Gunn|Jerkens recently launched a special campaign for our client, Newhall Land and their master-planned community of Valencia, California. In an effort to engage the Valencia Facebook fans and showcase some of the community amenities, we asked users to participate in the Awesome Scavenger Hunt!
Running for a total of eight weeks, the hunt presents a new clue each week, which is posted to the Valencia Facebook page. And each clue has fans and residents visiting some of the places Valencia is most known for.
Fans were encouraged to hone their Facebook skills and get ready to snap some pics for their chance to win. Prizes range from Starbucks, iTunes, American Express and Westfield Mall gift cards to the grand prize of the winning fan’s choice: either a spa day or a special date night for two.
This campaign is a win-win for both the Facebook fans and the client. The fans, of course, get their chance to win some awesome prizes and the client receives targeted user-generated content promoting their community from the best marketers they have – their residents!
The round of fall birthday celebrations continued today as the Gunn|Jerkens team wished Amanda a happy birthday!
Everyone celebrated at the G|J office with a plentiful lunch of assorted Greek food rounded out with slices of strawberry shortcake and fresh fruit. It was delicious! Table topics for the occasion focused on Amanda’s birthday plans, fabulous restaurants in the Long Beach area to try out and things to see and do if you happen to be visiting Des Moines, IA anytime soon.
Someone once said, “If riding in an airplane is flying, then riding in a boat is swimming. If you want to experience the element, then get out of the vehicle.” That’s exactly what Gunn|Jerkens team member Laura did this weekend!
Laura has always wanted to skydive and after watching others do it for some time, she finally had to give it a try herself and make it happen. This past Saturday, Laura braved it out with her best friend and showed up with her adventure hat on for an early morning appointment at Skydive Elsinore.
Laura prepared for her dive, in which she would be attached to her tandem instructor, with an hour of training that walked her through the process of exiting the aircraft from above, how to properly arch her body during the freefall and how to pull the ripcord at just the right altitude.
Jumping from a cruising altitude of 12,500 feet, Laura was given the option to simply jump out of the plane or to try a dive. Laura says, “For some strange reason, I chose to go all out and dive!” With a freefall that lasted about 60 seconds and a parachute glide for over seven minutes, Laura says this was “one of the most exhilarating and exciting experiences, and surprisingly, I remained quite calm!”
Skydiving may not be everyone’s preferred extreme sport of choice, but Laura encourages anyone who wants to try it out to do so. One thing is certain – this is one adventure that is guaranteed to be the thrill of a lifetime!
Here’s a bit of G|J trivia. Laura isn’t the first G|J team member to take the plunge. Can you guess who else in the office has tried skydiving before?
Today was a big day here at Gunn|Jerkens! In case you don’t know, yesterday was National Boss’s Day, so we took today to celebrate Linda!
We’d actually been preparing for this day for weeks, and it all began with a passing joke. A few weeks ago, after Linda left for a meeting, all of us here in the office got together to try to figure out what to do for Boss’s Day. Someone jokingly mentioned doing confessions like a reality show, and the rest is history.
The whole G|J team (minus Linda!) put their brains together to come up with a fun, witty and personal video that captured the energy of the office and poked fun at some of Linda’s most memorable idiosyncrasies–all in a loving and thankful way of course! Each of us recorded a confessional as well as office footage that related to our confessions. We all had so much fun sneaking around and setting everything up, and we couldn’t wait to show it to Linda!
We brought Linda into the conference room this morning for her big surprise, and I think it’s safe to say she loved it! Everyone crowded around as she cried tears of joy and laughter while watching our boss tribute. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that today was something special for the whole G|J team.
Happy Boss’s Day, Linda! Thanks for being such a great boss. We were all thrilled to make our video for you!
Last Sunday, the G|J team participated in the 2011 Long Beach International City Bank ICB Marathon & Half Marathon! We were all so excited about participating in this event as a group, and we even created special t-shirts to mark the occasion.
Pre-race:
Most of us were participating for the team-building efforts and for exercise, but there were a few who are a bit more serious about running and wanted to break their personal records.
Post-race:
We want to send out a special congratulations to Stacey, who in her first full-marathon attempt, managed to outrun almost everyone else in the race. We just found out that Stacey actually finished her marathon with a final time of 3:17:33! Pacing at an average of 7:33 per mile, Stacey came in 115th place overall, 15th out of 1,206 women and 2nd out of 83 runners in her age group!
We had a great time, captured some good pictures and can’t wait to try it again next year.
Leaves are getting ready to fall, the days are getting shorter and, of course, we’re rolling out another round of birthdays at Gunn/Jerkens! Today we were lucky enough to celebrate Jen H’s birthday!
Everyone here at the G/J office got together in honor of Jen’s special day for a grand feast of delicious Greek food, red velvet cake and tasty fruit! In addition to Jen’s birthday, our upcoming Sunday marathon/half-marathon/5K race was a big topic of conversation at the table. It will be the first race for many of us, and we’re happy to do it together as a group!
Today is National Good Neighbor Day! Every year on September 28, we’re encouraged to express our thankfulness for neighbors we’ve had in the past and present, whom we’ve forged relationships with and whom have impacted our lives on even the simplest levels.
Unfortunately, with the fast-paced nature of our world today, many people go years without ever introducing themselves to those living adjacent to them. In fact, in a study compiled by the White Pages, fewer than half of Americans know who their neighbors are. Do you know who your neighbors are?
The great thing about having neighbors is that there are many little things you can do to let them know you care, without spending a tremendous amount of time or effort. By using a few simple gestures, you can make an impact in the way they view you, and you may just find a couple of friends living right next door!
3 things you can do to celebrate National Good Neighbor Day 2011
Smile and wave the next time you see them pulling in or out of the driveway.
Offer your assistance if they ask for your help. Better yet, ask them if they need your help before they ask you.
Invite them over. Take a few minutes out of your day to eat some appetizers and get to know them better. Who knows! You may even have some common interests!
We want to thank all of you for being good neighbors and for reading and sharing our posts with your friends and neighbors. Be sure to pay it forward and spread the word about National Good Neighbor Day 2011.
The essence of interior design will always be about people and how they live. It is about the realities of what makes for an attractive, meaningful environment. ~ Albert Hadley
When interior designer Jessica Nakata of The Black Door Interior Design firm was in search of a marketing communications and interactive company to redesign her website, she turned to Gunn|Jerkens for our expertise. The new website’s architecture and creative was strategically designed and developed to complement The Black Door’s brand image – simplistic and chic. To achieve this goal, we refreshed the logo type and created a logo mark element, which can be used as an icon and helps to create brand identity outside of the logo type. A new light-colored patterned background was also incorporated into the layout. And to showcase Jessica’s beautiful design work, stunning photography of her projects was utilized as the central focal point of the site.
The end result is a visually stimulating, clean and sophisticated design that is intuitive to navigate, making it very user friendly.
In addition to the new website, Jessica has set up a Facebook page, usedfor sharing her work and providing interior design tips and ideas to her audience. By building a business page, The Black Door Interior Design will gain additional exposure, helping to increase brand awareness and further develop the search engine optimization (SEO) strategy already in place.
Jessica was a great client to work with. Her expertise in design and her willingness to let us in on her creative process made this project a fun and memorable one.
This weekend marks the 10th anniversary of 9/11. People around the nation will be gathering in their communities to pay honor to those whose lives were lost, give thanks to those who aided in the rescue and cleanup efforts and to share the similar personal experiences that we have all dealt with in the aftermath of such a tragedy.
There are many ceremonies that will be taking place in New York, Washington, D.C., Virginia and Pennsylvania. There will also be many other events that are scheduled across the U.S. To find an event near you, visit the 9/11 Healing and Remembrance website.
Gunn|Jerkens honors and recognizes all the individuals who have given their lives to protect the independence we hold so dear. We’d also like to thank all the brave men and women on the front lines today who make it possible for us to live in freedom in the USA.
Recently, the Gunn|Jerkens team tried something new – hosting a nationwide social media workshop via webinar! With 14 participants, representing three time zones, the webinar provided insightful information to building industry executives eager to turn their companies into social businesses and propel their brands to the next level.
The dialogue was great. Attendees asked numerous questions, engaging the Gunn|Jerkens team in the ongoing conversation about social media and its impact on new home sales and the consumer buying cycle.
We’re continuing to see measurable results with the use of social media. After tracking the behavioral patterns of potential homebuyers through the buying cycle, social media has proved to be a powerful link in nurturing brand-consumer relationships as buyers weigh all their options and conduct product research online. The focus of the recent national webinar concentrated on the current state of the social world, employing conversational engagement as opposed to traditional push marketing techniques, successful social media strategies, understanding how to measure ROI and the future of the digital and online marketing.
The conversation is only beginning! If you want to join the conversation, contact us to get connected and stay tuned for the next workshop coming to an area near you.
Gunn/Jerkens Marketing Communications is based out of Long Beach, Ca. Stop in frequently to see what’s happening, share your stories, questions and perspective.
