Table of Contents
Award-Winning Project is Giant Help for Adelphia
Adelphia Communications Corporation wanted
an eye-catching way to promote its Power Link broadband,
high-speed internet service. The Greenwood Village, Colo.,
company is best known for its TV prowess—it’s the
country’s fifth-largest cable TV firm—but it also
offers analog and digital video services, high-speed internet
access and other advanced services over its broadband networks.
Seeking new Power Link customers, Adelphia
hoped to entice patrons at Best Buy and Circuit City retail
outlets. With a limited budget, the firm turned to Giant Ideas,
a Pittsburgh-area marketing and advertising firm, to turn the
goal into a reality.
Giant Ideas is one of three Pittsburgh-area
companies working in concert to provide advertising, direct
mail, printing, database management and human resources
services to clients nationwide. The other two firms are Giant
Solutions and Giant Insights. Here’s how the companies
operate: Launched by Bryan K. Ward in November 2001, Giant
Ideas devises creative marketing and advertising projects. Its
clients include heavy-hitters in the communications and
entertainment industries such as Comcast, Cox Communications
and HBO. It has 33 employees in two offices (its Denver
location opened in December 2003) and ranks as
Pittsburgh’s fifth largest advertising agency. Giant
Solutions, which launched in 2003, is a direct mail, database
management, printing and multimedia solutions company that
often executes Giant Ideas’ ideas. Giant Insights, added
in August 2004, is a human resources firm that provides an
online evaluation, training and retention strategy for
corporations and small businesses. Ward is CEO of Giant Ideas;
Lee Greenblatt is president and CEO of Giant Solutions and
Giant Insights. (When Ward launched Giant Ideas, Greenblatt was
its sales arm, introducing clients to the firm and coordinating
printing.)
“Partnering is the way to do business
today, and forming strategic alliances is the way we’ve
grown our business,” Greenblatt says. “This way, we
can analyze what clients truly want and give them smart,
customized solutions. Clients can choose which Giant partner or
combination of partners is best suited for their
projects.” Combined, the three companies’ 2003
revenue was $7.6 million. By the end of 2005, Ward predicts,
Giant Ideas will account for 75 percent of total revenue, Giant
Insights will account for 15 percent and Giant Solutions will
account for 10 percent.
To help Adelphia promote Power Link, Giant
Ideas married the theme of “test driving” to a
packaging system that included a CD and CD display case, bag
stuffers, shelf talkers and 32 x 14-inch posters.
Automobile-related promotional text told potential Adelphia
high-speed internet buyers that the company offered “more
horsepower” (connections faster than dial-up),
“more leg room” (extra bandwidth) and
“sleeker styling” (no busy signals or additional
phone lines). The concept was well received by Adelphia, and
the project earned Giant Ideas a Gold MARK award at the Cable
& Telecommunications Association for Marketing convention
in 2003.
—Darin Painter
Ward Keeps Winning
Bryan K. Ward, founder and CEO of Giant
Ideas, Pittsburgh’s fifth-largest creative marketing and
advertising firm, is on a winning streak. Here are some
accolades he and his firm have received:
• In May 2004, Giant Ideas won
“Best Creative Organization” at the second annual
American Business Awards (also known as the “Stevie
Awards”) in New York City. Judges included Rich Karlgaad,
publisher of Forbes, and Donald Trump, president and CEO of The
Trump Organization.
• Ward was one of eight regional
winners in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2004
competition. He won the top award in the “Realizing
Business Potential” category, which came with a $10,000
cash grant from Microsoft.
• The Pittsburgh Business Times
recently named Ward as one of the city’s 2004
“Fastrackers,” a recognition of 50 area
professionals under the age of 45 who make a difference to
their businesses and communities.
Quote
“Forming strategic alliances is the
way we’ve grown our business. This way, we can analyze
what clients truly want and give them smart, customized
solutions.”
Lee Greenblatt, President and CEO
Giant Solutions/Giant Insights, Pittsburgh
To help Adelphia Communications Corporation
promote its Power Link broadband, high-speed internet service,
Giant Ideas married the theme of “test driving” to
a packaging system that included a CD and CD display case, bag
stuffers, shelf talkers and 32 x 14-inch posters.
