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Brooks Family Business WebsiteBrooks Family Business, Website

Concept/Project Management/Writing: Elizabeth Child
Concept/Design: JoAnn Penfield, Penfield Creative
Completed: 12/19/08

Our Charge:

  1. Elizabeth Child & Company was hired to create an updated look and content for The Owner’s Institute, family business consultant John Brooks’ company.
  2. A brainstorming with the staff revealed a target market of older male business owners, however John Brooks also wanted to appeal to women and “the next generation” of business owners.

Process and Results:

  1. We suggested a company name change to reflect the fact that John Brooks is the business. He spearheads all consulting and his personality is the personality of the company. The name was changed to Brooks Family Business and JoAnn Penfield created a new company logo.
  2. John Brooks wanted the site to more interactive, but not so much so that he had to update it often. Instead, we created a quiz for those visiting the site to evaluate their own family businesses.
  3. Image-wise, we decided on an upscale, customized look that reflected John’s personality — MBA buttoned-down and very approachable. It needed to be simple to navigate, not wordy, but with enough content to reflect his consulting capabilities.

See the results for yourself: www.brooksfamilybusiness.com

The College of St. Catherine, Annual Fund Year-end Appeal

Concept/Project Management/Writer: Elizabeth Child
Concept/Direct Mail Strategy/Design: Eric Weber, Duz Creative
Completed: 12/19/08

Our Charge:

Using St. Kate’s recently launched Power of One theme, create a direct mail piece for alumnae who had not given to the Annual Fund in 2008.

Process and Results:

We tested a letter with reply card/envelope vs. a more substantial three-fold piece with pocket and identical letter/reply card/envelope. The latter folder design included a beautiful campus and student photo. Half of the audience received each mailer. We are in the process of determining which had better appeal to which audiences. The results will be measured and will guide our approach to subsequent appeals.

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The College of St. Catherine, School of Health/Associate Programs Viewbook

Concept/Project Management/Writer: Elizabeth Child
Design: Kirsten Ford, Focus Design
Completion: 12/19/08

Our Charge:

Create a Viewbook for the newly launched School of Health. It was to focus on Associate Degree programs and answer: Why St. Kate’s?, when a technical school would cost less. It also needed to: 

  1. Entice students to explore career options in healthcare beyond nursing.
  2. Appeal to nontraditional college audiences including adults coming to college to change careers, minorities and first-generation college students.
  3. Highlight opportunities to “ladder” or continue education beyond the Associate degree.

Process and Results:

  1. We started by identifying the key values and messages we needed to get across, including the strong social justice mission of the College.
  2. We concepted a cross between a catalog and a typical Viewbook — which is often more image oriented — so students would get hard facts in a handsome book.
  3. We included theme pages to give readers a visual break to the highly factual content and highlight the important values of the College.
  4. We made the book utilitarian with a spiral binding.