375 days. That’s about how long it’s been since Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued the executive order mandating the first round of quarantine for incoming travelers from other states. “It’ll just be two weeks”, many of our team thought.
Yet, two weeks and an additional 365 days later, here we are. Many of us are still quarantining. A lot of us are vaccinated with more to come. We’ve been shaken and reshaken… then shaken again to our cores. And if that weren’t enough shaking, let’s throw in a few more, slightly more contagious strains of the virus for good measure.
2020 tested all of us, but while it’s easy to talk about the bad, we want to share more stories about the good that’s out there. Here are four stories of hope, adaptation, and success from our clients that made us proud to do what we do as we look back at the past year.
For VISION Production Group , event production is their bread and butter. From the Houston Livestock Show to the Rockets games to Super Bowl LI, VISION has created Oscar-worthy cinematics for some of the biggest events in the nation. They’re not your mother’s wedding photographer by any means.
But when lockdowns began, events were shuttering left and right. VISION needed to take a hard right and go all-in on digital. Virtual events, to be specific. Moving quickly, we helped bring their vision to life, tell their story, and even attract leads—solely with PR.
Being one of the first companies in Houston to lead this trend and speak to the importance of virtual events, the company has since:
Currently, VISION has 10 virtual events planned for 2021 and estimates $5 million in fundraising. What was once a venue-dependent business is now a fully fledged digital company that tells the story of nonprofits and raises millions in funding for them—
all through a computer screen.
As a fully mobile IV drip spa in Houston, Bounce Hydration already had a leg up over its competition, whose brick-and-mortar locations either closed or lost their foot traffic due to lockdowns.
However, that didn’t make Bounce immune to the significant changes that all businesses had to undergo to survive.
The company acted quickly, pivoting its services to target immunity-boosting drips. It also offered COVID-19 antibody tests for people to have peace of mind and be better informed about their status. Integrate helped draft their statements, position their company in the media, and marketed their services online and through social media.
The results? Pretty awesome, if you ask us:
We loved telling the Bounce Hydration story and helping the business not only survive but thrive.
For most Texans, Messina Hof needs no introduction. The winery is a household name, with its bottles in stores across the state, from Target to H-E-B. But despite their great success on the shelves, their physical locations weren’t as prepared. At the time, the flagship Bryan location was the only full restaurant, as the others were considered bars by the state. This meant they were shut down then subsequently reopened at limited capacity.
The challenge was twofold:
Figure out ways to increase foot traffic; and
Revamp their e-commerce site to increase online sales and curbside pickup.
Oh, and did we mention creating a new website at the same time?
Messina Hof got to work. Not only did the company create site-specific curbside menus and transition in-person tastings to virtual ones, it also gave back through donations to healthcare workers.
200,000+ visitors to the site and 300 million media impressions later, we can’t help but smile and raise a glass (or two). And for you data junkies out there, that equals:
Both office culture and public gatherings have undergone a sea change over the past year. As a real estate company with an extensive portfolio of office spaces, restaurants and other people-centric properties, McCord Development is in the business of helping people enjoy places. During lockdown, people weren’t going places—and for good reason.
Like Messina Hof, McCord’s Houston development, Generation Park , needed to develop a good balance between maintaining in-person traffic (that was socially distant and responsible) and creating fresh ways to generate traffic through digital means such as curbside pickup and delivery. That also included drafting a strategy to let people know about everything that was happening. Combined with the creating savvy of our teams, McCord began offering:
We have the numbers to prove it:
It’s simple: The people.
While business success always makes a great story, it’s the people running the businesses, creating a product or service that others will enjoy, and battling to keep their legacy alive. Integrate wanted to guarantee that their hard work would actually mean something. That’s what keeps us going, and that’s what we strive to do with our work.
Here’s to 2021—a year where we continue to overcome hardships and succeed in this crazy reality we call life.
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