GCAi Dodges Raindrops To Help Westmass Launch New Digital Presence
Generally, unless there’s a power outage, the weather does not impact digital production. But this year, all the rules were thrown out the window. While snowflakes were still flying during GCAi’s planning phase for the new Westmass Area Development Corp. website, it was both the heat and wet weather that proved to be challenging while capturing the high-quality visuals that the project required.
The critical component of the project was Westmass’ expansion of its traditional development role. The method to achieve success would be to get that expansion documented through not only text, but video interviews, high-quality images of past and current projects, and even drone video, scheduled carefully to miss the aforementioned raindrops.
“For decades, Westmass has sought to benefit the communities and residents in our region through the development of business and industrial parks,” said Jeff Daley, president and CEO of Westmass. “Today, it is our continued goal to help provide communities and private developers with the tools and resources they need to do smart development. The new website allows us to showcase the exciting projects Westmass is undertaking, as well as promote our efforts to advance real-estate and economic-development opportunities throughout Western Massachusetts for years to come.”
News of the ongoing production leaked before the launch, and what Westmass was up to, as well as some of the businesses and projects impacted by its work, could not be contained. The GCAi Digital PR team helped coordinate coverage, which resulted in the article “Westmass Strives to Become a More Impactful Force in Economic Development” in BusinessWest.
GCAi has now turned the keys to the new website over to the Westmass team, who continue to make updates and add content from their new offices in Monarch Place, adjacent to GCAi’s new perch in Tower Square.
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GCAi is an innovative Digital PR and Marketing agency that is also a Google Partner and Facebook Business Partner. Founded in 1991, the GCAi team uses Digital Public Relations, targeted Online Advertising, and Social Media Marketing to generate measurable results for their clients. |
GCAi-LA Coworking Space Comes with Coffee and a Porsche 911
At the time, it would have been hard to imagine a more elegant place for James Garvey to knock out digital marketing campaigns. WeWork’s coworking space at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, CA, brought together an eclectic group of startups most of which skewed toward the fashion-tech industry. On any given morning, you had the space to yourself and during the day you might run into celebrities like Kris Jenner in the lobby.
Then came that thing we all went through over 2020 plus. As if it has suffered the impact of a California earthquake, and helped certainly by its other mega-financial failings, WeWork’s Pacific Design Center space showed some fractures. Communication broke down, free coffee became sporadic, and positive tests by tenants went up. Like virtually every other tech office in the world, James and GCAi-LA went home and ordered coffee from Drive, the official coffee supplier to Formula 1.Enter The Motoring Club in Marina Del Ray which GCAi moved to in mid-2020. Owned and managed by Michael Rapetti, The Motoring Club is a collector vehicle storage space with unique social club space for conversation, collaboration or just inspired work, if a vintage motorcycle parked next to your table does that kind of thing for you. Indeed, the closest thing to a cubicle is Michael’s ultra-boxy 1995 Range Rover Classic.
Michael is probably the most driven (yup, that’s a pun) car nerd on the planet. His hands-on approach to the club was evident with his communication efforts during the thing. On behalf of club members, Michael leveraged all the tools at his disposal, especially social/tech like Instagram, to keep members informed. If you didn’t feel like checking your email for Michael’s weekly updates, you could just watch The Motoring Club’s Instagram story (@themotoringclub) and get up to speed (another pun) in a matter of seconds.
The Motoring Club is located in Marina Del Rey, an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles, located directly south of Venice which is known for being edgy and a little grungy, but extremely unpretentious. The club is located about a mile from the shopping and nightlife on Abbot Kinney Blvd., and from Deus Ex Machina a coffee shop and lifestyle brand popular with the surf and motorcycle community.
Here is the ultimate “my office is better than your office” comparison: Should you need to stimulate your thinking with an out-of-office experience, you can rent a Porsche 911 from the Motoring Club, for less than your monthly Starbucks tab, zip up PCH to Carbon Beach in Malibu and do your work from there for a change. Or maybe skip the work part and stick with the experience part.
GCAi Facilitates Business Leaders Roundtable for BusinessWest
One year after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, GCAi helped BusinessWest gather leaders from six area businesses and institutions to talk about the many ways COVID has changed their work and lives, how it impacted the workplace for associates and customers, and even how it made them all different and, in their view, better managers.
Read entire article by BusinessWest editor George O’Brien here.
Darcy Young Appointed to Executive Committee of The Children’s Study Home
The Children’s Study Home recently appointed Board of Directors member Darcy (Fortune) Young to its Executive Committee.
Ms. Young has been a member of the board since 2018 serving on the Communications Committee. She has consulted on everything from fundraising to digital marketing and, most recently, was part of the board effort to transition to a new executive director for the 155-year old agency.
One of her first acts as a member of the Communications Committee was to film and produce a promotional video for the non-profit agency. In the video, professionals from Baystate Orthopedic Surgery Center, PeoplesBank, Gomes, DaCruz, & Tracy P.C., and Sullivan, Hayes & Quinn explain not only the critical impact The Children’s Study Home has on youth but also the community. Ms. Young notes, “When I joined The Children’s Study Home board, I was blown away by the impact the organization has on Springfield and other communities. That impact stretches from the Berkshire Hills to the shores of Cape Cod.” The video now appears on the agency’s website home page.
Founded at the end of the Civil War in 1865, the mission of The Children’s Study Home is dedicated to partnering with families by providing innovative and educational programs and services that strengthen children and families; empowering them to succeed at home, within the community, and throughout life. The agency serves children, adolescents, and families with special needs throughout the Pioneer Valley, the Berkshires and Cape Cod areas. The children they serve are often struggling to cope with behavioral, psychiatric, and cognitive issues related to the experiences they have survived. The staff of The Children’s Study Home assesses their needs and develops individualized service plans that foster recovery, growth, and wellness.
As a Digital Public Relations Analysts for Garvey Communication Associates Inc. (GCAi), she has developed and implemented numerous public relations campaigns for the market’s leading brands. Ms. Young is also one of the only female video producers in the region. In 2018, she produced “Innovation Series” which won an award from the Advertising Club of Western Massachusetts. Prior to joining GCAi, she was a Field Producer, Assignment Desk Editor and Production Assistant for FOX News and ABC News affiliates.
Ms. Young is a cum laude graduate of Westfield State University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, Journalism, and Public & Corporate Communication.
James Garvey Earns Digital Marketing Certificate from Cornell University
Garvey Communication Associates Inc. (GCAi) announced that James Garvey, a Digital Marketing Analyst with the company, has recently earned a Digital Marketing Certificate from Cornell University’s online certification program.
“I viewed it as a retreat of sorts where I could isolate the tactical and focus on overall strategy development,” James noted. “In turn, our emphasis has now become working with our clients to identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) prior to planning the tactical considerations. It sounds simple, but tactical is always the shiny object. Which platform to use and what creative, often takes precedent over what the actual objective is. That tendency underserves the client, the potential of digital marketing and is something we are working hard to avoid.”
According to Cornell University, the objectives of the program are to:
- Learn and implement proven frameworks
- Assess opportunities and strategies associated with leading channels
- Create integrated digital marketing plans based on priorities and resources
James suggested that there were other takeaways that GCAi is now using in its digital marketing approach. “We are really ramping up our framework for measuring and reporting success metrics – something that is more attainable and accurate given our concentration on frontend KPI setting. Two focuses that I found most thought provoking were the potential to leverage owned media and the benefits of A/B testing on digital platforms.
On the other hand, one thing that I was not enamored with was the push for the one platform serves all digital marketing emphasis. Having worked in digital marketing since basically its start, we have seen management platforms come and go and believe to this day that there is no one size fits all solution and direct platform management is the most powerful and generates the best results.”
Underscoring a key component of the eCornell program, James spent last winter researching and writing some of his coursework from the Santa Monica Pier, not navigating the frozen Ithaca campus.
GCAi Producer Darcy Fortune Wins Ad Club Creative Award for The Innovation Series
Darcy Fortune, Digital PR Analyst & Video Producer
The Ad Club of Western Massachusetts recently recognized The Innovation Series, with an award in the Video Series category. The Innovation Series is a documentary style video series produced by Ms. Fortune for PeoplesBank that explored Valley Venture Mentors and some of its more unique entrepreneurial teams. The series was hosted by Matthew Bannister, First Vice President of Marketing and Innovation for PeoplesBank.
“We have worked with PeoplesBank for a longtime and knew that they were themselves an innovator,” noted Ms. Fortune. “We also helped Valley Venture Mentors get up and running as well as secure its first solid funding. So, we knew critical elements of each of their innovation stories and thought we had the makings of an interesting series.”
According to the bank’s website, the Innovation Series was designed and produced with the belief that PeoplesBank can not only be innovative, but help inspire innovation as well. Over the course of six episodes, Mr. Bannister interviewed innovation influencers and startup founders to glean specific “how to” suggestions as well as “what to avoid” advice.
The series garnered considerable media attention with feature stories appearing in BusinessWest, The Daily Hampshire Gazette, and The Republican as well as a sizable viewing audience. GCAi also distributed the Innovation Series through social media channels where it accumulated almost 400,000 total impressions, 100,000 engagement actions, and 90,000 video views at the time of the award.
Ms. Fortune’s team included GCAi’s John Garvey as producer, Mary Shea as project manager, and James Garvey as digital dissemination manager. Matthew Derderian served as director of photography.
Ms. Fortune is an experienced media professional and video producer having served on the assignment desk for ABC and FOX News affiliates and who has developed videos and animations for GCAi clients including Connecticut Orthopaedic Specialists, Cape Cod Cooperative Bank, MP CPAs, PeoplesBank, Peter Pan Bus Lines, and Winchester Savings Bank. She also just released two new pro bono videos for The Children’s Study Home and Wild Care of Cape Cod.
The Innovation Series videos can be viewed at: https://www.bankatpeoples.com/innovation
GCAi To Reveal The Secret To Recruiting A-Listers
Two problems. Every HR person knows that finding talent these days is harder than ever! GCAi analysts know that HR professionals are not yet tapping the full power of Digital Marketing for recruiting.
Problems solved. On November 28, the Employer’s Association of the NorthEast (EANE) will host a presentation by GCAi Digital Marketing Analysts Darcy Fortune and James Garvey entitled, “Increase Results: Digital Marketing For Recruiting & Hiring Success.” The breakfast seminar is free for EANE members, but non-members can attend for $25. Darcy is a video producer, director, and content creator with a background in production from ABC and FOX affiliates. James is a certified Google Adwords Qualified Planner and Social Media marketing expert.
“We matched the best practices of digital marketing to the candidate’s journey and came up with an amazing recruitment strategy,” notes Mary K. Shea, Vice President of Digital Strategy for GCAi. “Understanding their journey and this strategy will enable HR to better serve the needs of A-listers and be in an ‘always recruiting’ mode.”
Accordingly, Darcy and James will review each aspect of the candidate’s digital job search journey and how brands can create a plan to serve each phase. Darcy will also discuss the importance of employer branding, the benefits of recruitment and culture video, and provide tips and tactics for video planning and production. Finally, James will unlock the secrets of Social Media Marketing and how it is the most powerful, yet least understood aspect of recruitment marketing.
For registration information, please visit: http://www.eane.org/increase-results-digital-marketing-for-recruiting-and-hiring-success/
Waiting Out An Innovation Wave Is Actually A Plus For Community Banks
John Garvey, President of GCAi presents at a Massachusetts Bankers Association conference on digital marketing and strategy.
When Massachusetts Banker magazine wanted to understand the positive and negative impact of fintech on community banks, they turned to a number of digital experts including GCAi founder, John Garvey.
The impact of fintech continues to be a hot topic, with debates about fintech startups being a threat or potential partner to traditional banks. How do you view the impact of fintech on the banking industry?
“Contrary to popular belief,” says John Garvey, president of GCAi, a digital marketing firm based in Springfield, I think the slow adoption of new technologies by community banks is a good thing. Usually, the innovations created by entrepreneurs and implemented by national, first mover financial institutions, lack a widespread user base. Therefore, when they reach the community bank level, they are better, vetted innovations timed with actual consumer knowledge and demand. That innovation pipeline and process should be welcomed by community banks because it promises new products and services, while also releasing them from the responsibility to develop them.”
As most on #GCAiPlanet know, John has spent a considerable amount of time in and around the innovation economy as a mentor for MassChallenge and the global fintech accelerator Startupbootcamp.org as well as being a former board member of Valley Venture Mentors.
For more on the Massachusetts Banker magazine article featuring John, please visit: http://gcai.co/MassBankers
The End Of Political Polls And Media Spend As We Know It?
The elections are over (Whew!). But, for a couple of political consultants (one “former” and the other very much active) the questions linger. GCAi’s John Garvey, a former legislative aide and political consultant, and Tony Cignoli, also a former legislative aide and very active political consultant, dig into the questions surrounding inaccurate polling and the impact of media spend on advertisement.
