Estes Creates Hero Kits to Support Wounded Warriors
By Wayne Vaughan
One of the wonders of promotional products is their ability to draw attention to an event, cause, or organization, and this is how they are typically viewed – a tangible representation of a brand. As important as that role is, promotional products can also make an impact by healing or helping others. We recently had the opportunity to partner with Estes and the Wounded Warrior Project, to do just that.
We have always viewed Estes as a top-tier organization that operates their business the right way, treating employees and clients with respect and generosity. Out of an alignment of corporate values, we have grown a relationship with Estes through an invitation to a supplier showcase so they could see the process through which we fulfill our clients’ needs.
This relationship blossomed into a partnership when they selected us to execute a Hero Kits project that included a soft-sided cooler, flashlight, neck gaiter, touchless keytool and a stainless water bottle for each of their employees (essential heroes) as a way of giving back and saying thank you. Building on the idea of “heroes” we felt that incorporating an element of giving back to other true heroes through a contribution to the Wounded Warrior Project was an ideal melding of values and way to make the Hero Kits even more impactful and meaningful to the staff receiving them. With that in mind we were able to work with Sweda and their Basecamp brand to source several of the products (cooler and bottle). Additionally, we were able to get the Wounded Warrior Brand Ambassador, Dan Nevins to agree to produce an appreciation video to coincide with the distribution of the kits.
Estes is an altruistic organization and supports multiple charities every year, including Wounded Warriors for the previous three years. Naturally, being able to support both their team and Wounded Warriors through a single execution – due to the nature of Basecamp’s involvement with the charity – was an appealing option for Estes and it allowed us to create a high value kit that had meaning and purpose.
As Dan Nevins so eloquently delivers in his video remarks, these Hero Kits sent a deep message of appreciation, not just from the company, but from the supplier too. As a result, the employees felt valued as they received their gifts and they felt involved in giving back to a great organization when it was reiterated that their gift to WW had made an impact as well.
These Hero Kits started off as a way to say thank you to a dedicated staff and evolved into a powerful vehicle to help deepen the belief in Estes’ culture; a true full circle, internal branding moment that we are proud to have been a part of.
This project is an excellent representation of our approach to clients’ needs. We are transparent in our process and seek to truly understand our clients’ values. From there we can ideate products and solutions to elevate their brand and advance their purpose in the most impactful and effective ways possible. We do more than fill orders, at TK Promotions, we strategically approach your goals as if they were our own and specialize in finding custom-fit and powerful solutions.
