A giraffe has seven muscles in its neck.

Those muscles allow it to see far above and beyond all the other animals.

Now here's the interesting thing: each of us has seven muscles in our neck, too.

Stand taller. See farther. Make your own path.

Be a giraffe.

ABOUT GIRAFFE

As a former agency CEO and Chief Creative Officer, I bring a unique dual-brain perspective to your business.

As a seasoned, disciplined, creative-thinking strategist, I can help you formulate strategies that reach beyond the obvious and create actionable, measurable goals.

As an award-winning writer, I can translate those ideas and strategies into stories that create attention, interest and action across multiple platforms.

And as a long-standing member of the advertising and marketing community, I can draw upon best-in-class resources and partners to help me help you succeed - without the typical agency overhead and fees.

John Jarvis

Partner, GIRAFFE

About John Jarvis
John is a passionate believer in putting a stake in the ground and standing for something. Whether you're a service business, a product-driven company or even an ad agency, there's no such thing as a parity product. You just need a better story and the right people telling it. Over the past 25+ years, John has won numerous local, national and international awards for his copywriting and creative direction. Most recently, he was CEO and Chief Creative Officer of Colle+McVoy in Minneapolis, chiefly responsible for its transition from a traditional B2B and agri-marketing agency to a more diversified, award-winning, digital-savvy creative organization serving a wide range of forward-thinking clients. Since leaving Colle+McVoy, agencies and clients alike have sought John out for his depth of knowledge about marketing trends, his creative thinking and his agency operations experience.

CLIENT EXPERIENCE

STORIES

It's a well-known fact that people respond to stories - narratives, fictional or otherwise– that engage, offer involvement and inspire people to want to pass them along.

Throughout my career, I've been successful at creating and telling stories about products ranging from airlines and ice cream to tourist destinations and work boots.

There's a story or two inside every product or service waiting to be told. And an audience interested in hearing it - whether they realize it or not.

Ely Tourism
Ely, pop. 3700, sits on the Minnesota-Canada border and is known as the gateway to the famed Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. With dozens of canoe outfitters, resorts, motels, shops and an eccentric collection of independent thinkers and outdoors enthusiasts, Ely's primary industry is tourism.

To promote travel to Ely, and set itself apart from other Minnesota destinations, the Chamber of Commerce turned to GIRAFFE in 2008 for help with branding, strategy, creative direction, media buying, PR and more. The first campaign launched on April 1, 2008 with the story that Canada was going to buy the small Minnesota town and move it to the other side of the border. Media outlets from coast to coast picked up on the story and thousands of people called, emailed, checked out the web site and more. Over the next year, GIRAFFE launched one effort after another to bring nationwide attention to what the New York Times calls "the town at the end of the road."

 This spring, Ely launched a (fictional) bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, pitting it against Chicago, Tokyo, Rio and Madrid. The effort debuted with a web site (ely2016.com), blog, YouTube videos, Twitter account, Facebook group and more ‚Äì as well as more traditional radio advertising, PR and a variety of promotional items. Once again the national media grabbed ahold of the story and tens of thousands of people signed the online petition, commented on blogs, joined the groups, viewed the videos, bought t-shirts and took a personal (and hopefully lasting) interest in this little town with big dreams. Watch more of the videos here.

Sun Country Airlines
This regional airline began as a charter service back in the mid 1980s and has passed through several ownership groups and business models since. Today, it serves a primarily leisure-based market and enjoys an enviable reputation for award-winning service, an outstanding employee base and competitive fares. Best known for serving free cheeseburgers on every flight, that distinctive tactic was eliminated by rapidly escalating fuel prices in 2008.

GIRAFFE, hired in the fall of 2007, helped the airline realize its competitive advantage as the only airline serving the Twin Cities market after Northwest Airlines announced its sale to Delta. Before the ink was dry on that agreement, before Northwest announced its decision to move to Atlanta, Sun Country seized on "The Hometown Airline" moniker and saturated the market with the slogan through online and offline promotional material, as well as PR.

Within days, the media began referring to the airline as "The Hometown Airline." And despite its precarious financial situation and greatly reduced schedule, the airline today remains a viable and consistent Minnesota favorite; receives strong, positive news coverage; and is now one of the few airlines in the world to have turned a profit the last two quarters.

 

 

360° Stay Safe
A recent survey by the National Center for Victims of Crime found that 25 percent of all female college students surveyed were victims of rape or attempted rape. The FTC predicts that one in four Americans will be a victim of identity theft by 2010. Today's students are more likely to find themselves in new and dangerous situations because they're more likely to trust someone they don't know, embrace risky behavior, or think nothing bad can happen.

360° Stay Safe™ was founded to become the most comprehensive source of personal safety information to help students protect their possessions. GIRAFFE began working with this start-up from the very beginning, helping the founder draft a business plan, create investor materials, develop marketing and creative strategies and bring its first product, the "Stay Safe at College" DVD, to market.

From product development and packaging to media consultation and online strategy, GIRAFFE has helped 360 Stay Safe quickly establish itself as an innovative and dynamic leader in the personal safety and security market, and build a bullet-proof reputation with colleges and universities throughout North America.

CONTACT GIRAFFE

P :: 612.396.4991
F :: 612.924.0504
E :: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

3830 Abbott Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55410

DOWNLOADS

Capabilities pdf
Creative Samples pdf