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One Hundred & Thirteen Designs, Tweets and Posts

January 28, 2010 – 3:24 pm
A sculptor friend of ours is working on a larger-than-life piece honoring beloved Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas to be installed somewhere in the artist's hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A huge Phillies fan and a native son of the city of brotherly love, this is his dream project. Sometimes work works out that way, it's more fun than it oughta be. It was a similar situation when VFC was asked to provide marketing support for Sly Fox Brewing's Route 113 India Pale Ale in a can! Sly Fox Brewing isn't just a Virtual Farm Creative client, they're friends and we are huge fans! We genuinely love their entire impressive lineup of beer varieties, but our hands-down favorite has gotta be the IPA! Being outdoor enthusiasts who also enjoy a tasty beverage after a mountain bike ride or during an al fresco concert, we're equally enamored with the fact that beer THIS GOOD and ...

Posted in Clients, Todd Palmer, advertising, branding, campaigns, social media | No Comments »

Killer Apps & Elegant Devices

January 27, 2010 – 8:30 pm
YOU'RE GOING TO HEAR A LOT about the newest gadget from Apple, the iPad, between now and the time the next life altering invention comes along, but we just had to add our critical two cents. The iPad isn't going to help the earthquake victims of Haiti or the jobless in America so it seems kind of trite to give it the praise that we're about to, but it is the device that will change the game. It may be surpassed by other improved devices but the iPad is a unicorn in a room full of mules. Hear me out. In the early nineties, the Internet in it's infancy, experts were all trying to define- if not develop- the "killer app". This was the application that would do everything for everybody, seamlessly and easily. Google has started to, finally, twenty years later, put all of the pieces together. In the same ...

Posted in Internet, Todd Palmer, naming | No Comments »

Global Opportunities

January 16, 2010 – 9:47 pm
VFC has done some packaging design for U.S. manufacturers developing goods in China and, almost every time, there is a communications breakdown. Believe it or not, in most instances the manufacturer of the product makes the packaging in the same plant. And these plants are pretty unsophisticated. I'm not talking about Matel or Walmart suppliers whose U.S. management has gone in hot and heavy with western management and quality control but the tens of thousands of smaller suppliers that U.S. manufacturers and distributors use to bring goods to market. Most of these suppliers are owned and run by people who still, in 2010, speak very little English. Even in this second decade of the new century the language barrier isn't the only obstacle facing the Chinese companies intent on partnering with western distributors. That is a contributing factor but many of these manufacturers are severely behind in the technology curve. We've been ...

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Sexy 12 packs

January 8, 2010 – 9:51 am
Chester County Pennsylvania's Sly Fox Brewing is brewing up some big changes in their offering including the canning and distribution of something brand new. More about that in a few days. For now check out these compelling twelve pack outer cartons, strategized and designed by VFC. If you're a fan of Sly Fox, microbrews or compelling design, you'll want to stay tuned to this blog for some big announcements or sign up for the Sly Fox newsletter here. [caption id="attachment_265" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Delicious cans in beautiful 12-pack cartons!"][/caption]

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County firm leads quest for Kalas statue

January 5, 2010 – 9:21 am
DAILY LOCAL NEWS By BRIAN McCULLOUGH, Staff Writer EAST PIKELAND — Hard to believe, Harry. [caption id="attachment_254" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Phoenixville-based Virtual Farm Creative Inc. is leading a grassroots campaign that seeks to memorialize Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas."][/caption] Well, maybe not. A Phoenixville-area advertising agency is stepping to the plate to lead a grassroots campaign that seeks memorialize the late, beloved broadcaster of the Philadelphia Phillies, Harry Kalas. Kalas' rich baritone voice fell silent on April 13, only a few games into a 2009 season that followed the team's second championship in its 126-year history. "This year just wasn't the same," lamented Todd Palmer, 44, of East Vincent, whose Virtual Farm Creative Inc. is donating promotional support for the effort. Palmer teamed with his college roommate, sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, and two others to start Dear Harry Inc., a nonprofit group that's raising funds for a Nowlan-created statue of Kalas. So far, the group has raised $15,000 on its Web ...

Posted in Public Relations, Todd Palmer, campaigns, sports | No Comments »

Main Line Financial Advisors Adopts Branding to Match Service Quality

December 16, 2009 – 8:35 am
Main Line Financial Advisors, Pottstown, Pennsylvania, recently elected to step-up marketing efforts by partnering with local award-winning advertising agency, Virtual Farm Creative (VFC). The Phoenixville, Pennsylvania-based agency will be charged with strategizing efforts to rebrand and position Main Line Financial Advisors while increasing visibility with the development of a professional and competitive marketing campaign. December 16, 2009 -- Main Line Financial Advisors, Pottstown, Pennsylvania, recently elected to step-up marketing efforts by partnering with local award-winning advertising agency, Virtual Farm Creative (VFC). The Phoenixville, Pennsylvania-based agency will be charged with strategizing efforts to rebrand and position Main Line Financial Advisors while increasing visibility with the development of a professional and competitive marketing campaign. Main Line Financial Advisors new brand will set the standard for web development and an aggressive collateral campaign. As a brand, Main Line Financial Advisors is nearly fifty-years-old. Founder, Fred Matarazzo started the company by independently delivering reliable accounting services to ...

Posted in Clients, Public Relations, Todd Palmer, branding, copy writing, identity | No Comments »

Kalas Statue Gains Momentum

December 14, 2009 – 4:50 pm
Philadelphia Fans Promote Memorial to Harry the K Phoenixville, PA, December 14, 2009 --  Last week, after announcing plans to fund and build a permanent monument to the beloved Philadelphia Phillies' broadcaster, Harry Kalas, the movement has gained significant ground. Harry Kalas, whose Hall of Fame baritone voice was silenced on April 13, 2009, touched the lives of millions of Philadelphians for nearly forty years as the play-by-play voice of the 2008 World Series Champions. On November 26, the non-profit group, Dear Harry, Inc., released an official announcement that they would begin collecting donations to create an original, larger-than-life-sized monument that, upon completion, would be gifted to the Philadelphia Phillies. Since then the effort has spread throughout the region, gathering more interest and garnering an impressive amount of support. The launch of a donation collecting web site, www.harrykalasstatue.com, and promotions in regional press and on numerous blogs has given the people behind the ...

Posted in Public Relations, Todd Palmer, campaigns | No Comments »

Philadelphia’s awful new logo

December 10, 2009 – 10:56 am
The logo might be awful but the tag line is worse. Thanks so much for giving VFC a shot Philly! We love ya back!

Posted in Todd Palmer, branding, identity | No Comments »

High Hopes for a Harry Kalas Memorial Statue

December 10, 2009 – 10:49 am
To all Harry Kalas friends and fans: A movement is underway to build a 7-foot-high Harry Kalas bronzed statue that will be donated from Phillies fans to the Phillies. Renowned sculptor Lawrence Nolan (a Philly native who now lives in New Hampshire) is donating his time for this project and already has built a 22-inch model statue. (I have seen pictures of the model which have yet to be  released and Lawrence's work is simply amazing). As the author of Harry the K (a life-story book on Harry that will be released in March 2010), I can tell you that the Kalas family is fully behind this project. We need to raise $80,000 for the statue. That sounds like a lot, but it's only $10 for 8,000 Phillies fans. Whether you opt to donate $1 or $100 or nothing, please pass along this email, post it to your Facebook page and/or Twitter ...

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Streamlined project management you can get excited about!

December 9, 2009 – 5:46 pm
The centuries-old question, 'could God create a rock so heavy that God could not lift it?' has, thanks to snarky web wonks (three words that were introduced to the human lexicon since that question was first posed), been modified to, 'could Jesus microwave a burrito so hot that even he couldn't eat it?' Same metaphorical, chicken and egg head-scratcher all zazzed up for the age of the Internet! VFC recently pondered these paradoxes, and even deeper ones like- 'what if there were no more trees,' when we asked ourselves, "can a company whose core competency is to use paper, stop using paper?" How difficult is it for an advertising/marketing/design/public relations firm to stop using paper? How difficult is it for a taxi operation to not use gas? If you're out there, scratching your head, the answer to both rhetorical questions is. "pretty freakin' hard." Pretty freakin' hard, but not impossible There are cab companies ...

Posted in Todd Palmer, VFC NEWS, service | No Comments »