Jacksonville Business Journal has selected Brunet-García’s Kate Jolley for the 2018 class of 40 Under 40 honorees for her business success, leadership skills, and community involvement.
“But those who were picked go beyond even that high bar: They also must be involved in shaping the community in which they live and work,” Managing Editor James Cannon wrote on the publication’s website. “The honorees were picked in consultation with a range of Jacksonville’s business leaders, a true sign of the impact they have had on the First Coast.”
Known at Brunet-García Advertising for her disciplined approach to crafting communications campaigns for public, private, and nonprofit clients, Jolley also leads traffic for the agency, which has experienced significant growth over the past three years. She manages the workload of 30 employees—based in four cities—to ensure all projects meet their designated timelines, stay within allotted budgets, and seamlessly coordinate the many variables required for complex, multilingual communications campaigns. Her efficient work has helped increased profit margins at the agency through more streamlined project management.
“I’ve known Kate since she was in the third grade, but we lost touch with her during her high school years,” said Diane Brunet-García, vice president and partner. “When she graduated from the University of Florida with a journalism degree, she was referred to us by Jacksonville Magazine for an internship. She quickly made herself indispensable, and we brought her on as an account coordinator, handling many of the agency’s nonprofit accounts. Since then, she has served as an account executive and now a senior account manager.”
The 40 Under 40 list is one of the Jacksonville Business Journal’s longest-running honors, and this year the publication received a record number of nominations, according to Editor Timothy Gibbons.
“Upon learning that I was both nominated and selected, my emotions ran the gamut—from surprised to touched to humbled,” Jolley said. “What an honor to be among such an amazing group of people.”
Health Profession Opportunity Grants
Jolley has worked on the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG), administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, since the agency acquired the contract in 2015. The program provides qualifying low-income individuals with education and training for healthcare occupations that pay well and are in high demand. Using documentary filmmaking techniques, Jolley inspired the creative team to highlight several HPOG success stories, giving a glimpse into the emotionally resonant and inspiring stories of HPOG participants who have overcome real challenges. Jolley and her team were recognized with a Gold ADDY® award, the industry’s highest honor, by the Jacksonville chapter of the American Advertising Federation for the short film “Misty’s Story.”
In 2017, Jolley collaborated with the client, Brunet-García’s creative team, and a video production team to develop new video concepts and outlines, which allowed grantees to share compelling success stories, employer engagement tactics, and program highlights.
After two video production trips to Arizona and Pennsylvania, numerous interviews, and countless hours of production, Brunet-García released two HPOG program videos. The videos are designed to assist the program’s 32 grantees with employer engagement and participant recruitment efforts, which are crucial to the impact they ultimately have in the communities they serve.
“We worked closely with the program to ensure the 2017 video concepts fulfilled a need for grantees,” Jolley said. “They are great tools to help grantees grow their programs locally and also to promote the program at a higher level.”
The completed videos are used by the program’s grantees as recruitment tools. Therefore, it was imperative to complete compelling, in-person interviews with participants who had completed the program as well as some HPOG grantee program directors.
Site visits like these allow Jolley to witness the program in action and understand its importance.
“It is nothing less than inspiring to see firsthand the effect the program has on its participants, and, in turn, the respect and gratitude participants have for the program, which aims to transition them from government assistance to a career that can support their families,” Jolley said.
Jacksonville Country Day School
Jolley has spearheaded Brunet-García’s work for Jacksonville Country Day School (JCDS) over the past seven years to communicate the holistic education the school provides to pre-K through sixth-grade students. The agency has helped rebrand the school and several programs, developed awareness campaigns, and provided public relations support through the years. To help share its mission to “prepare students for a healthy and productive lifetime of intellectual exploration, character development, and social responsibility,” Brunet-García proposed an advertising campaign in fall 2017 to reach the parents of potential new students.
Jolley worked to develop a creative brief with client insight before teaming with the creative department on concepting. Brunet-García worked with a Jacksonville-based photographer to conduct a photo shoot and provide art direction.
“It’s always fun working with JCDS; they trust us and let us stretch our creative muscle,” Jolley said. “This campaign, in particular, was exciting because it focused so much on the photography of current students.”
The ads feature children with objects that represent the rich curriculum provided by the school, which has a strong arts program as well as science and traditional academics. The word “GROWS” appears to sprout around the children to draw the eyes upward. Ads are on display at Jacksonville International Airport, within local publications, and in digital form on sites like Jaxmomsblog.com. JCDS is applying Brunet-García’s campaign work to social media, with specialized designs for Facebook advertising.
United States Department of Agriculture
Jolley continues to lead the agency’s partnership with United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Children are bombarded by food marketing efforts—often for nutritionally questionable foods—with punchy, persuasive, and well-funded consumer companies. When Brunet-García took on the challenge of working with USDA, Jolley understood the importance of bringing visual cohesion to high-level communications materials. Her work inspired the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) branch to explore a more unified brand identity including the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), which ensures that more children have access to nutritious meals when school is not in session.
Jolley and her team took branding inspiration from the intuitive, engaging, and fun spirit of large commercial advertising campaigns, while also developing clarity of content to ensure consistent messaging to the program’s many stakeholders. The agency created a brand “library” of more than 100 custom illustrations for use on SFSP collateral.
The result of Jolley’s efforts was a suite of action-oriented materials, including materials in Spanish, which can be easily referenced and replicated by the program’s many participants. The initial rollout of the branded materials coincided with USDA plans to serve more than 200 million free meals to children 18 and younger at approved SFSP sites. With a new visual identity and program materials, Jolley ensured SFSP was better positioned to carry out this vital undertaking, as well as attract more program participants and sponsors.
In early 2017, Brunet-García flexed creative muscle to provide motivation and inspiration to the USDA Food and Nutrition’s Office of Community Food Systems (OCFS). OCFS requested an inspirational poster to highlight values that guide the work they do each day. Brunet-García delivered a reimagined poster along with a “plantable” paper element to engage staff and further demonstrate their office values. Jolley’s suggestion showed Brunet-García’s transition to a trusted partner, one comfortable making recommendations to take requested projects to the next level.
Impressed by Brunet-García’s previous work and Jolley’s management of the account, USDA communications staff contracted the agency to develop a cohesive group of type treatments for various sub-brands, including the Child Nutrition Program suite and USDA Foods. Brunet-García used playful iconography and vibrant colors to create an engaging suite of type treatments.
Brunet-García’s work with USDA has been recognized by Graphic Design USA magazine with several 2017 American Graphic Design Awards and Health + Wellness Design Awards.
Internships
Jolley manages Brunet-García’s intern program, carefully guiding the selection, workload, and overall experience for students who work at the agency. She helps students build an impactful work experience that has often led to jobs at Brunet-García or other agencies. Jolley started at Brunet-García as an intern in 2010.
Community involvement
A native of Jacksonville, Jolley is involved in many community endeavors and is a competitive athlete who runs every race she possibly can. She has overseen pro bono communications campaigns for many of our region’s most successful nonprofits, including Stage Aurora, the Jacksonville Public Education Fund (JPEF), Jacksonville Country Day School, KIPP, Players by the Sea, Jacksonville Children’s Chorus, St. Johns Riverkeeper, and Cathedral Arts Project (CAP).
Jolley’s pro bono work for CAP led her to become one of the founding members of the Cathedral Arts Project’s young professionals group known as the CAPtivators, which has 75 active members annually. In addition to being one of the original members, she is a founding board member of the group and is serving a third year as president, recruiting and leading a board of 10 young professionals. During her tenure as president, Jolley has helped provide leadership that has resulted in raising more than $30,000 annually for the Cathedral Arts Project.
“Kate has always been community-minded,” Brunet-García said. “It’s gratifying to see how she has helped shape our agency through her work with our clients and through her leadership and volunteer work for transformative community endeavors.”
In 2016, Jolley leveraged her vast understanding of food sourcing and availability, gained through her work with USDA, to spearhead a community holiday project to benefit Feeding Northeast Florida. The project, “100 Plates,” included an interactive installation on display at the Jessie Ball DuPont Center during December 2016 and January 2017. The installation was designed to emotionally and physically connect a live audience with advocacy and the ability to donate to a cause that matters to them.
The interactive piece included large boards printed with conductive ink, telling the story of Jimmy, a young boy whose family struggles with hunger. Touching different areas of the display triggered projections of animations and related facts. Through a kiosk, visitors were invited to donate $10 to Feeding Northeast Florida to provide 100 meals for families struggling with food insecurity. A fully integrated campaign with email marketing, social media graphics, and earned media outreach supported the initiative online, driving users to the donation page. Jolley personally oversaw sending “100 Plates”-branded totes to friends, partners, and customers, asking them to join the fight against hunger. The project not only raised $5,000 the night of its December launch at Downtown Jacksonville’s Art Walk but was awarded multiple Gold and Silver ADDYs and a “Best of Show” award.
This is the second time a Brunet-García team member has been honored by the Jacksonville Business Journal. Associate Creative Director Aerien Mull was a 2015 40 Under 40 honoree.
