Stone Plastics Video

West Michigan. Our home. It has long been a place of strong community where entrepreneurs have been able to breathe life into ideas and watch them grow. Michigan has faced some difficult times as of late, so it is always encouraging to see businesses that are able to thrive in spite of an economic downturn. Stone Plastics is one of them. As a company, they are a youthful 12 years of age, yet they produce parts that make their way onto some of the finest cars in the world, including Bentley and Mercedes-Benz. Their good work is evidence of a great company culture. Each person you meet at Stone, from leadership to engineers to machine operators, seems genuinely delighted to be working there.

Recently, we had the opportunity to work with Stone to produce a video that highlights what makes them unique as a company. We had a lot of fun shooting this piece. Acquisition of B-roll in the plant brought me back to my days as a kid watching Mr. Rogers show how stuff is made on the Picture Picture. There was no lack of visually interesting things to shoot. However, we went one step further and enlisted the help of Matt Johnston, a rally car driver turned aerial video shooter. Matt originally custom-built a remote helicopter camera platform for shooting rally cars, but as it turns out, it also works great inside a plant. This unique platform, combined with Matt’s ability to actually fly the darned thing, enabled us to get some really unique shots that would not have been possible otherwise. It also provided a decent amount of entertainment for the Stone employees. Engineers stood by gazing drop-jawed with iPhone cameras rolling as the flying lawnmower buzzed overhead. And in case you were wondering, there were no collisions and no one was injured in the making of this video.

And the Addy goes to...

Each February, as the cold, gray West Michigan winter seems endless, advertising, marketing and communication professionals from around the area emerge from their winter caves and gather for the Addy awards.  The Addys are a time when people like us get to share our work with others in the industry and recognize one another for some of the best work that we’ve produced throughout the year.  Those who attend, whether winners or not, get to soak in some rays of creative inspiration from the work that is shared and the conversations that are had.

The Image Group is very excited and honored this year to take home a Gold Addy in the Public Service category for a short video piece we produced for Triple Quest, distributor of the Hydraid® Biosand Water Filter.

We’ll admit, we are proud of the work we did on this project.  However, we are even prouder of the product and the people who are saving lives by bringing it to people around the world that are in need of clean, safe water.

Celebrate with us.  Learn more about Hydraid®, the world water crisis, and what you can do to help. Visit hydraid.org

Celebrating with WMU

For the past three, going on four, years, we have partnered with Western Michigan University to create marketing initiatives that would elevate the brand, impact enrollment and enhance perceptions of the University. As many of you know, it takes commitment, strategy and university-wide effort to move the needle in the highly competitive education marketplace. Semester after semester, WMU has shown that they are ready for, and meeting, the challenge.

Today we celebrate again with WMU as we see three more signs that the needle is moving in the right direction:
1. Freshmen enrollment is up.
2. Diversity is up.
3. GPAs and ACTs scores are up.

Read the full article, “WMU 2010 freshman class a little bigger, smarter and more diverse than 2009” from the Kalamazoo Gazette.

These figures are even more exciting as each ties back to specific goals of the current “Smart Ride” campaign. Starting in 2009, billboards, radio, web, social media, video tools and other supporting collateral pieces were used to showcase recent high school graduates from the Lansing, Kalamazoo, Detroit and Grand Rapids areas, who were successful academically and who chose to go to WMU. These efforts sought to give a round of applause to these students for their hard work in high school, highlight different reasons for choosing WMU and let the market know that WMU offers a high-quality academic experience that will help students continue to be successful. The message is simple: WMU is a smart choice.

It’s exciting to do work that is rooted in strategy and can win awards for creativity. It is exhilarating to see that work help achieve results for your clients. So congrats to WMU – Admissions, University Relations, the seven academic colleges and all the people and programs that work hard to tell the WMU story. And thanks for letting us be a part of it!