CreateAthon at PUNCH

A lot can happen in 24 hours. A lot.

In the 24 hours the PUNCH team gathered our creative minds together to take part in CreateAthon, we found out just how talented and capable we are. Described as a round-the-clock creative blitz, CreateAthon gave us the opportunity to stay up all night and produce amazing marketing materials for various nonprofit organizations.

In 24 hours we:
• Ate several tons of fantastic food
• Received 21 massages
• Listened to 207 songs on iTunes
• Slept for 6 collective hours
• Concept, designed, wrote and completed 16 projects
• Donated $50,000 worth of PUNCH time
• And put smiles on the faces of 7 nonprofit organizations

CreateAthon was started by Riggs Agency in 1998. In 2001, the program expanded to form a national CreateAthon Network with the goal of reaching hundreds of nonprofit organizations in need across the country. Since opening their doors nationally, over 40 agencies have joined the CreateAthon network, holding CreateAthon events in their cities. By 2006, this effort had benefited 833 nonprofit organizations with 1,809 projects valued at $7 million.

This was PUNCH’s first year participating in the event and over 40 organizations applied to have us develop their marketing materials for free. Seven area nonprofits were chosen.

RX Partnership, which provides free prescription drugs to the un-insured, received a new logo and poster.

Two bus ads were designed for Homeward, which tackles issues related to homelessness.

Community-Based Services, which maintains group homes for mentally challenged adults, were rebranded with a new name, TLC, Inc. (Total Living Concepts, Inc.), logo, brochure, and poster.

FURS, a dog rescue and adoption organization, had their Web site, holiday card, and informational flyer redesigned.

A marketing plan and brochure were written and designed for Chesterfield CASA, which provides advocates for children who are in the court system due to child neglect and abuse.

Central Virginia Food Bank, which identifies hunger needs and food sources so that none go hungry in Central Virginia, had a campaign of three ads designed and a complete thank-you gift basket created, including items such as a personalized apron, soup can, and note cards.

Comfort Zone Camp, a bereavement camp for children, received a new brochure.

With minimal client direction and maximum creative freedom, the event kicked off at 9 a.m. Thursday morning, September 13. While some couldn’t wait to see what kind creativity could present itself at 3 a.m., others anticipated the hoards of free food donated by area restaurants and coffee shops. And with music playing and energy high designers, copywriters, project managers, bloggers, and the rest filtered back to their projects and the brainstorming began.

But even with a positive start to the day and excited workers, the purpose of each project was always present. Charlie Connell, Managing Partner, explains, “It was a very emotional period for everyone. When you read some of the stories of the people you are hopefully helping, it is heart wrenching. The organizations that we were able to help should be recognized for the work that they do. Our goal was to build awareness and have a positive impact. I feel that CreateAthon was a success in reaching that goal.”

Of course, things got a little surreal around the office after dark—coworkers in pajamas, gag gifts (delivered by one of our regular clients, who was also in his pajamas), Red Bull, phone calls to the client at 2 a.m., and sleep deprivation. Perhaps Sarah Albiston, Marketing Strategists, put it best when she explained, “Things said after the sun went down may not have made any sense to anyone outside of PUNCH, but in our haze and daze, everything we said to each other made perfect sense.”

As the sun began to rise again, self doubt mixed with pure exhaustion began to set in. “Do we keep the colors at 100% or 75%?” “I have to make more changes?” “Did I overlook something?” “Is that the right logo?” “What size did they want this?” And the list goes on.

But in the end, any doubt or worry was based simply on lack of sleep and we were greeted the next morning with pure elation from each and every client. As tired as we all were, our client’s reactions breathed a little bit of life back into each of us—enough to get us home safely, though most of us were asleep before our heads hit the pillow.

PUNCH is thankful to the many partners who helped support the work by donating food, drink, and even massages.  They include:  The Common Cup, Mojo’s, Crossroads, Cuisine a la Carte, Ukrop’s, Rostov’s, Jean Jacques Bakery, and the Richmond unit of the American Massage Therapists Association.

Kelly Adams, Managing Partner at PUNCH, says, “It really was a team effort and we are so thankful to all our partners. The designers were consummate professionals and amazingly willing to take part in this 24-hour project. We feel fortunate to live in a community that is peopled with so many compassionate beings who dedicate their work to serving others. Knowing you’re doing such important work takes the sting out of staying up all night.”

Despite months of anticipation, dozens of meetings, hours of research, and countless phone calls, nothing quite prepared the PUNCH team for the excitement, frustrations, exhaustions, breakthroughs, and even personal discovery that presented itself during CreateAthon. And when the time was over and our jobs were complete, the consensus was clear. We were tired…and proud of the work we had done.

PUNCH CreateAthon in the Press

Extending a hand to smaller nonprofits

Local ad agency toils on midnight oil for charity

RBlog: Hangin’ Out at CreateAthon

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