3 WAYS OUR COMMITMENT TO CLIENTS EXTENDS BEYOND OUR WALLS
One of the incredible things about working at an advertising agency is seeing our ideas come to life. But with clients across the country, we don’t always get to experience our work “in the wild.” However, it’s springtime here in Louisville, Kentucky, and three of our clients are very active and visible right now: AJS Hotels, Gallopalooza, and the Kentucky Derby Festival. Here’s a quick sampling of how we go to bat for them inside and outside the office.
1. KICKIN’ IT AT KENTUCKY DERBY FESTIVAL EVENTS
Our team has been buzzing for months leading up to the start of the Kentucky Derby Festival. Because for more than 10 years, we’ve had the honor of being the Festival’s agency of record. This partnership allows us to have tremendous experience with building awareness, developing campaign materials (more than 400 pieces per year), and driving engagement—all for this month-long celebration. But for us, our support doesn’t stop at campaign launch.
As our advertising hits the market, we continue to champion the Festival by attending many of the more than 70 events. In fact, every year, you can find us at Waterfront Park for opening day of Fest-a-Ville. While scarfing down a perfectly prepared corndog, it’s very rewarding to see all the signage that we helped create and how the community engages with the Festival. We also love attending BourbonVille, WineFest, and the Spring Fashion Show. It’s always fun to get dressed up and celebrate our client’s efforts, whether they’re highlighting this year’s Derby fashion trends or honoring Kentucky’s favorite spirit—well, at least our favorite.
It’s truly unique to have a longstanding partnership like the one with the Festival. With so much experience in tourism and events, we’ve been looking for opportunities to broaden our reach within our community. In the last year, we’ve doubled down on our love for spring and our city with two new partnerships!
2. SPONSORING, DESIGNING, AND PAINTING STATUES FOR GALLOPALOOZA
Since 2004, Gallopalooza has enhanced Louisville streets with vibrant fiberglass statues. So when they asked us to support them as their marketing partner this year, we jumped at the opportunity. One of their requests was for a refreshed, modern logo that incorporated their presenting sponsor, Churchill Downs. So no pressure, right? Enter Chris Covington, one of our amazing Senior Art Directors, who swung for the fences. The new logo he developed was produced with some of the fewest rounds of revisions we’ve ever seen.
As our Gallopalooza partnership developed, we decided to sponsor three horses and even painted one ourselves—talk about all hands on deck! The “Twisted” horse was beautifully designed by Meghan Boyd, our Senior Art Director, with many team members helping bring her design to life. And that Gallopalooza logo Chris created? Our Senior Art Director TJ Bean turned it into a stunning statue named “Gallopaloozius.”
The sense of pride that our work and the Gallopalooza partnership have brought to the agency has been very special. That’s why we can’t wait to check out all these horses as they’re being displayed on Louisville streets until October.
3. SUGGESTING A PARTNERSHIP FOR AJS HOTELS
In late 2023, we began working with AJS Hotels, developing a strategic approach to promote the fact that the Galt House Hotel is not only Louisville’s largest and only waterfront hotel, it’s also the only hotel that offers the Legendary Louisville Experience. In addition to building awareness of those messages, we had to educate audiences on what those three factors mean, why they’re important, and the benefits associated with each one.
In the middle of this controlled creative chaos, our partnership with AJS Hotels gave us a great opportunity. We approached them about placing “Spirit”, another Vimarc-designed Gallopalooza horse. Luckily, AJS Hotels was on board and positioned it to the right of the Galt House entrance. Thanks to them, we’re extremely excited to have the statue around so many locals and out-of-town guests for the 150th Kentucky Derby and the PGA Championship. So next time you’re in the area, be sure to snap a photo with this beautiful horse!
It’s easy to see the amount of passion, care, and commitment that’s ever-present within our agency. These qualities not only apply to our clients but also to each other and our amazing community. We look forward to continuing to celebrate it all as countless eyes will be on Louisville for a historic Derby season and beyond.
Whether it’s through our creative work or taking the time to blog about our clients, we always enjoy showing them the love. So if you want all the warm and fuzzies from your agency-client partnership, we want to hear from you! Just reach out and we’ll take it from there.
