Wow. 10 years.
A decade can go by in the blink of an eye, especially when you’re having fun.
On May 1st, 2015, Milk Street Marketing was introduced to Philadelphia, and the world. We did this in the most Milk Street of ways, by launching a 100 year anniversary campaign for our inaugural client – the historic 9th Street Italian Market in South Philly. It was awesome. We had the Mummers there and everything. With that celebration taking place first thing in the morning alongside many of the local business leaders and board members of the 9th Street business association, we spent the rest of the day filming in the Italian Market with Johnny Showcase.
The video content was compiled to highlight the shops and businesses in the corridor, and to serve as a promotional vehicle for the annual Italian Festival that fully kicked off “Cent’Anni”, the 100 year anniversary celebration, which we developed the branding for. Later that evening we had a more formal launch party for Milk Street Marketing at Connie’s Ric Rac, and the rest as they say, is history.
Speaking of which, here’s the Top 10 moments in Milk Street history!
10. Moving into our first office space at 2501 Wharton Street in Grays Ferry. (January 2017)
It was small and a bit rough around the edges, but it was cozy and it was ours. Who could forget Uncle Pete and all the help he needed with his printer upstairs!
9. The “RonBomb” special at Poe’s Sandwich Joint (October 2020)
Milk Street founder Ron Bauman and entrepreneur Nikki Allen Poe go way back, stemming from Philly Smoke Out events held at Connie’s Ric Rac. Around the time we moved into Billy Penn Studios, Poe moved his sandwich shop into Human Robot up the street. Meeting and rekindling their relationship was inevitable. If you know anything about Poe’s, his food is eclectic as it is amazing. Always one with a banging special, a collaboration between the two resulted in “The RonBomb”, a kielbasa and sauerkraut sandwich with some special ingredients 😉
8. The “What’s Your Number” Commercial (April 2022)
In one of our most shining moments, we leveled up our video production chops with a commercial spot for local real estate firm, The Somers Team. The result was referred to “one of the best real estate commercials in years” by executives at Keller Williams Philadelphia.
7. The Move To Billy Penn Studios (January 2020)
We loved our time in South Philly, and it will always be home to Milk Street. But as Milk Street was maturing as an agency, we needed a larger space to accommodate our growing team. So after an extensive search, we packed up and moved uptown to Olde Kensington’s Billy Penn Studios. The emerging community, along with the modern and trendy physical space made it the perfect choice. We negotiated a custom fit out for our space that met our needs, but it was the variety of event spaces that really sold us on Billy Penn. Since we were on the verge of our 5 year anniversary, we thought it would be the perfect venue for a big, blow out party to let everyone know we’re all grown up. Little did we know what was coming down the pike in the coming months…..
6. Coming up with “The Name” (February 2015)
In the months prior to the launch, as we developed our vision for the agency, deciding on a name became somewhat of a challenge. Our branding skills were pretty raw in those days, but we knew it needed to mean something. It had to be authentic and genuine. After tossing aside a litany of corny, half baked ideas, it was OG Milk Street Teamer Dustin Dellinger who suggested to Founder Ron Bauman that something Ben Franklin related might be worth considering, since Ron is such a big fan of his. When a subsequent, simple Google search led to the Benjamin Franklin Wikipedia page, Ron’s eye’s immediately landed on “Franklin was born on Milk Street in Boston, Massachusetts…” And that was that.
5. Milk Street’s Six Year Anniversary Camping Trip (May 2021)
With the pandemic-induced hysteria gradually subsiding, the whole Milk Street crew, along with some significant others and friends packed up for a long weekend camping trip at the Jersey Shore. We ate, we drink, and we laughed the entire time.
4. “Start. Grow. Stay.” Campaign for Penn Community Bank (Oct. – Dec. 2021)
When they told us in the kickoff meeting that their main goal was to win an award, we thought they were joking. They were not. So what did we do? We pulled out some of our best work to produce a strategy-driven media campaign that spoke broadly to their customer base as a whole, but also resonated with their business clients and consumer accounts distinctly. And guess what, they won awards.
3. The Rebrand (October 2020)
In the midst of some very tumultuous times, one thing became evident. Milk Street was due for a brand refresh. We took the opportunity to “eat our own soup”, and put our enhanced brand strategy skills to work. We formulated a succinct articulation of our why, “Marketers Helping Marketers Do Awesome Work”. And from there built out a more effective brand platform with a refined messaging strategy and mature visual aesthetic. That was five years ago, so we’re probably due for another go-round….
2. NextFab’s 10 year anniversary event and marketing campaign, “A Decade Made Better” (June 2019)
In one of many level up moments for Milk Street, we shut down the 2000 block of Washington Avenue in South Philly for a street festival to celebrate 10 years of making at NextFab. We had it all…a large music stage, beer garden, dog park, you name it. This kicked off the “Make It Better” marketing campaign that put us on the map as a top-tier agency in Philly. And we ended up with an ice cream cart when all was said and done.
