When Chattanooga was hosting the annual BlueCross Bowl, the stadium and event needed a full branding upgrade. High school students came from all over the state and the Believe theme rallied all of them to believe in themselves and their chances at greatness.

Art Direction: Victal Lopes and Stuart Holloway

Other Copywriter: Will Smith

When Crosswalk Church in Redlands, CA planted the first remote campus in the entire Seventh-day Adventist denomination, they had big dreams of a network of churches. They needed a branding overhaul that represented an international network rather than a single church. With the tagline Lovewell in place, this brand needed a persona, core values and a style and voice guide.

Tennessee has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, so when asked to create a campaign for babies under two to get the flu shot, we knew we needed something positive, uplifting and empowering. Taking the theme of Flu Fighters, we hope that parents will feel validated to vaccinate and protect their babies.

Art Director: Melissa Clarke

This Shaw flooring company creates high end luxury flooring for discerning, artistic consumers. Their buyers want timelessness over trendy and respect for the fact that they have the taste and knowledge to make design decisions themselves. They needed descriptive copy for each collection and overall branding copy to help them tell their story for their new sales catalog and collection.

This small resort lies in the crook of a 55-acre lake and is the perfect beautiful, yet unassuming, place to take a breath. The staff is small, but helpful, their food is farm-to-table, and they leave the itinerary planning to you. When it came time to give this brand a new, shorter mission statement, “Making Room for Rest” jumped to mind. It implies the space to stretch and relax, but not the hands-on feeling of a luxury resort. And for a persona, I chose to pay homage to a favorite aunt (one I don’t have but wish I did) with the underutilized lake house.

The new brand is facilitating business decisions ranging from how to welcome guests, what food to serve in the cafeteria and even how to prioritize their staffing.

Logo and Graphic Design: Counsel Creative

When you enter a market where every competitor has, literally, the exact same product, selling becomes difficult. Even more difficult when we realized that brokers weren’t even showing customers BlueCross in this product historically. If you want to be shown BlueCross, you’d have to ask for us directly.

That in mind, we realized that if we couldn’t sell a better product, we could sell ourselves – and everyone knows Blue. So the plan was to speak confidently to the reputation we’ve developed with members over 70 years and remind customers that even if you don’t have Blue, someone you know does. And we dare you to ask them why they chose us.

Art Director: Jared Rawlinson

The best compliment is when a creative colleague asks you to represent their own business for them. Kenny and Rachel started a small branding agency on the concept of a “creative collective,” giving them the opportunity to do their other love – mentoring and growing other new creatives’ small businesses. They’re the real deal. And it’s always nice when you don’t have stretch the truth one teeny bit to brag on a client.

Web Design: Counsel Creative

Medicare plans are all so similar that even small differences in benefits can be the deciding factor in making a switch. We had a few extra perks to add to the best-selling $0 premium plans that would make an already good product the "total package." 

So we decided to look for ways to illustrate how great it feels to find the best of both worlds in other areas of life.  

Creative Direction: Tavis Salazar

Art Direction: Ron Blankenbaker

Copywriters: Jennifer Robinette, Jan Powell, Rachel Stewart

The Community Trust provides grants for non-profits and causes all over Tennessee. They requested a campaign of sponsorship templates that they could use for the myriad bulletins, magazines and booklets requesting an ad.

Creative Direction: Tavis Salazar

Associate Creative Direction: Alysa Darmody

Art Direction: Jared Rawlinson, Ron Blankenbaker, Chad Galloway

Copy: Alysa Darmody, Will Smith, Jan Powell, Jennifer Robinette

The FedEx St. Jude Classic raises hundreds of thousands for St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, TN. Each year, BlueCross sponsors the participation of 1,800 volunteers (who would otherwise pay to work). We created a full campaign, including a sponsored “Cool Zone” tent, a family tent, posters to hang in the volunteer tent, print ads, social media opportunities and giveaways. The concept? Remember to say “thank you” when you pass one these tireless, sweaty people, y’all.

Creative Direction: Tavis Salazar

Associate Creative Direction: Alysa Darmody, Chris Enter

Art Direction: Ron Blankenbaker

Copy: Alysa Darmody, Jennifer Robinette

I was able to name and develop the brand for the Magic Hour Foundation, a nation-wide network of photographers who donate sessions to cancer warriors. This non-profit was a personal project for my husband and I until our own family health issues made it impossible to keep up.

As the golden light of magic hour shows the beauty in the transition from day to night and night to day, these warriors are in their own transition - some out of this life and some on to a new cancer-free life.

And that change brings out the most vulnerable, raw side of themselves as they begin to recognize what really matters and what they're fighting for. 

If you know someone who would like a session, I’m happy to say that our main sponsor, ProDPI in Colorado, stepped up to keep our baby going and is pumping out new sessions every day in our place. They’re ready and waiting.

Apply or nominate for a session at www.magichour.org.

The BlueCross Bowl gives Tennessee high school football teams the chance to become legends. This championship tournament ends with the winning team claiming the title and being represented at the Titans stadium during an NFL game.

And we all know that everything in high school seems to be on epic proportions. Why not play to the grand aspirations that already exist in these players' minds? 

Creative Direction: Tavis Salazar

Art Direction: Jared Rawlinson

Design: Emma Cromer

Copywriter II: Will Smith

A) The Tennessee Children's History Museum asked for an ad for their program. BlueCross plays a major role in Tennessee's history over the last 70 years. How can we speak to our 70th anniversary, Tennessee's history and cater to the multiple generations exploring the museum together? By redefining tradition.

Creative Direction: Tavis Salazar

Art Direction: Nick Turner

B) BlueCross decided to run an ad celebrating a long-standing relationship with Dollar General. The magazine targets C-level executives and decision-makers. We thought it a great opportunity to tell one of our favorite DG stories, plucked from our research. 

Creative Direction: Tavis Salazar

Associate Creative Direction and Copy: Alysa Darmody

Associate Creative Direction and Art Direction: Chris Enter

C) Smith & Nephew needed to advertise a 20-year-old product in an industry that is constantly changing. In order to keep this product fresh, we had to celebrate it as a classic that is just as relevant as ever.

Art Direction: Jared Rawlinson

In a year where BlueCross found itself without any real competitive benefits in the Marketplace and delivering a large price hike to members, we looked to the one thing we could always lean on - our service. BlueCross is a Tennessee-based local company and had just opened some physical doors on a retail location and a mobile unit in order to bring that service even closer to those that need it. 

So we reassured our members that they are not alone to wade through an admittedly confounding insurance selection process. We also gave them a new way to get face-to-face with a neighbor who can answer their questions, possibly even in a proper Southern accent. 

Creative Direction: Tavis Salazar

Art Direction: Nick Turner

Design: Jared Rawlinson

I’ve tried blogging about my family’s personal journey with my son’s rare brain condition so many times over the last four years, it’s embarrassing. It’s not the time. I think it’s the sharing about what seems like normal life to me, but I know is the furthest thing from normal to everyone else. Here’s a taste of what I’m talking about.

The challenge: Create a mini-campaign, design and suggested giveaways for events featuring free colonoscopies. 

The result: Four days of poop jokes. But also, some playful (dare we say, cheeky?) ideas.

We had to make giveaways that didn't scream COLONOSCOPY in hopes that someone might actually use them. By using ":" instead of the word "colon" and clever visuals (like foods that are known to improve colon health on the reusable grocery bag), we were able to disguise the often embarrassing subject in approachable messaging. 

Creative Direction: Tavis Salazar

Art Direction: Nick Turner

Shared Health was a new company selling a very complicated B2B service. And yet, while it is complicated, the point of the service is to make the customer's life easier. So that was where we went - simple copy that speaks to taking the headache out of Medicaid and long-term care program set-up. 

Creative Direction: Tavis Salazar

Art Direction: Jared Rawlinson

The Blue Benefits You Newsletter gave me a chance to flex my editorial muscles. The clients were open a wide variety of topics surrounding health and well-being.

Design: Jared Rawlinson