SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DISTRICT ANNUAL REPORT
When the San Joaquin Valley Air District published its annual report it typically took the form of an uninteresting data-driven document. When they wanted a better one that was easier to read, Bertz-Rosa | Strategy & Creative took on the challenge. By studying and understanding the content, the Bertz-Rosa team transformed the report from dull to visually compelling and is now one of Air District’s primary communication pieces.
The first year that Bertz-Rosa | Strategy & Creative did the report it was so popular that it was reprinted — not just once, but twice. In our ongoing partnership, we continue to do the report’s annual design and layout.
EAT PROJECT VIDEO
The goal of the Ensuring Agriculture for Tomorrow or EAT grant is to train those in the changing agricultural industry. The EAT Project Video reported the impact of the EAT grant to the Department of Labor (DOL) and outlined its success with educators and community leaders. The video won praise by the DOL. Representatives declared it "moving and emotionally powerful" and said it accurately captured the issues facing Fresno County’s west side.
FRESNO BRAND PLATFORM
Working with the Fresno Convention & Visitors Bureau (FCVB), the Office of the Mayor, and other community partners, Bertz-Rosa | Strategy & Creative developed a comprehensive brand platform for the greater Fresno area. Our approach was to develop a strategic base for all area organizations communicating about Fresno. A brand book was developed that gave an overview of branding basics, a definition of the Fresno brand, and a workbook on how they can infuse those guidelines into their organization.
When the FCVB presented the brand book and supporting marketing materials to the California Travel & Tourism Commission, the CTTC expressed that it was the most comprehensive branding approach they had seen from any California city.
The Fresno brand continues to grow strength as it infiltrates organizations that market and communicate about Fresno. Download the Fresno Brand Platform at: http://www.bertz-rosa.com/BrandBookFinal.pdf
FRESNO FIRST STEPS HOME
Fresno First Steps Home (FFSH) is a Fresno-based nonprofit focused on ending the cycle of homelessness. Bertz-Rosa | Strategy & Creative worked on naming ideas for the nonprofit as well as writing and editing the brochure, website, and Facebook page content. Since the launch of FFSH, the Facebook page has consistently increased the number of "likes" and the organization has received over $4000 in public donations.
GOOGLE FIBER
Google released a nationwide Request for Information (RFI) encouraging communities to compete for a chance to become a Google Fiber Network test market for their new, ultra-high speed internet. The speed is more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have, and Google was looking for a city that was ready for the upgrade. Our task was to create enough energy around the effort to convince Google that Fresno was the ideal market. To do that, Bertz-Rosa | Strategy & Creative embarked upon the following:
Developed on-going media strategies to encourage public participation. Some of those efforts included Google Fiber video stations at Fresno City Hall and Fresno State so the public could log in their support of the City’s effort.
Developed the Google Fiber for Fresno website and Facebook page to encourage people to upload their photos and messages to YouTube and Facebook. Within two weeks, over 10,000 people became fans and we increased our presence by 174% by expanding the number of active followers. The web-based campaign ultimately placed Fresno fourth in the national competition.
Complete coverage by all local media outlets, including extensive coverage by The Fresno Bee and the Baltimore Business Journal. Fresno’s effort was even mentioned on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.
Attendance of over 100 people at a Fresno City Hall submittal party.
An inaugural Frebby Award for excellence in community development using online tools.
LEARN2EARN CASE STUDY
The Adult Education Task Force approached Mayor Ashley Swearengin about putting on a job fair, but the mayor had something bigger in mind. She wanted to create a program to influence people to return to school and assist them along the way. With that goal in mind, Learn2Earn was launched, the mayor approached Bertz-Rosa | Strategy & Creative to take on the project, and we were happy to accept.
We put together a campaign for social change to shift the mindset of the undereducated and unemployed in Fresno. Our strategy included simple messaging and real-life success stories at target access points, in the form of these deliverables: project plan and messaging, website (www.learn2earnfresno.org), radio and TV commercials in English and Spanish, internal and external bus boards, PowerPoint presentation for potential funders, and info cards and posters in English and Spanish for social service providers.
STATE CENTER COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT (SCCCD) TV SPOT
The SCCCD TV spot was created in collaboration with NeuDesign. The goal was to communicate with existing and potential students about the ease and benefit of community college. Bertz-Rosa | Strategy & Creative developed the creative direction with, "A little education makes a big difference," focusing on the accessibility and benefits of education. The campaign resulted in a 10% increase in enrollment.
FRESNO CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU INFORMATION PACKET
The Fresno Convention & Visitors Bureau, now the Fresno/Clovis Convention & Visitors Bureau (FCCVB), needed to market Fresno and its facilities to meeting planners and conventions. Their clients had diverse needs and desires — especially the sports-related tournaments and gatherings. Our solution was to create a component package that could be customized for each sales call. It includes facilities and amenities fact sheets, an Experience Fresno booklet, and an overview brochure, all of which can be used separately for trade shows, travelers, or visitors. The folder also accommodates brochures that the FCCVB wants to feature, whether from the national parks or other local amenities. The package immediately increased sales and went on to win an ADDY Award.
Services
Strategy
Brand Definition & Development
Messaging
Marketing Tactics Plan
Content Strategy
Graphic Design
Identity Design
Print Design
Ad Design
Presentations
Signage
Web
Content Strategy
Information Architecture
Visual Design
Development
Online
Email Development
Email Distribution
Email List Management
E-Newsletters
Online Ads
Landing Pages
Social Media Development
Social Media Management
Video & Motion
TV & Radio Commercials
Corporate Videos
Documentaries
Online Videos
Online Demos
Expertise
Our team is committed to creating beautiful and smart solutions that help make our world a better place. With Bertz-Rosa | Strategy & Creative, you get seasoned, strategic thinking combined with a practical “get-it-done” attitude.
Proven Strengths
Understanding and clarifying issues
Determining what is relevant to a project and audience
Breaking down problems to their simplest form
Assessing situations through the lens of the goal
Seeing a clear path through complexity
Translating strategic elements into visual representations
Designing and developing quality work
Understanding our best fit
Approach
Bertz-Rosa | Strategy & Creative successfully blends creativity and innovation with strategic skill to develop marketing solutions. We specialize in integrated communications and marketing strategies that build brands and increase return on investment.
Each project begins with a thorough understanding of the goal, audience, and overall space. We follow a proven five-phase methodology to ensure the successful completion of every project: discover, define, design, develop, and deploy.
Discover
Discovery is the gathering of information to determine the detailed project goal and objectives. This phase may include a strategy workshop, interviews, and research. It concludes with the collection of key raw data and information necessary to develop a strategy.
Define
Project definition builds from the discovery phase and shapes it into a project scope by translating the raw information into an actionable strategic plan.
Design
The design phase includes visual design, copywriting, motion, and interaction design.
Develop
Development takes the design and builds it into a functional element, whether that be a printed business card, a business portal with a user-driven content management system, or everything in between.
Deploy
Delivering the end product is part of the last phase, but measuring success helps to set future initiatives and extend the strategy.
Team
Suzanne Bertz-Rosa
Strategic & Creative Director
Before starting Bertz-Rosa | Strategy & Creative, Suzanne Bertz-Rosa worked as the Interactive Director/Creative Director at Young & Rubicam Advertising/SicolaMartin in Austin, Texas. Prior to that, Suzanne ran her own design studio in San Francisco. During that time, she worked with such clients as Bank of America, Charles Schwab, Citibank, Xerox, Novell, Hewlett-Packard, and Fujitsu.
Suzanne’s 20-plus years experience includes a stint as an Interactive Producer at Bank of America working on their award-winning website and shaping the face of online banking. She was also the Art Director for Bank of America, where she stewarded the bank’s national and international image. Her early experience includes project management, graphic design, typesetting, and printing sales.
Since returning to California’s Central Valley, Suzanne focuses her time and experience on projects that make a difference in the community.
Hilary Malveaux
Project & Account Coordinator
Hilary is the person on our team that doesn’t let any of the balls drop. We could give her the title of juggler, but she’s much more than that. Hilary is a detail-oriented customer service specialist with proven communication and problem-solving skills. She is highly organized with an ability to administrate while multi-tasking.
While the bulk of Hilary’s experience is in customer service and office administration, she’s also spent time as an Associate Financial Representative and Protection Specialist observing video surveillance of shoppers at Target.
Her avocation is making a difference in the community. Hilary is a board member for Creative Fresno. She assumed the role of Treasurer for the organization at a difficult time — records for the past year had been lost and the current Treasurer wanted to vacate the position. Hilary stepped in and without missing a beat was able to bring everything up to date quickly and accurately. She also took over as Chair of the Membership Committee with stunning results. Within four months of heading that committee, she doubled membership. With her ingenuity, organizational skills, and willingness to take on challenges when no one else will, she is a highly valuable member of the team.
Hilary holds a BA in Business Administration from Fresno Pacific University.
Matt Soghoian
Developer
Matt is our tech geek. We say that with love and reverence. He has extensive knowledge of a wide variety of computer-related technologies with the ability to work in several operating systems while demonstrating a fluency in many programming languages, including PHP 5, JavaScript, Ajax, jQuery, HTML5, CSS3, MySQL, Java, and Perl. Currently, his topics of interest and advanced study are object-oriented programming, W3C compliant coding methods, data encryption, and security.
In his previous role as the Online Application Programmer for The Fresno Bee, Matt became knowledgeable with installation, maintenance, and custom development for a number of content management systems including, Drupal, WordPress, and Movable Type, as well as the complex in-house system that pushes news content to fresnobee.com. Matt maintained and developed new features for several of the niche websites, including fresnofamous.com, centralvalleymoms.com, fresnojobstart.com (built entirely), fresnobeehive.com, and of course, for the main site, fresnobee.com.
Matt is most proud of building from scratch The Fresno Bee Dining Discounts website (currently defunct). This site allowed customers to purchase and print gift certificates to local restaurants at discounted prices. The software included direct merchant services credit card processing, extensive back end for inventory management, detailed transaction logs, and full financial reporting.
He’s also speedy at the keyboard with the capability of typing over 80 words per minute.
Andrew Toschi
Video & Motion Producer
Andrew’s five years of marketing experience is accented by his live production and broadcast projects. Andrew’s focus is on extending a client message into a wide variety of mediums involving both traditional and non-traditional uses of multimedia. His passion for production techniques and commitment to quality make him an invaluable team member.
Andrew is also very involved with the local creative community, which is evident in his participation in Creative Fresno. His passions outside of work have included producing Taste of the Valley, a television project created by Andreas Borgeas, as well as many other live television projects.
Andrew is also staunchly against camping and has totaled three classic Mustangs. We don't let him drive or go near an REI.
Catalano Fenske & Associates
To extend our services and deliver on our full-service promise, we team with Catalano Fenske & Associates (CF&A), a group of creative, professional individuals who specialize in public relations, marketing, special event planning, and business development.
CF&A takes great pride in their valuable relationships developed with local and regional media outlets, government officials, and community leaders. With the ability to position any organization as the “go-to expert” in their area of discipline, CF&A recognizes what is newsworthy and how to attract the attention of the media and the public at large.
Bertz-Rosa | Strategy & Creative shares space with CF&A. We regularly collaborate on projects. We have a super strong working relationship; after all, we’re all on the same team.
