To some companies clients are just and only that, clients. For our marketing agency, they are so much more. They are partners, confidants and even friends. Meetings, lunches and phone calls are not just for “is this ad approved” or “how is business”. They are also for “how is the new baby”, “how was your vacation to Hawaii”, etc… This is the time for you and the client to really connect on a personal level.

Last month each person in our agency hand painted (or sponge painted) a onesie for our Brookfield Homes client who was expecting a baby.

Even more recently, Lisa, our Hazard Center client told us she was running the La Jolla 1/2 Marathon. I ran two marathons last year with Team In Training, and instantaneously she and I started talking about training strategies, her goals and specific gear to get (I am a huge fan of Body Glide–she tried it and loved it!).

Our creative team thought it would be fun to make something for Lisa for this event. They wanted to design something that matched our current campaign, All You Need, All In One Stop (which did win quite a few awards at the San Diego Ad Agency Awards). The campaign consists of trolley station signage, print and onsite signage.

One of Bailey Gardiner’s creative teams (Nik & Mike) decided on designing a “Team Lisa” t-shirt. They took the trolley station line that was used in the current campaign and changed it to be the La Jolla 1/2 Marathon race course. Mike wrote the copy about what people typically encounter in long races while Nik designed the actual t-shirt. My favorite part is the fact that Nik took the logo for Hazard Center and made it out of running shoes.

We presented Lisa with the t-shirt at a creative meeting and she was beyond ecstatic about it and about the fact that we even printed t-shirts for her two colleagues to wear that were going to be at the race supporting her. Plus, it’s pretty cool when the client wears the shirt after the race, takes pictures, and sends them to you.

Congratulations Lisa on finishing your second 1/2 marathon and for running the entire thing (including the big hill)!