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Blue Collar Interactive Awards Sseko Designs $100,000 in Agency Services to "JumpStart" Their Business in 2013
HOOD RIVER, OR, Mar 12, 2013 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) --
Interactive advertising agency Blue Collar Interactive today
announced the winner of their JumpStart campaign
(http://www.bluecollaragency.com/jumpstart) to award $100,000 in
agency services to the emerging company demonstrating the greatest
need for a marketing turbo boost. The winner who ultimately delivered
the best pitch is Sseko Designs, a footwear and accessories company
based in Portland, Ore. who uses fashion to empower and educate women
in Uganda to end the cycle of poverty. Blue Collar is working with
Sseko to help tell their inspirational story through brand
development, a complete website redesign and digital marketing.
"Our judges were overwhelmed by the passion and ideas that were
shared by the 24 companies who entered," said Rob McCready, partner
and account director with Blue Collar. "Sseko demonstrated their
passion as an emerging company in a challenging market with an
incredible mission that carries through to their brand and products.
It's refreshing and inspiring to see a company creating beautiful,
handcrafted products while making a positive impact on the world.
We're excited to help them grow their business."
For three years, Sseko has been on a mission to sell one million
pairs of Sseko sandals and empower thousands of women to bring change
to their lives and their communities in Uganda. Leading up to the
campaign, demand for Sseko products always outpaced supply as the
founders worked to create an infrastructure for manufacturing and
export to build a sustainable industry for the East African
community. Sseko now employs 40 women and is the largest exporter of
footwear in the country. Today they are positioned to produce at a
larger scale to meet demand, but truly needed a "jumpstart" to fuel
their online marketing strategy, so they decided to make their pitch.
Sseko has decided cash in on the services they won with a complete
website overhaul including brand development, user experience design,
a scalable e-commerce platform, mobile design, SEO, social media
integration and a digital marketing push.
Finding a company like Sseko fulfilled the goal of what Blue Collar
Interactive and their partner, SwellPath, a digital marketing and
measurement agency, set out to achieve when creating the JumpStart
campaign. The agencies invited U.S. business owners to submit their
most compelling pitch, explaining why their company deserved the
$100,000 in-kind prize. Blue Collar and SwellPath judges then
selected their top five finalists based on company vision, elevator
pitch and passion -- then the public voted for their favorite.
The five JumpStart finalists included: Handful Inc., We Make Movies,
Aquamira Technologies, CPUsage and Sseko Designs -- all talented
entrepreneurs with unique products and services. After over 30,000
unique visits to the JumpStart website and 7,513 votes, Sseko Designs
edged out Handful, Inc. by only 124 votes in the final hours of
voting.
"We really rallied our social media networks and everyone on our team
sent out personal emails. It's amazing to see how people will rally
when they believe they have the power to help someone else," said Liz
Bohannon, founder of Sseko Designs. "This is super exciting for us.
The $100,000 will help us establish a stronger online presence to
tell our story, create more demand and potentially employ thousands
of women in Uganda."
About Sseko Designs
Sseko Designs is a footwear and accessories
company based in Uganda who believes in the power of fashion and
business to help consumers change the world, one sandal at a time.
Sseko Designs uses fashion to provide employment and scholarship
opportunities to women pursuing their dreams in overcoming poverty.
Every Sseko sandal or accessory is handmade by a group of young women
in Uganda who make sandals to finance their university education. To
learn more and to shop the Sseko Designs online store, visit
http://www.ssekodesigns.com
About Blue Collar Interactive
Blue Collar is a full-service
interactive advertising agency with a passion for hard-working ideas,
strategic creative and rock-solid development. Co-founded by three
partners with more than 40-years of collective creative and client
service experience, the agency offers a well-balanced suite of
creative and strategic services backed by blue collar values of hard
work, creative problem solving and a can-do attitude. At the core,
Blue Collar is a group of adept, creative, and informed
problem-solvers who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. For more
information about Blue Collar Interactive, visit
http://www.bluecollaragency.com.
About SwellPath
SwellPath is a digital measurement and search
marketing agency based in Portland, Oregon. The agency focuses on
helping clients put data driven marketing programs in place. This
manifests through Google Analytics and social analytics consulting,
SEO consulting, and digital advertising management services. Clients
cover a range of verticals, and include Nike, Intel, Jive Software,
KEEN Footwear, WebMD, and Activision. For more information on
SwellPath, visit: http://www.swellpath.com.
Media Contact:
Jami Beaton Eidsvold
714.609.4665
Email Contact
SOURCE: Blue Collar Interactive
http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct id=58230EF7F77BBB86
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