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Author Archives: Cathy Monetti
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A Good Night’s Sleep
This is quite a special day for me. After a great morning meeting with our spectacular Greenville-based client, Goodwill Industries of the Upstate/Midlands SC, I am spending the afternoon/evening enjoying one of my favorite locales on earth: Main Street Greenville, SC. What’s more, my daughter—a college student I no longer see often enough—is driving from Clemson University to meet me for the night. We shall stroll the West End, windowshop, eat a fabulous dinner somewhere along the way (Who can say where? There are so many remarkable options along this famed route.), then enjoy Gavin DeGraw and David Cook at The Peace Center.
Later, perhaps after coffee and dessert, we’ll make our way back to the Poinsett Hotel, where we’ll talk late into the night about all the goings-on in her life, which has no doubtedly changed significantly since she made the transition from high school student to college girl this fall.
When I planned this outing, I recognized what a Life Moment it would be for me, and hopefully, for her. I intentionally chose this historic hotel, and sitting here in the room, waiting for her to arrive, it feels just right. The bellman was courteous and helpful, check-in was a breeze, and the room is Exactly What I Wanted.
doesn't it make you want to slip in and curl up?
Even the ride up the elevator was worthy of note. A sweet lady who had been working in the lobby rode up with me and offered this perspective:
Wait ’til you feel that bed. It is heaven.
Here’s what I find interesting. How many centuries did it take before the hotel industry realized a comfortable bed is a vital part of their offering?
Today there is a comfortable bed war going on between many national chains. Not only that—many, including Hampton Inn,  now sell their own branded linens, pillows and comforters. The Westin has gone so far as to brand theirs the Westin Heavenly Experience and describes 10 layers of pure comfort, 1 extraordinary sleep experience.
I think a hotel branding the bed, and the sleep experience, is a smart, smart move. And I’ll let you know if their promise holds true—assuming my Eliza and I don’t stay up all night talking.
Celebrating The GOOD Night
This is not so much a blog post as it is a love letter—a love letter to the Power of Good. To Open Hearts. To Friendships, new and well-seasoned.
Three years ago, on what would turn out to be merely the cusp of a game-changing Recession, I got a phone call from David Kunz, executive director of The Cooperative Ministry. I did not know David at the time, but I heard something in his voice that prompted me (against all sense and reason), to take the request he made of me to my business partners.
“The Cooperative Ministry serves the working poor in this community,” he said,”and the economy has dealt us a double blow.” Financial support for TCM was way down at a time when more people than ever were desperate for the kind of help they provide.
Would you be willing to develop a television spot to run during the holidays? David had delicately asked.
But there was more to the story. The Cooperative Ministry had been gifted a performance of the Hootie and the Blowfish megahit “Hold My Hand,” sung by the incredible Benedict College Gospel Choir. Perhaps the song could be a powerful soundtrack for the spot, he offered.
Interesting, I thought. But still there were a thousand reasons to graciously decline.
(1)Â No Production Budget DOES NOT = Powerful TV.
(2)Â We were already in work overload, doing our best to support clients in a crippling economic downturn.
(3) We had an event in place to support nonprofits, and we had held it just two months prior to this phone call. CreateAthon allows us to focus our pro bono efforts into one concentrated time period—and we hadn’t quite wrapped up that work yet.
And yet I felt compelled to approach my partners with the possibility of helping The Cooperative Ministry. They really need us, and right now, I said. With no hesitation, there was a unanimous partner vote. Yes, they said.
It was not an easy assignment. We were committed to creating television, yes. But we also believed there was a larger story to share about the gifting of the song. We brought in volunteer creative teams to help craft what ultimately became a movement, With A Little Love. The team built a website. Keely Saye oversaw an inbound program. Ryan Cockrell produced a phenomenal video. Mad Monkey created TV magic:
Many on the team also developed a heart connection with David Kunz; his phenomenal deputy, Courtney Thomas; and the starter of this movement, Hootie and the Blowfish drummer Jim “Soni” Sonefeld. Â Each of those light-filled souls gave way more than they took, and they introduced us to other heart connections that have filled these three years with so many grace-filled moments the power of Doing Good simply cannot be denied.
So it is quite the understatement to say we were humbled when CreateAthon was honored by The Cooperative Ministry at their oh-so-swell gala, The GOOD Night. We thank them from way deep down for their generosity. And we thank every volunteer who has been a part of Riggs CreateAthon since its inception in 1998, as well as the nonprofits who have supported us and cheered us on all these years. We especially thank David Kunz, Courtney Thomas, and all the folks at The Cooperative Ministry who worked so hard to make The GOOD Night sparkle so brightly.
You have, do doubt, been a gift to us.
David Kunz and Courtney Thomas, celebrating The GOOD Night
CreateAthon Crew, in part
Teresa Coles and Cathy Monetti
Kerry Fulton and Ryon Edwards
Jay Coles and George Fulton
Teresa Coles, Pam Plowden and Kevin Smith. Now what's so funny?
We Think This Must Be A Very Good Sign
Surely, good things are to come for all who call the WECO home.
New Work: The Good Life Blog
We recently launched a cross-channel communications plan for Goodwill Industries of the Upstate/Midlands. In order to sustain and grow Goodwill, we recognized the importance of engaging a younger generation of shoppers and donors. We developed a digital strategy to make the brand relevant for modern lifestyles. The foundation of this social strategy is the creation of a thrift-inspired lifestyle and design blog, The Good Life blog.
This isn’t your average corporate blog. In fact, it’s not corporate at all. Goodwill hired an independent blogger to work  her design and thrifty magic on finds from Goodwill stores all across the Upstate and Midlands, and then write about them in an interesting and useful way. The blog is targeted to reach a younger, more diverse audience–those consumers who are interested in building a creative and sustainable lifestyle, especially in this post-Recession economy.
We’ve been delighted by the strong show of interest the blog has already received this soon after the launch. This early success just reminds us, once again, that there’s no substitute for great content that proves to be meaningful for consumers’ lives. To read the blog and be inspired yourself, click here.
Creative team: Cathy Monetti, Ryon Edwards, Kathryn White, Kendra Schaefer (thepixellary.com), Kendra Ardis.
Time to Shine
When you’ve spent years in the creative business, you learn that most ideas – even the best of ideas – peak. Then, in order to keep them relevant, you reinvent. But once in a great while, you develop a gem of an idea with a life bigger than its time.
Fifteen years ago, Teresa Coles and I started CreateAthon simply out of a desire to give back. We joked that we worked in an industry with no redeeming social value – so we put our industry talents to work round the clock for local nonprofits. It was a good idea. It was ahead of its time. And we couldn’t have imagined how it would grow.
Of course, the world has shifted in the last fifteen years. Pretty dramatically, I’d say. From economic downturns to natural disasters to new digital connections, there’s a new attitude of we’re all in this together. The result? The role of nonprofits is more elevated than ever before, because we recognize the need to create good in our world.  The Millennials, the most civic-minded generation America has seen in a long time, are leading the way with their passion, commitment, and willingness to volunteer.
The advertising industry has shifted, too. I’ve watched digital communication repaint the landscapes we were accustomed to, clearing the way for a new spirit of collaboration. It’s an exciting time to work in this business. It’s even more exciting as I’m getting ready to roll up my sleeves for this year’s CreateAthon.
What’s remarkable is not that our little idea grew into a national CreateAthon network providing pro bono marketing to hundreds of deserving nonprofits across the U.S. What’s remarkable is that CreateAthon has become a movement. In a world that’s embracing powerful movements to impact our communities for good, CreateAthon stands ready to grow faster than we’ve seen yet.
It’s time to shine, baby.
New Work: The Sunshine House
We’re pleased to have just launched our first work for The Sunshine House, a national brand of early education centers. The Sunshine House came to us looking for a way to be more competitive in a crowded market. In a landscape that’s cluttered with generic stock photography and interchangeable brand messaging, it’s easy for one childcare development brand to get lost among the rest.
That’s why we walked Sunshine House through our disciplined strategic process to determine a new brand positioning: support for families. The shift in brand messaging from kid-centric to family-focused was designed to differentiate from other childcare development brands and resonate with working parents. The Sunshine Helps program provides real life benefits engineered to help busy working parents—everything from more convenient hours to gift cards for a month of free housecleaning.
Next, we replaced Sunshine House’s enrollment discount program with a Kohl’s retail partnership. Teaming up with Kohl’s helps Sunshine House demonstrate its commitment to supporting families by offering practical incentives that add real value, rather than discounting one of the most important decisions a parent makes (childcare).
We’ve had a blast working on this brand to build a strong community of Sunshine families.
Strategy and creative team: Kevin Smith, Cathy Monetti, Ryon Edwards, Julie Turner, Kathryn White.
10 lessons from Social Crush, Day 2, Part 1
It is the grand gift of a new communication paradigm that has left many of us feeling overwhelmed rather than in-the-digital-know. Starting tomorrow, and every morning following, ask yourself:
What is it that we can stop doing?
Repeat with me so I will know you heard correctly:
What is it that we can stop doing?
According to Kipp Bodnar from Hubspot, a presenter who knows a thing or two about magnetic content, it goes like this:
Experiment. Track. Then STOP (if it is not working), or DO MORE (if it is working).
the gospel according to Kipp
Does this rock your world the way it does mine? I can’t remember a single time in any aspect of my life, personal or professional, when I was encouraged to just give something a try to see what happened, knowing full well I had permission to simply STOP if things didn’t work out as I planned. This concept (is that even the right word?) is truly a game-changer, and I believe it will impact the way we create, innovate and evaluate across a broad business — if not cultural — spectrum.
Needless to say, it is the biggest Day Two takeaway for me from Social Crush, an incredible, all-encompassing seminar held this week in famously hot Columbia, South Carolina. Here are a few more:
2. Â People don’t like to be marketed to. They like to have their problems solved.
3. Â Kipp’s Formula for Success (and I believe anything he says)
- Get the basics right
- Maximize content discovery
- Create conversion ubiquity
- Test and fail fast
- Optimize for maximum leads
4. Â Ebooks and webinars rock.
5. You can get it done 15 minutes a day. (Okay, maybe I don’t believe everything he says.) But here goes:
- 5 minutes Twitter/Facebook
- 5 minutes LinkedIn answers/groups
- 5 minutes Google alerts
Remember, monitor, then spend time where it is working!
6. You must have a schedule for what you are going to publish.
7. You can never publish too much stuff if your content is good.
8. Make it clear what you want your reader to do. Make it clear if you stand six feet away from the computer.
a lot of good stuff in here
9. It’s important to have a rhythm to your posts.
10. The web compounds over time, just like a 401(k). The results are exponential. Keep at it.
So that was just Kipp’s presentation, and there were three following it, including great tips on legal, SEO, new tools, blogging and more. Another day, another post.
Until then.
13 lessons from Social Crush, Day One
the crowd at Social Crush Columbia
Here’s the crazy thing. My biggest takeaway from Day One of this large and impressive social media conference, called Social Crush, is such a simple thought:
Listen. And respond.
We already knew that, didn’t we? And yet how easy it is to forget.
It’s like going to a cocktail party and feeling out of place. You get a little nervous, and before you know it, to be charming and interesting, you start blabbering on and on and on about Every Little Thing You’ve Ever Done and the stranger in front of you nods mechanically and quickly makes a move for the cold hors d’oeuvres.
Listen.
Do you know who you are talking to? What do they care about?
And respond.
Where do your interests overlap? How can you make a connection?
We need more creative farmers, it's true
I made a note in my very fabulous We Need More Creative Farmers sketchbook, made ‘specially for me by my friend and former art director Larry Thacker. Â (I interviewed him when he was a young VCU grad just because I liked his name. Seriously.) Anyway, I made a note with a big ol’ star to remind me every time I find myself in social media the-toolbox-keeps-expanding overload: (whew) Just listen. And respond.
Here are the other Big Takeaways for me.
2. There’s a difference between being a social brand (one person’s job) and a social business (5 percent of everyone’s job). ~ Thanks Tim Moore
3. An advocate is someone who talks about your brand when you’re not listening. ~Â Tim Moore, again
4. Offer real value. And use Farmer English. ~Â Â Thanks Ty Downing
5. Follow local influencers. And wear great shoes. ~Â Victoria Harres
6. Promote other people in ways that don’t benefit you.  ~ Victoria, again
7. Humanize the brand. (There is so much to say about this! Another post, another day.) ~ Victoria
8. Inspect your audience, and your content, frequently. Â ~ Victoria
9. Work the phrase “That would be hot!” into my presentations/client conversations. (Oops. That was a note to myself. Just liked it. Tim? Ty? Skeeter? Kip? Not sure.)
10. There is no control in social media. There is only training. ~Â Mike Brito
11. To coordinate your efforts, have a hub and spoke model. ~ Brito
12. The platform doesn’t matter. The content does. ~Â Glen Gilmore
13. (on the future of social) Keep your eyes on the customer and understand their behaviors. You’ll be fine. ~ Brito
Looking forward to Day Two.
*Editor’s note: There was so much smartness flying so fast around the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center that some, or all, of the comment credits in this post may be wrong. The author accepts full responsibility for such matters and begs the forgiveness of any offended party. Particularly @glengilmore.
New Work: Literacy 2030
Literacy 2030 is an initiative lead by the Central Carolina Community Foundation that unites literacy organizations across the Midlands of South Carolina. With the admittedly aspirational goal of achieving 100 percent literacy in South Carolina by 2030, the organization supports literacy service providers by facilitating member communication, encouraging collaboration and providing access to funding sources.
We loved developing this identity system and branding platform, and we’re hard at work on a website to be launched in mid-September.
Strategy and creative team: Cathy Monetti, Ryon Edwards, Kathryn White, Kendra Schaefer (thepixellary.com)
