Advertising PR Media
Setting the table
How the executives at Liggett Stashower helped area nonprofits succeed
By Kristy J. O’Hara
Smart Business Cleveland | December 2007
Last year, the Cleveland Foodbank faced a challenge: How could
it get people in Northeast Ohio to realize that its Harvest for
Hunger campaign was more than simply a food drive without
diminishing the community’s already strong support? Enter Liggett
Stashower, a branding, advertising and public relations firm.
Led by CEO Mark Nylander, President and Executive
Creative Director David Moore, Chief Operating Officer Steve
Veres and Executive Vice President Marilyn Chase, Liggett
Stashower helped the food bank create a campaign to raise
money for the organization in addition to its food donations.
The firm launched a “What will you bring to the table?” campaign that centered around several forms of advertising as well
as static clings for vending machines, so people would think
about the topic when they themselves were hungry.
Through various forms of media, public service announcements, posters and online advertising, Nylander’s team
worked to educate people how far their financial donations to
the food bank could go because of the resources it had to economically buy food to feed many people.
Additionally, it launched a Brown Bag Day campaign, encouraging people to pack their lunches and donate the money they
saved from not eating out to the Cleveland Foodbank.
Liggett Stashower’s campaign worked. Cash donations
increased by more than $400,000 — 20 percent — from 2005 to
2006 and raised a total of $2.4 million to feed families in
Northeast Ohio. The campaign grew again this year, reaching
$2.6 million and Brown Bag Day is now an annual component
of the Harvest for Hunger drive.
Liggett Stashower didn’t stop there either. On top of the
Cleveland Foodbank, it also provided pro bono and financial
resources for the American Diabetes Association, Community
Care Network, Community Shares, Friends of Paraiso, Habitat
for Humanity, Hospice of the Western Reserve, Junior
Achievement, Prevent Blindness Ohio, the Ronald McDonald House
of Cleveland and the United Way of Greater Cleveland. Additionally,
employees have volunteered their time with more than 17 local
organizations, proving that both time and money can help, as
long as people are doing what they enjoy and what they do
best.
HOW TO REACH: Liggett Stashower, (216) 348-8500 or www.liggett.com
