SteegeThomson Communications

SteegeThomson Communications is seeking a vice president who wants to participate actively in growing this unusual communications firm. We seek a professional with broad experience to manage complex communications projects and to advise our very diverse clients in education, health care, human services, philanthropy, and the arts.

Duties

Manages client projects that may encompass the following services: marketing communications plans and audits; brand development; message training; social media; Web development; publications; case statement development and other fundraising communications; advertising; copy writing; media relations; and crisis communications.

Sustains excellent client relationships and manages budgets and schedules. May serve as team member and resource for projects managed by other staff as well.

Markets the firm through identification and pursuit of business opportunities, meetings, phone calls, mailings, attendance and presentation at conferences, and writing articles, as appropriate.

Is responsible for managing workload to maintain billable hours at targeted levels and above.

Helps the firm maintain a learning environment in our rapidly changing field. May be asked to supervise staff.

Qualifications

At least ten years in a communications department, consulting firm, or ad agency.

Initiative; creativity; very strong interpersonal, conceptual, and writing skills; ability to work independently as well as cooperatively with clients and colleagues; flexibility to work on a variety of projects with different components for very different clients. Nonprofit experience is a plus.

If you are interested in this position, please send a resume to Ross Burlingame, rburlingame[at]steegethomson.com.

SERVICES:

Comprehensive marketing strategy and plan

CHALLENGE:

The American Philosophical Society Museum (APSM) has earned a reputation for developing creative, interpretive programming as one way to engage audiences and spark new thinking around its exhibitions. For its 2011 exhibition, Of Elephants and Roses: Encounters with French Natural History, 1790–1830, the APS Museum sought to reach a more diverse and younger audience through The Greenhouse Projects, a series of inventive arts and cultural endeavors.

Creating a multifaceted marketing strategy was critical to draw the target audiences to programs which included a walk-through greenhouse installation, a piece of original theater, a world-premier musical composition, a geocaching tour, and a series of podcasts on French cuisine.

APPROACH:

APSM first asked SteegeThomson to develop a comprehensive marketing plan as part of a proposal to the Pew Heritage Philadelphia Program. The plan was conceived to reach potential visitors where they congregate, online and on the ground, through efforts that focused on The Greenhouse Projects as a whole, as well as on the program’s individual components. Our strategies relied heavily on both social media and grassroots advertising, incorporating active engagement on Twitter, Facebook, and the APSM website; mobile advertising; Google AdWords advertising and analytics; print and radio advertising; postcard and brochure development and distribution; and a multi-pronged media relations campaign. The plan also recommended social media tools ranging from YouTube and Flickr to Foursquare and Meetup to post information, images, and video of the projects in development, linking them to the enhanced APSM website and Facebook pages. Planning also included the mobile-optimization of the APSM website to ensure a positive visitor experience for mobile ad and QR code users. Finally, the plan incorporated follow-up strategies to keep visitors engaged with APSM, and survey tools to measure the impact of the campaign.

RESULTS:

SteegeThomson’s plan was a strong component of APSM’s successful grant proposal, garnering the Museum more than $200,000 to mount and promote The Greenhouse Projects in the fall of 2011. We are now working with APSM as a consultant to the team, overseeing the implementation of our plan, and placing all mobile and Internet advertising.

Services:

Branding and visual identity, messaging, development collateral, and case statement writing

Challenge:

SteegeThomson worked with College leadership to articulate a clear brand and position and to help shape Nazareth’s development communications.

Approach:

After an extensive review of existing print and electronic materials, existing research, and competitor messaging, followed by internal interviews with College leaders and external focus groups with key audiences, we identified the four pillars of the Nazareth experience: Challenge, Innovation, Preparation, and Connection.
In addition, we:

Crafted brand language that included a position, a brand promise, and core messages that gave life to the four pillars.
Designed a new logo to reflect Nazareth’s more confident direction, and completed a branding toolkit and stationery package.
Produced a brief animation to show how messages can translate visually.

We have also helped shape Nazareth’s development communications in several areas of giving. We created:

A case statement for the quiet phase of the College’s capital campaign and a case for Nazareth’s new Math and Science Center.
The first ever materials for the Council Oak Society, a special giving group.
College messaging that resonates with alumni, and from them, alumni giving letters.
A series of colorful, oversized postcards that communicate Nazareth’s achievements and impact on the world.

Results:

To see how Nazareth is applying the four pillars, visit: http://www.naz.edu.

Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival

Services:

Comprehensive media relations services for the Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia

Challenge:

The Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia’s mission is to cultivate understanding between the peoples of Japan and the United States. SteegeThomson has worked with JASGP since 2004 to build awareness of its Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival and to secure advance publicity to drive attendance at Festival events.

Approach:

Over the years, SteegeThomson has used a combination of tactics to publicize the Festival. Outreach to print, broadcast, and online outlets has been complemented by refinements to the Festival website, attention to search engine marketing, and expansion into marketing events and mobile advertising. One year, a direct-to-participant program at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station reached more than half a million train riders from the Philadelphia region. Our recommendations to strengthen the Festival microsite led to huge increases in visitors in 2008 and 2009, and the addition of mobile advertising in 2011 garnered nearly a million impressions and generated over 4,700 unique click-throughs to a mobile-optimized info page. Social networking tools, including a Facebook page where visitors posted their own Festival stories and photos, and an active Twitter feed followed by visitors and bloggers alike, allowed us to increase publicity despite a smaller advertising budget. Establishing these conduits of information proved invaluable in 2011, when SteegeThomson was able to position JASGP as the go-to local source for information on the devastating earthquake in Japan, helping our client transition a cultural celebration into a relief effort with impact.

Results:

SteegeThomson has helped the Festival garner significant media coverage, generate increased interest among online audiences, and drive markedly increased attendance. Accomplishments include:

Increased total impressions by 56 percent from previous year to reach more than 18 million readers/viewers/listeners.

Increased hits on the Festival’s microsite by 41 percent from previous year to one million, and by 21 percent in unique visitors, in a two-month period.

While Hollywood shines a light on competitive birders in the new movie “The Big Year,” the Cornell Lab of Ornithology — a new client for SteegeThomson — has turned birders of all motivations into an army of citizen scientists. Check out the amazing migration maps at www.ebird.org, which change continuously to reflect the real-time observations of birders. Over time, these birders have helped research experts at the Lab, which invented citizen science, improve our knowledge of birds’ populations and distributions so much that the results are now applied to conservation management of birds on the 635 million acres of publicly owned land in the U.S. SteegeThomson’s work with Cornell begins with message development, and we are honored to be helping an organization that so effectively marries research and public awareness.

At SteegeThomson, we believe that passion communicated effectively translates into results. Take Drueding Center, an innovative program of Holy Redeemer Health System that deserves more attention for its remarkable work investing years to help homeless families, one at a time, build stable lives. The new website we wrote and designed has become an electronic front door for Drueding Center, anchored by our fresh, engaging graphic identity and powerful stories about Drueding’s impact on the lives of women and children. We also worked with Board members and senior staff to tell the Center’s story by using simple, crisp messages to hone their elevator speeches. This work contributed to a three-year engagement that began with a communications audit, plan and case statement.

What images would you use to show off your new product to thousands of people? Apple Inc., known for its commitment to beauty and functionality, settled on SteegeThomson’s capabilities brochure for the National Museum of Natural History as one that could help introduce its new Mac OS X Lion operating system to the world. Speaking to a sold-out room, the company’s executive team highlighted Lion’s new features through graphics that danced over the screen, growing, shrinking, appearing, and disappearing with the swipe of a finger — and our award-winning brochure was right there. Yet another example of SteegeThomson’s understanding of what appeals to giant crowds and individuals alike.

Want to see the brochure? It was created in collaboration with our frequent design partner, Dyad Communications, and you can take a peek here.

With more than 25 years of experience, Jane specializes in helping organizations articulate their message and extend their reach to decision-making audiences. She is especially well regarded for her ability to bridge the communications gap between highly sophisticated, often technologically advanced clients and lay prospects. She is a gifted writer whose messages and copy honor complicated subject matter and bring it into the public domain. With a background in issues advocacy, strategic communications planning, capital campaigns, and corporate and product positioning, she has worked with a diverse range of clients, including medical centers, universities and community colleges, nonprofit advocacy and training organizations, and corporations of all sizes. Formerly a group supervisor at Hill & Knowlton, Jane is also a leadership trainer and event coordinator with nonprofit community-based education organizations.

Jane graduated from Antioch College with a B.A. in political science, took advanced international studies at the London School of Economics, and is a Fellow of the Center for Progressive Leadership.

Jessie creates clear and compelling narratives that help our clients achieve marketing and fundraising goals. A versatile writer with a background in journalism, development, and corporate communications, she translates technically complex and politically nuanced topics into lively and effective messages. In any medium, she is a powerful communicator, who can illuminate unspoken yet resonant themes. She balances an understanding for the big picture with complete attention to accuracy and detail.

Prior to joining SteegeThomson in 2011, Jessie worked as a freelance writer who wove her magic for clients such as the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging; and several organizations serving children and adults with disabilities.

Jessie holds a B.A. from Cornell University. Her published work has appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Buffalo News, The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., The Buffalo Physician, Business First of Buffalo, and the Taupo Times of New Zealand. She has also worked as senior editor with JCK Magazine, a corporate communications associate with M&T Bank, and a development coordinator for the Arts Council of Buffalo and Erie County.

JESSIE HAS WORKED WITH SUCH CLIENTS AS:
Annie E. Casey Foundation, Jefferson Medical College, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum and Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Jackie creates both moving and memorable multimedia campaigns and compelling narratives in a single medium. She can deploy the charisma of pop culture storytelling techniques to help clients achieve serious goals. She writes profiles that capture personality and shapes digital presentations that turn the abstract into everyday reality. Her formidable organizational skills help keep SteegeThomson on track, on deadline, and on budget.

After eight years as a television writer and producer, Jackie went to graduate school to earn a master’s degree in health science, specializing in health communications to influence behavior change. She then developed videos, wrote educational materials, and organized conferences aimed at reducing youth smoking rates while a communications specialist with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. During a year at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, she produced multimedia materials for a campaign aimed at eradicating malaria in Africa. She previously wrote scripts, produced segments and supervised production teams for shows for Comedy Central, Nick at Nite, CBS, VH1, and the Style and Oxygen networks.

Jackie holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a Master of Health Science degree with a Certificate in Health Communications from The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Jackie has worked with such clients as:

Annie E. Casey Foundation, Jefferson Medical College, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Smithsonian Institution

It’s the classic conundrum. How does a nonprofit with a limited budget make a citywide impact, raise its visibility, and drive attendance to major events? The answer involves a creative mix of PR, advertising, and social networking that responds to public interests and media trends. To promote the 2011 Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia, SteegeThomson launched a mobile advertising campaign, targeted to Android and iPhone users in the tri-state area. The campaign highlighted Sakura Sunday, the centerpiece of the five-week festival. A series of ads drove visits to a mobile-optimized Web page, packed with information ranging from directions and hours to Japan disaster relief opportunities at the festival. The ad garnered close to a million impressions, and more than 4,700 visitors clicked through to the webpage. The campaign added a new dimension to SteegeThomson’s multi-layered approach to our work promoting the Festival for our longtime client, the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia.

In an era when many schools are questioning investments in traditional print collateral, our work with Malvern Prep, a Catholic, Augustinian boys’ school in one of the country’s most competitive independent school markets, is proving that there is still a place in the admissions mix for viewbooks that offer a school’s essence at a glance.

Malvern sought admissions materials that would reflect the up-to-date nature of its program, which offers boys a wide spectrum of opportunities to achieve in academics, the arts, sports and community service. At the same time, the school needed to communicate its warmth: its distinctive, faith-based culture and enduring traditions. Learning What Matters introduces new audiences to this unique world with the real voices of students, teachers, parents and alumni, and photographs that capture both the boyish spark and the nurturing that make Malvern special. Early reports suggest that the book has hit its mark.

Open publication – Free publishing – More viewbook

The Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition celebrated its 40th birthday with a new name and a new brand. SteegeThomson Communications worked with the Coalition, long known for its critical role in strengthening urban neighborhoods and nonprofit organizations, to shorten its name — it is now the Urban Affairs Coalition — and design a vibrant new logo, tagline, and refreshed messaging that emphasizes the powerful results of its complex work. The Coalition reports that SteegeThomson’s branding has focused its communications and contributed to culture change. To see more of UAC’s new identity, check out our case study, or watch the Flash presentation we created to showcase the Coalition’s mission and messaging.

The Printing & Graphics Association MidAtlantic (PGAMA) has agreed that the capabilities brochure we created for the National Museum of Natural History is a winner, this time for the wonderful work of Dauses Press. The brochure won Best in Category at the Association’s Excellence in Print competition and was one of a select few finalists for the overall best piece in any category. Tom Dauses’ care and attention to detail show in every aspect of the piece. In keeping with the Museum’s mission, the paper (Primavera, by New Leaf) is as green as you can get — FSC certified, 80% recycled, and Ancient Forest Friendly — and the brochure was printed with Earth-friendly inks. We are very pleased to see a great client and a great partner in our creative process honored.

Open publication – Free publishing – More SteegeThomson

A classics major who loves popular culture, Luise excels at giving a human face to institutions and their issues. She uncovers stories that make them compelling to potential funders, stakeholders, and the media. In SteegeThomson’s work promoting public understanding of a vital change to the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam, she placed articles in USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, and regional TV and radio outlets. Her intellectual strength and writing skills have served SteegeThomson clients ranging from Devereux and Research for Action to the Annenberg Foundation and the University of Pennsylvania.

Luise served as director of media relations for the Pennsylvania Ballet, public relations coordinator for the Franklin Institute Science Museum, and public information assistant for the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Prior to joining SteegeThomson, Luise served as Director of Communications at Penn’s College of General Studies. She holds a bachelor’s degree in classical studies, and a Master of Liberal Arts from the University of Pennsylvania.

SteegeThomson is delighted that Luise Moskowitz will rejoin our staff to serve clients in the full range of our activities, with special attention to guiding our media relations work. Luise, formerly a core staff member at SteegeThomson, has worked with us on a consulting basis during the past five years. We are grateful that her children are now of school age. Luise is coming back!

Luise excels at giving a human face to institutions and their issues, and at uncovering stories that make these organizations compelling to the media and other stakeholders. She has served clients ranging from Research for Action and the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania to Devereux Pennsylvania and the Federation of State Medical Boards. She has placed stories for our clients in USA TODAY, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and many other print and electronic outlets across the country. She is a complete asset to any team.

How can healthcare systems improve the quality of care and save up to 20% of doctors’ time? Starting October 1, a new initiative at Penn Medicine will work toward those goals by moving pharmacists from the back room to the front lines of patient care. Pharmacists will introduce themselves to patients, go on rounds with physicians, and help patients make a smoother transition from hospital to home. SteegeThomson worked with Penn’s Emmanuel King, MD, to develop and place a blog posting about the program:

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2010/09/improve-patient-safety-cut-costs-clinical-pharmacists.html

Services:

Refreshed branding, communications audit and plan

Challenge:

Working for clean and effective government, fair elections and informed citizens in the Philadelphia region, nonpartisan Seventy’s success depends entirely on support that extends from the street level to corporate high-rises, from town halls to City Hall. How could Seventy strengthen its outreach to engage more leaders and citizens in its work?

Approach:

In our first engagement, SteegeThomson developed a brochure that created a quick, accessible overview of Seventy’s work and impact. Complementing the brochure’s clean and lean design, we refreshed the logo and developed report covers so that Seventy had a contemporary, easily recognizable look. We then moved on to a communications audit and plan. Individual interviews gave us a window into perceptions and attitudes of Philadelphia civic leaders, while an electronic survey, sent to Seventy’s extensive e-mail list, brought in the larger universe of citizens who had shown some interest in Seventy’s work. We also invited Seventy’s growing Facebook and Twitter followers to take part in a Citizens Focus Group. We were delighted that the resulting focus group engaged participants from diverse walks of life. This input, along with our own analysis, will be incorporated into a plan to help Seventy reach a broader audience, engage citizens in new ways, and prioritize use of precious resources.

Results:

Seventy’s cleaner design and messaging supports the perception that Seventy has updated its work and come into the modern age. By drawing on both traditional interviews, e-mail, and social media for foundational market research, we are bringing the range of voices that Seventy represents to bear on the resulting plan for communications.

Services:

Communications audit and plan, pilot program for member communications

Challenge:

Community development corporations have a tremendous impact on Philadelphia neighborhoods, and yet most residents would have a hard time defining them or their work.
The umbrella membership organization for these CDCs needed to translate this impact into everyday language, raise public awareness, strengthen its positioning and communications, and find new ways to support members’ communications.

Approach:

Beginning with a detailed audit, SteegeThomson delved into the challenges and opportunities that define PACDC’s communications. Our plan proposed a clear, concise platform of messages and an array of tactics to support storytelling, audience building, and related goals, backed up by an 18-month work plan. We drilled down on key questions, from how to educate citizens about what community development means and why it should matter to them, to how to craft communications that spotlight the reciprocal relationship between the umbrella organization’s policy savvy and its member CDCs’ grassroots success. SteegeThomson topped off the engagement with two workshops for PACDC members and technical assistance for six CDCs.

Results:

PACDC quickly acted on several SteegeThomson’s recommendations, with tangible results. We helped PACDC hire its first-ever communications director ─ the plan’s first priority ─ and take advantage of significant media opportunities. Its annual event grew with the addition of volunteer awards and tools to tell stories more effectively. Based on the technical assistance results, PACDC is pursuing funding to formalize this initiative on an ongoing basis. All of this work also taps into the bigger picture as Philadelphia launches a comprehensive planning effort, including opportunities for CDCs to play more vital roles in their neighborhoods’ futures.

We are so pleased that the National Writing Project has just received two honors for our work with them. A Beacon Award for Excellence in Education Marketing (from the Association of Educational Publishers) has recognized the 2008 annual report; and to top it off, a 2009 brochure received an EXCEL 2010 Silver Award from the Association Media & Publishing!

Striking out in a bold new direction with these publications, the SteegeThomson team used text and imagery to emphasize the beauty and power of the written word, while keeping copy itself to a minimum. These vivid pieces – and the awards that honor them – are a result of great teamwork and trust, developed over SteegeThomson’s five-year relationship with NWP.

Take a look!

Open publication – Free publishing – More writing

Services:

Integrated planning, messaging, and identity

Challenge:

The Urban Affairs Coalition saw its 40th anniversary as an opportunity to update a brand with equity but an outdated feel. SteegeThomson’s challenge was to develop branding that would reflect UAC’s critical and complex role in strengthening urban neighborhoods and the nonprofit organizations that serve them, as well as illustrate the power of coalition.

Approach:

Working with a branding steering committee, SteegeThomson recommended a simplified name (Urban Affairs Coalition), new tagline, and crisp messages around economic growth and the power of coalition. We designed a new logo and put together branding and messaging strategies and a multimedia presentation that concentrated first on an internal rollout to get UAC and its partners on the same page, and then on addressing target audiences.

Results:

The Coalition reports that SteegeThomson’s messages have focused its communications and contributed to culture change.

Community development corporations make a huge difference in Philadelphia’s neighborhoods, but how many people understand what they do and how city residents benefit? How do you reach critical audiences and make the message compelling?

SteegeThomson recently completed a plan for Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations to help this umbrella organization and its members communicate effectively with audiences ranging from street level to corporate high-rises. The plan supports clear messages and specific examples of CDCs’ work creating economic opportunities, affordable housing, and a better quality of life throughout the city. We helped PACDC hire its first-ever communications director — our plan’s first priority — and take advantage of media opportunities. We topped off our engagement with two workshops for members and technical assistance to six member CDCs. As Philadelphia begins its own comprehensive planning effort, it’s a perfect time for clear messages and a shared vision!

How do we show the impact on people’s lives of complex work that takes place largely away from the public eye? We faced this challenge in serving the National Quality Forum, a major player in healthcare reform that brings together leaders from many sectors to set priorities and establish standards of care. To celebrate NQF’s tenth anniversary, we created a micro-site with video clips of national figures speaking to the importance of the organization’s work. The site also emphasizes NQF’s influence on changing practices through the stories of healthcare providers and patients at sites nationwide.

The design of the site and an accompanying print piece introduce a minimalist look that reflects NQF’s cutting-edge thinking. We are very pleased that the site has won an Interactive Media Award for Outstanding Achievement in the nonprofit category – the second such award for SteegeThomson’s Web work this year.

See the award-winning site: beyondmeasure.qualityforum.org

SteegeThomson client Monell Center landed a spot on CNN this week! The attention was on a study by Monell bridging nutrition-science and psychology to look more closely at kids’ cravings for sweet things – a major factor in the current childhood-obesity epidemic. Monell’s study found that children with symptoms of depression, or with a family history of alcoholism, preferred much higher concentrations of sugar than their peers – suggesting that some children might even crave candy in an attempt to “self-medicate” for psychological conditions.

SteegeThomson’s services to Monell included a refreshed logo, streamlined name, and the award-winning website featured in CNN’s report, which helped Monell put a fresh face on its work and bring groundbreaking studies like these to a wider audience. Want to know more? Watch the CNN report, read about the study, or check out our case study on Monell!

SteegeThomson is happy to help Temple University celebrate the rebirth of The Baptist Temple, a new venue for events and performances at the heart of Temple’s main campus and the northern end of the Avenue of the Arts. Built in 1891 as a home for Temple University founder Russell Conwell’s congregation, the Temple is a magnificent historic landmark, repurposed today to bring new vitality to Temple University’s campus and new opportunities to Philadelphia’s arts, culture, and business communities.

SteegeThomson created The Baptist Temple’s new identity, from key messages and visual standards to promotional pieces, a sales kit, and a website. The website is designed so that Baptist Temple staff can easily update news and performances.

Healthcare and Biomedical Research

Cultural & Civic

Human Services

Higher Education

Secondary and Elementary Education

Philanthropy

Albert Einstein Healthcare Network
Center for Health Care Strategies
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Foundation
The Devereux Foundation
ECRI Institute
Episcopal Retirement Homes, Inc.
Federation of State Medical Boards
Fox Chase Cancer Center
Hahnemann University Hospital
Health Partners
Jewish Home of Greater Harrisburg
Keystone Hospice
Monell Center
National Board of Medical Examiners
National Quality Forum
Nemours Partnership for Children’s Health
Pennsylvania Advocates for Nutrition and Activity
Penn State Hershey Medical Center
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Sherman Hospital
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
The Wistar Institute

American Philosophical Society Museum
City of Chicago (Ford Calumet Environmental Center)
The Committee of Seventy
Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships
The Franklin Institute
Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia
John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
Pennsbury Manor
Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations
Rosenbach Museum & Library
Smithsonian Institution
Washington National Cathedral
Winterthur Museum
The Zoological Society of Philadelphia

American Friends Service Committee
American Red Cross in Greater New York
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
Birch Family Services
Drueding Center
Jewish Family & Children’s Services
Nueva Esperanza
Ronald McDonald Global Charities
U.S. Dream Academy
Volunteers of America

Auburn University
Bradley University
Berry College
Brooklyn College
Canisius College
Central European University
Columbia University College of Business
Delaware County Community College
EARTH University
Eastern Michigan University
Harvard University
- Center for Public Leadership
- Graduate School of Education
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Indiana State University
Ithaca College
Lehigh University
Maryland Institute College of Art
Nazareth College
Neumann University
Penn State Great Valley
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
Spelman College
St. John’s College
St. Olaf College
Temple University
University of Georgia
University of Pennsylvania
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia

Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund
Friends’ Central School
Friends School Mullica Hill
Friends Select School
Institute for Research and Reform in Education
La Salle College High School
Malvern Preparatory School
The Masters School
National Writing Project
Philadelphia Reads
Raymond and Ruth Perelman Jewish Day School
Research for Action
The Shipley School
Westtown School

The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
National Philanthropic Trust
The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Philadelphia Foundation
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
William Penn Foundation

Services:

Anniversary publication, event video, micro-site, and Web videos

Challenge:

A leading player in healthcare reform, the National Quality Forum asked SteegeThomson to help the organization celebrate ten years of achievement in creating national standards for healthcare quality and look to the future.

Data-intensive, policy-oriented, and largely behind the scenes, NQF needed to put a human face on its important work.

Approach:

We connected policy to practice through interviews with national healthcare leaders, an emphasis on results, and stories of quality improvement. In fresh, first-person video, and a Web site and anniversary publication driven by clear messages and illustrated by case studies from around the country at all levels of care, we made NQF’s work clear, accessible, and appreciated

Results:

Video clips have helped at least one healthcare system demonstrate the value of teamwork and good data in driving improvement. The micro-site won a 2009 Interactive Media Award for outstanding achievement, as it focused attention on NQF’s success in bringing diverse players together to improve quality.

Pediatric Asthma Initiative

Services:

Integrated marketing plan, website, continuing medical education program, and print and e-mail campaigns

Challenge:

After years of research, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation knew some simple steps would reduce the impact of asthma on children. Now, how could the Foundation promote these practices among those on the front lines of care delivery?

Approach:

Our approach focused on reaching healthcare policymakers and emergency department physicians, who treat asthma among the country’s most disadvantaged children. A tailored print and e-mail campaign reached those who fund health care at the state and local levels, while a free, online continuing medical education program reached thousands of emergency department physicians and nurses with information about the best ways to provide key education to children with asthma and their families. A clearinghouse website, pediatricasthma.org, offers proven strategies and best practices in asthma care, along with a variety of regional and local resources.

Results:

Several thousand clinicians have completed the continuing medical education program, many commenting that the information it contains has helped to shape their current practice. Outreach to the media resulted in placements in key professional journals, including Children’s Hospitals Today. Major healthcare funders and decision-makers, including those from the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control, sought information from the Foundation following the campaign. Even several years post-launch, key investigators and program sites continue to be contacted through pediatricasthma.org by people and projects who wish to replicate their programs.

Services:

Communications plan; website; updated brand identity package including a refreshed logo and tagline; capabilities brochures

Challenge:

The public face of the Monell Chemical Senses Center, the world’s leading independent research institute on taste, smell, and chemical senses, failed to reflect the creative, dynamic, and very relevant research and programming that goes on within its walls.

Approach:

Monell’s scientists are at the cutting edge, and their work often has profound implications for how we experience everyday life. With a logo designed by Paul Rand in 1968, Monell has a historical grounding in design that we wanted to bring forward into the 21st century. With bold language and visuals and a streamlined name (Monell Center), we helped Monell share an identity that reflects its independence and creativity. A strong and thoughtful Web presence was designed to help in recruiting, in facilitating communications among researchers, and in meeting the needs of the media.

Results:

Our communications plan gave Monell a blueprint for sharing its research with new audiences, and the updated identity, website, and print materials have been extremely well received by staff, board, and outside audiences. The website won a 2009 Interactive Media Award for outstanding achievement in the science/technology category.

Services:

Plan for a social marketing campaign

Challenge:

Reading aloud to children improves their language and literacy skills, making them better readers, speakers, and listeners who do better in school and become more employable, productive citizens. For many Philadelphia families, finding the tools and creating the time and space to read together are overwhelming obstacles. Philadelphia Reads, a local literacy and mentoring program serving children and families in Philadelphia, wanted to implement a campaign that would encourage parents to read to their young children.

Approach:

Our campaign plan for Philadelphia Reads combines mobile marketing, city-wide reading events, outdoor and transit ads, radio spots, and partnerships with existing programs, to reach mothers with a simple message about reading to their children.

Results:

Implementation will begin as soon as funding is complete.

Services:

Campaign theme, key messages, CEO letters, case statements

Challenge:

To inspire and motivate Hershey’s leaders, staff, and prospective donors to coalesce around a strongly branded campaign that reinforces the campus’s leadership role in Central Pennsylvania and its growing national prominence.

Approach:

SteegeThomson has helped to take the Penn State Hershey brand to the next level with a campaign theme that reinforces the notion of Hershey as a national rising star, a site of research, education, care, and outreach that leads in many fields. Creating content that could be implemented by the University’s in-house creative team to save on cost, we created the campaign theme, key messages, and written materials ranging from Dean’s letters to case statements for the Penn State Cancer Institute and Penn State Institute for Neuroscience.

Results:

Our campaign identity, messages, letters, and case statements have proven valuable tools in launching Penn State Hershey’s campaign.

Making History Campaign

Services:

Comprehensive campaign communications planning and materials

Challenge:

To provide multi-faceted support for the public launch of the University of Pennsylvania’s $3.5 billion Making History campaign.

Approach:

Working from a thorough understanding of Penn’s diverse strengths, its current position in the world, and its vision for its future, we developed messaging and a comprehensive communications plan for the campaign, and created materials to support President Amy Gutmann in briefing sessions with prospective donors during the campaign’s quiet phase. For the public launch, we produced a campaign video that stirred emotions and reinforced campaign messages, while our work on the campaign brochure with a newly formed campaign communications office created an important centerpiece for the campaign. We then worked with nine of the 12 Penn schools to reflect the campaign brand while showcasing each school’s unique personality. To help ensure a successful campaign launch, we developed a separate communications plan for the event and helped coordinate its implementation.

Results:

As of April 2010, the campaign has reached 75 percent of its goal, with more than $2.7 billion raised in a down economy. We have worked with several schools as their campaigns progress on everything from video clips to newsletters and donor reports.

Services:

Integrated planning, graphic identity, and social marketing campaigns

Challenge:

Pennsylvania Advocates for Nutrition and Activity (PANA) is a 500-member statewide coalition of healthcare, education, recreation, and urban planning organizations supporting healthy eating and increased physical activity. At its inception in 2003, PANA needed a position, a brand, and an initial marketing strategy.

Approach:

To help PANA market its community-based programs, SteegeThomson used market research to identify barriers and incentives to action in key audiences, then crafted clear messages and developed strategies to promote actionable, accessible programs for healthcare providers, educators, and community planners. We positioned PANA as the “go to” information source on nutrition and activity among its target markets statewide, as well as an expert resource for media, and we created a visual identity system to unite its core programs.

Results:

PANA’s campaign for healthier schools enrolled 75 percent of Pennsylvania’s school districts within four years, and its initiative to promote the state’s parks and trails as great places for physical activity is in place in more than 25 counties across the Commonwealth. PANA has been recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and other national agencies for its coordinated and successful approach to systems change. PANA has since changed its name to the Center for Nutrition and Activity Promotion, but still features much of SteegeThomson’s work. See more at the Center’s website.

Services:

Integrated campaign and media relations

Challenge:

The Annie E. Casey Foundation turned to SteegeThomson to help promote two important programs — one that honored organizations working to strengthen families and another that helped low-income residents of Camden, New Jersey keep more of what they earned.

Approach:

For seven years, SteegeThomson publicized FAMILIES COUNT: THE NATIONAL HONORS PROGRAM. We developed an extensive press kit that reporters could access through Casey’s website and mailed kits to community, political, and philanthropic leaders nationwide through specially developed mail lists tailored to reach decision-makers for each grantee. For the Earned Income Tax Credit program in Camden, we produced marketing materials, advertising, and a public relations and community outreach strategy aimed at reaching both families and tax preparation volunteers. These tools were later adapted for the Philadelphia campaign to capitalize on a regional marketing approach.

Results:

In our work with FAMILIES COUNT, we generated television and print coverage in media markets of all sizes, including Los Angeles; Chicago; Washington, DC; Indianapolis; Maryland; and Louisville. All the honorees found that publicity opened doors for them and helped them raise additional funds. In Camden, raising awareness of the tax credit helped the number of tax returns prepared for free by volunteers to increase by nearly 80 percent.

Services:

Collateral materials to support a scholarship fund in a comprehensive fundraising campaign

Challenge:

Full scholarships from the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund allow bright, underprivileged Chicago students to attend the nation’s leading college-preparatory high schools, but the cost of a scholarship is going up. The Fund needed to produce print collateral on a tight budget to help identify more scholarship sponsors and grow its endowment from $2 million to $6 million.

Approach:

Choosing the cost-effective approach of leveraging Daniel Murphy’s existing graphic identity and tagline, SteegeThomson branded The Campaign to Fulfill Futures and developed a brochure, custom folder, and campaign stationery package. To reflect the program’s power to transform lives, we put storytelling in the driver’s seat, using the success stories of four alumni as the heart of the brochure copy, while placing program descriptions in the sidebars.

Results:

The Fund’s new collateral carried forward the Fund’s low-key approach and gave new power to its fundraising by highlighting its greatest asset: the students supported by the Fund.

Services:

Campaign materials

Challenge:

To develop customizable, concise, and compelling materials for the public launch of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s $125 million campaign.

Approach:

As the centerpiece of its campaign collateral, Penn Vet wanted a brochure that matched the prospective donor’s primary interest — cat, dog, or horse — but also delivered powerful visuals at an affordable price. Given the staff time and budget required, one-of-a-kind printing was not practical. The solution? Three different covers on small, digitally printed runs. On future runs, Penn Vet can further customize by featuring donors and research projects to match the covers. A folder and a separate brochure for the large annual center complete a dynamic, easily tailored package. The materials scan as well as they read, using high-quality photography and bold messages to reinforce talking points for solicitors.

Results:

Response was positive from both internal and external audiences, including Penn Vet’s 27 peer veterinary schools. Penn Vet targeted campaign presentations to donors by segment — using canine materials, for example, at events such as the Westminster Dog Show — while keeping a core message that reached all donors. Campaign images and text did double duty on the Web site and in complementary materials such as planned-giving advertisements and campaign presentations to faculty.

Services:

Communications audit and recommendations

Challenge:

How should a Nobel Laureate organization with far-flung national and international aid programs, a completely decentralized structure, and a limited budget compete for attention in a saturated communications market?

Approach:

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) first turned to SteegeThomson to audit its communications efforts in 2003, after a new leader was named. In 2009, with a new marketing team in place, AFSC requested a second look at positioning, messaging, and communications priorities. To reach a younger generation of donors less familiar with AFSC’s work, we made extensive recommendations on the use of Web, social media, and mobile communications. Additionally, we suggested capturing innovative ideas from across AFSC’s diverse program areas and gaining buy-in for successful implementation.

Results:

As a result of its first audit, AFSC strengthened relationships with the Quaker community, redesigned publications, and unified its brand. In 2009, it reorganized staff, shifted resources to expand its online presence, and formed a national team of communications advisors who bring together the best practices from across the nation and serve as brand ambassadors.

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Integrated planning

Challenge:

Ithaca College needed an integrated marketing plan to create a strong image within the College’s key markets and reflect the College’s rising prestige and its admissions and fundraising goals.

Approach:

Focus group research helped us to craft crisp messages. We worked collaboratively with faculty and administrators to identify marketing strategies and develop a plan, complete with recommendations on communications with key audiences, extensive redesign of the Web site, and an alternative staffing structure. We also included recommended actions for departments that had a major impact on the student experience, such as residential life and alumni affairs.

Results:

Ithaca created an executive director of marketing position, placed a renewed emphasis on media relations, and restructured the marketing communications office from a siloed group of highly talented specialists to an integrated, customer-focused team. Admissions have been increasing, and sharpened positioning has helped Ithaca successfully best its $145 million capital campaign goal by $30 million.

Services:

Brand identity, logo, graphic guidelines, annual report, and communications plan

Challenge:

The U.S. Dream Academy, a national afterschool and mentoring program serving children of incarcerated parents, needed a crisper image, a more effective online presence, and improved tools to take its messages to funders, families, volunteer mentors, and educators.

Approach:

SteegeThomson brought the Dream Academy brand into sharp focus with its first professional logo and mark, accompanied by a graphic identity system. A dynamic new website reflects this look and strengthened online marketing and communications; and we also designed the agency’s second-ever annual report. Finally, our planning work equipped Dream Academy leaders with a messaging platform and clear strategies to support stronger communications across all venues.

Results:

Today, better overall communications and an engaging new look are helping the Dream Academy leverage its powerful mission more effectively. Storytelling and authentic voices convey the difference the program makes for more than 1,000 young people. The website has created more interactive opportunities, including pages where Dream Academy Learning Centers in 10 cities across the nation can share more information with a range of constituents.

Services:

Graphic identity, guidelines, and a series of training workshops for staff

Challenge:

The vast popularity of Temple University’s “T,” in widespread use since 1983, led many to drop the wordmark that went with it. By 2005, a surge in University popularity made it critical that potential students worldwide knew its full name. Temple needed a new graphic identity that enhanced, rather than replaced, its iconic “T.”

Approach:

After an extensive look at how Temple colleges and offices used the official logo, we redesigned the wordmark and created a brand identity for the entire University, including a comprehensive set of graphic standards. To help ensure that the logo and standards were properly understood, we conducted a series of University-wide workshops for Temple staff responsible for print and electronic communications.

Results:

As a result of clear and comprehensive guidelines, and the backing of top administrators, Temple University redesigned its Web site, advertising collateral, and key publications to reflect the new logo. Widespread implementation supported a strengthened brand.

We are proud that professional organizations have recognized our work and the strong relationships with our clients that make excellence possible. Some of the awards our work has earned include:

NEW!!! Interactive Media Awards

Outstanding Achievement Award in the Medical category for website
Outstanding Achievement Award in the Nonprofit category for website

Art Directors Club of New Jersey

Certificate of Excellence for Promotional Brochure

Association of Educational Publishers

Distinguished Award for Annual Report Writing

Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America

Superior Publication

Communicator Award

Award of Excellence for Fund-raising Brochure
Awards of Distinction for Website, Media Kit Writing, Capabilities Brochure

Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)

Gold and Bronze Medals for Fund-raising Publications
Silver Medal for Most Improved Publication
Silver Medal for Individual Student Recruitment Publication
Bronze Medals for Fund-raising Publications Packages
Bronze Medal for Individual Fund-raising Publications
Bronze Medal for Publications Program Improvement

Healthcare Marketing Report

Best Psychiatric Hospital Brochure
Bronze Winner for Healthcare System Brochure

Horizon Interactive Award

Bronze award for Public Service/Non Profit Website

Hospital Association of Pennsylvania

Marketing Award

International Association of Business Communicators

Best Corporate Writing in the Northeast Region
Gold Award for Special Purpose Publications

MarCom Awards

Platinum award for Cultural Non Profit Annual Report
Gold award for Publications Package including Annual Report and brochures
Gold award for Comprehensive Campaign Materials
Gold award for Media Magazine Placement
Honorable Mention for Public Service Website
Honorable Mention for External Communications Program

National Association of Government Communicators

First Place Publications Award

Neographics

Gold Medal for Capabilities Brochure

Philadelphia Business Journal

Best Places to Work Award

Philly Gold Award

Finalist in Fleet Graphics Design

Printing Industry of America (PIA)

Premier Print (“Benny”) Award for Service Booklets and Brochures

Public Relations Society of America, Philadelphia Chapter, Pepperpot Awards

Ladle Award for Media Special Events: excellence in planning, execution and results

Becky knows issues advocacy from the inside out. For more than 19 years, she has brought productive news coverage to issues in education and health care for clients such as the College Board, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the National Minority Quality Forum. She has placed strategic stories in outlets that include CNN, U.S. News & World Report, the_New York Times, and the Washington Post. Before her agency experience with DC-based GMMB, she was a broadcast and print journalist, a U.S. Senate press secretary, and a media director for the National Education Association and NeighborWorks America. She is the founder of Navigator Communications and a frequent member of the SteegeThomson team.

Becky holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Writing and Communications from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, and a Master of Arts in Media and Public Affairs from George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Togo tells stories — stories that help our clients raise funds and friends, command attention, and compel emotions, stories that translate institutional messages into impact on people. Togo also develops communications plans for very complex institutions, connecting those stories to the audiences who need to hear them. He worked with the U.S. Dream Academy, a national program for at-risk youth, to translate its brand into an exciting communications program. From the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund in Chicago to the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations, Togo’s clients praise his can-do spirit.

Togo earned his B.A. from Swarthmore College and began his career as a classroom teacher, a calling that continues to infuse his work.

Togo Has Worked with Such Clients As:

Annenberg Foundation, Community Mercy Health Partners, Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund, EARTH University, Ford Calumet Environmental Center, Sinai Health System, Smithsonian Institution, Penn Medicine’s Department of Surgery, U.S. Dream Academy, and Women’s Law Project

Jill balances an astounding appetite for knowledge with an ability to reach the heart of the matter quickly. She served as project manager and creative lead in our work on pediatric asthma for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, where her out-of-the-box thinking led to the development of continuing medical education content and an award-winning website. She showed the same innovative thinking in placing mobile marketing at the heart of a campaign we recently fashioned to reach low-income mothers for Philadelphia Reads. In our work for the National Quality Forum, Jill developed the microsite and video and worked with four healthcare systems to show quality at work.

Before joining SteegeThomson in 2004, Jill was a creative director for the Medical Broadcasting Company, where she excelled at creating loyalty among Web visitors for pharmaceutical clients. She holds a B.A. from Columbia University and received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in English from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jill Has Worked with Such Clients As:

Bradley University, Goodman Theatre, Indiana State University, Pennsylvania Advocates for Nutrition and Activity, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Philadelphia Reads, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Rosenbach Museum & Library, Staten Island Academy, The Shipley School, and University of Pennsylvania

Pat leads many of our most complex branding processes and creates some of our most compelling communications. Standouts range from her work on messages and materials for the Smithsonian Institution and Washington National Cathedral to her planning skills and long-time counsel to clients such as Ithaca College and the American Friends Service Committee, counsel which helped them to restructure their communications programs. Clients call on her repeatedly to navigate through conceptual thickets and delicate relationships. Pat brings energy and enthusiasm to every project and believes the secret to developing powerful creative and lyrical prose is the ability to fall in love easily.

Pat previously served as marketing vice president for the American Cancer Society in Pennsylvania. She holds an undergraduate degree in journalism from Temple University and a Master of Science from Drexel University.

Patricia Has Worked with Such Clients As:

American Friends Service Committee, Harvard University Center for Public Leadership, John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, Urban Affairs Coalition, Washington National Cathedral, William Penn Foundation, and Wistar Institute.

As a founder and president of SteegeThomson, Carol has built a firm on the premise that strategy is king. Her ability to think clearly, plan realistically, and shape crisp messages has served scores of institutional leaders and, upon occasion, helped them avert a crisis. She has provided counsel for major fundraising and marketing campaigns. Her strong editorial skills are the foundation of SteegeThomson’s signature strengths in developing content, but she considers her greatest talent to be hiring really smart people and helping them excel.

In past positions, Carol was the director of communications at Public/Private Ventures, a national policy research firm, and served the University of Pennsylvania as a senior development writer. She received her A.B. cum laude and her Master of Arts degree in teaching from Brown University.

Carol Has Worked With Such Clients As:

Annie E. Casey Foundation, Central European University, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Harvard University Graduate School of Education, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Institute for Research and Reform in Education, National Board of Medical Examiners, National Quality Forum, University of Georgia, and University of Pennsylvania

In Costa Rica, a unique university is educating dynamic young leaders from developing countries in order to change the world. Founded in 1990, EARTH conducts a rigorous search for students who can benefit from its unusual curriculum in sustainable agriculture and entrepreneurship to become transformative change agents. Most of EARTH’s graduates return home to make an impact on their own communities.

SteegeThomson is honored to tell EARTH’s story in a case statement that will serve as a fundamental tool for its first comprehensive campaign. This case statement will convince donors they are investing in one of the most forward-thinking universities in the world.

Donors need to connect — to you, to the people you serve, to each other. SteegeThomson has been helping institutions engage donors since 1985. Our campaign communications plans integrate brands and existing communications with campaign messages and fill in the gaps where new outreach is needed. Our case statements build internal consensus around the fundamental questions: Why support us? Why now? What for? In videos, online, and in print collateral, we answer donors’ tough questions with stories of impact and changed lives.

Our Development Communications Services:

Comprehensive Campaign Plans
Annual Giving
Case Statements
Online and Print Collateral

Clients We Helped Craft Their Development Communications:

Services:

Brand identity, positioning strategies, logo, graphic guidelines, and annual report

Challenge:

As the venerable Washington National Cathedral celebrated its Centennial and defined its role in a new century, this unique institution needed a new logo and a new look, as well as a set of crisp messages that spoke to strengthened worship and service inside the Cathedral and across the globe.

Approach:

Our logo captured the Cathedral’s distinctive silhouette and modernized its classic wordmark.

Strong, clear positioning and messaging translated into powerful creative concepts, such as our annual report for the Centennial Year.

Our media strategies and placements positioned the Cathedral as an important Washington destination.

Results:

The Cathedral’s new logo and color palette is now the foundation of its creative platform. The well-received annual report earned kudos and positioned the institution for the future. Earned media placements in national outlets such as USA Today’s website reached 49 million readers and viewers.

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Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival

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Healthcare and Biomedical Research

Cultural & Civic

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Higher Education

Secondary and Elementary Education

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Pediatric Asthma Initiative

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Making History Campaign

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