Overwhelmed by your inbox? Day stacked with meetings? We’ve got you. We’ve combed through the latest marketing, branding, PR and communications headlines. Here are some of the latest, can’t-miss stories: For those who...

Overwhelmed by your inbox? Day stacked with meetings? We’ve got you. We’ve combed through the latest marketing, branding, PR and communications headlines. Here are some of the latest, can’t-miss stories: For those...

Making 2024 predictions feels like tempting the universe in a “hold my beer” kind of way. How will Generative AI continue to affect our work? How do we navigate during this election year? Will beer even still exist after...

We’ve been researching and experimenting with generative AI tools and exploring possibilities. Our take? Using generative AI tools is not a fad. The hype about it may be a fad, but the tools are here to stay. A few...

Kent, Washington really is a “hidden gem” destination. Restaurants, hotels and events are now easier to discover with the redesigned Visit Kent website. The site’s focus on user experience includes improved navigation,...

Dear friends: It’s time to reminisce on 2023 and holidays past! Like tinsel and twinkle lights, fruitcake and figgy pudding, year-end snail mail is a holiday season staple. With the influx of toothy grins, cold weather...

Explore Wilsonville, the Oregon city’s tourism/destination marketing program, is a winner of a MarCom Award for its new brand identity. As a growing travel destination in the heart of northwest Oregon, the Explore...

The “voice” of Yuma, Arizona beckons visitors to the Sonoran Desert city in a JayRay-produced video that won a Viddy Award for client Visit Yuma. The video, titled “Hello. I’m Yuma,” uses first-person narration to...

Kacie Leacy, JayRay senior advisor and principal, has been elected as a new board member for the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound. Kacie will also continue in her current role on the marketing committee. “I’m...

Experienced marketer and brand storyteller Ken Grant has joined JayRay as an advisor. Over the years, Ken has developed integrated campaigns for a variety of industries including hospitality, tourism, nonprofits, food and...

Significant growth in the past 10 years prompted Parametrix to refresh its brand. The engineering, planning and environmental consulting firm selected JayRay as a partner for a new logo, tagline and brand anthem video. Now...

As of Oct. 16, JayRay is saying hello to downtown Tacoma’s Courthouse Square and goodbye to our space on Dock Street. We’re moving to a private suite at The Pioneer Collective inside Courthouse Square. We’ll also have...

JayRay’s work with client Visit Yuma includes the 2023 travel guide, which has earned a Summit Creative Award. The Summit International Awards Summit Creative Award honors creative professionals at small- and medium-sized...

Visitors and residents in Wilsonville, Oregon have an easier way to find fun “in the heart of it all.” The updated ExploreWilsonville.com website launched earlier this week. The new website highlights JayRay’s visual...

Cheers to our client partner Visit Yuma. The destination received the Best Marketing Campaign award from the Arizona Office of Tourism, in the Rural category, for its strategic and creative approach to attracting domestic or...

Three JayRay client partnerships earned national dotCOMM Awards honors. dotCOMM Awards is an international competition honoring excellence in web creativity and digital communication. The competition reflects the role of...

We’re wrapping up Pride Month here in Tacoma. While supporting local businesses is always on our minds, there’s a new queer-owned business (that continues to come up in just about every conversation we have), and we...

Post-pandemic public transit ridership levels have been struggling to bounce back nationwide. Kitsap Transit chose JayRay to create a campaign that welcomes commuters and leisure travelers to ride the Fast Ferry to Seattle,...

JayRay is kicking off work with the City of Pasco. Our work together includes place branding and community engagement. After a logo update in 2018, the City is aiming to share its unique story with consistent messaging that...

South Sound Business magazine’s latest class of “40 Under 40” includes Alex Domine, JayRay advisor. Domine joined JayRay in 2021. He manages branding and community engagement projects, influencer marketing...

Client projects spanning tourism, transit and higher education earned recognition in the 29th Annual Communicator Awards. The Communicator Awards recognize the best in advertising, corporate communications, public relations...

Clover Park Technical College turned to JayRay to strategize and produce a digital recruitment campaign that launched this week. With a strategy of encouraging prospective students to sign up for an online information...

JayRay is pleased to begin work with three new clients for destination promotions, on-call communications support and a B2B ad campaign. Handmade stone pathways, quiet pools, shady forests and mountain vistas make up the...

Summit Pacific Medical Center patients now have an improved online experience with the launch of the health care system’s new website. JayRay and Summit Pacific teams started by crafting a new sitemap and reorganizing site...

As dystopian as it may read, “Robots Are Coming for Your Job” isn’t as grabby of a headline as it once was. With the rise of AI-powered chatbot technology, could machine-learning tools like ChatGPT force content...

Washington state had 45,033 vehicle thefts last year, a 45% increase over 2021. In response, the Washington Auto Theft Prevention Authority (WATPA) made plans to launch a public awareness campaign with the goal of driving...

Painting or pottery, film or flute. Artists of all kinds are discovering the City of Renton’s growing creative community. A new city webpage and brochure outline the ways people can participate in Renton’s creative...

The 1920s were roaring to the sound of jazz, speakeasies and reckless abandon. Cut to the 2020s, which have ushered in a similar cultural shakedown: Brexit, crypto, George Floyd, the war in Ukraine, record high inflation,...

It’s time for Monkeyshines in Tacoma. Finding hidden treasures around the city has been a favorite Tacoma tradition since 2004. While the big goal is to find glass art like this one, people now hide other treasures for...

JayRay opened 2023 supporting new clients with media relations, business recruitment materials and a logistics industry trade show booth. Water activities, maritime heritage, trails, gardens and galleries will be among the...

Sometimes guests forget to pack their patience on vacation. Visit Big Sky wanted to gear up to remind people that kindness goes a long way…while remaining welcoming. Tourism is Big Sky’s #1 economic driver, so happy...

The billboards are up, the yard signs are in and the social posts are out. The default speed limit on Tacoma residential streets changed from 25 miles per hour (MPH) to 20 MPH as of Jan. 1. JayRay supported the City of...

Travis Roth is joining JayRay as an assistant advisor. As a “utility player”, Travis will focus on research, reporting and social media management. He is also a skilled photographer. “Travis has a variety of talents...

Once each year, a weary world is softened with twinkling lights and crackling fires. Eggnog and song. Generosity and gratitude. Long nights are made brighter by tinsel and candlelight. It’s a respite from the mundane, an...

Public education is the theme of two current JayRay strategic communication and marketing efforts targeting statewide audiences. About 3,000 miles of Washington’s saltwater coastline (from Grays Harbor through Puget...

Did you have “the fall of Twitter” on your 2022 bingo card? Neither did we. Chances are, you’ve seen the headlines: “Twitter begins advertising a paid verification plan for $8 per month” (NPR) “Twitter blue check...

Job seekers in North Central Washington now have an easier path to employment resources with the new SkillSource website. JayRay created the site map for easier navigation, wrote content and designed the pages. With our...

Ready to start your holiday shopping season this weekend? Here’s our roundup of local markets and events so you can pick up local gifts for everyone under one roof (or at least at the same tree farm). Beyond our own...

BeReal is making waves in the cultural zeitgeist as the most honest form of social media, and with a tagline like “Your friends for real,” you’d expect nothing less. In an era of color coordinated feeds and carefully...

After being forced to go remote during the pandemic like many schools across the nation, Open Window School decided it was capable of delivering an intentional program for fourth and fifth graders, rather than forcing an...

JayRay’s work with three new clients in the past year earned honors in the 2022 MarCom Awards. Partners unite to fill after-school need – Beyond the Bell Partners from across the community were determined that no...

Senior Advisor and Principal Bridget Baeth joined the board of directors for Pacific Lutheran University Alumni Association. Bridget holds a BA in communication from the university. On the board, Baeth’s role is to...

Defining your brand voice is a powerful way to cut through in saturated markets and build deeper connections. So, why is it so often overlooked in a branding process? Defining your voice can be a squishy, messy process at...

JayRay received a creative award from the Summit International Awards program for our Jack the Bear holiday game. The Summit Awards recognize excellence in the communications and marketing industry. The program administers...

A rural Oregon business development group prefers working in person rather than through automated systems. This authentic, individual approach is such a priority that they renamed their organization with the acronym REAL....

United Way of Pierce County is tackling a big issue. One in three families in the county are affected by poverty or asset limits combined with income constraints. Prior to COVID-19, 8% of households were living below the...

Written by Croix Stone, intern When I first applied to Seed Internships, I figured I would be grabbing coffee and making copies. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong. The program identifies exceptional Puget Sound...

JayRay has added depth to its creative marketing services, welcoming Chris Politakis as senior advisor. For the past 15 years, Politakis served as chief advancement officer and vice president of marketing and communications...

JayRay is working with its newest clients to promote bus and ferry rides, bring visitors to a charming Snohomish County city and grow a credit union’s membership. Ad campaigns for Kitsap Transit will encourage people to...

If you’ve been noticing headlines about Google Analytics 4 (GA4) but haven’t quite figured out what it means for you or your marketing (or operations) team yet, we have you covered. The biggest takeaway?...

“Snowbirds” are fleeing for the summer and Visit Yuma is aiming to increase visits from Arizona, California and Mexicali markets. JayRay crafted an advertising campaign that features early morning paddle board...

During the pandemic, Tacoma Community College (TCC), like many others, experienced a drop in student enrollment. Their marketing staff turned to JayRay to create an enrollment campaign to inspire prospective students to...

As part of the City of Tacoma’s Safe Routes to School and Vision Zero efforts, the city worked with JayRay to develop a driver safety campaign. The campaign is complete with outdoor, social media graphics, yard signs for...

The JayRay team is promoting the sunniest city in the world, rebranding an engineering firm, designing a community market logo and updating a sports complex website. Visit Yuma wants to attract more visitors this summer....

If you’ve been around JayRay or in the South Sound for a while, you have likely seen the Live Like the Mountain is Out campaign that was created to bolster pride in our region a few years ago. The campaign was the...

Local colleges deepened their student connections with messages and branding projects that earned recognition from The Communicator Awards. JayRay’s work with Tacoma Community College and the University of Puget Sound was...

It’s no secret. The past two years have been the hardest the travel and tourism industry has faced. In Washington state, 2020 saw a 40% decrease in tourism spending, a 24% decrease in industry payroll and a 27% dip in...

Pretty funny to think that not so long ago (OK, it was the ‘80s), we couldn’t imagine not having a home phone. In the not-so-distant future, it’s likely that smartphones will be nothing like they are now. We will...

Our words are the ultimate tool to cultivate meaningful connection. They hold power. They can harm or they can heal. As professional communicators, we’re in the business of fostering meaningful connection–and that starts...

As a copywriter, Olivia Carson has helped artists, makers and creative entrepreneurs put words to their work so they can return to the work they love. She now brings her talent for strategic prose to JayRay as a content...

JayRay has added depth to its public relations services, welcoming Jen Willey as a senior advisor. Willey most recently was marketing and communications director at Annie Wright Schools. Her background includes communication...

As communicators, we’re continually focused on the evolving world of language and the intent of our words. We want to share some insightful recent discussions we’ve had surrounding inclusive language for 2022 and beyond....

Workshops are a valuable setting for sharing ideas and problem solving. Thoughtful planning and facilitation let voices be heard and help make workshops work. Time should be spent up front to understand the intended outcome....

Do you delight in bringing ideas to life and advancing the cause of organizations that make the community a better place? As an advisor to JayRay clients, you’ll partner with leaders in tourism, local government, business...

Our hero Jack the Bear made it to his holiday party safe and sober! Congratulations to the winners of our 8-bit holiday game who scored the top three placements on the leaderboard. In first place with a time of 1:55:836 is...

Organizations from Oregon to Montana became new clients of JayRay in the last six months. We look forward to partnering with these companies, cities and nonprofits, as well as our long-standing clients to achieve success in...

It’s hard to keep someone’s attention for four minutes, much less for four years. But Pinterest is doing it. If you aren’t already using Pinterest to promote your brand or business online, or aren’t taking it...

A beer-drinking bear from the 1880s has time traveled into a video game to deliver JayRay’s holiday message and give back to the community this season. According to the history books (OK, legendary storytellers), the...

Over our 50-some years, JayRay has had many chapters. As we head into 2022, we’re starting another. Bridget Baeth, Bethany Doane and Kacie Leacy will continue as the agency’s leaders as president Kathleen...

Two years ago, if you were a marketer dipping your toe into geolocation, you’d have earned yourself the title “visionary” and probably had a large budget to fund it. But over the last year, geolocation has been the...

Supporting local businesses this holiday season will pack a big punch. That’s why many communities are gearing up for Small Business Saturday, November 27. The annual event encourages local investment, helps create jobs...

Renton’s guardian dragon now perches on more than rooftops. Erasmus is now on parking poles and garages throughout the city to mark free parking options. JayRay designed the 3-foot metal dragons for the City of Renton as...

JayRay’s new advisor Cara Sjogren has lived and worked on four continents building a portfolio of experience in social media, sports marketing, economic development and the business of tourism. She has returned to Tacoma...

As we approach the end of yet another year of the tourism crisis by way of COVID-19, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has appropriately focused this year’s World Tourism Day (Sept. 27, 2021) on Tourism...

Whimsical illustrations of Pierce County landmarks and locations earned Summit Creative Awards for two JayRay client campaigns. TAPCO Credit Union celebrates local culture through a series of sticker giveaways. JayRay’s...

Across the United States and around the world, The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection had attracted millions of visitors. Its long-planned visit to Tacoma Art Museum in the summer of 2021 coincided with a...

Back to school time comes with even more after school activities in Tacoma this year. Tacoma Public Schools (TPS) and dozens of community partners have collaborated to create Beyond the Bell for elementary and middle school...

Sean Alexander has joined JayRay as an art director, bringing experience as an illustrator, designer, furniture maker and gallery owner. In more than 10 years as a freelance illustrator and designer, Alexander connected with...

“Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I’m begging of you please don’t hesitate,” Dolly Parton sings. While Parton’s parody of her hit song “Jolene” makes COVID-19 vaccine supporters smile, it...

Two JayRay website projects received dotComm Awards. The South Sound Gift Guide created with the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber earned a dotComm Platinum Award, the top honor. Over 100 Pierce County small businesses were...

JayRay’s summer intern, Vanessa Sundita, is helping with a variety of web, research, and PR projects while applying her background in UX design and marketing. Sundita recently earned a Bachelor of Arts in Technical...

JayRay’s summer is off to a hot start as we dive into projects with new clients. We appreciate the partnership as we advance the cause of these client organizations. Metro Parks Tacoma – program naming and branding for...

Bonnie kept cereal boxes high in a kitchen cupboard where her husband couldn’t reach them. Bonnie wasn’t intentionally keeping cereal from Adam. She just wasn’t considering how their cupboard design limited Adam, who...

Projects supporting local business and job seekers earned JayRay and its clients four Communicator Awards in the national recognition program. Within weeks of the governor’s first shutdown order, the City of Puyallup...

The power of travel is felt deeply across our local communities. The travel and tourism industry drives jobs and fuels economies. During the pandemic, tourism has stalled, leading to 65% of unemployment claims last year....

This spring, we’re supporting South Sound Together by celebrating people of the South Sound. By using #ThankASouthSounder on Instagram, people are invited to give a shoutout to residents and businesses who are doing good...

Advertisers face a dilemma when using increasingly sophisticated targeting capabilities for digital campaigns. While tightly targeted campaigns may perform better in terms of metrics, they can also create inequity. It...

Despite an odd year for influencers (travel restrictions, a focus on “fake” influencers, everyone crowding social platforms), two-thirds of U.S. marketers report they plan to incorporate influencer marketing into their...

It’s nearly Valentine’s Day. We want to send some love to our clients who recently renewed their relationship with us. Thank you to MultiCare Foundations, Experience Olympia & Beyond, TAPCO Credit Union,...

College admission offers are reaching students reeling from a historically difficult year. The pandemic canceled traditional milestone events and amplified concerns of racial injustice, climate change and financial hardship....

The Summit Creative Awards and Marcom Awards national programs recently recognized JayRay projects for outstanding design, ads and strategic communications. A refreshing design standard for the Astoria Parks & Recreation...

From Thurston County to Pierce and King, the JayRay elves have been busy with four shop local campaigns. Each have their own unique twist and audience but share a singular goal. South Sound Gift Guide Produced for the...

May your days ahead be bright and may all your Zoom sessions go just right. Happy (?)...

The desks were doors laid across file cabinets when I came to Graves & Associates as an intern in 1979. I used White-Out to correct the news release I wrote on a typewriter, wielded a calculator to tally the column...

The Pierce County Restaurant Rally is in full swing. From Nov. 8-19 qualifying Pierce County restaurants are offering customers 30% off the price of their dine-in or takeout meal. The county will compensate restaurants 50%...

What does the City of Covington have to offer? Sprinkles, rainbow hair and healing waters (among a wide variety of other things). JayRay launched a new Connected TV campaign for the city that’s designed to drive traffic to...

Oh, 2020. It’s been a little too real. During a time that feels like dipping your cup into a punchbowl of eggnog is a 10 on the risk scale, Thurston County wants to lift spirits and remind locals that the holidays can...

Uncertainty. Anxiety. Fear. How to cope. Practical, professional specific advice for countering the toll of the pandemic is the focus of a series of television spots JayRay created for the MultiCare Behavioral Health...

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) launched the 2020 update of its Forest Action Plan today, Oct. 26. The DNR’s Forest Action Plan, a comprehensive document first published in 2010 and updated in...

JayRay was recognized with three dotComm Awards. “The Road Trip is Back” social media contest offered a four-night van-cation around the Olympic Peninsula. Attention-grabbing content included a travel bingo game and road...

Feels like our eyes are glued to our screens as real-time field tests of mask-up campaigns continue to unfold. Though it’s too early for definitive proof of which messaging strategies are working, we’re gleaning early...

We’ve all seen the digitally altered photos on social media that we now know are fake: A smiling House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was not photographed in front of a Trump 2020 sign in January. That was not an armed protestor in...

United Way of Pierce County is marking its centennial with a new approach to funding that is a better match for its passionate commitment to end the cycle of poverty one family at a time. Because annual workplace campaigns...

While the 2018 mid-term election turnout was promising, BIPOC and young voters are under-represented when it comes to elections across the country and in our own backyard. COVID-19 has also made 2020 voter outreach extremely...

Black lives matter. We are humbled by the admonition of Ernest Owens to “accept that you’re not doing this just for your reputation, brand and/or public image—but because you owe it to humanity.” In our business that...

JayRay’s work with the Renton Community Marketing Campaign (RCMC) is off to a fast start. RCMC selected JayRay as its partner to develop and implement a marketing and communication plan. The annual agreement also includes...

As communication professionals, we play a big role in how our organizations show support for our Black community. Especially right now. Silence isn’t an option. As your organization thinks about how to show support, we...

In a “super-competitive” process, JayRay principal Kacie Leacy earned a place among the 40 Under 40 honored by South Sound Business Magazine in its June 2020 edition. “This year is the hardest judging I’ve ever...

As we were getting ready to celebrate our 50th year, we were discussing how much our clients, agency, region and world have endured since 1970. Then, the pandemic hit. And it’s unlike anything we could have imagined. We...

During the pandemic, organizations are posting information to websites as fast as possible. Stay Home guidelines started as a short statement on day one, but quickly becomes a maze of updates, tips and resources. If you feel...

“Amplify” is an apt description of a dynamic organization and its successful year, as well as the theme of the Association of Washington Business 2019 annual report. The report delivers an informative and engaging...

During this time of isolation and uncertainty, people are flocking to social media. As coronavirus updates change at lightning speed, our social media strategies must as well. Perhaps Uncle Ben said it best: “With great...

Organizations are doing an excellent job getting the word out about cancellations in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak. For many, it is time to shift into communicating about what happens now. As you hunker down to weather a...

With CrossFit gyms and yoga studios on every corner and Pelotons trending on social, it takes new thinking to sell gym memberships to millennials in 2020. The South Sound YMCA turned to JayRay for a fresh strategy to acquire...

Social media influencers have changed the role of public relations when it comes to reaching an audience. Forbes explains: “The voice of the customer has always been one of the most powerful concepts in marketing, and...

Import, export – your Port. The Port of Tacoma partnered with us to create an animated holiday greeting to celebrate the season and its role connecting customers, cargo and community. This fresh take on a traditional card...

Senior Advisor and Principal Bridget Baeth joined the Board of Directors for the Washington Tourism Alliance (WTA), the statewide destination marketing organization. Baeth brings more than a decade of tourism experience,...

JayRay’s work with six clients has earned national Communicator Awards and a dotCOMM Award. The recognized projects range from a social media influencer campaign to an interactive holiday card to a cargo...

Strong writing skills, resourcefulness and a tour guide’s enthusiasm are hallmarks of Genny Boots, JayRay’s newest assistant advisor. Boots was hired full-time at the end of her summer internship with the creative and...

JayRay earned two 2018 Communicator Awards, which nationally recognize the agency’s work in creative...