Marketing and the Circus

This wonderful gem was sent to me today by friend and marketing genius, J.J.:

"If the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying 'Circus Coming to the Fairground Saturday,' that's advertising. If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk him into town, that's promotion. If the elephant walks through the mayor's flowerbed, that's publicity. If you can get the mayor to laugh about it, that's public relations. And if you planned the elephant's walk, that's marketing."

source: Reader’s Digest


Now if that's not a great explanation of the science of marketing, I've never seen one! Thanks, J.J.!!!

Packed House. Standing Room Only. Full Media Coverage

The words in the headline of this article represent a successful event. Those words equate to what good looks like, from our clients' perspective.


Successful events require skill and tenacity ... and even a bit of luck.




Skill - you have to know how to do it. We rely upon our trusted RSVP process to guide us in strategy. Then, we rely upon talented professionals, failsafe systems, flawless execution to get the job done. You have to understand when and how to contact the media (if they are part of the event mix).




Tenacity - when things go wrong, or break or fail to show up (and they always do), you have to have the wits and the toughness to work through such adversity. Plus, you have to have the confidence and poise to avoid getting flustered.


Luck - you have to be lucky in the sense that bad weather, a natural disaster, a competing event or major world news event can hurt your event's attendance. Stuff happens.


Personally, I truly love working on events... love conceptualizing, planning, promoting and working events. And I love the high stakes nature of events. Many of my colleagues at Maple do, too. Regarding our performance in this area of our practice, Maple is "undefeated." Every single time, without exception, the results are: packed house, standing room only, full media coverage.

The photo above was taken at our most recent event, the public announcement ceremony for a tourism project in Beckley, West Virginia. See the packed house. You can see a few pieces of media gear, too.


No one does events better than Maple. That's not arrogance. It is, perhaps, pride in what we do ... and the passion that we bring to our work. And I make no apologies for such statements.


Whenever someone is engaged in something that they love, isn't it magic? Isn't it beautiful to see passion in action! Can passion rightfully applied ever be defeated?

This next photo below shows Michael Haid and I passionately engaged in our work at the event. It was taken just prior to the start of the press ceremony. Look closely and you'll also see the nice stage setup, the backdrop and the phenomenal artistry that our design team does on brand identity. More details about the event and the project are available here.

Maple Announces Promotions

We're excited about our wonderful team of marketing professionals at Maple Creative. It continues to evolve and grow. As an owner and founder, it gives me great pride to see our young professionals develop and progress in their careers.

Accordingly, here's some recent news that we announced this week:

Thomas White has been promoted to Creative Director. Thomas is a talented graphic artist and designer, whose work has garnered many industry awards in West Virginia. More about Thomas from our Web site.

Emily Bennington has been promoted to Marketing Director. Emily is a highly-skilled writer and project manager with a knack for making clients say: Wow! Here's Emily's blogger profile.

Both are veterans and top performers at Maple Creative. These promotions are well deserved. Congratulations to Emily and Thomas!