational" projects, defined as "places of assembly occupancy such as schools, universities, daycare centres, museums, theatres, public art galleries, public auditoriums, airports, places of worship, courthouses, correctional and recreational facilities." Karo’s entry was judged against several other public institutions for this award, including schools, a library and a film centre. That Karo stood out among myriad others in this category was indeed an honour.     

Let’s face it, we all love a great story, which is why we flock to buy books, watch movies, and attend theatre. We love to hear stories of great personal achievements, companies, and brands. Storytelling is perhaps the oldest form of communication and cultural identification. The same cornerstones of a brilliant story are found in brilliant design, which is why design as a creative process is ideally suited to link brand stories in a unifying way. Chris Bedford will explore how organizations can use design thinking to uncover their story and learn how to tell it in a compelling manner through all consumer touch points.

Conference details: http://www.dmi.org/dmi/html/conference/europe08/conference.htm

Karo Group has just added five new awards to its stable of excellence. We entered our Horse Racing Alberta campaign into the Canadian Agricultural Marketing Awards that took place in mid-November, 2007.

Karo was in competition with top agencies including Ad Farm and BBDO, the latter of which entered its Milk Campaign, well known across Canada. We came away with an Excellence in Television Series and Merits in Billboard Single, Billboard Series and Product Sales–Direct Marketing/Direct Response.

Leading these other wins was  our “Best in Show” for the Consumer Direct Category. This victory is a tribute to the Karo tradition of design excellence that arises from creative liberty, market experience and energetic teamwork.

The Vancouver office of Karo Group is very pleased to announce that it has been awarded the Wayfinding and Signage contract for West Vancouver’s new Community Centre Project. This is Karo Group’s first project with Hughes Condon Marler Architects and their project manager, Basil Davis.

In our proposal and subsequent interview about this project, we stressed that we are wayfinding strategists, not merely sign designers. We also expressed excitement in the many opportunities to create an assured visitor experience. We like to think this made the difference in our proposal, not the fact that we also had Vancouver’s mayor to our offices for tea!

Karo will apparently also get a separate contract for the community centre’s main tenant: The Vancouver Coastal Health Unit. We would like to express our thanks to all who worked hard to make this proposal a success, and look forward to transforming Karo’s design ethic into another exceptional human environment.

The Calgary Stampede 2007 10-day campaign has brought Karo more awards—this time internationally.

The IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) Brass Ring Awards is an annual competition recognizing excellence in marketing for amusement facilities worldwide. On Monday, November 12th in Orlando, Florida, it was announced that the Calgary Stampede won in five of the ten categories presented in their division—the most wins in any division. The categories were:

• Integrated Marketing Campaign—the campaign as a whole (TV, radio, direct mail, guerrilla, print)
• Outdoor Signage
• Media Kit
• PR Campaign
• Web Site
  

The most exciting win for Karo is certainly the Integrated Marketing category. It is a new category this year and was created with the intent to show the creative use of media and breadth of work included in an agency’s campaign.

The international competition consisted of a vast variety of American parks, most notably the Six Flags amusement parks and the San Diego Zoo, as well as parks from Mexico, Germany, Norway, Singapore and Hong Kong.

For immediate release November 5, 2007: Western Canada’s only interdisciplinary creative agency, Karo Group, is offering the opportunity of $100,000 in pro bono work to help two community groups better achieve their goals through meaningful brand experiences.

Karo uses design strategy to create successful, integrated and focused customer brand experiences for a wide variety of clients, include ATB Financial, Calgary Stampede, Simon Fraser University, Syncrude, Enbridge, Ivanhoe Cambridge, Shaw, ENMAX, NovAtel, P.I. Financial, TransAlta, Concord Pacific, Alberta Securities Commission and First Calgary Savings.

“The not-for-profit landscape is as competitive as any private sector industry, with organizations on tight budgets vying for limited donation dollars and community volunteer capacity,” says Karo President, Chris Bedford. “We want to help out.”

Karo will apply $50,000 worth of design strategy and multidisciplinary creative to each of two not-for-profit organizations, one in Calgary and one in Vancouver. “We want to help two organizations develop meaningful brand experiences for their stakeholders and clients, which in turn will take them to the next level of attracting public support,” Bedford says.

Registered not-for-profits interested in receiving an application package can contact Karo at charity@karo.com.   An employee committee will create a short list and then employees from each office will vote on which two organizations will receive the $50,000 in Karo employee time.

The head of the Calgary committee and dedicated volunteer with Canadian Humanitarian, Kerry Worth, says “We’re thrilled to help charities develop a competitive edge the same way we help clients succeed in business.”  Natalie Clark, who is heading up the project in Vancouver, says “We are all really looking forward to this opportunity to help a worthy organization garner more support through a meaningful brand.”

This is the latest Karo initiative for giving back to the community. Every year, Karo provides more than $250,000 in pro bono work to groups such as  CANstruction, CKUA, Climate Central, Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, One Yellow Rabbit Theatre Company and Brain Injury Group. Karo also provides time off to employees involved in volunteer pursuits and it will match an employee’s donation to a not-for-profit up to $500.

Karo succeeds because it respects its employees, clients and the community.

For immediate release November 02, 2007: Western Canada's only interdisciplinary creative agency, Karo Group has been named one of Marketing Magazine's top ten agencies in Canada. Karo was the only agency west of Toronto to make the list.

The magazine selected ‘Canada's Top Agencies 2007' based on three criteria: strategic/creative innovation, financial success and leadership. Karo was chosen, in part, because if its unique business model that focuses on customer experiences, and the agency's substantial growth (35%) over the last 12 months.

"Karo was founded on the principle that we will succeed only if our clients and employees are happy, and our business model grew out of that" says Karo's president, Chris Bedford. "In the last year, we've substantially increased revenue, rapidly grown our client list and fostered an amazing culture and work environment."

Also in 2007, Karo was ranked fifth in Canadian Business magazine's "Best Workplaces in Canada." Karo was the only creative firm in the top ten.

"We are proud of the awards we've garnered this year," Bedford says. "They help show that our strategy to break away from the pack and develop our own integrated model to serve our clients is working."

Karo uses design strategy to create successful, integrated and focused customer brand experiences for a wide variety of clients including Trev Deeley Motorcycles, Calgary Stampede, Simon Fraser University, ATB Financial, Concord Pacific, Syncrude, P.I. Financial, Shaw, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Enbridge, Vancouver Aquarium, Ivanhoe Cambridge, ENMAX, Alberta Securities Commission, Mountain Equipment Coop, First Calgary Savings and OpenRoad Auto Group. Karo’s reach also extends beyond the Canadian market, including the U.S., Mexico, China and Argentina.

Marketing Magazine will honour Karo and the other shops named as Canada's Top Agencies 2007' at the second annual Marque Awards Nov. 29 in Toronto.

For more information, please contact Chris Bedford in Calgary at (403)266-4094 or Warren Baxter in Vancouver at (604) 255-6100 or visit our Contact Us page.

In conjunction with lead consultant OpenRoad Communcations, Karo has been awarded a major project to redesign the Vancouver Public Library web site. "It is a privilege to be involved with a cornerstone of our community in learning and literacy.", says Anson Lee, Director of Customer Experience Strategy. "With rapidly evolving and emergent internet technologies, understanding patron expectations is key to success." The project is underway with user research and concerning both online and physical branch usage.

Karo is excited to announce that it has joined forces with the Rocky Mountain Soap Company to create a strong brand for the Canmore-based natural soap manufacturer, the first step in building a long-standing business relationship.  They have five retail stores in Canmore, Banff, Edmonton, and Calgary, as well as a thriving wholesale business.

Cam Baty of Rocky Mountain Soap says that some of his company's best-selling products, including Pumpkin Patch soap, have resulted from listening to their customers and using 100% natural ingredients to transform customer suggestions into desirable natural products.

"Our plan is to grow to 30 stores across Canada in the next five years. We chose to partner with Karo to help us get there by first better defining our brand and then helping us roll out an inspiring and consistent brand experience across our stores, our website and our marketing communications.”