Creative Energy is quickly becoming the foodservice agency of choice for businesses wanting to take advantage of the social media boom. Pizza Plus, Inc. is the agency’s newest social media client. Creative Energy will create and manage the social media strategy for the 64-unit Blountville, Tennessee pizza company.
“Social media is proving its worth in building relationships with current and potential customers,” said Creative Energy’s social media specialist Trinity Lancaster. “We’re proving that you can turn those relationships into dollars with smart strategies that drive sales and customer counts. It takes imagination, business sense and a commitment that works for our social media clients.”
The official rollout for the campaign will be in August when the social media campaign will be supported with fresh online advertising and special discounts, contests and other promotions. Couponing will be tracked by the Pizza Plus stores to measure the effectiveness of each promotion.
“Businesses are coming to the realization that social media is not a fad and that they’ve got to have a presence there,” says Creative Energy President Tony Treadway. “Social media is more than just having a Facebook page, it’s about engaging your customers and having a dialogue with them through these tools.”
The fourth season of MAD MEN starts Sunday and we raise our glasses in toast to all of those who have carved out a life in the ad agency biz.
Creative Energy started in 1991 in the back of an old Western Sizzlin steakhouse with a hope and a prayer. We had some great folks who were a bit crazy and the motto of “fake it while you make it.”
Much of the MAD MEN experience still remains (without the sexual harassment, two pack-a-day habits and scotch hangovers). Yet some of the client interaction, healthy creative competitiveness and burning desire to make a difference remains.
Here’s hoping that the fourth season will be a great one to watch and for all of you whose screensavers are the MAD MEN icon, we salute you. Visit our site and I invite you to come back Sunday to read our blog with more on the start up of Creative Energy.
Recognized for their uniqueness, our Texas Pete “For The Love Of Pete” ad series has a story about branding that’s at the heart of what we do best.
Since the 1940s, the brand has become a household icon for nearly every true Southern family – or anyone whose roots are in the South. As T.W. Garner’s advertising agency for foodservice, we are responsible for building the brand among restaurant operators, chains, non-commercial operators (schools, hospitals, etc.). As we researched Texas Pete we ran across numerous articles of how celebrities who could not find the hot sauce in their own cities would somehow find ways of purchasing Texas Pete and literally carry a bottle of the treasured hot sauce with them to use in restaurants. Thus, we created an irresistible stance line, “For The Love Of Pete”.
We wanted to demonstrate the power of the brand with unforgettable images of people going to the extreme to enjoy their Texas Pete. Our groundbreaking ad in the series was a shot of a customer sitting at a lunch counter with a bottle of Texas Pete in a frayed back pocket of his blue jeans (come on, you’ve seen back pockets worn by those who always keep a package of snuff there in real life). The image was shot by our team at the famous Burger Bar in Bristol, VA. It is famous for reportedly being the last place were Hank Williams ate before he passed away. The ad captured the message, “your customers want this hot sauce so bad that if you don’t have it on your table – they’ll bring it with them.
Our most recent ad series is for Texas Pete’s equally delicious line of chicken wing sauce products. Here the approach was to illustrate normally highly responsible people in jobs where they are suppose to be always diligent, distracted by their love of Texas Pete. The first in the series is a policeman at a lunch counter enjoying some Texas Pete Wings as robbers dance their way past him down the street with sacks of money out the window of the restaurant. I won’t spoil the surprise, but there are two equally engaging ads to come that will hit foodservice trade publications in 2011. There is likewise an ad targeting military foodservice buyers featuring a tough drill sergeant who is taken back a notch by Texas Pete’s Hotter Hot Sauce.
Since Creative Energy assumed the foodservice account responsibilities in 2001, Texas Pete has broadened its reach to become a national brand. Both chains and independent operators alike now purchase the brand for their table tops and for their kitchens. Today, Texas Pete is either the number two or number three brand of hot sauce in the country and is by far, the number one brand of hot sauce in the South.
Over the past year Creative Energy Group has been lucky enough to work with a client in Aiken, SC and we all have fallen in love with this city. I was inspired so much by its beauty that I’ve created a gift for the city and its people that celebrates one of America’s greatest communities. Take a look and if you have the opportunity, make a stop in Aiken. You’ll thank me for the discovery.
An innovative and unique financial re-branding project developed by Creative Energy was the focus of a case study for ABA Bank Marketing in the magazine’s June Issue.
The article, written by Creative Energy’s senior copywriter Bob Barnwell, outlined the creative brief process implemented by the Creative Energy staff to bring a new look, and new life, to what was AF Bank of West Jefferson, North Carolina.
“I thought our project was so comprehensive, it could be beneficial to other companies that may wonder where to start with a re-branding process,” says Barnwell. “Because of our detailed creative brief, the entire process was a smooth transition to what ended up being a completely different name, look and feel for what is now LifeStore… After all, with a project of any size, it’s extremely important that everyone get on the same page. The creative brief is literally that page.” – continue
(Johnson City, Tenn.) – Each year, billions of dollars in available grants go to organizations that have the acumen to submit a winning application. Creative Energy, a full-service communications firm has expanded its services to assist organizations earn additional funding through grants.
“Public and private grants are extremely valuable in providing new resources for an organization,” said Creative Energy president Tony Treadway. “Our new service provides exceptional talent to create a winning grant application.”
The firm’s senior copywriter, Bob Barnwell is a graduate of the University of Virginia and holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from East Tennessee State University. Barnwell recently completed specific training in the development of grant applications and has aided several organizations in preparing grant applications. – continue
(Washington, DC) – Creative Energy Group, Inc. of Johnson City, Tenn. was one of an elite group of small businesses recognized today as a coveted ‘Blue Ribbon Small Business Award’ winner from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The honor confirmed that the communications firm is one of only 75 small businesses within the United States to earn the designation.
The Blue Ribbon Small Business Award is designed to recognize businesses that demonstrate excellent business practices in several areas, including: business strategy, employee development, community involvement and customer service.
At the awards ceremony, Thomas Donohue, U.S. Chamber president said, “This year’s recipients of the award are proof that the American entrepreneurial spirit is as strong as ever. We are relying on small businesses to lead us out of this recession, create new jobs, and get our economy moving again, and these companies are leading the way.” – continue
(Johnson City, Tenn.) – In today’s volatile business environment, a crisis communications plan is as essential as a business plan. Creative Energy, Inc. has announced a service to aid companies better prepare their organization for when their crisis occurs.
“We only need to look at the morning news to see the need for crisis communications planning,” said Tony Treadway, Creative Energy president. “From the oil spill in the gulf to the flooding that impacted a great hotel in Nashville to the e-coli lettuce scare involving restaurants, a crisis emerges for some company on a daily basis.” – continue
