Fresh ID’s dynamic entrepreneurial duo reflects on an already successful year
Kristi Colvin. Photo courtesy of FreshID.
The year may not even be half over, but for Fresh ID, 2011 has already been one for the record books.
The Kansas City-based marketing firm, led by Chief Creative Officer Kristi Colvin and Chief Executive Officer Lisa Qualls, takes a decidedly different approach to the marketing/branding equation.
The focus of Fresh ID is “intelligent design,” an integrated approach that includes social media design and campaigns, digital marketing, brand identity and print design. The company is focused on creating a comprehensive marketing package that’s suitable for today’s increasingly digital landscape, while never straying from Fresh ID’s number one priority.
“We employ a true customer first philosophy,” Qualls says. “That’s something we hold true at our core.”
Founded in 2002 by Colvin, Fresh ID gained momentum when Qualls came on board in February 2010. Colvin has no qualms in admitting that partnership was a strategic move to fill a void within the company.
“As a creative person, I can’t do all of the business administration, sales and marketing and be creative,” Colvin says. “I was suffering from not producing like I could and should because I was stretched too thin.”
Lisa Qualls. Photo courtesy of FreshID.
Qualls and Colvin agree that business growth is an ongoing entity that continues to evolve as the company succeeds. The duo will soon bring on a third partner, whom Qualls says “adds another set of skills to help us grow to the next level—a really technical approach as CTO.” These sorts of strategic decisions are all necessary steps in the company’s 2011 growth plan.
“We sat down and really worked through where we had been, where we wanted to go and what it would take us to get there,” Qualls says. That discussion led to the decision to hire art director Sherry Liu as a full-time employee, as well as Ryan McElhaney, director of sales and marketing.
Colvin and Qualls identified three main focus areas that would help guide their client list: fashion/retail, hospitality/dining and sports. These concentrations mirror the duo’s personal interests (Colvin is a notoriously stylish shopaholic, while Qualls is devoted to all things sports), but are also industries that mimic Fresh ID’s customer first philosophy.
One of Fresh ID’s highlights in the early part of 2011 was signing Sporting Kansas City as a client. After first talking with the MLS team last fall, Qualls and Colvin played the waiting game, during which an unexpected opportunity presented the chance for Fresh ID to make a lasting impression. In response to a Sporting Kansas City’s player’s tweet after a snowstorm, fans and players met for an impromptu snowball fight.
The Fresh ID team at Livestrong Sporting Park. Photo courtesy of Fresh ID.
“We pulled together an online event of the snowball fight that included video and photos from our friends Zach and Steven,” Colvin says. “We did it for free because it sounded like a lot of fun, and we wanted to show Sporting Kansas City what we could do.”
The event spawned an unprecedented level of interest on Twitter, led to a custom hashtag that identified the event (#specialkcsnowmageddon) and allowed Fresh ID to demonstrate their digital skills—as well as their quick thinking. Several weeks later, Sporting Kansas City called a meeting, and the rest, as they say, is history, all thanks to ingenuity, hard work and a solid strategic plan.
“If you don’t set goals, you don’t know what you’re working for,” Qualls says. “What I’m learning is that you’re never done—the mountain gets steeper as you grow. Every time you achieve a new goal, I think it might even become more difficult, but that’s part of it. This is not for the faint of heart. It takes a different psychology to be a business owner.”
For more about Fresh ID, including the company’s portfolio, visit www.FreshID.com.
Tanna Guthrie moves to 99.7 THE POINT
Photo courtesy of Entercom.
If you listen to 99.7 or 98.1 on the FM dial, you may have noticed some changes in the last couple of weeks. Formerly known as Gen-X Radio, 99.7 is now THE POINT, broadcasting a range of pop and rock hits known as “Today’s Best Music.”
Over at 98.1, 980 KMBZ is now being simulcast, creating a talk station on the FM frequency. Tanna Guthrie, who hosted mornings on KUDL, has moved to afternoons on THE POINT, a switch she calls an easy adjustment.
“It’s not hard to not wake up at 4 a.m.,” she says with a laugh.
Guthrie says the decision to switch formats on 99.7 and 98.1 made sense, considering the audience for each station.
“They’re both female-driven, and it just made sense to merge the two stations,” she says. “We combined the best of KUDL and GenX to create one station.”
Guthrie’s show won’t change much now that she’s on in the afternoons. She says she’ll still talk about her upcoming events, as well as other topics that are of interest to her mostly female listeners–and some of their favorite guests, too.
“Johnny Rowlands will appear during a guest spot every afternoon,” she says. “He’s our radio boyfriend, so he had to come with us.”
Business in Motion: Great Day Moving
Photo courtesy of Great Day Moving.
Last week, Great Day Moving announced its expansion into a high-tech franchise system. The moving company, owned by Roger Ward and his wife, Dana, now features “a franchise system that will bring the local moving industry into the 21st century,” according to a press release. “This system will operate under the name of Great Day Moving and will provide a business opportunity that is both low-cost and highly effective for entrepreneurs.”
The Wards purchased the moving company, formerly known as Marathon Moving, after relocating from Oklahoma three years ago. Since then, the company has increased in revenue each year, and 2010 proved to be “a record-breaking year in which the business doubled in size—from employee count to fleet size, as well as in gross revenue,” according to the press release.
For more information on the company, visit www.greatdaymoving.com.
Clarification
Last week, Kansas City Women in Business included a short recap of the ADDY awards. The local event was held at downtown Kansas City’s The AMC Midland Theater. The Best of Show winner was C3 – Creative Consumer Concepts for 2011 Sonic Tot World Tour.
Sullivan Higdon Sink was awarded Best of Show for its Shatto Milk campaign during the District 9 awards, a regional ceremony held in Clive, Iowa. For more information about the ADDYs and AAF–KC, including a complete list of winners, visit AAFKC.com.
–Katy Ryan
Tags: 98.1, 99.7 the point, FreshID, Great Day Moving, Kansas City radio, Kansas City Women in Business, Kristi Colvin, Lisa Qualls, Sporting Kansas City, Tanna Guthrie