Winners Declared at the New Hampshire Creative Club’s “Iron Design” Competition

Photos of the event are available at http://www.harkinsphotography.com/irondesign09/index.html, courtesy of Kevin Harkins Photography.

May 22, 2009
        
Manchester, NH -  The New Hampshire Creative Club did not fail to bring “creative” to the party – otherwise known as the third Annual Iron Design competition. Inspired by the Food Network TV Show “Iron Chef,” three teams of marketing and industry pros were tasked to come up with a complete marketing package for this year’s mystery client -- a line of high fashion designs comprised of…road kill.

And, they only had one hour to do it.

            That’s the premise behind the competition – three teams, along with an audience of about 100 of their peers, were shown a unique product and then instructed to come up with a marketing plan for a completely unknown and original product or service, utilizing three criteria: Presentation, Creativity, and Originality.

            NH Creative Club President Chris Conroy, owner of Heartwood Media, Inc., said the club is always trying to include more presentations to involve the audience. “The Iron Design competition is inspiring and educational. Those attending can walk around and observe competing teams collaborate and work together. It’s always challenging to come up with a product or service that doesn’t exist – the participants have to stretch to get results, making it more interesting.”

            This year’s Top Secret Product was pretty hard to keep under wraps, according to Print Savvy CEO Lisa Landry, who hosts the competition every year in her Commercial Street studios. “We really tried to kick it up a notch this year. Thanks to Kye Power, Inc. for the apparel’s original designs, Mary’s Closet for constructing the line of fashion, and my very Savvy team at Print Savvy who dedicated untold hours to making the event a success.” said Landry. “We really brainstormed to come up with something that 100% unique and not already in the marketplace,” she added.

Indeed, the “Flapper” dress sporting faux suede and a variety of faux beaver tails flopping around was a sight to behold. It was only topped by the next two fashions: the “Fawn Over Me” little hot-pant number was a crowd pleaser, and the “La Pew” gown was an example of elegance – as much as one can get wearing skunk stripes. “We really had a good time with creating the costumes, as this is really the only morally righteous way to wear fur” stated Joel Mercier, Print Savvy’s Event Coordinator “You can say that this product is truly green and comes from 100% natural resources!”

The evening began with a selection of food that included gourmet Panini sandwiches and delicious chicken chili that both participants and audience members noshed upon as they networked, and concluded with text-voting, ala “American Idol” style, to declare the 2009 “Iron Design” trophy – a cast-iron skillet. “My clients are still raving about the food,” said Print Savvy Senior Account Executive Ami D’Amelio “It really was in a different league this year!”

The three teams that came to the table were Calypso Communications, of Portsmouth, who sent a team of seven of their best talent, while the Timberland Company of Stratham sent four of their award-winning team members to compete.

“The final team added a bit of a twist to the competition this year – six industry veterans who had never worked together before, all currently “under-employed,” made up the final team, and called themselves The Marketing All-Stars,” Landry said.

The three teams worked for just one hour as the audience looked on. Then, it was time to showcase their stuff.

“Each team brought their own unique strengths to the competition, Timberland came up with a great name and had a fantastic logo, Calypso had terrific ideas for selecting a celebrity to sponsor and promote the clothing line, including giant billboard displays in NYC’s Time Square, but it was clear that the Marketing All-Stars had the most complete plan,” Conroy said as he declared the winners, chosen by the audience.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Harkins Photography.

Landry added, “The experience this ‘transitioning’ marketing pros team has covers the gamut of DM, Consumer, B2B, Online Marketing, Broadcasting and Public Affairs. They are: Jeff Savastano - Principal at the newly launched Trecuori Group; Tom Walker - most recently, a key player at Hello Direct, where he headed up their catalog group; Allison Johnson - Owner/Director of Johnson Creative and a talented Art Director and Illustrator; Kathy Tamburri - a seasoned copywriter, all-around writer and salesperson; Nancy Robbins - a professional broadcaster for 20 years (WZID-FM co-host, "NH in the Morning"), print and video model, infomercial host, emcee, producer, columnist, and voice-over pro; and Kristina Carlson – who has her own graphic design studio and also is a professional web designer.”

“I think it takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there for this competition, and we’re extremely proud of all the competitors. Each team had a unique and interesting offering. I loved the way team Calypso positioned the clothing line as a trailer chic lifestyle brand that used celebrity endorsement already popular in that demographic (they recommended Miley Cyrus and Matthew McConoughey) and I was especially fond of the logo from Team Timberland. It was cute, to the point and very, very funny. Finally, I was totally impressed by the way the Marketing All Stars worked together without corporate backing. Talk about a creative and innovative way to show the marketplace what you can do—especially in this economy! I suppose audience chose to ‘hire’ the All-Stars because they had their game on, had a clear direction on their marketing plan and like me, they were inspired by their chutzpah.” Landry said “They clearly took the challenge very seriously.”

Photos of the event are available at http://www.harkinsphotography.com/irondesign09/index.html, courtesy of Kevin Harkins Photography.

The New Hampshire Creative Club serves as a creative forum for networking and education in the advertising and visual communications field through a series of monthly meetings that include panel discussions, presentations and workshops on subjects that are timely and practical. An annual juried competition and exhibition showcases some of the best in creative talent. The club is also a resource for colleges and universities where student members have the opportunity to meet, learn, and interact with professionals from around the state. To find out more about the NH Creative Club, log onto at www.nhcreativeclub.org or visit www.printsavvy.com to learn more about next year’s competition.