New economic development effort goes big

Click images for larger size view

You know what they say: "Go big or go home." Well, one of the fastest growing small towns in the Iowa is going big. And AKC is glad to be along for the ride.

Polk City, Iowa is home to 3,000 people, many of whom work for major area companies such as John Deere, Principal Financial Group, Wells Fargo, Marsh and others. Many residents are families with young children. They are attracted to Polk City for its small-town quality of life, its position near two large recreational lakes, plus wonderful home choices, strong schools and convenient access to the larger metro Des Moines area.

What they don't have is a comprehensive local recreational and wellness facility that young families and active seniors would highly value. That may be about to change as the city along with the chamber and community foundation is mounting an outreach program to secure funding to build The Big Creek Wellness Center. This project will house an array of indoor athletic facilities plus an aquatics center and outdoor soccer and football fields.

For this project, officials came to AKC to a create capital campaign case book that illustrates the concept for potential funding partners. It's early in the process, so this piece serves as a way to introduce the Wellness Center and the basic operating and funding structure behind it. The design and production plan we offered-- a 22-page undersized color booklet with brilliant photography and beautiful spreads--demonstrates the scale of and commitment to the plan, while leaving plenty room for future content development and details as the project moves through the fund raising and approval processes.

An e-newsletter that mooooooves markets

AKC this month launched a digital newsletter for its client, Lely USA, delivered via opt-out email to more than 1,700 dairy industry professionals across the country. The publication title, called Lely Life, reflects the market position of the company - dairy robotics expertise that helps farmers:
1) improve their quality of life by reducing strenuous labor and time spent in the barn,
2) get the most and highest quality milk not only from each cow, but each teat!

In the aftermath of our first distribution, we've tracked some interesting numbers:

• Percentage of email opened by first-time recipients is more than 4 points higher than the average for e-newsletters in the manufacturing and distribution category.
• Opt outs -- those choosing to not receive future issues-- are less than 1%
• Nearly 10% have clicked through to other links embedded in the newsletter. We will look to improve that.
  

If you're interested in getting on the free subscription list, click here.

A different kind of D.C. pork

As most marketing people know, the pork industry has been facing the daunting task of fighting public misinformation and misperceptions about eating pork during the H1N1 flu outbreak. Pork sales and prices have quickly declined as many consumers in the United States and around the world mistakenly think that tainted pork is the cause of the H1N1 strain of flu currently circulating.

The story today in the Washington Post details some of the inside PR planning by the pork industry and its various counselors in trying to turn around the public scare about eating pork.

While we're at it, we're posting two videos on the topic, as part of our unfailing commitment to public service. It was hard finding any clips that did not refer to the topic using the "S" word or that weren't filled with misinformation or hysteria. Still, we did find one particularly informative video that did all the right things; an update from the White House.

And in the spirit of not relying solely on government information, we've also posted a clip from CBS News, which also has done a dutiful job of referring to the issue using the proper terminology.

5/2/09: Your Weekly Address from White House on Vimeo.