Fall projects list in the Kanakuk marketing department

Here is a partial list of projects that we are working on in the Marketing Department at Kanakuk Kamps.

1. 2009 Staff Recruitment video
2. 2009 Staff promo commercials 
3. 2008-09 KanakukLive! Movie (A Tim Oliphant video experience)
4. The new kanakuk.com rollout (leave a comment if you are willing to beta test the new site for us sometime in the next several days)
5. Coffee
6. KanakukLive! event print and digital materials
7. Hershey, PA Men at the Cross Stage Management
8. Hershey, PA Kanakuk Kamps booth (Any Lancaster County Kanakukers out there? We could use a local volunteer to help with the booth.)
9. 2010 concept research
10. Director blogs (see sidebar)
11. 25 Days of Christmas mailing
12. Kanakuk Kamps Term Videos (out in early January)
13. Tons of other small stuff 

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The Joe White Kanakuk Kamps Booth at Men at the Cross

 

Kanakuk Kamps just purchased this new display booth for the Men at the Cross conferences. We also purchased the TV, DVD player and the stand for the TV. You might notice in the picture that the TV is not on the stand. Well, we shipped all the parts for the booth to Houston and one of the boxes, the one with the bracket for the TV, got lost in the Toyota Center. The Toyota Center is where the Houston Rockets Play. I finally found the stray box late the second day and had no time to put it together. The Omaha, NE, Men at the Cross event will go smoother in that department. The TV made a huge difference in the number of people who stopped at the booth.

As proof I looked at the web stats for the weekend and Monday before and the weekend and Monday after the St. Louis Men at the Cross event and the number of page views in the St. Louis metro area were exactly the same. We had no decent booth, no TV, etc. at that event. Then I looked at the page views for the same time scenarios in Houston and the page views for the weekend of the event were almost exactly double. I also so an increase here at Inside Kanakuk. So it seems to me just looking at the surface that the booth upgrade was well worth it. It was also fun to get the word out about Kanakuk and to meet some of the Kamp Dads that came to the event.

We had some great volunteers at the booth too. Meredith and her husband (I drew a blank on your name!! So, sorry.), and Kelly helped during the two day event. It was a huge help having people who know about and love Kanakuk and have experienced it. I saw them sharing the Kanakuk story with a lot of Dads. I was running in several directions that weekend so I just didn't get pictures of the volunteers. I'll do better in the future.


Mollye will go to the Omaha event to help with the booth and we'll have some more great volunteers. Special thanks to Brian Mitchell from Kids Across America for helping us newbies get the booth set-up, a couple times :-)

If any of you were in Houston and have any suggestions for the booth I'd love to hear them.

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Scary Steps and Powerful Skills

Scary Sketches from Jay

Even resorted to some cut and paste on this one!

I seriously don't know why I'm doing this. Now you are going to know how terrible an artist I am! I've done a lot of graphic design in my days, made a lot of pretty logos, and all that. Yeah that's right, not a single ounce of sketching skill. I do sketches like the one above so that the graphic designers, in this case Jessica, can have a ROUGH idea of how I want a piece laid out, and what content goes on it. I occasionally throw in a little Marketing Director humor just to keep it lively. So this is the first step of a print project here at Kanakuk. That's the scary part.

Not so scary. Great job on these! Upper: Jessica. Lower: Lindsay.

The second part is when the graphic designers take the works of "art" only my mother could love and turn them into real art. Doing that is no small task. Jessica and Lindsay both have some seriously mad skills. Not only can they play Adobe InDesign and PhotoShop like a finely built violin, but they are super smart about what helps you enjoy and get a lot out of the things we send out in the mail. Not only on paper but the web too.

We met twice the end of last week to cover more of the new website and I couldn't be prouder. We may not be the smartest, most experienced web team in the world but there couldn't be a more pleasant group of people to create with. They are passionate about creating a web experience for www.kanakuk.com that will make life faster and more enjoyable for everyone.

The rollout date for the new website is currently Sept. 30th. We might go beta as early as the 15th. At the rollout it will clearly be a work in progress but I think you'll like the new foundation. I promise more screen shots before the 15th. I look forward to getting your input as we move forward.


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Who are you talking to? - 2

I know I promised an answer and a confession. If you can't wait, skip down a couple of paragraphs, avoid the bloviating rant and save yourself the 2 minutes. [Debbie - I see you scrolling:-)]

So, I'm tired of advertising. Companies everywhere, pay attention. I want to talk to somebody with a personality, a story, someone who has the occasional bad day, and is willing to admit it. It's OK, I know your employees have a life. Don't get all crazy on me though. I don't want to know about their doctor appointments or what their horoscope promises for the weekend. I'm actually allergic to "To Much Information", I carry an emergency supply of Benadryl because if people take me seriously it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Here's the secret: I've already checked you out! I'm Googling you. I'm finding your other customers and talking to them first to see if you are legit. Seeing if it's safe to talk to you. One of my friends told me you were pretty awesome. So when I call I just want to know that somebody real is on the other end of the phone. Somebody I can now put my trust in that you'll actually care about me. If I want to talk to someone in India reading a script I'll call my guy in Bollywood direct!

OK, enough, the answer to "Who are you talking to?" Well, if you are in marketing today, if you advertise your business you aren't talking TO anyone. You are talking AT them! Which brings me to the confession: I've been talking AT you for years, through media where you really expected me to talk TO you. A give and take, back and forth. I apologize. You call, you send e-mails, you come to visit and still I wanted to talk AT you with my websites and brochures. I'm setting that aside. I'm changing. Or am I?

I'll suspend the drama now.

Who am I talking to? I want to talk to you because; we are both Kanakuk parents (my daughter is at Kamp right now for what seems like the longest time), we both work for Kanakuk (making things better is so rewarding), we share an interest in Kanakuk (we have some of the same memories). What is it going to take to get us talking? Forums/Discussion boards, Kamp Friends lists, Facebook Connect, retreats, do you want Kanakuk to come to your town? Do you want to come here? Do you want us to text message you? Do you want me to come to your office or do you want me to call? Is e-mail your speed? Leave me a comment. JGM I'm coming to your office so get ready.


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Who are you talking to?

Books I've read recently, am reading or am going to read soon.

Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable
Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing out of Sync?
Join the Conversation: How to Engage Marketing-Weary Consumers with the Power of Community, Dialogue, and Partnership
Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business
Identity Crisis: 50 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities into Successful Brands

Maybe it's because I've been involved in marketing in some way most of my working career, but I'm exhausted by advertising. I can barely tolerate the drone of infomercials, and the ad books they call magazines. I have become extremely skilled in avoiding, ignoring, or otherwise obliterating all TV ads (thanks to my DVR!). The new in show product placement strategies being foisted upon us is my next target.

So, why do I stay in "marketing"? It's one word, "Kanakuk". I get to tell the story and share the history and richness of 82 years of some of the best Christian camping in the world. There's something to believe in, something that if I communicate it clearly to you, your family will benefit eternally. Bam! That's it and for me it's powerful. I have to love what I'm doing and feel like I'm making a difference or I start getting the new job itch.

I was at my last job for less than three years. It felt like 30 years. It was highly educational but elicited no passion. I've been at Kanakuk now for over 8 years and it feels like I just got here! Part of it is sharing the task with some of the most talented people in the business.

Back to my book list...

If I'm tired of the advertising, I know you must be too! I'm trying to get my head and heart wrapped around communicating in a way that will break through even my hardened senses. So, you see that represented in my book list. I think I have it figured out, but help me with this one because me "figuring it out" has nothing to do with the solution.

If you are in marketing let me ask you this: Who are you talking to?

Tomorrow we tackle the answer and I make a confession.



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Christian Radio

We have a great little independant Christian radio station here in Branson called Life FM (KLFC). Started by people from a local church it has grown and thrived here. We haven't done much "Advertising" including radio spots but wanted this year to support this station and in turn they are providing some 15 second spots.

Bear with me. I'm going to test out some radio script ideas on you. Let me know which one you like the best:

1. Kanakuk Kamps one of the Tri-lake's largest employers provides an "Exciting Adventure in Christian Athletics" for thousands of boys and girls ages 7-18 each summer. 7 , 13 and 25-day terms provide Kampers with a taste of Kanakuk or a full blown life-changing summer experience. Great facilities, great food and the most kid-loving, Christian, college staff make a summer at Kanakuk something kids never forget. Visit kanakuk dot com to take in the whole Kanakuk experience.


2. [bed of camp themed music comes up] "Exciting Adventure in Christian Athletics" just begins to describe the life-changing experience at Kanakuk Kamps. From ziplines [zipline sound] to football drills [whistle and football hits sounds], guitar lessons [Acoustic guitar riff], to crazy skits [funny music with laughter] Kanakuk will take your heart, mind, and body to the next level. Make your summer count by coming to Kanakuk for 7, 13, or 25 days of memories and adventure! To enroll or learn more visit kanakuk dot com.

If you were hearing about Kanakuk for the very first time on radio what message would peak your interest?

Thanks for commenting on my blog. I hope you find this to be a place you can see under the hood so to speak and feel more apart of what we do here. It's a great place to work, I'm blessed, hope your day is full of blessings.

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It Tastes Like Chicken

Chicken is amazingly tasty and everyone should eat more. Why do I say that? Well, as I write this I'm sitting within miles of Tyson chicken, processing plants, farms, trucks, and corporate offices. Around here everyone knows someone who works for Tyson chicken. But, that little phrase, "It tastes like chicken" isn't a complement anymore. Maybe it never was.

This image is a work of a USDA employee, the image is in the public domain.

Kanakuk is an "Exciting Adventure in Christian Athletics". That's a pretty good tag line. It says a lot, whoever came up with that one knows something about positioning. It used to be enough to hang your mantel out and say "We have very good tasting chicken." But today's advertising saturated world with 20 channels of infomercials, billboard mania, and don't forget the pop-up ads all over the internet make the word look like a mile long chicken house.

When we brainstorm in the marketing department, business decorum goes out the window. There's no boss, there's nothing off limits, we poke fun at the crazy things people say and in the end we come up with an idea that alone none of us would have hatched. When the buttoned up guy in the office points to the Martha Stewart website in his analysis of good web design, that's freedom! (Not that he hasn't paid dearly for it.) When we get in the zone and stay late to make sure that what goes to press is special, that's dedication. All the fun and hard work, we hope leads to something just enough different that people will be drawn to the Kanakuk experience.

I get up in the morning and drive to my office just across the street from K-1 and K-Kountry. I listen to the kids laughing, the water splashing, the roar of boat motors and I know first hand the stories behind those sounds. I sit at my desk and I pour over the day's assignments and pray that my efforts won't taste like chicken. Because, when was the last time you said to your best friend, "Oh, you should send your kids to Kanakuk. It tastes just like chicken."

If you ever get time to check out Kanakuk for your child you'll find it doesn't taste like chicken, it tastes more like a Cajun style seafood boil, with all the fixin's! Tell all your friends, just don't tell my friends at Tyson.

Does your ministry or company taste like chicken? How are you cutting through the noise of the world and making your mission statement come alive to meet needs and reach people?