Riggs Partners

Category Archives: Musings

posted by Cathy

May 22, 2013 @ 4:00pm

10 Reasons Your Agency Should Become A CreateAthon Agency

“We should work around the clock at least once every quarter,” I said to my business partner during a late night work session at the agency. “Then we might actually keep up with our workload.”

“Yes, we should,” she said, looking remarkably rational. “But we should do it for charity.”

That little exchange became CreateAthon, a 24-hour marathon during which our agency, and now a number of other agencies around the country, band together to provide marketing services to nonprofits in our communities. In 15 years, more than 1,275 nonprofits have been served with 3,000 projects, valued at more than $15 million.

Our goal is to double the number of partner agencies participating in CreateAthon this year. Here’s why we think you should take a look our program:

1. CreateAthon is the ideal tool for managing pro bono requests. CreateAthon is the perfect way to say Yes to every nonprofit. (Or at least it is the perfect way to not say No.) Simply direct them to your agency’s CreateAthon application.

2. The work will have a START and a STOP. Agree to develop marketing materials for a nonprofit during a regular business cycle and odds are 10-1 the work will take months to complete. (Paid deadlines have a way of moving to the top of the traffic schedule, don’t they?) Do it during CreateAthon, and the job will be completed in 24 hours. Guaranteed.

3. The impact of your pro bono work will amplify. We get it—every nonprofit request includes the word “brochure.” But wouldn’t it be great to have a manageable process through which you could dig a little deeper and get to the root of the problem that needs to be solved? In a timely, affordable manner? The CreateAthon model begins with a focus on the challenges the nonprofit is facing. That allows your planning team to do what they do best: solve a business problem with a marketing solution that will actually work.

4. Your creative will soar. Magic happens during CreateAthon. It is the gift the universe gives us for doing good, I believe. No other way to explain it.

5. Your team will be inspired. Some 15 years ago, in the inaugural year of CreateAthon, I had great worries about whether or not our team could actually work for 24 straight hours. To tell the truth, I wondered if we could even stay awake. So we scheduled activities, entertainment and an away-from-the-office dinner break, just to refresh. But it turned out that no one needed it. In fact, most of us ate at our computers that night, focused on the work at hand.

6. You will make new friends. Those who work in the nonprofit community are not only committed to making the world a better place, they’re also darn nice people. They approach the agency/nonprofit marketing partnership with open hearts and a willingness to share that is refreshing. And they’ll remember you, and the work you did for their organization, long after the 24 hours is over. Nice basis for new friendships, not to mention referral sources.

7. You can create powerful relationships with superstar talent (I). Once we have our nonprofits lined up and know the type of work we’ll be doing, we fill in any gaps with creative volunteers from our community. I particularly like this shuffling of talent; it is healthy, challenging and inspiring to face the challenge of a 24-hour deadline with a team that may be unfamiliar to you.

8. You can create powerful relationships with superstar talent (II). One year, David Carson was on tap to speak at a local ad event the night before CreateAthon. We invited him to tack a little CreateAthon onto his trip, and he agreed—becoming our first Celebrity Designer. Need I describe what a thrill it was to have David Carson IN OUR OFFICES, designing a poster for a Riggs CreateAthon client? The colorful stories he told during dinner were just a bonus.

9. There is nothing more validating than doing work that matters. Something incredible happens when a devoted, hard-working creative staff gets the opportunity to focus—really focus—on work that matters. I am a firm believer that the gift we give to our community in the form of CreateAthon changes lives and makes the Midlands of South Carolina a nicer place to live. We have attacked homelessness, child abuse, pet overpopulation, drug addiction, mental illness, literacy, graduation rates, bullying, spousal abuse, land preservation—and that is just a drop in the proverbial bucket. Doing work that makes a difference. It fills your soul like nothing else.

10. Your culture will never be the same. Year after year, CreateAthon comes along and refuels our firm. It bonds us together in a way that is lasting, reminding us what is possible when we believe in each other, support each other, cheer each other on.

And when you get right down to it, isn’t that what it’s all about?

We hope you will consider becoming a CreateAthon partner and holding a CreateAthon event in your market. Details here, or call Teresa at 803-799-5972.

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posted by Kevin

Apr 22, 2013 @ 6:08pm

Body oil is the new ring around the collar.

There is absolutely always a way to connect.

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posted by Jenni

Apr 17, 2013 @ 12:50pm

Hands-On Experience

There’s something fitting about my first week as a writing apprentice at Riggs falling just days away from April 20, 2013, the sixth anniversary of Record Store Day. While the event, which encourages music lovers to support their local, independently owned music stores, has become an international phenomenon, it has also garnered the beleaguered music industry’s attention by reviving a corner of the market once believed to be barely standing on its last leg. Vinyl record sales have gradually increased since 2008, and in 2012 they reached a 15-year high.

Columbia's Papa Jazz Records

While the numbers reflect only a small drop in the larger industry’s bucket, for me, this growing (and they are growing) niche of consumers says a lot about how consumer culture, in general, is changing. Instant gratification and tech-driven convenience isn’t the selling point it used to be. The Great Recession seems to have spawned a desire to have something to show for one’s hard earned dollar. A new generation is falling in love with their record collections.

From the careful removal of the disc from its cover and jacket, to the equally cautious placement of the needle and the satisfying hiss as it moves into the silent grooves between each song, a preference for vinyl is as much about the owner’s tangible experience as it is about the warm, robust tone only a record can produce. Vinyl seems to imprint its grooves upon our memories in a way digital music has yet to achieve. My dad has a story for every album he’s ever bought. Now I can say the same about many of my friends. More importantly, you can’t carry a record around in a pocket-sized device. We invite vinyl into our homes, allow it to take up space, and return to our favorite albums again and again. It’s a long-term, committed relationship.

A new generation is drawn to the tangible experience of vinyl.

And it’s this thought that brings me back to my first few days as an apprentice at Riggs. Earlier today, I enthusiastically updated the work section of my Facebook. Jokingly I listed my position as “Wannabe Peggy Olson,” in tribute to Mad Men’s plucky copywriter. But as I thought about Record Day, with its own hints of nostalgia filtered through a modern lens, I was reminded that we now live in a world where a snappy slogan touting the features of a well designed product isn’t enough to ensure market success. These days, with so many options and dollars stretched thin, brands that aspire to greatness must first inspire consumer engagement above anything else. Advertising tells people what they should buy. A strong brand strategy guarantees they will never forget why they made that decision. It paves the way for that tangible experience and ignites the initial spark for an enduring relationship. That’s why I wanted to apprentice with Riggs. Anyone can write “effective copy.” Here we strive to write love stories.

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posted by Julie

Apr 08, 2013 @ 2:29pm

The Pick of Spring

Buckets of goodness from Cottle Strawberry Farm in Hopkins, SC

Enjoy the season's best from your local farmers — Image picked from Cottle Strawberry Farm

There’s something ultra delicious about picking fresh strawberries in the warm spring sun. They are redder, plumper and oh so very sweeter. My family visits the local farm almost every weekend they’re in season. My four year old, who takes such great care to find the best ones, sneaks a strawberry or two as we carefully pick our way through the rows. They are that irresistible.

As I wander through the field each year, I can’t help but think about this game — the one where mankind and all of his advanced technology cannot outsmart this beautiful recipe of nature, time and weather. Throughout the fall and winter, you can see and taste failure in hard, half-green strawberries forced to ripen as they are shipped across the country (or globe). Strawberries that don’t smell at all like sunshine and sweetness. Imposters.

There was once a time when strawberries could not be found in the off-season and it’s easy to see why. So, more and more, I find myself waiting for the real strawberries. For the next few months, I’ll eat, drink and blend local fresh strawberries into every meal and beverage I can think of.

There’s a short window for one of nature’s greatest gifts. It’s open now at Cottle Strawberry Farm.

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posted by Teresa

Mar 13, 2013 @ 10:26am

Global Pro Bono? CreateAthon Worldwide? Believe.

“YOU are CreateAthon?”

“Well, uh, yes, I guess I am.”

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it’s really you! I talk to people in India about CreateAthon all the time!”

That is what greeted me within 10 minutes of stepping into an evening reception at the Global Pro Bono Summit, hosted recently by Taproot Foundation. It was a moment that took my breath away, and the start of a 24-hour experience that filled me with the promise of good in the world like never before.

Joining me at the event in NYC was none other than CreateAthon Chief Evangelical Officer Peyton Rowe. That, in itself, is enough to get me pumped up on the matter of all things pro bono. Then there were our friends from Taproot Foundation, A Billion + Change, and other swell folks from socially minded corporations we’ve come to know. I expected to see these flag-bearers for pro bono, and to once again be inspired by their leadership.

What I encountered was something altogether different.

I was surrounded by people from about a dozen different countries who were part of Taproot’s global fellows program. Then there were “intermediaries,” people throughout the US who lead programs designed to mobilize pro bono efforts in their respective industries and/or communities. Like CreateAthon.

Before we intermediaries were introduced to the global fellows, Taproot Founder and event organizer Aaron Hurst provided some meaningful context to us on why these people had come to New York, and why we had been invited to meet them:

“Understand that most of the people you’ll meet today come from countries in which pro bono is neither encouraged nor tolerated. In some cases, they are not only putting themselves at professional risk for advocating the practice of pro bono, but also personal. They can go to jail for this.

“You’re here to get to know them, encourage them, and connect with them from now on, so they can be prepared to carry out this work when they go home.”

That got our attention.

Then here they came, 22 of the most delightful people I’ve ever met. Between their broken English and my heavy Southern accent, we often had to repeat ourselves or help interpret each other’s sentences. But what transcended that awkward dialogue was the immediate, shared spark of something between us: the belief in pro bono.

There’s so much to say about this experience — perhaps I shall come back here and unpack all of my takeaways — but for now, I hope you’ll be inspired by three things I now know to be true, thanks to this global gathering of good.

Pro bono is going to become an industry, not a nice to do.

We can capitalize on it and make a living giving it scale throughout the world. What some may have once considered a pipe dream is now quickly becoming a force.

People are different. Their hearts are the same.

The power of human connections around a central cause has never been more palpable to me than in the last two weeks. All it takes is one moment, and an extended hand.

The impact of CreateAthon has only just begun.

Our 24-hour marathon model is being noticed in places far from here, not just in India. In France: “We now have a marathon model in place inspired by CreateAthon.”

In the Netherlands: “Oh yes, we’ve heard of you. What a great program!”

In Germany: “We love CreateAthon, and I am going to get you to Berlin to teach us how to do it.”

Where do we go from here? Global fellows, corporate leaders, and intermediaries like us will reassemble for Global Pro Bono Summit II a year from now. In the meantime, we’ll be connecting with each other, one by one, sharing ideas and offering encouragement. We’ll also be working together on a number of initiatives coming out of the summit that will help to move the global pro bono movement forward in the next 12 months.

The last thing I know for sure?

If you have a little idea, it can be big.