Good brand storytelling helps people discover exciting new products, places and experiences. Remember the classic Yankee Candle flagship store sign that read “Scenter of the Universe”? Yup, that was mine! Here’s a sampling of items I’ve written to help marketers boost awareness and increase sales.
Client: SolaBlock
CPI (1) “SolaBlock – Solar Concrete Wall Systems” feature article in Concrete Plant International, explaining the technological breakthrough, stressing user advantages and environmental benefits represented by SolaBlock’s signature product: Solar Masonry Units. (Click on text link above for zoom view)
Client: Kringle Candle Company
Brochure Outside “Kringle Candle B2C tourism brochure” – Every business needs great printed B2C pieces for leave-behind and take-away. Again, good storytelling generates interest, builds understanding and creates those vital “Hey, you’ve got to check out THIS place!” moments. Here’s one of the chatty, informative brochures we created for Kringle Candle retail campus in Bernardston MA. (Click on text link above for zoom view)
Client: Kringle Candle Company
KCCCatalogFall “Kringle Wholesale B2B Catalog – 2014” – Trends rule the world of home fragrance as much as they do in high fashion. So it’s critical to describe new scents as accurately – yet simply – as possible. Our B2B partners consistently lauded our scent descriptions as being “As close as you can get without actually smelling them!” I wrote them all, along with everything else. Would I be immodest to admit I enjoyed hearing that high praise? (Click on text link above for zoom view)
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Client: Kringle Candle Company
KCC media release – Atkins Cider Donut
kcc-atkins-cider-donut-one-sheet (“Introducing Atkins Cider Doughnut” – media release and supporting one-sheet) In October 2012, the Kringle Candle Company released a special fragrance based on the fragrance of the ultra-popular cider donuts at Atkins Farm in Amherst MA. The rollout garnered attention from electronic and print media and helped launch a new fragrance category for Kringle. (Click on text links above for zoom view)
Client: The Farm Table Restaurant
FTR Brochure 2013 (“History Meets Innovation” consumer flyer) The Farm Table Restaurant was among the first eateries in western Massachusetts to adopt the farm-to-table approach along with organic and gluten-free menu options. This B2C piece helped patrons to further value their experience and encourage others to visit by driving home the Farm Table ethos and celebrating Executive Chef Brent Menke. (Click on text link above for zoom view)
Client: Kringle Candle Company
Kringle Quarterly Spring 2012 (“Kringle Quarterly” B2C magazine) This brand-evangelism piece was also aimed at Kringle’s reseller network and designed to provide a strategic “30,000 foot view” of the company’s vision. By building confidence among dealers and potential dealers, Kringle was able to expand its reseller network quickly, winning “doors” and boosting economy of scale. (Click on text link above for zoom view)
Client: Kringle Candle Company
(“Kringle Jingle” Employee E-Newsletter) I edited and wrote this weekly internal communique, which kept employees up to speed on HR items, company events, promotions, etc. At Yankee Candle, I did the same with Notes & Quotes.
Kringle Product Knowledge Deck (“Kringle 2014 Product Knowledge” Training Deck) This B2B piece ensured consistent product understanding at the sales staff level among the company’s rank and file resellers. (Click on text link above for zoom view)
Client: Farm Table Restaurant
Chef Brent Menke pitch bio – Food TV has made the celebrity chef a key part of restaurant marketing. Here’s how I portrayed Brent Menke, the Executive Chef at The Farm Table, the restaurant at Kringle Candle.
Client: Yankee Candle Company
(“Yankee Candle Times” monthly direct-to-consumer newsletter) In the years before the Web, terms like “B2C” weren’t yet popularized, but the Yankee Candle Times, this friendly and laid-back newsletter was still very effective at reaching out to consumers and spurring them to pick up the phone and buy candles. As the editor and primary writer, each month I’d evangelize the Yankee brand with stories about fragrances, new products, special offers and quirky company facts and figures. Mailing to our modest database of true believers, the direct-sales division achieved sales in excess of $1 million per year. Not bad without the Web.
Client: Mike Kittredge II
MIKE SPEECH Isenberg School (“How I Built Yankee Candle” – Talk)
After selling Yankee Candle, Mike Kittredge was in high demand with business groups, associations and graduate-level instructors. People were fascinated by the story of the Beatles-fan teenager who’d melted his childhood crayons and built a fortune. I would typically amend the core talk script I’d written for him based upon the time frame and messaging goals of those requesting Mike’s presence. Here’s one of my favorites, which Mike delivered to a group of MBA aspirants at the University of Massachusetts’ Isenberg School. This audience really loved the talk and catalyzed Mike’s desire to finish his autobiography, one of our longest-term projects. (Click on link above for zoom view)
Client: Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau
For the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, I have crafted scores of media releases, articles for tourism guidebooks and other marketing documents designed to promote the attributes of Western Massachusetts. The target audience for these pieces varies and includes convention planners, group tour schedulers, travel writers and leisure-focused consumers. This requires me to shift tone and use key terms unique to each segment. (Click on links to view actual text)
GSCVB-PR Jan 16 Group Tour Dine
GSCVB PR March 2016 All Things Warm Weather
GSCVB March 2016 Culture update
GSCVB Guide Copy – Wondrous Western Massachusetts
Client: Tea Guys
Tea Guys Brochure (“Who Are the Tea Guys?” – B2B Catalog) Tea Guys is a Whately MA-based independent tea blending company which had spent its first twelve years as a strictly B2B bulk tea seller. In late 2013 the client sought to re-position itself as a B2C beverage company and needed to establish its new identify with corporate buyers. My challenge was to help them through a complete re-branding, complete with new identification, packaging, marketing communication materials, etc. The approach: a fun and funky look paired with a chatty, friendly voice. Sales picked up rapidly. Today their Consumer Packaged Goods products can be found in all 60+ Big Y supermarkets and rapidly-growing network of specialty retail accounts. (Click on link above for zoom view)
Client: Kringle Candle
ELF PFEFFERMINZ AND THE MAGIC CHRISTMAS CANDLE – These are the first pages of an unfinished children’s book, planned for publication as a Kringle Candle holiday original. The project was shelved in late 2012 after my client fell severely ill.
Client: Kringle Candle
Tim O'Brien 