Award-winning brands, communications strategies and advertising campaigns have three things in common: they need a valuable product, a clear vision and a unique design, and Savage’s work with FlexSteel has met all three needs.

Designed around FlexSteel’s innovative product – a spoolable, flexible and easy-to-install line pipe with steel reinforcements that make it as durable as steel pipe – the company’s rebranding, communications and advertising efforts have earned the attention of both the advertising and energy industries.

The latest of Savage’s strategic designs for the company, FlexSteel’s awareness campaign earned an ADDY award in early January, then went on to win the Gold ADDY award and Best in Show in Print Advertising at the February 2 Houston Advertising Federation awards ceremony.

The campaign also earned the team an AMA Houston 2012 Marketer of the Year Best of Category award in Energy: Oil and Gas Products and Services. Category winners were selected from more than 130 nominated companies, organizations and institutions.

FlexSteel’s brand awareness has benefited hugely from the advertising campaign. Online banner ads alone have resulted in more than 200,000 impressions. According to a SIGNET AdProbe™ survey of readers of Oil & Gas Journal, in which a full-page FlexSteel ad was placed, 90% of readers rated the print ad’s noticeability as excellent or good, and 71% rated the information content as excellent or good.

Savage’s past work with FlexSteel has also earned numerous awards and honors. The redesigned FlexSteel logo was published in a creative compilation by Bright Books. Savage also won a 2011 BMA Lantern Award for its collaborative rebranding campaign for FlexSteel, in the Corporate and Product Identity Category.

See the full portfolio of work Savage has done with FlexSteel here.

About Savage

Savage is a Houston-based company that provides branding and marketing communications for corporations and non-profit organizations. With award-winning work, Savage helps companies develop and sustain leadership positions within their industries. Its expertise encompasses branding, marketing, online and social media, sustainability reporting and investor and employee communications. For more information, visit www.savagebrands.com or contact Bethany Haley, president, at (713) 522-1555.

About FlexSteel

FlexSteel is a pipeline solution primarily used in the oil and gas industry that couples the durability of steel with the installation, performance and cost benefits of spoolable pipe products. Highly corrosion resistant and more durable than other flexible pipe, FlexSteel combines the best features of all currently available pipe options to deliver superior life-cycle performance and value. For more information about FlexSteel, please visit www.flexsteelpipe.com.

Savage Brands, one of Houston’s leading branding and marketing strategy agencies, will see two designs featured in the March 2013 issue of HOW magazine as winners of the HOW International Design Awards.

One winning design, a pair of brochures designed for GLSEN targeted toward students and educators, encourage honest discussion about the attitudes and effects of bullying to create an atmosphere that celebrates all types of diversity. The project was created as part of Savage Good, the firm’s initiative to provide strategic creative services to local nonprofit organizations on a pro bono basis.

The second piece is the 2012 annual report for Consolidated Graphics, centered on the theme of “MORE” to emphasize the company’s strategic path of growing into a true communications solution provider, more than just a network of world-class printers.

The HOW-sponsored competition, now in its 20^th year, recognizes outstanding creative work produced by individuals and creative agencies from around the world. Featuring the best designers and most amazing designs, the HOW International Design Competition & Awards include graphic, web and interactive design. The 2012 show can be viewed in the online design gallery now, and the 2013 show will be posted soon.

A collection of our strategic design work will be exhibited at the prestigious NY Pratt Graduate Communication Design Gallery to demonstrate how design can drive change.

Creative work developed by Savage is based on the firm’s belief in purpose-driven communications that reflect the guiding principle of a company or organization to make a memorable distinction and have a positive impact on achievement of its goals. The exhibition is titled “Good on Purpose” and it's goal is to tap into the emotions of others to fuel projects that impact social change. View our online gallery of the exhibit.

Among the work exhibited will be projects developed through Savage Good, the firm’s initiative to provide strategic creative services to local non-profit organizations on a pro bono basis. Four featured projects were supported by a grant program called “Ideas That Matter” by Sappi Fine Paper to the power of designing for social impact. Savage Good is the recipient of four national Sappi grants, a significant and unique accomplishment.

“Design can be used in a way that does good and benefits all of us,” said Doug Hebert, principal at Savage. “The collection on display is strategic, purposeful and representative of how good design with purpose can make a difference. We hope our exhibit will inspire students and other designers to recognize the impact design can have on our community and use their talents to affect change.”

Hebert has used his own emotional life experiences to create communication pieces that address serious issues – all with the hope of helping others. Among those projects on display at Pratt is a powerful handbook to help parents of premature infants understand complex medical terms as they face a highly emotional situation. Another is a series of booklets designed for families of pancreatic cancer patients. It distills highly technical information into a high-design format that is understandable.

The display allows the viewer to be immersed in the environment the design addresses and tells stories about the purpose of the project and change it is affecting.

The Graduate Communication Design Gallery is located at 114 West 14^th Street on the seventh floor in New York City and entrance is open to public. For more information, visit prattgradcomd.com. 

About Savage Brands
Founded in 1973, Savage Brands is a Houston-based company that provides branding and marketing communications for corporations and non-profit organizations. With award-winning work, Savage helps companies develop and sustain leadership positions within their industries. Its expertise encompasses branding, marketing, online and social media, sustainability reporting and investor and employee communications. For more information, visit www.savagebrands.com.

About Savage Good
Savage Good is an initiative formed by Savage Brands in 2010 to provide strategic creative services to local non-profit organizations on a pro bono basis. Savage Good partners with non-profits at a strategic level to develop branding and marketing projects that provide hope, inspire change, and make a difference in our community. For more information, visit www.savagegood.org.

About Pratt Graduate Communication Design Gallery
The Pratt Graduate Communication Design Gallery is a public art gallery affiliated with Pratt Institute, one of the world's most renowned colleges of art, design and architecture.  For more information, visit the departmental website at prattgradcomd.com.

Check out Savage’s new interview series, “Brandonomics,” to get the inside look at industry-leading brands and the strategic planning behind their successful ideas and campaigns. The weekly series hosted by Robin Tooms, Savage’s Vice President of Strategy, invites marketing leaders to briefly share their insights into the importance of branding in business success.

“I’m always keeping an eye out for brands with interesting stories to tell, especially the stories about how brands contribute to business success,” explained Robin Tooms about how the idea of an interview series came about. “Through these short interviews, listeners will hear about the strategic planning behind some successful ideas and campaigns. Anyone interested in marketing will certainly gain new perspectives from these smart marketers.”

The initial guests on the series include industry leaders from the Houston Zoo, Waste Management, the Jones School of Business at Rice University, and many more.

• David Brady, chief marketing officer of the Houston Zoo, who shares how he is working to change perceptions of destinations in the minds of Houstonians.
• Lisa Gordon Yunus, director of brand at Waste Management is driving the brand transformation of the largest provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America.
• Mark Rudkin, executive director of marketing at the Jones School of Business, shares the strategies for this year’s admissions campaign.

Watch the latest Brandonomics interviews, or tune in weekly to Brandonomics on The BusinessMakers website, News92 FM radio program every Sunday at noon. The BusinessMakers Radio Show is co-produced by Russ Capper and the Houston Business Journal and is available in 19 cities.

The Web Marketing Association was founded to help set high standards for Internet marketing and website design. The WebAward program is the longest running annual website award competition, and the annual WebAwards provide a benchmark by which all website development can be judged.

Not only did these outstanding websites bring home awards, but they've also realized some seriously impressive results.

The Ensueño Fabric Softener Product site provided a platform for it’s social media marketing, increasing brand awareness of AlEn USA's fabric softener within the highly competitive U.S. household cleaner and laundry markets.

Quanex Building Products' new website's combined six separate product sites into a cohesive audience-centric marketing site that supports cross-selling. The site doubled the average time spent on previous corporate site, increased repeat visits to the site, and increased organic traffic.

Both clients were also recently finalists in the AMA Houston Crystal Awards.

Robin Tooms, Savage’s Vice President of Strategy, who served as a digital strategist for both projects expressed Savage’s joy in the award recognitions, “Here at Savage we are passionate about helping companies develop better online marketing and branding strategies. We are incredibly thrilled with these awards, especially since they highlight our client’s successes.”

Robin continued to explain what makes Savage's approach to online branding unique and award-winning, "We believe in an integrated approach to branding and marketing and we see a company's website as a critical marketing tool.  Not only do we work with clients to make sure their website supports their brand, but we also help our clients successfully produce marketing and communications that tie-into and drive traffic to their websites."

Learn more about Savage's award-winning branding services.

Watch this short interview with Greg Price, Director of Consulting Solutions at PKF Texas and Robin Tooms, Vice President of Strategy for Savage.

Part of a regular featured called "PKF Texas - The Entrepreneur's Playbook®," it is a series of best practice business tips airing Sundays at noon during the BusinessMakers Radio Show on 92.1FM.

Today's topic was about getting your company to think strategically about a "digital platform" instead of just hopping on the latest digital trend.

As explained in the interview, your business needs to take a step back and start with your digital strategy before thinking about what channels you need. A simple process start this thinking is:

• First, look at what your core online relationship should be, and what content that audience would be interested in.
• Then look at your relationship marketing needs and what ways your target audience likes to communicate (this is where you consider social media or emails, for example).
• And finally, you make sure this is integrated with your analytics for proper ROI and lead metrics.

Digital marketing is a long-term commitment, so starting with the right strategy will ensure that you get the most out of these efforts. Don't get seduced by new digital channels and pursue them just because they exist, approach each of these opportunities purposefully, with a plan for content and measurements.

Nicole Spiegel-Gotsch, writer for GraphicDesign.com, interviews Doug Hebert, Principal and Design Director at Savage, about his passion for cause-driven projects and the critical role that Sappi Ideas that Matter has played in making them happen. Hebert's current project includes the creation of two anti-bullying brochures for the Houston chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).
Doug's Tips for Success:

• “Do not be intimidated by the (application) process."
• Approach organizations with strong ideas and the ability to execute.

Read the complete article and find the Sappi Ideas That Matter 2012 Judging Panel at GraphicDesign.com.

Savage “Caught the Eye” of Judges with 5 Finalist Positions for the 2012 AMA Houston Crystal Awards

Savage, one of Houston’s leading branding, marketing communications and design firms, hopes to take home five awards at the 26th Annual American Marketing Association (AMA) Crystal Awards ceremony to be held on May 17, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Houston.

The 2012 AMA Houston Crystal Awards honor Houston’s best marketing work and “to win at the Crystal Awards demonstrates that your marketing was effective, standing above the rest.”

Savage has secured five finalist positions for client work related to applying results-driven insight to online marketing and web design.

FMC Technologies: The EDGE Roll-Out
Internal Relations Program - Commercial

Quanex Website Redesign
Website - Business-to-Business

Quanex Website Redesign
Website - Most Improved

Quanex Optimizer App
Mobile Marketing - Single Campaign

AIEn Social Media Campaign
Online Social Media Campaign - Business-to-Consumer

Entries are equally scored based on the key situation/challenge, objectives, applied strategy/tactics, clear message alignment and effective results. To emphasize the importance of effective marketing, judging criteria certifies double weight is applied to how effective the entry was in producing results that tie to the stated objectives.

Stay current with up-to-the-minute award announcements by following @savagebrands on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or LinkedIn!

About AMA Houston
The American Marketing Association (AMA) Houston Chapter is the area’s premier professional marketing organization and currently the nation’s largest chapter. AMA Houston provides marketers the ability to remain competitive in today’s business environment by “leading the practice, teaching, and development of marketing worldwide” through networking events, special interest groups and real-world educational programs.

About Savage
Savage is a Houston-based company that provides branding and marketing communications for corporations and non-profit organizations. With award-winning work, Savage helps companies develop and sustain leadership positions within their industries. Its expertise encompasses branding, marketing, online and social media, sustainability reporting and investor and employee communications. For more information, visit www.savagebrands.com or contact Bethany Haley, president, at (713) 522-1555.

Sappi Fine Paper North America, known for innovation and quality, is a preeminent North American producer of coated fine and release papers and market pulp headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Sappi believes that the creative ideas of designers can have an impact beyond the aesthetic and that those ideas can be a powerful force for social good.

“Ideas That Matter" is a grant program created by Sappi that serves as a vehicle to advance the art of print as an integral component of marketing communications, and support customers in ways that will make a meaningful difference.

Hebert, an “inspiration junkie” and four-time Sappi “Ideas That Matter” grant recipient, firmly believes in “using your talent to effect change. If it can change people’s lives — that makes every ounce of sweat worth it.”

With a keen sense of recognizing a need within the community, Hebert has assembled teams, such as Savage Good, to support his ideas through old-fashioned legwork and reliable connections.

This year, Hebert will go to print with his newest project thanks to a recent Ideas That Matter grant to create two anti-bullying brochures for the Houston chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).

Given the recent media focus on bullying and the tragic effects it can have on young people, Hebert created a tangible document to legitimize the message of tolerance in hopes that additional GLSEN chapters see a need for these pamphlets and want to distribute them nationally.

Grants Received
2011 — GLSEN Houston
2009 — MD Andersen Cancer Center
2006 — DePelchin Children’s Center
2003 — High Risk Neonatal Follow-Up Program

About Ideas That Matter
Created in 1999 by Sappi Fine Paper North America, the Ideas That Matter grant program is a strategic initiative aimed at illustrating the power of print while promoting social good. The grant program recognizes and supports designers who generously donate their time and talent to a wide range of charitable activities by funding over 500 nonprofit projects and contributing US$11 million worldwide to causes that “enhance our lives, our communities and our planet.”

About Savage Good
Savage Good, launched by Savage Brands, one of Houston‘s leading branding, marketing communications and design firms, is an initiative that provides strategic creative services to local non-profit organizations on a pro bono basis. Savage Good reflects a “passion for the greater good.”

Branding and creative communications veteran Jackie Dryden joins Savage Branding and Corporate Design as creative strategist.

Dryden previously served as Director of Marketing and Creative Strategy at UTHealth and has held leadership positions at several Houston communications agencies. Her transition to Savage, a 39-year Houston-based firm, will support brand development and employee value proposition strategies for business-to-business companies serving the oil and gas, technology, healthcare and manufacturing sectors.

“With almost four decades of experience, Savage has successfully helped clients build strong brands amongst tough competition during changes in management and high profile mergers and acquisitions. It is exciting to be part of a team that makes a difference in evolving brand reputation,” said Dryden.

Dryden will be responsible for development of creative strategies for clients as well as integrating messaging and execution among their internal and external audiences.

About Savage

Savage is a Houston-based company that provides branding and marketing communications for corporations and non-profit organizations. With award-winning work, Savage helps companies develop and sustain leadership positions within their industries. Its expertise encompasses branding, marketing, online and social media, sustainability reporting and investor and employee communications. For more information, visit www.savagebrands.com.