(December 15, 2009) Minneapolis—Shakopee-based St. Francis Regional Medical Center and Adsoka unveil Women’s Health sub-branding. With new delivery rooms in 2010 and expanded capacity, it was time for St. Francis to increase their outreach to their female audience. Adsoka developed the Women’s Health sub-brand after extensive research that included competitive reviews and interviews with staff, potential patients, patients, nurses, midwives and doctors.

For St. Francis, recognizing their key customer (women) means catering their services in such a way that the comprehensive package is even better than the individual parts. The new brand is customer-centric. It’s less procedure-centered, more people-centered.

The thorough investigation of branding oriented to women, especially in the medical field, showed that pinks, purples, ribbons and silhouettes abound. With the understanding that femininity could be expressed with softness yet strength, Adsoka created this Women’s Health brand to convey femininity, nature, family, spa, serenity, vitality and fortitude.

“We knew it was important that this brand have a natural essence and be soothing,” said Kayla Stearns, designer at Adsoka. “It conveys femininity without the obvious color palette.”

The goal of the branding is to speak to women at all stages of life. The graphic element in the Women’s Health logo is a nod to the leaves in the current St. Francis graphic element; it integrates well with the current brand family. One of the mark’s defining characteristics is the six stems, which are reminiscent of family and recovery. This is fitting for a health center focused on growing families as well as healing.

St. Francis is a comprehensive medial center for the south metro area. Learn more at
http://www.stfrancis-shakopee.com.

(December 1, 2009) Minneapolis—LandOf.org is an information salon for Minnesota developers, municipalities and the public to learn about growing smarter. Launched on December 1, LandOf.org covers everything from central cities to rural areas and mixed land use to stakeholder collaboration with downloadable plans, case studies and images for each. LandOf.org, developed by Adsoka, is a mingling of voices that asks, “how can we do what’s best for Minnesota?”

“Minnesotans are used to the term ‘Land of 10,000 Lakes.’ But what’s next? Land of what? Jammed up freeways? Paved-over paradise? Taking trains to new jobs? Historic town centers?” said Jason Inskeep, principal at Adsoka. “Changing an approach to land use requires corralling a set of diverse resources into a central place so the daunting goal of smart growth can be less a trendy topic and more a realized effort.”

Funded with a grant from the McKnight Foundation, LandOf.org is a guide to help Minnesota’s best future to come true. This Web site asks the question, "What’s best?" for finite land resources as demands upon them grow. The underlying premise is, "There is a smarter response."

“People understand they need to do something differently, they just don’t know what,” said Jim Erkel, program director and attorney with Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA). “Meanwhile, at MCEA we were filling frequent requests from planners, developers and the public for planning information. The information was available; it just wasn’t centralized. That’s what LandOf.org does.”

Minnesotans stand at a pivotal moment. The world has changed. A troubled economy, energy insecurity, climate change and big demographic shifts are forcing a new direction. For 60 years communities were designed for maximum driving with great distances separating our daily activities.

LandOf.org recognizes that now we must go another way. We must adapt our communities to living patterns that are more efficient, better for our health and our planet, better for our country’s security and future prosperity. Minnesota’s central cities, urban neighborhoods, developed or developing suburbs, small cities and rural areas must all discover how to grow smarter.

Learn more and contribute your knowledge at http://www.LandOf.org.

The Foundation Architects and Adsoka Launch Email Marketing
Emails address three different audience segments

(October 19, 2009) Minneapolis—The Foundation Architects and Adsoka recently launched the email campaign The Foundation News and Notes. The email is unique because it caters to three different segments—dental, residential and commercial. The Foundation Architects is appealing to various segments to provide a balance in their work and to cross-pollinate solutions between areas of the business.

“Building separate emails for separate audiences matters to the consumer because they gain depth in their experience with The Foundation,” said Jason Inskeep, principal of Adsoka. “From a marketer’s perspective, tending to multiple audiences maintains business growth.”

Each email contains a story on a dental clinic, home or commercial building. Emails also include a Q & A with the firm’s president, Bob Shaffer; readers can submit their own questions for Bob to answer.

Try The Foundation News and Notes for yourself by signing up at http://www.foundationarch.com.

Principal of Adsoka, Jason Inskeep, Presented at Positively Minnesota Conference

(October 5, 2009) Minneapolis—Jason Inskeep, principal of Adsoka, spoke at the Positively Minnesota 14th annual Minnesota Development Conference titled “20/20 marketing in 2010: Know More, Spend Less.” The presentation covered six ideas about how to think about your business and to position yourself for a successful 2010. The "Reality, Reinvent, Revitalize: Opportunity in Crisis" conference was held October 1 and 2 at the Sheraton Bloomington Hotel.

From surveys following the presentation, 72 percent of the attendees rated the session highly positive, either "really good" or "excellent." According to one attendee, the information presented was "just what our organization needs to hear."

"I enjoyed speaking at the event and pulling together information that many businesses should know, especially in an economic climate as this," said Jason Inskeep, principal of Adsoka.

Read the article by Jason that was distributed at the event.

(September 15, 2009) Minneapolis—Adsoka helps organizations know when their branding needs to be refreshed. For some brands, entering a new market or offering a new service can signal that it’s time for a redesign. For other brands, there may be some underlying issue with the original logo that is holding the organization back from greater success.

Adsoka has completed countless rebranding over the years. Recently, Adsoka helped The Foundation Architects and Robbinsdale Area Schools Community Education with their branding projects.

Before and After Branding

“These rebranding projects have already proven to be successful. They have built enthusiasm for the internal team and made better connections with the clients’ audiences,” said Jason Inskeep, principal at Adsoka.

Since 1994 The Foundation Architects has been a mainstay in the Twin Cities architecture community. The Foundation Architects designs offices, dental clinics, homes and other facilities with an attention to detail and a focus on fun. The Foundation Architects is a member of the American Institute of Architects. The Foundation Architects is LEED accredited and offers services in sustainable design. Learn more at http://www.foundationarch.com.

Robbinsdale Area Schools Community Education serves the communities of Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Golden Valley, New Hope, Plymouth, Robbinsdale and Brooklyn Center and offers courses and activities for adults and children of all ages. To learn more, visit http://www.ced.Rdale.org.

(September 2, 2009) Minneapolis—Adsoka received the national Graphic Design USA (also known as GD USA) Award for the design of the Park Square Theatre logo. It is among the largest design competitions and open to advertising agencies, graphic design firms, corporations and more. This year more than 8,000 entrants were submitted; only 15 percent received recognition.

“We are proud of the Park Square Theatre logo. It displays the vitality of the organization,” said Jason Inskeep, principal at Adsoka.

In branding projects, Adsoka creates more than just a logo. Adsoka develops other brand assets including patterns, complementary color palettes, brand standards and taglines. This is critical to helping the new branding succeed.

Park Square Theatre seeks to enrich the community by producing and presenting exceptional live theatre. Learn more at http://www.parksquaretheatre.org.

GD USA is a news magazine for creative professionals. GD USA has been hosting award competitions for more than 40 years. The logo will be published in their November/December 2009 graphic design annual.

(September 3, 2009) Minneapolis—Adsoka and Twin Cities Fine Arts Organization (TCFAO) have been working together for nearly five years. Among other marketing, Adsoka develops the annual Gallery Guide—a sought-after gallery and museum listing. More than 30,000 Gallery Guides are distributed throughout the Twin Cities at both public and private buildings including galleries, museums and other places frequented by tourists.

Adsoka does many high-visibility projects for TCFAO including Web, email marketing, event planning and blogging.

“Adsoka is very involved with the Twin Cities Fine Arts Organization because of how much art inspires us,” said Jason Inskeep, principal at Adsoka. “Minnesota has a strong arts community that we support in many ways.”

The nonprofit Twin Cities Fine Arts Organization established in 2002 with the goal to promote local galleries, museums and community centers. TCFAO publishes the Gallery Guide annually, The Arts Insider monthly and the Art on the Town blog weekly. Sign up to receive arts events every month from TCFAO!

(August 10, 2009) Minneapolis—Adsoka recently completed the first issue of the redeveloped and newly named newsletter, Let’s Go, for Transit for Livable Communities. The newsletter provides a tangible connection to the organization and builds connections between people and the organization.

Before Adsoka’s involvement, the client felt creating each new newsletter was either reinventing the wheel or providing unoriginal content. The newsletter didn’t have an editorial guide or calendar, which made publishing each issue difficult. To solve this, Adsoka developed an editorial calendar with various “departments.” Now the project can be done with clarity of purpose. The design and concept around the Let’s Go newsletter has been very well received—40 percent more were produced to fill demand.

Formerly the newsletter was very content heavy (500-word articles) on two-color newsprint. Now it is visually inspirational and full of infographics that give concrete examples of sometimes hard-to-grasp concepts.

“The infographic about the Excelsior & Grand development in St. Louis Park is a real show-stopper,” said Jason Inskeep, principal at Adsoka. “It describes exactly what about the area makes it successful—everything from lighting to trees to bus stops and wide sidewalks. These are things people don’t always associate with transit, but they are really key to shaping livable communities.”

Download a PDF of Let’s Go.

Transit for Livable Communities (TLC) is a nonprofit organization working to reform the transportation system in Minnesota. Through advocacy, organizing and research, TLC promotes a balanced transportation system that encourages transit, walking, bicycling and thoughtful development. Learn more at http://www.tlcminnesota.org.

(July 17, 2009) Minneapolis—Jason Inskeep, principal of Adsoka, will speak at the Positively Minnesota 14th annual Minnesota Development Conference titled "Reality, Reinvent, Revitalize: Opportunity in Crisis." The conference will be held October 1 and 2 at the Sheraton Bloomington Hotel. Jason will speak on the topic, “20/20 marketing in 2010: Know More, Spend Less” at 3:45 p.m. on October 1.

As the program states, “Benefit from a behind-the-scenes look at successful brand strategies based on the real-world marketing experiences of Minnesota and Midwestern companies. This is more than just an overview: it’s a chance to see how ideas were developed and ultimately implemented, plus learn the consequences of actions. Examples include: manufacturing company, education service provider and specialty retailer. This presentation by a former university professor and current marketing agency lead strategist encourages audience interaction and offers tangible take-away tools.”

"The work Adsoka has done with Minnesota businesses in various industry sectors has uncovered a number of smart strategies for what’s next," said Gretchen Westbrock, art director and designer of Adsoka. “The attendees will learn a lot!”

The conference will include breakout sessions, general sessions and more—all covering important economic trends in Minnesota. It is $199 per person. Registration is available at http://www.positivelyminnesota.com.

(June 22, 2009) Minneapolis—Adsoka created the invitation materials to call together the arts community to the first Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA) Prize recognizing outstanding work in book art. The winner will be revealed in person at the July 25 evening celebration. Some of the finalists for The MCBA Prize will be present, and their work will be on display.

MCBA is one of the few centers that focuses on the world of book arts. Located in the Open Book building in downtown Minneapolis, MCBA dedicates space to teaching, creating, exhibiting and selling book art. The July event is part of the 2009 Book Art Biennial, an initiative formed by the board of directors and staff to raise awareness of the art form and center. 2009 marks the first Biennial, which brings together programming from a past summer series and introduces the international MCBA Prize.

The call for entries, issued last fall, generated entries from around the globe. Jurors include artist, designer and educator Scott McCarney, artist and Arizona State University Professor John Risseeuw and Wellesley College Special Collections Librarian Ruth Rogers. In addition to the recognition, the award winner will receive a $2,000 cash prize.

"Of the more than 100 entries, more than 40 came from outside of the US. This validates our goal of bringing the best international work forward and raising the profile of the excellent work happening in the field," said Jeff Rathermel, artistic director of MCBA.

"We see every day how a vibrant art center fosters discovery and encourages creativity. Recognizing outstanding work from the international field was missing. It was natural for Minnesota Center for Book Arts to step up and create this opportunity. Thanks to the board, staff and artists for rallying to make it a success," said Dorothy Goldie, executive director of MCBA.

"The Adsoka relationship with Minnesota Center for Book Arts is multi-layered. Staff have taken classes at the center; we have purchased many items from the store. As neighbors and arts lovers we are regularly touring the exhibits, and for the past few years I've enjoyed being part of an active, strong board of directors," said Jason Inskeep, principal of Adsoka.

"What is book art? This question is answered in a new way each time an artist applies their creativity to the form. We have truly benefited by seeing its many answers each time we visit. We're excited to hear from them and the judges at the upcoming event," continued Inskeep.

To view the finalists and all entries, visit http://www.mnbookarts.org/events/mcbaprize.html. The event in July is open to the public. Invitations will be mailed, but additional access to the event will be available online at http://www.mnbookarts.org.

(May 12, 2009) Minneapolis—Adsoka helped promote the premiere of the first Cabrini Partnership video at an event today. The Building Hope event brought more than 100 people together to hear about the organization's past success and future goals. The event was the first public showing of Building Hope.

The board of directors and staff shared the goal to create a video that expands awareness of the organization. The full video and supporting excerpts are now available online at http://www.cabrinipartnership.org. The video project was produced by Darn Good Documentaries.

Adsoka began working with Cabrini Partnership in the summer of 2006. One of the first campaigns, Leading the Way Home, was created to support the organization's lofty expansion goals. These goals included working in concert with Project for Pride in Living to develop land in the Como neighborhood in Minneapolis into housing options—including some housing for individuals who were long-term homeless.

The 2006 campaign showed architectural renderings of the proposed housing. The 2009 video shows the housing again, now completed, and includes the stories of Cabrini Partnership residents.

"From the beginning of our relationship, we were impressed with the results that Cabrini Partnership produced by working closely with their clients. They understand the challenges and have a realistic approach that delivers success. It is humbling to see individuals transform to benefit themselves, their families and the community. The role of Cabrini Partnership in supporting this transformation is a shining example. Our small role participating in their brand marketing, public relations and communications has been a highlight for the agency" said Jason Inskeep, principal at Adsoka.

According to a Wilder research report from 2006, more than 9,000 individuals in Minnesota are homeless each night. Of these, 12 percent work full-time. More information is available in Overview of Homelessness in Minnesota 2006 from Wilder Research.

Watch the Building Hope video.

(May 11, 2009) Minneapolis—Two key Adsoka employees, Maggie Frazier and Kayla Stearns, celebrate employment anniversaries this month. Their contributions to the development of well written copy and superior visual design in print, online and in support of client marketing efforts has been crucial.

“As a brand marketing agency, we must deliver results for our clients for them to succeed and for the agency to endure. Maggie and Kayla are experts in their contributions," said agency Principal Jason Inskeep.

Frazier joined Adsoka at the start of the agency in the role of editor. Her contributions have included name development, book editing, writing for online and in print forms of marketing as well as leading quality control efforts. A member of the senior team, her contributions go well beyond the norm.

Leadership in advertising and marketing efforts agency-wide includes outstanding examples for Breadsmith, WhisperPhone and the Twin Cities Fine Arts Organization.

“Maggie demonstrates her smart approach in multiple ways. She has taken the lead in information design and interactive areas in addition to her role as editor. I appreciate her feedback during the concepting phase and how she brings intelligence to refining campaigns as they get ready to launch," said Gretchen Westbrock, art director and senior designer and a founder of Adsoka.

Steve Fouts, president and CEO of MindUniversity, made a comment representative of client feedback of editorial services: "I am amazed at how Adsoka was able to corral more than seven years of our development into the content edit. We needed someone to help us think of everything we created all at once, and Adsoka did just that. Thanks."

Stearns has been with Adsoka since 2007 in the role of designer. Her contributions to print and interactive design have been a cornerstone of the creative work from the start of her tenure.

Outstanding efforts from the past include work with the University of Minnesota Hubert H. Humphrey Institute, TakeAction Minnesota, Ambiance at Home and Secrets of the City.

“Kayla's ability to work with a client's brand to bring it forward in a fresh and engaging manner has been stellar. Client's regularly comment on the work as the best example of how their brand has been presented,” Inskeep commented.

“Finding a talented designer who could match with the team, understand print and interactive design and flex to the variety of industries that our clients represent was a challenge. Kayla has been outstanding in each area,” said Westbrock.

Stearns and Frazier, as part of Adsoka, have seen their work recognized with more than a dozen industry awards for Web design, integrated communications, public service, communications, annual report development, advertising and copywriting.

(May 9, 2009) Minneapolis—Adsoka recently launched Living Library (http://www.livinglibrary.us), an online professional support resource for K-12 teachers. Participants add lesson plans, resources and creative ideas for the K-12 classroom.

Living Library was created by the retired and student programs of the Illinois Education Association in 2005. MindUniversity, a multi-faceted organization serving the education industry, has been an early partner with the Illinois Education Association in developing a means for teachers to collaborate.

The motivation for the project hinged on two key findings: "Teacher's teach in isolation," said Dan Fouts, Illinois-based and practicing high school teacher who is co-founder of MindUniversity. "The buildings we teach in are full of activity and students learning and collaborating, but teachers have less collaboration time with their peers."

The other motivator is the shifting demographics in the teaching profession. "The ratio of teachers retiring to the number of teachers entering the profession is staggering," said Steve Fouts, Dan's brother and fellow teacher and co-founder of MindUniversity. "We are losing years of experience in savvy classroom management skills and techniques as waves of teachers retire."

Living Library provides an online forum for teachers—retired, practicing and in-training—to gain from each other. Teachers share tips, lesson plans, activities, words of wisdom and more.  

"Access to National Board Certified teachers is a real highlight of the Living Library. We appreciate that a less-experienced teacher can learn from an experienced teacher who is geographically 'at the other end of the world' but is in exactly the same subject," Dan said.

Adsoka included interactive elements such as a discussion forum and event-driven chat to provide access to experienced teachers and education experts. Additional work includes public relations, branding, custom programming and sales and marketing support for the MindUniversity courses—one path for a teacher to become a contributor to the Living Library.

"Our work with MindUniversity is fully integrated brand communications," said Jason Inskeep, principal of Adsoka. "Implementing a project with such complexities requires being deeply immersed in the partnerships, client goals and leading technologies. In some ways, the Living Library is 'LinkedIn' or 'Facebook' for teachers: a social networking site designed to benefit its users in their careers."

(January 25, 2009) Minneapolis—Adsoka designed the logo and Web presence for Twin Cities know-it-all Secrets of the City. Two well-known sites came together to create SecretsoftheCity.com: The Rake magazine, which was published in print and distributed around the Twin Cities from 2002-2008, and MNSpeak.com, a Twin Cities open blog and news/blog aggregator. The Rake Magazine design and logo inspired the new look.

“We have been fans of MNSpeak and The Rake, so we were excited to see them come together to form something exceptional,” said Jason Inskeep, principal of Adsoka. “Adsoka was able to deliver the logo and Web design that fit their need to a T.”

Secrets of the City is the daily digest of Twin Cities culture. Readers enjoy find Today's Talk, Today's Secrets and Today's Magazine, all from a uniquely local perspective. Sign up for a daily Secret in your inbox. http://www.secretsofthecity.com

Ambiance at Home Joins Adsoka
Home staging specialists

(January 20, 2009) Minneapolis—Ambiance at Home, a home staging company, has selected Adsoka to manage integrated marketing efforts.

“Ambiance at Home has had significant success in this market; they really know how to make a house shine,” said Jason Inskeep, principal at Adsoka. “We have some great ideas to bring them to a new level of success.”

Ambiance at Home stages homes that are on the market. Home staging has been proven to increase the selling price and decrease time on the market. Ambiance works with builders, developers and real estate agents to stage homes to increase their salability. To learn more visit http://www.ambiance-athome.com.

Breadsmith Baker’s Notes Email a Success
The monthly newsletter is based around seasonal breads

(January 10, 2009) Minneapolis—Breadsmith and Adsoka developed the email campaign Baker’s Notes in 2008, and is pleased with the steady success. The campaign will continue in 2009 with additional features, photography and information about bread. Typical retail campaigns have an open rate around 17 percent; the open rate of Breadsmith emails hovered between 45 and 52 percent.

“We have been very pleased with the results from the campaign,” said Jason Inskeep, principal of Adsoka. “Email marketing is a cost effective way to stay in front of your consumer and build business. Since Breadsmith has a strong seasonal component, email marketing was a natural choice for them.”

Try Baker’s Notes for yourself by signing up on http://www.breadsmithMN.com.

Adsoka Launches New Web Site for Talon Lacrosse
TalonLacrosse.com captures the essence of the brand and the sport

(January 5, 2009) Minneapolis—Adsoka and Talon Lacrosse recently launched the new Talon Lacrosse Web site, including shopping cart integration, high-quality photography and a history section. The Web site reflects the essence of the brand while also delivering important product information.

“The site really brings this brand alive,” said Jason Inskeep, principal of Adsoka. “It’s interactive and engaging.”

Adsoka also does advertising and media consulting for Talon. California-based Talon Lacrosse sells high quality lacrosse shafts with a composite core and hardwood veneer. Learn more at http://www.TalonLacrosse.com.

Adsoka Continues to Produce Award-winning Work
Significant Vita.mn campaign recognized by two national awards

(January 1, 2009) Minneapolis—The Adsoka-developed Vita.mn campaign was recognized with a coveted International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) award and an international Davey award. The 10-poster series for the Star Tribune weekly was distributed to more than 150 “Vita.mn approved” locations including bars, restaurants, coffee shops, art galleries, theaters and retailers with a different poster for each type of location. By reaching the audience where they play, the non-traditional campaign captured their attention.

Sixty-five Dunn Bros Coffee shops, 70 Twin Cities Fine Arts Organization galleries and 40 Twin Cities Originals restaurants had exclusive rights to the arts, coffee shop and restaurant posters respectively. Conservative estimates of the non-traditional campaign show 2.7 million impressions over a 90-day period.

“Vita.mn is all about fun—and so was this campaign. We distributed the posters and other materials where people gather,” said Gretchen Westbrock, art director at Adsoka. “The design as inspired by street art, which worked well with the target audience.”

Vita.mn is your ultimate play planner to what's going on in the Twin Cities. On http://www.vita.mn you can connect with other locals to share thoughts and recommendations on hotspots and happenings. Vita.mn is in on racks Thursdays and always online. Learn more at http://www.vita.mn.