Get Crackin' 2013 - I told you it would be great, and did I lie?

If you were there, you already know that the first ever “Get Crackin’” private bunch to benefit Feeding South Florida on April 21 was beyond a success. In my last blog post, the title was “On the Menu: Good Food & Goodwill.” Well, I understated. It was more along the lines of “Fantastic Food & Amazing Goodwill!”

If you weren’t there (and why not?), here’s what you missed -

Almost $80,000 was raised at the event, which will support Feeding South Florida’s mission: to end hunger in South Florida by providing immediate access to nutritious food, leading hunger and poverty advocacy efforts, and by transforming lives through innovative programming and education.

I was honored, along with Feeding South Florida’s CEO Paco Velez, to present the following honorees with awards before thunderous applause (yes, thunderous) --  local celebrity chef and Honoree Allen Susser, Media Hero Honoree The Miami Herald & El Nuevo Herald, and Corporate Citizenship Honoree Southern Wine & Spirits. The awards recognized their devotion to helping the nearly 1 million children, seniors and families that Feeding South Florida serves in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties.

Diana Brooks and Paco Velez with this year's honorees.

And the very, very best part? We all ate scrumptious Joe’s cuisine and signature Mimosas without a wait, while enjoying the music of Leo Casino. So we ate great for a fantastic cause. 

Now a little sponsor love because everyone knows you can’t do an event right without superlative sponsors. Sincere thanks to our:

60,000 meal sponsor: JM Family Enterprises, Inc., 

30,000 meal sponsors: Simply Healthcare Plans and Beam Global Spirits, 

27,000 meal sponsor: CarePlus, 

15,000 meal sponsors: MBAF Certified Public Accountants and Advisors, and Adkins & Associates, 9,000 meal sponsor: Patrón Tequila, 

6,000 meal sponsors: Jordan Winery and TD Bank, 

2,500 meal sponsor: Diageo, 

1,000 meal sponsor: Sprint, and liquor sponsor Pernod Ricard USA/Chivas.

OK, who’s ready to start planning for 2014?

Diana brooks

dbrooks@vsbrooks.com

Hiding in plain sight

You’re never more aware of an ad or a message until you’re paying attention. Believe me, as an advertising firm, we get it.

Car ads don’t ring a bell until your ride starts making funny sounds. Billboards for a vacation don’t catch your eye until you’re completely frazzled, and that new restaurant doesn’t intrigue you until you’ve got a hot date. My point being, the ads were always there; you just weren’t paying attention.

Hunger is like that. It is all around you. Really, it is. It is literally hiding in plain sight. That woman standing next to you in the store, her child is hungry. The guy serving you at your favorite bar, his elderly mother is starving. The people you pass every day have problems, issues and challenges, we know. But did you know that one of their most pressing problems is feeding themselves and their families?

Attempting to get people to pay attention to a challenge that does not affect them directly can be like running an ad for a product no one needs at that moment. Folks just don’t seem to care, so we are doing everything we can to capture their focus. The Miami Herald sees the hunger as we do – glaring, ugly and difficult – so they ran an opinion piece I authored on the subject. As the chair of Feeding South Florida, I hope you take a moment to read it, then another moment to do something about it. Feeding South Florida can help you help others easily.

Hunger is doing a lousy job of fading away, so let’s take a hard, long look at it, shall we?

Shopping for healthcare is not like shopping for shoes or food – not yet anyway – but it’s getting there.

Today, television commercials for prescription medications put the decision-making power squarely in the hands of the consumer, who then can request a drug by name. Informational sites, such as www.webmd.com, allow visitors to make an initial diagnosis, while data- and survey-driven sites (www.HospitalCompare.hhs.gov) let customers choose their hospitals, based on what previous customers had to say. That’s right – customers – not patients. They are browsing before they buy.

The traditional “clinical” way of marketing healthcare services, doctors, clinics and hospitals has given way to a more personalized, interactive approach, one that assumes the consumer is educated, curious and engaged in his or her own care. Even insurance companies are becoming more approachable and friendly to appeal to the “shopper” in us all, employing the use of storefronts once reserved for buying fun, retail-y stuff, like clothes and furniture." Diana Brooks was quoted in a recent Miami Herald Business Monday Article saying that, "Some of them are doing kiosks in malls, and those are geared more to the individuals. What I see, though, is that right now, they’re having to advertise a lot more aggressively and go out there and find the people. The people aren’t necessarily walking in so much. And that’s just a function of the economy."

How do we know all this? VSBrooks Advertising has more than 15 years of experience in healthcare marketing and advertising. We know the consumer and their mindset, and we know the tools at their disposal are changing. We help our clients keep up and get in front of the curve.

What are you doing to help your potential customers make an informed decision?

Diana is in great company!

Diana has been featured in Ocean Drive Magazine's October issue "The List" and she's in great company (and she's the only woman on the list)! "The List" is Ocean Drive's movers and shakers page in South Florida.  Click here to see a bigger image.

Aside from co-owning the marketing force that is VSBrooks Advertising, she is also the Board Chairperson at Feeding South Florida.

Congrats D!