Name: Andrea Drabczyk

Title: Digital Project Coordinator

Years at COHN: 3 years

If you weren’t mastering the world of Digital, what would you be doing? What did you want to be when you grew up?

That’s a good question… I’m pretty sure I dreamed of being everything from a veterinarian (that is, until I learned how they take dogs’ temperatures), to a princess, to a lawyer when I was younger. I’m really happy I ended up in the digital world because I really enjoy what I do everyday, but I have to admit if the opportunity ever arises to pursue my dream of being a princess, I don’t think I could pass it up.

Who is your favorite character (from a movie, TV show, book, story, etc.) of all time and why?

If you know me, you know the answer to this question – Harry Potter. I absolutely love Harry Potter! I started reading the books in fifth grade and have been a fan of the wizard ever since. I can’t even tell you how many times I have read each book and watched each movie. I love the magic and imagination, the adventures and how Harry always seems to find a way to outsmart every situation.

What is your favorite thing about your life?

My family. I’m lucky because I have a pretty big family that I get to see often. It’s a lot of fun whenever we are together because I have a ton of siblings and we’re all very different and vary in age (I’m the youngest) but get along well.  Someone always has something exciting going on so there is never a dull moment.

27 shopping centers in 16 communities (see list below) are the first shopping centers in the country to have this cutting-edge program and we want to celebrate its launch with a community service initiative that will award a nonprofit group a $10,000 donation.

How can groups make $10,000? The goal is to generate 30,000 new ValuText members by May 31, 2012. We are looking for community ambassadors for the ValuText program to help build our membership base, simply by spreading the word about ValuText through email, social media, meetings, events, word-of-mouth, enrolling members, etc.

The first 10 participating groups to reach 1,000 users will receive a $1,000 donation and the group that generates the most users (minimum of 10,000) by February 17, 2012 will receive a $10,000 donation!

If you are interested in participating in the ValuText community service program, please contact Lisa Wieting at 303-839-1415 or lisa@cohnmarketing.com.

Click here to view the ValuText video

Participating locations:

As we looked ahead at 2012, we knew it was time for an overhaul of our brand. It had been several years since we reviewed our identity. Our website was painfully out of date. And, we were hardly telling our brand story of what we do for our clients and how the agency has evolved in recent years…even recent months. It was the proverbial case of the shoemaker’s kids walking without shoes. In this case, the marketing and PR firm was putting its own needs last. And, it was time for real change, not just for the fun of it, but to tell our story in the best way possible.

We started with a thorough review of our own internal brand strategy. This led to an internal team brand launch to ensure we had buy-in throughout the company. From there, we began the work of rethinking our external brand identity, which led to some really big changes:

-Move from Cohn Marketing to COHN (and in some cases, COHN, Inc.)

-Drop the use of the square brand icon

-Add our key service lines to the logo: Brand, Strategy, Creative, Digital, PR and Social

-Define a set of colors that best represent our brand

-Establish a new logo and brand expression style guide
From there, we began work on our new website. The new site had to achieve three key objectives:

1.  Tell our full story of what we do as a company, and how we excel at meeting client marketing and PR objectives.
2. Tell that story in a compelling, beautifully designed way that reflects our design and art direction capabilities.
3. Ensure that the site leverages the latest development technologies and reflects our digital capabilities from ease of use to smooth functionality to search optimization and easy updating.

The new site, which can be viewed at CohnMarketing.com, does a great job of achieving these objectives and then some.

I am really proud of our entire team at COHN for their efforts in this important branding initiative. Led by Ali Lego, the creative team of Jesse Pixler and Teri Springer, project management via Andrea Drabczyk, and with the guidance of our new head of digital, Michael Barber, this site brings to life the new COHN brand in a compelling way.

Bring it on, 2012! The team at COHN is ready to make big things happen for our clients, old and new. Our new brand and website proves that in a superlative way. Great job Team COHN!

“It has been a very exciting few months for Cohn Southwest. Galleria Dallas is one of the few shopping destinations that is known worldwide, and we are so pleased, honored and thrilled to be working with them,” said Ron Brady, vice president of Cohn Southwest.

Galleria Dallas is the second industry giant in as many months to enlist Cohn Southwest for brand development and marketing services. In September, Cohn was been selected by SRS Real Estate Partners to assist with brand identity enhancements and strategy. SRS Real Estate Partners is the largest national real estate company in the country exclusively dedicated to retail services.

“We are all very encouraged to see the swift and considerable growth of our Dallas office,” said Jeff Cohn, owner and chief brand strategist of the Denver-headquartered Cohn Marketing. “Earlier this year, we opened Cohn Southwest because we saw a real opportunity to make a splash in that region of the country, especially in the retail real estate industry. With the additions of Galleria Dallas and SRS Real Estate Partners, Cohn Southwest is exceeding our early expectations, and I’m very excited for its future.”

The recent Cohn Southwest client wins coincide with other notable new client additions for Cohn. Serramonte Center, Lerner Enterprises and RK Mechanical recently selected Cohn for brand development and marketing services. Like Galleria Dallas, both Serramonte Center and Lerner Enterprises fall within Cohn’s primary vertical market: retail real estate.

“In the past six months, we’ve seen a lot more activity in the retail real estate space, which is a positive sign about financial health of the industry,” said Jeff Cohn, owner and chief brand strategist at Cohn. “As more companies begin to rethink and reenergize their marketing efforts to grow business, our retail expertise has us in position to reap the benefits and bring on more new business.

Consistently recognized as one of the most popular and celebrated shopping destinations in the U.S., Galleria Dallas is a 1.9 million square foot shopping center that hosts 19 million visitors each year. Cohn Southwest, which was opened earlier this year, will be leading Galleria Dallas with ongoing brand development and marketing strategy as its Agency of Record.

Serramonte Center is a super-regional shopping mall located in Daly City, Calif., and is one of the San Francisco market’s prominent retail outlets. Cohn will be assisting Serramonte Center with ongoing brand development and marketing strategy as its Agency of Record.

Lerner Enterprises is Washington, D.C.’s largest private real estate developer and focuses on all phases of commercial, residential, retail, hotel and mixed-use real estate. Cohn will be working with Lerner for one of Washington D.C.’s premier shopping destinations, Dulles Town Center.

“I’m also very excited about our work with RK Mechanical, a staple of mechanical contracting in the Rocky Mountain region and beyond,” Cohn said. “With our deep roots in B2B marketing, we’re looking forward to helping with their branding and marketing needs.”

RK Mechanical is a Colorado-based full service mechanical contracting company that provides plumbing, piping and sheet metal fabrication and installation solutions for projects around the world. RK Mechanical offers a commercial services group, whose clientele includes Property Managers, Building Owners and Large NNN tenants. Cohn will be developing a brand strategy, brand architecture and logo, target market messaging and brand book and style guide, as well as creative execution.

“One of the things that attracted us to Cohn Marketing was its ability to build on a company’s foundation, past successes and legacy to tell its ‘brandstory’ more effectively to a highly-targeted audience,” said Randa McMinn, vice president of marketing at SRS Real Estate Partners. “SRS has a very rich and unique story to tell in the market, and we’re looking forward to working with Cohn to enhance our brand to better reflect that.”

SRS Real Estate Partners has a 25-year history in the retail real estate industry. The company was founded in 1986 by Roger Staubach and Chris Maguire as Staubach Retail Services, and it has since evolved and taken on the name SRS Real Estate Partners. With 250 retail specialists in 21 offices nationwide, SRS Real Estate Partners is a market leader in the retail real estate industry.

“SRS is one of the most respected and esteemed real estate firms in the country, and we’re very excited to work with them to refresh and enhance the legacy and the brand of SRS Real Estate Partners,” said Jeff Cohn, CEO and chief brand strategist at Cohn Marketing.

Cohn Marketing, which is headquartered in Denver, opened its Dallas office under the name Cohn Southwest earlier this year. With strong ties to the area and an understanding of SRS Real Estate Partners’ heritage, Cohn Southwest will be working with the Dallas-based retail property management company with its brand enhancements.

“We are thrilled, absolutely thrilled to be working with SRS on enhancing its brand identity in the coming months. This is a company that is known across the country for its outstanding work in the retail real estate space, and we’re looking forward to building on its fantastic reputation,” said Ron Brady, vice president of Cohn Southwest.

Cohn Marketing was recognized for its philanthropic, 10-year anniversary effort “Cohn Gives Back to ‘The Power of 10’” and its acclaimed holiday program “The Noerr Programs: Santa Goes Social.” Other notable B2 winners include industry giants Accenture, Siemens, Hewlett-Packard and Monsanto.

“This is extraordinary news, and I commend the entire Cohn team for creating such strategic and creative solutions that get the attention of the best in the country,” said Jeff Cohn, CEO and Chief Brand Strategist. “These two awards support what has already been a very successful year for Cohn, in which we were recognized nationally and locally for groundbreaking brand development, creative, interactive and public relations campaigns.”

In the past year, Cohn has been recognized by a multitude of marketing organizations and secured the following prestigious awards:

• ReBrand – 1 Global ReBrand 100 award
• International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) – 2 MAXI awards
• BMA Colorado – Best Creative of the Year, 3 Gold Key awards, 1 Silver Key
• American Marketing Association (AMA), Colorado – 1 Peak Award, 1 Bronze Peak Award
• Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), Colorado – 1 Silver Pick

“Online marketing, rooted in brand, is a critical element to communications programs today,” said Jeff Cohn, CEO and chief brand strategist for Cohn Marketing. “The online landscape offers the opportunity to develop measurable programs that can be directly linked back to business success, which makes it a really exciting medium to work within. We are honored to have received this recognition from the American Marketing Association and extend our congratulations to all the winners.”

Developed and designed for The Noerr Programs, a provider of Santa photo experiences at shopping centers and military installations nationwide, “BeMerrySanta Goes Social” is an integrated social media program that enables Santa to directly interact with his admirers, reward their good behavior, and encourage them to visit him at the nearest Noerr Program’s Santa photo set for a special treat. The program was successful in positioning The Noerr Programs as strategic partner to its largest business-to-business customer. In addition, the company’s sales increased as the program helped to drive more consumers to its sets, and Facebook acknowledged BeMerrySanta on its page as part of its “12 Days of Facebook” promotion, capturing the eyeballs of more than 33 million people.

Best Creative of the Year: Cohn Marketing’s “Power of 10″

Gold Key for B2B Self-Promotion: Cohn Marketing’s “Power of 10″

Gold Key for Social Media – Facebook Page/Tab: The Noerr Programs’ “Santa Goes Social”

Gold Key for Product Literature/Collateral Material – Product- or Service-Specific Brochure or Catalog: Guildford Town Centre “Development Brochure”

Silver Key for Public Relations – Single PR Effort: OPXBIO Scores on PR

The Gold Key Awards is recognized as Colorado’s most prestigious competition dedicated solely to business-to-business marketing communications. This year’s program had almost 150 entries from Colorado’s top B2B businesses and agencies. Entries were reviewed by a panel of six independent judges from across the country representing agency and corporate marketing professionals. Less than 17 percent of the entries received a Gold award and only 20 percent of the entries received a Silver award.

The Social Media Pavilion at RECon 2011 (rendering)

As part of a new addition to the annual Global Retail Real Estate Convention (RECon) in Las Vegas, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) has asked Cohn Marketing to staff and program the new Social Media Pavilion, which is designed to inform and educate convention attendees on the evolution of social media in retail today.

RECon, which will occur May 22 to 25 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, is the world’s largest gathering of retail real estate professionals, and it attracts an international audience of 30,000 attendees.

With up to 18 flat-screen monitors available for programming, Cohn Marketing will offer attendees on-site counsel, real-time case studies, a series of classroom presentations and a central location for guests to stay plugged in while at RECon 2011.

A leader in retail real estate marketing, Cohn Marketing will be highlighting some of its own recent social media campaigns (ShopStar, BeMerry! Santa and The Power of 10), as well as other relevant industry examples, to better educate RECon guests on best practices within the world of social media.

Follow us at @CohnMarketing for programming updates as we finalize our presentation schedule, and we’ll see you in Las Vegas!