Pluto joins HDC with a wide breadth of advertising and design experience serving multi-national clients. Prior to joining HDC, she served as a lead digital planner for Arc Worldwide, a Leo Burnett affiliate based in Chicago. In that role, Pluto designed complex digital experiences ranging from primary brand websites to complex Facebook and mobile applications for Kellogg’s® as well as global e-commerce toolkits for Proctor & Gamble brands such as Olay®. Pluto’s experience will be leveraged in similar ways at HDC.

“Rachel’s expertise in strategic planning, user experience planning and a wide range of digital programs make her a great addition to our team,” said Jim Hoefflin, HDC chief operating officer and partner. “Her experience helping to direct major digital programs for multi-national clients such as Special-K® and Olay® was exactly what we were looking for as we continue to add to our roster of international and world-class clients.”

Pluto earned her bachelor’s degree in communications in 2003 from Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. In 2006, she completed a master’s degree in design planning from the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.

Hanson Dodge Creative is America’s leading active lifestyle agency. The full­service firm specializes in helping global brands attain market leadership through the strategic integration of world­class branding, relationship marketing, social media, e­commerce and advanced interactive technology. Clients include Wilson Sporting Goods, Trek, Wolverine, Thule and Kmart. Established in 1984, Hanson Dodge is located in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward. For more information, call 414.347.1266 or visit www.hansondodge.com.

###

Legends of Climbing
Hanson Dodge Creative
April 15 – July 15
Opening Reception: April 15, 5-9 pm

It can be said that, if footsteps left a permanent mark, certain places on Earth would blacken many times over, while others would remain untouched. And then, in these remote places, we might see the occasional footprint left by a select few. These travelers are the subjects in renowned photographer Jim Herrington’s series “Legends of Climbing.”

An explorer in his own right, Herrington’s path has led him from the darkroom to a 15-year journey photographing many of the most legendary climbers in history, and finally to the walls of Hanson Dodge Creative. Just as light rays on film record the known versus the unknown, Herrington reveals the truths of these men, as well as the mysteries. Surely these adventurers have endured extremes – sometimes visible as wear on their skin, other times only hinted at within a gaze.

Of his own work, Herrington has said, “I just stay out of the way and let the subject speak.” But the evidence proves otherwise. Like his mentors before him — Irving Penn and Richard Avedon  — Herrington has clearly left his mark on these kindred souls.

Herrington’s stunning photographs have been featured in Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, The New York Times and more.

The Musician Series
Herrington may be best known for his many portraits of immortal musicians, the likes of which include Keith Richards, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton. A selection of prints from this work will be on display as well.

Call 414.347.1266 for a viewing.

For more information on Jim Herrington and his work:
http://jimherrington.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimherrington/sets/

MILWAUKEE – (December 16, 2010) – Hanson Dodge Creative (HDC), America’s leading active lifestyle agency and Comet Branding + PR, a leading and fast-growing social media and public relations agency today jointly announce that the two firms will merge effective January 1, 2011. This merger will expand our collective ability to provide world-class services to a growing list of global clients such as Wilson Sporting Goods, Trek Bicycle Company, Wolverine Boots, Thule and Kmart.

According to Ken Hanson, CEO of HDC, “Simply put, social media is the medium of the active lifestyle market. Comet’s social media and PR strength is the ideal complement to HDC’s existing services. These strengthened capabilities will be very attractive to HDC’s current and future active lifestyle clients.” This merger provides Comet the opportunity to bring their talents to bear on a client base and industry that is ideally suited to social media. The active lifestyle market is made up of people who are passionate about the brands they use and are keen to engage with those brands through social and new media.

Al Krueger and Sara Meaney, the owners of Comet, will be equity partners in HDC. Krueger and Meaney will continue to focus on the social media and PR business they have created, and look for additional opportunities to grow the integrated social media division of HDC.

“Sara and Al have built a national reputation and recognition for their ideas and success around leveraging social media combined with strategic communications to help businesses thrive,” said Tim Dodge, president of HDC. “By adding Comet’s capabilities and team to our brand strategies and traditional and interactive marketing initiatives we are ideally positioned to continue to provide fully integrated traditional, digital and social media services to our world-class clients.”

This merger follows HDC’s recent addition of Jim Hoefflin as chief operating officer and partner earlier this year. Hoefflin, former executive vice president of products and marketing for RedPrairie, has been tasked with day-to-day operations, increasing agency efficiencies, strategic partnerships and acquisitions.  “We are focused on creating those key services and operating excellence that make HDC the agency of choice for the premium brands interested in reaching the active lifestyle consumer,” said Hoefflin.

“Over the last three years, we have been able to build an agency and team that we are really proud of and have been honored to have a number of firms approach us to develop strategic partnerships to leverage our social media and PR offerings,” said Al Krueger, partner and right brain at Comet. “HDC’s leadership, team, reputation and culture stood out among the rest and we are excited to get started.”

“Pooling Comet’s and HDC’s capabilities will create significant immediate and future opportunities,” said Sara Meaney, partner and left brain at Comet. “This combined agency will represent a remarkably integrated approach that will enable our clients to more easily navigate the increasingly complex landscape brought about by the collision of marketing and technology. We are confident that our work will be distinctive in the agency world as one that fully leverages the best of branding, design, technology, social media and public relations.”

About Hanson Dodge Creative
Hanson Dodge Creative is America’s leading active lifestyle agency. The full service firm is positioned to help global brands gain a competitive advantage in the digital economy. Clients include Wilson Sporting Goods, Trek Bicycle Company, Wolverine Boots, Thule, and Kmart.

About Comet Branding + PR
Comet is an award-winning public relations and social media agency. Under the direction of partners, Al Krueger and Sara Meaney, the agency works with clients in a variety of industries to develop and execute strategic communications programs in traditional and social media. The agency hosts an active blog and a weekly Internet-based radio show dedicated to discussing new trends in marketing, PR and social media.

Hanson Dodge Creative—America’s leading active lifestyle agency—will lead a series of initiatives designed to position the Briggs & Riley brand for continued growth. HDC is also providing turnkey management of Briggs & Riley’s e-commerce program at www.briggs-riley.com. HDC developed and is implementing a strategic e-marketing effort that integrates creative, email campaigns and promotions, search engine optimization, online advertising strategy and execution, affiliate marketing, website development and more. Early results include significant increases in site traffic and SEO performance.

Pettit comes to the creative agency Hanson Dodge after spending over six years in the corporate marketplace as Art Director and Brand Communications Manager for SRAM, a manufacturer of bicycle components in Chicago.  As part of his work, Pettit was also involved in the creation of the SRAM lounge at Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park opening soon in Milwaukee.

Previously Pettit was a partner in his own creative design firm, Image Syndicate Ltd, and spent time as a display artist for Urban Outfitters in Chicago in addition to contributing to the LStyle Report.  He has a bachelor of fine arts degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a certificate of integrated marketing from the University of Chicago, Graham School.

“Our goal is to continually deepen our knowledge and expertise within active lifestyle product categories and Brian’s creative talent and years of experience on the client side will be invaluable in helping us do just that,” said Tim Dodge, partner at Hanson Dodge.

Hanson Dodge Creative is one of the Midwest’s leading marketing communications and design firms specializing in integrated branding, e-business and communication solutions.  Agency clients include Kmart, Trek Bicycles, Wolverine, Thule, Wilson Sporting Goods, Volkswagen and the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.  Established in 1984, Hanson Dodge is located in Milwaukee historic Third Ward at 220 E. Buffalo St.  For more information, visit www.hansondodge.com

###

Baylor is a Milwaukee-born artist whose acclaim extends far beyond our city limits. It is somehow fitting that this former driver for Mason Dixon Trucking used to spend his days “keeping it between the lines.” Now he delivers artwork that encourages our eye to do the traveling, through burgeoning valleys of color, punctuated with roadside iconography. Like a journey through a post-modern kaleidoscope, he celebrates and scrutinizes consumerism, tossing us through a battery of the familiar, to the point of alienation.

Baylor was inspired by branding at an early age. Like his Pop Art heroes, he questions the line between fine art and graphic art. Does a fine artist become a graphic artist when he designs a label for a vodka bottle? Does a graphic artist become a fine artist when he sells a painting at a gallery? At what point does a does a shape suggest a logo, a color scheme, a recognizable brand?

This exhibit represents a two-year span, where one can trace Baylor’s exploration from straightforward figurative studies to surreal, Technicolor landscapes. As he assembles his scenes with varying degrees of complexity, one thing remains constant: the dazzling fragments of color, set like faceted jewels, between the ever-present framework of the line.

‘Between the Lines’
The Mercantile Building
220 East Buffalo Street, Milwaukee WI 53202
Opening reception, Thursday, October 21st   5 – 8pm

Music featuring DJ Andy Noble

For more, please visit www.reginaldbaylor.com

The series consists of four pieces: a mountain bike catalog, a “lifestyle” bicycle catalog and two mini-books. Over the past 18 years, Hanson Dodge Creative has helped develop and design Trek’s catalogs and each year, the conceptual ideas, stories and overall design has evolved considerably. This year’s catalog was one of the most rewarding and fulfilling to work on. From the champion athlete stories, to the advanced technologies, to the legacy of the brand, we worked to design something that stood apart from other bike catalogs and raised the bar for how a bike catalog can be experienced. Every detail in every photo location was considered – there were no afterthoughts. If we needed a shot at a specific race half-way around the world, that’s what we went for and that’s what we got. Working with world-class photographers, we made sure that we came away with the most breathtaking shots without losing focus of the product. Each bike platform was set up to inspire, educate and engage the user in the world of cycling. The books were printed on uncoated Cougar paper, which also helped them stand out from other standard glossy bike catalogs.

It was a great team effort and our client was thrilled with the end results. “This is the best catalog we’ve ever done.” – Michael Browne, Trek Mountain Brand Manager

About HOW

Since 1985, HOW magazine has been serving the graphic-design community with practical advice on the business of design, related technology news, profiles of leaders and inspirational members of the creative industry, and background information on current noteworthy graphic design projects. In addition to the International Design Competition, HOW hosts three other annual design competitions, the winners of which are all featured in an issue of the magazine.

You can also read the recent press release for the Outstanding Solutions Program.

This recognition is in addition to the “2009 Best Consumer Goods Site” award Thule.com received from Sitecore North America in January.

About Sitecore

Sitecore’s Web Content Management System (CMS) and portal software solutions enable companies to deliver compelling web experiences. Sitecore’s award-winning CMS software makes it easy for businesses to create and update dynamic, full-featured Web sites of all types. Sitecore’s industry leading flexibility and scalability allows companies to better leverage their content, improve customer experience and drive business growth.

Thousands of public and private organizations, including national governments and Fortune 500 companies utilize Sitecore solutions for their websites. These organizations have created and now manage more than 23,000 dynamic websites with Sitecore including Computer Associates, Costco, ISS, Lloyds of London, Microsoft, Omni Hotels, Sara Lee, Siemens, Thomas Cook and Toshiba.

After completing a comprehensive review process, Wolverine selected Hanson Dodge Creative based on the agency’s knowledge of the Wolverine brand and proven success in building robust, integrated branding programs that target the Active Lifestyle Consumer.

“Wolverine is a strong, authentic brand with tremendous consumer loyalty.  We are poised to take advantage of advances in digital communication technologies to build stronger relationships with our channels and customers,” said Todd Yates, Vice President of Marketing and General Manager of Apparel for Wolverine. “Hanson Dodge’s combined experience in the active lifestyle products category and digital marketing make them an ideal partner to help us build the Wolverine brand for the future.”

“Wolverine is an industry leader in the work and outdoor footwear category, and we’re excited about the opportunity to leverage that brand strength in new and exciting ways in today’s dynamic marketplace,” said Tim Dodge, President of Hanson Dodge Creative. Hanson Dodge Creative works with industry leaders across a range of product categories to develop and execute innovative marketing and branding initiatives to support growth.

About Wolverine Brand

For 126 years, Wolverine continues to provide innovative footwear with superior comfort.  Wolverine is a division of Wolverine World Wide Inc., one of the world’s leading marketers of branded casual, active lifestyle, work, outdoor sport and uniform footwear and apparel.  For product information, visit www.wolverine.com.

About Hanson Dodge Creative

Hanson Dodge Creative is America’s leading active lifestyle agency. The full-service firm is positioned to help global brands gain a competitive channel advantage in the digital economy. In addition to Wolverine, clients include Thule, Wilson Sporting Goods, Burton Snowboards, Horizon Fitness, Trek Bicycle Corporation and the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.