The 8THIRTYFOUR 2020 Recap

We shared with you our favorite stories of 2020, cause we all needed to remember that 2020 wasn’t ALL bad.

We did some really cool stuff this year, from launching several campaigns on a one-week timeline to working with South African women artisans to bring their products to the U.S. through a new gift box service…and you might’ve heard we made the Forbes Top PR Firms of 2021.

So 2020 wasn’t a complete loss, even if we will be very happy to see it go. Here’s a look at some of our favorite projects in 2020.

Healthy Battle Creek

PPE Kits handed out in Battle Creek


We never shy away from a challenge, and we jumped at the opportunity to assist New Level Sports Ministries. We helped them create a brand, campaign strategy, messaging, website, social media, creative, mailers, public relations and more…all in a week. Yep, a week to ensure communities of color in Battle Creek had access to PPE from our favorite client, STEWART Industries. PPE and over 40,000 lbs of food was delivered prior to Thanksgiving, along with educational material encouraging families to stay home and stay safe. This is the kind of shit we LOVE doing. Why? Cause we get to make a difference.

Mana Boxes

Mana Boxes. Every curated piece tells a story


Where do we even start with this project? We were approached by our client, MK Advisors to launch a subscription box service in the U.S. filled with handmade wares from South African artisans. These women were hit particularly hard by the pandemic and needed to replace lost income, which is where Mana Boxes stepped in. We tackled strategy, branding, launched a Kickstarter campaign, developed a website, managed a photoshoot, and so much more. Check them out at www.manaboxes.com. We’ll be launching their full ecommerce site in 2021

Opportunity Awaits

Opportunity Awaits


It’s no secret we love West Michigan, so when we heard we could help promote our region, we jumped at the chance. For the Grand Rapids Chamber Opportunity Awaits campaign, we created the brand, messaging, marketing strategy, and website all in two weeks, and now we’re overseeing social media. Why? Because we need the world to know how awesome our community is.

Alpine Events

A white tent at an outdoor event


We got to watch a new brand that we created come to life, even if a pandemic crushed the events industry. We incorporated their new brand into all of their materials and spent the downtime of the pandemic creating a new website to take them into a new, and hopefully more event-full year (get it?).

STEWART Industries

STEWART Medical


We launched a Foreign Trade Zone, and when the pandemic hit, we helped the company pivot from sub-assembly to PPE kits and COVID Prevention. This line of business is still going strong for the company. We created a landing page and logo, managed public relations, launched digital ads, and so much more. They also launched STEWART Medical, which we had the honor of working with them on.

Project Barfly (Formally BarFly Ventures)

Stella's Cloud at Home


The company has had a wild year, but they have been the definition of pivoting. With new ownership and a company rebrand, they gained national media attention in the wake of a rough stretch for restaurants. Additionally, Project Barfly launched a new concept called Stella’s Cloud Kitchen, as a ghost kitchen concept that has plans to expand and scale to all of their HopCat locations. We helped manage their influencer marketing, press releases, and ongoing PR and media relations.

The Dunes

The Dunes Resort logo


We helped one of the most impacted businesses of the pandemic navigate their busiest season with grace and no related COVID outbreaks. The team had to completely shift weekend event plans with each EO and create new event themes as gatherings became unavailable. We maintained a presence over the course of the summer and avoided all major PR blunders by being proactive instead of reactive.

We realized when we started writing this that we can’t condense all of 2020 into one blog. We’ll be back with part 2 after the New Year. In the meantime, reach out to us to help with your 2021 planning.

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