Minneapolis marketing group spends 24 hours helping non-profits for free

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - A Minneapolis marketing company’s employees spent the night at the office on Wednesday to help a non-profit, free of charge. It’s the fourth year in a row StoneArch Creative has crammed 3 months of work into 24 hours.

“I pride myself on never having done an all-nighter in the past,” Phil Hoch, Executive Creative Director at StoneArch Creative, said. “If you work smart and efficiently you shouldn’t need to, but this is whole different ballgame.”

Once a year, the 40 employees at StoneArch Creative take a break from marketing for healthcare companies to spend 24 hours coming up with a new identity, website, and social media strategy for a Twin Cities charity, in an effort they call "redeye rebranding."

To help the employees work through the night, there are plenty of activities to keep their creative juices flowing.  Everything from ping pong to nap rooms helps them stay awake for a good cause.

On Wednesday, they helped out One Heartland, which provides camp and recreational experiences to young people and their families dealing with issues like HIV and homelessness.

“It’s a huge windfall really, so expensive to rebrand and get a website,” Patrick Kindler, One Heartland, said. “We operate on a shoestring budget and spending thousands of dollars on something like this isn't an option for us.”