My favorite president brand is Ronald Reagan. I was not a fan while he was in office, and am not sure how much I am now because there are still some things he did that I didn’t agree with, but as far as a legacy that millions of people still hold in the highest regard, Reagan is hard to beat. Every president is remembered for this and that, but Reagan gets “The Eighties” in his library. The fall of communism, the rise of fajitas, bands like Yaz, U2 and Run-D.M.C., parachute pants, “Thriller.” It all happened on Ronnie’s watch. It happened because of unprecedented prosperity. Whether you did well under trickle-down economics or got swallowed by its tide, Reagan’s impact was enormous. You can make the case for the strength of any presidential brand over another, but this is how I see it and I’m sticking to my guns because I’m American, it’s President’s Day, and Obama, for now, still says I can.

(While my role is in marketing, I remain a journalist at heart and therefore retain the right to be politically nebulous.)

Today I woke up in a Valentine’s Day mood. Hallmark holiday or not, I’m into it. It’s a chance to embrace the people you care most deeply about and tell them how much they mean to you. If you’re single and don’t have a special someone, that’s OK. Love is all around you.

When we approach any rebranding assignment, we always start with our proprietary Brand Fingerprint exercise. Most agencies have their own process of drilling down to the core essence of a brand, and I’m not here solely to praise ours, although it really does work, but one thing that has become crystal clear over the years is this: the more passion that comes out of those in the session, both from agency and client participants, the stronger the creative and marketing is on the other side. Because it’s all about love. It’s all about how deeply that brand manager, or that CEO, or even that intern they brought along to broaden her horizons, gets into the process and how deeply passionate they are about their brand.

Just keep this in mind tonight as you’re preparing your family feast, or especially if it’s simply a dinner for one. You are not alone. Love is right in front of you. When you tip back that Pepsi or sip on that Naked Grape pinot, you’re connecting with people who have poured their hearts & souls into creating a great brand. By only a handful of degrees of separation, you are part of the process. You are part of the brand. And, therefore, you are loved.

The Techweek Conference is a veritable new kid on the block in the world of technology tradeshows, but in 2011, it successfully connected hundreds of startups and established companies with government officials and international technology leaders. This year, the show represents a convening of great thinkers from both technology and media realms, and with your help, Woodbine could be chosen to join the lineup of speakers and advisers that will be sharing insights and experiences in Chicago this June.

Your vote counts.
Two of our team members—director of digital strategy Robby Berthume and digital engagement manager Vanessa Boynton—have submitted topics for consideration by the Techweek staff and attendees. Until Thursday of this week, the general community is welcome to visit the full list of proposed sessions and cast favor for topics they feel should be presented.

We highly recommend checking out the entire proposed lineup, but in the meantime, we appreciate the assistance you can lend Robby and Vanessa by a) visiting sessioncast.techweek.com, b) signing in with your Facebook account, c) clicking the cheerful green arrow to the left of each of their summaries, and d) sharing their summaries with your peers by Liking, Tweeting or posting to LinkedIn.

Thank you for taking the time to support us. Rest assured that we will return from Techweek armed with the knowledge of industry giants, having stood among them and imparted a little wisdom of our own.

We believe in putting our money where our mouths are. Take Step Two isn’t just a campaign, it’s a choice to live a better life. And that choice doesn’t go by the wayside simply because you’ve arrived at your office for the day.

Thus, we’ve banded together for some positive changes. We’ve re-established a portion of our basement as the office exercise room, available to anyone and everyone for whatever time they can spare each day. “Y-WDB” now complements many of Woodbine’s other practices, including maintaining our team garden, our no-smoking policy and our participation in wellness-focused community events.

It’s easier than you think. And we’re well on our way toward discovering many more small-yet-significant ways we can make our workplace a happier, healthier place. Just visit TakeStepTwo.com to learn about the movement, and CDC.gov for more ideas about how you can revitalize your office health and safety.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (January 19, 2012) – *Brand revitalization agency, Woodbine, announced today the launch of a new community-based public health campaign for the North Carolina Division of Public Health in collaboration with Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW), which is led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The campaign, Take Step Two, is the embodiment of CPPW’s policy initiative focused on making healthy choices easier by changing community policies, systems and environments. The initiative has so far been implemented in two pilot communities, Appalachian District which includes Alleghany, Ashe and Watauga counties, and Pitt County.

At a time when consumers are bombarded with messaging aimed at being healthier, Take Step Two differentiates itself by illustrating how community improvements and advocating for healthier choices are easier than you may think. In fact, odds are you’re already on the right track.

“Most people assume being healthier takes work,” said Woodbine Chief Creative Officer Martin Davidson. “Take Step Two shows it’s easy, because you’ve already taken the first step by simply putting on your shoes, running errands, listening to the radio or doing the other things we all do every day.”

Take Step Two makes becoming an advocate for a healthier community more approachable and relevant to consumers daily lives. Each campaign execution offers a typical, expected daily action such as “Shoes tied?” or “Out and about?” as the implied step one. Then advances to ask the audience to take a simple Step Two, stop and talk with a farmer at the farmers market, for example, and make positive changes that will lead to easier healthy choices for everyone.

“We want to make the healthy choice the easy choice,” said Peggy Albertson, CPPW communications specialist with the Division of Public Health. “So often the reason people do not make a healthy choice is because there is none. Residents are often more than 10 miles from fresh produce, so the easier choice is fast food. Or people have to drive to a park for their children to play outside. We want people to be involved in making their community a better place for all.”

Implemented across digital, radio, print, billboard and non-traditional executions, Take Step Two reaches its audience in the relevance of their everyday lives and offers healthy inspiration in the grassroots tone that might be offered by a neighbor.

Campaign executions will be concentrated in the initial four North Carolina counties beginning this week. Development and execution of the campaign, which will be in the market through at least September 2012, was led by Chief Creative Officer Martin Davidson, Copywriter Rob Doerzbacher, Art Director Shanthony Exum, Digital Producer Jason Drass and Account Executive Ashley Davis.

About Woodbine 

Founded in 1985, Woodbine is a Brand Revitalization agency in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Woodbine develops creative marketing, advertising, public relations and digital solutions for clients such as Lowe’s Home Improvement; First Community; Ekornes home furnishings; Fruit of the Loom; Lowe’s Foods, and North Carolina Division of Public Health. www.woodbine.com

About Communities Putting Prevention to Work

Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) is a locally driven initiative supporting 50 communities to tackle obesity and tobacco use—two leading preventable causes of death and disability in the United States. More than 50 million people—or one in six Americans—live in a city, town, county or tribal community that benefits from this initiative.

# # #

…Also known as a digital intern. This spring, we want a quick and eager individual seeking valuable, hands-on experience with a full-service agency.

You will support the ongoing efforts of the digital team, aiding in the development of web projects, digital marketing campaigns and the execution of social media strategies.

You’re one part code monkey, one part marketer and five parts creative zealot.

You don’t object to interviews-by-way-of-Xbox.

You like dogs.

And you’ll apply here.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (January 11, 2012) - *Peter Mitchell has great judgement, especially when he’s reviewing the implementation and effectiveness of a marketing idea. That’s why Woodbine’s President & CEO, a prominent figure in the advertising industry and an insightful evaluator of marketing campaigns, has been tapped to judge two award shows in January.

His Kind of Town
On Friday, January 13, Mitchell will visit his old stopping grounds to judge some of the country’s most effective marketing campaigns on the 2012 EFFIE Awards jury. The jury will meet at the Ney Center Forum in New York City, the town where Mitchell spent much of his career working at Saatchi & Saatchi.

This is Mitchell’s 7th year evaluating work for the Effies. He was originally selected to be a judge after Woodbine won a Silver EFFIE for Piedmont Federal Savings Bank in 2005.

The Effie Awards were founded in 1968 by the American Marketing Association as an awards program to annually recognize the most effective advertising in the United States. To see some of the work judged over the past few years, visit the Effie YouTube Channel.

Back to the Classroom
Following the Effies, Mitchell will head back to North Carolina to review campaigns developed by MBA students in the prestigious Marketing Case Competition at Wake Forest University. The competition is a component of the school’s 2012 Marketing Summit, which attracts MBA teams from around the world. Held annually, the summit is being sponsored this year by BB&T and Hanesbrands, bringing even more prestige and a much larger purse to this nationally recognized event. The 2012 Marketing Summit also marks the inaugural event for the new Wake Forest University Center for Value Delivery Innovation, a new retail marketing center designed to provide education and innovation to industry and academia. For more information on the 2012 Marketing Summit, visit business.wfu.edu/marketingsummit.

2011 proved to be a year of much vim and vigor, propelled by exciting projects, creative events and the consistent expansion of our team. We’re continuing the momentum into 2012 by recognizing the great talent that keeps our world spinning—even inventing roles to match the thrilling challenges the new year will bring.

Ashley Dillon, who joined the agency in 2008 as an Account Coordinator and quickly advanced to Account Executive, has been promoted to the new role of Senior Account Executive. Her attention to detail, dependability, warmth and fierce motivation have made her an agency cornerstone. As one of her clients recently described, “Ashley makes you feel like your business is the most important thing in her day.” She will continue to deliver optimal results for Dig.Drop.Done, Kayser-Roth and Guideposts/Hope Springs.

Vanessa Boynton, who joined the agency in 2011 as the Social Media Manager, is transitioning into the new role of Digital Engagement Manager. Through her work with clients’ social platforms and the development of social strategies, Vanessa quickly demonstrated that social media goes far beyond daily content and is instead an ongoing execution of the entire brand strategy. She is now a shared asset of both the marketing/public relations department and digital department, and will continue her work with Dig.Drop.Done, Guideposts/Hope Springs, and more.

Woodbine’s founder, Maureen Hall, headed overseas right after Christmas to continue her mission work in Uganda. This is her second year and we couldn’t be more proud of her. She’ll be gone for another couple of weeks helping women in rural communities gain the skills they need to start and grow their own arts-based businesses, snapping some incredible photos along the way. She will most certainly post a slideshow of this trip upon her return, but for now, here’s a wonderful look at her 2011 journey.

montage of ugandan moments from Maureen Hall on Vimeo.

Thank you for all that you do, Maureen.

For the 10th year in a row, the Woodbine team paused for a few minutes to celebrate our greatest asset: one another. Each December, employees participate in the i2i Awards—a process by which we nominate those colleagues that we feel most thoroughly represent Woodbine’s core values of Impact, Ideas, Interaction, Intensity and Integrity. Please join us in congratulating our winners, a truly remarkable collection of individuals from a truly remarkable team.