Latest News
When we say “work with our clients,” we mean work with our clients
11/05/2007
New Orleans, LA – MMRI takes pride in going beyond typical tactical marketing agency duties to do whatever it takes to help our clients achieve objectives. For client Trex Company, for example, we helped theme, design, organize, and coordinate the October 10-12 Trex 2007 Distributor Meeting in New Orleans. In addition to normal agency functions, three of our staff pitched in with 160 or so of Trex’s building material distributor partners, employees, and contractors to work (yes, real work!) with Habitat for Humanity to rebuild homes in the Big Easy’s Katrina-battered upper Ninth Ward.
MMRI General Manager Donnie Schoen swung a hammer. Art Director Seth Nickerson put on his Staff Photographer hat and documented the pounding, ripping, toting, hauling, and blister counting. Event Coordinator Ingrid Gil shoved a wheelbarrow from house to house to keep the hammer swingers, sawyers, crowbar-wielders, and insulation stuffers supplied.
Trex put its wood composite products, manpower, and muscle into what was later billed a “new social and environmental responsibility initiative to “help rebuild New Orleans with donations of time and decking products.” That’s one journalist’s way of saying that Trex donated building materials and a full day of work from over 160 people to help rebuild homes in the famed Musician’s Village, a project initiated by Harry Connick, Jr, and Branford and Ellis Marsalis. Musician’s Village will house displaced New Orleans musicians and other Ninth Ward families.
Trex executive Mitch Cox praised the efforts of his team (including us, thank you very much): “According to Habitat for Humanity people, the Trex team turned in far more finished results than any group in recent history — maybe of all time. That’s partly due, I’m sure, to the number of professional contractors on board, but you have to remember that these guys are accustomed to using pneumatic nail drivers and other powered tools, and one of the conditions of working on a Habitat for Humanity project is that you can use only hand tools. That just proves that no matter the conditions, Trex people come through in world- class style.”
Beyond labor, Trex donates goods
During the event, Trex Company, the category leader in high-performance alternative decking, railing, and fencing products made with recycled materials, announced it will contribute decking products toward rebuilding efforts, starting with $75,000 worth of the “environmentally green” decking materials — enough for more than 40 single-family homes, or a number of public walkway and marina projects.
The work wasn’t easy, according to Ingrid Gil, who showed both muscle and style when wheeling her wheelbarrow from site to site. “I’m just grateful it’s such a beautiful day,” she said, referring to the almost balmy, sunny, mid-seventies day. On other occasions, volunteer groups have encountered high heat, humidity, and insects — not to mention post-flood conditions.
Even the Chief adds muscle to the project
Joining Trex Company employees and distributor partner volunteers from around the country as they built walls, shingled roofs, painted walls, and laid foundations for homes within the Village, Trex Chief Executive Officer Andy Ferrari welcomed a break to comment on Trex’s sense of the project. An easy-going, first-name kind of leader, Andy said, “Trex is a company founded on green principles and values.” He added that this initiative demonstrates “our belief that as the leader in this industry, we have a responsibility and unique opportunity to be part of the solution to environmental and community challenges. The initial priority for many local residents has been basic shelter. At this point in the rebuilding, improving the lifestyle of those affected is becoming a key objective.” He went on to note that “We’re eager to acknowledge and support the community and neighborhood building that takes place on a backyard deck or public dock. We appreciate that our distributor network is fully supportive, and our retail customers have been very encouraging of our ongoing efforts to make a positive difference.”
Andy added, “Our work in New Orleans is just one more example that, as more consumers recycle their plastic supermarket grocery bags, we will put them to good use.” The same can be said for the houses going up in Musician’s Village.
Tired, scratched, and band-aided, hungry, and thirsty, Trex and MMRI team members joined in post-workday events that included food, beverage of choice, entertainment, and gatherings with Habitat for Humanity officials for information-sharing, lessons-learned debriefings, and planning for future joint ventures.
It’s one thing to sketch out and design a promotional mailer, banners, table tent cards, and other event materials — all the while pushing nothing much heavier than a computer mouse. It’s quite another to grip a 16- or 20-ounce hammer, handsaw, heavy sander, drill, or wrecking bar and wield it for 8 or more hours, with occasional breaks for coffee, pastry, a light lunch, or a cup of water from a construction-site cooler.
But that’s one of the differences between MMRI and the typical boutique agency or $250 an hour big shop. And by the way — MMRI labor hours didn’t show up on an invoice anywhere, in any form. We were just glad to get the free coffee and line up at the lunch wagon for the construction-site munchies with the rest of the volunteers. As Ingrid Gil commented though, as she noted the splits and chips on her normally well-manicured nails, “Claire Booth Luce was right. No good deed shall go unpunished.”