Media Garage Group — Boutique Advertising & Marketing Agency

Author: Karen Helsinger

  • MENTAL HEALTH IS FOR EVERYONE

    MENTAL HEALTH IS FOR EVERYONE

    Today is World Mental Health Day. According to the World Health Organization, the objective of the day is, “raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.”

    Up until recent years, there has been a stigma surrounding mental health. And although we’re still not where we need to be as a society with regard to our views on it, we’ve certainly come a long way. The National Alliance on Mental Health states that 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness each year.

    What this means is mental illness is closer than you think. If you, yourself, aren’t battling a mental illness, you surely know someone (or multiple people) who is. They’re your coworkers; they’re your friends; they’re your baristas and your CEOs. And in our case, they’re our own Content Director, Court Bishop.

    According to our Head Media Mechanic, Karen Helsinger, Court is “the master behind our best creative work.” Court also suffers from clinical depression and generalized anxiety disorder. This has been found with Creatives time and time again. From writers to standup comics to fine artists, mental illness seems to go hand-in-hand with creativity.

    In an effort to make mental illness and the treatment of it more of a mainstream topic, we’d like to share Court’s new blog on the subject. Discover HAPPY SO HARD. It’s a blog about fighting to overcome mental illness in the pursuit of happiness. It’s an honest look at how mental illness impacts everyday life. Here’s an excerpt from the intro:

    My goal with this project is to get out of my head and get into your car uncomfortable. To stop being afraid. My Ego would like for me to mention that I’m not generally a “scared” person—I enjoy pushing the limits of my body and mind—but I do struggle with the aforementioned depression and anxiety (along with 18.1% of the U.S. population). I’m also the proud owner of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. OCPD is characterized, among other things, by extreme perfectionism. People with OCPD are “hardworking, but their obsession with perfection can make them inefficient.” So that’s neat!

    This translates to real life in the form of inaction. If I don’t think I’ll be great at something immediately, or if a situation is set up in such a way that makes me feel like I lack the majority of the control, I’d rather not do it than attempt and “fail.” It’s super dumb. It’s self-sabotage. And I’m f*cking over it.

    — Court Bishop, PREFACE — Why Is Being Happy so Hard?

    We wouldn’t tell someone with a broken leg to “shake it off.” We wouldn’t expect someone with nearsightedness to see better if they just “wanted it bad enough.” Mental illness is illness. Plain and simple. So on this World Mental Health Day, check in on your friends and family—you never know what someone is going through beneath the smile, success or creativity.

    Follow Court’s blog, HAPPY SO HARD, on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

  • MEET MEDIA GARAGE GROUP

    MEET MEDIA GARAGE GROUP

    karen helsinger media garage groupHi, I’m Karen Helsinger.

    As Head Media Mechanic & CEO, I’d like to be the first to welcome you to the new Media Garage Group website. Media Garage Group is a boutique, full-service advertising agency located in the heart of St. Petersburg, Florida’s Grand Central District. Media Garage Group, or MGG, is comprised of a talented staff of traditional and new media “mechanics” ready to diagnose, tune up and supercharge your advertising & marketing efforts.

    Why the name Media Garage Group?

    My dad, Ron, set all this in motion years ago. He was a service station mechanic and a true specialist who could breathe life into old clunkers. He’d take neglected vehicles and get them back into racing shape and back on the road. His philosophy was always, “if you work hard for an honest day’s pay, your customers will leave happy and return when they need you.” This was instilled in me from a young age. Dad’s business philosophy is the cornerstone of this agency and is reflected in everything we do.

    What does Media Garage Group do?

    advertising agency in St. Pete media garage groupBACKGROUND

    There was a subtle art in what my father did — but this isn’t my dad’s garage. He fixed broken cars, we fix broken advertising. Doing so requires more than cold know-how. It takes building and developing relationships with clients and potential clients, learning or establishing their specific business goals and determining how best to reach their target audience.

    Media Garage Group is a full-service advertising agency in St. Pete, Florida. We specialize in servicing small- to medium-sized businesses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and beyond. Our team creates and produces strategic advertising & marketing campaigns and media placement in all traditional and non-traditional advertising mediums.

    With more than 25 years of experience, MGG has long-standing media relationships and partnerships in the community and across the state of Florida. We don’t want to toot our own horn too much, so we invite you to check out what some of our clients have to say about us.

    We’re more than your advertising agency, we’re your partners. We’re flexible to work with and will make it our mission to thoughtfully fill any gaps in your brand’s communication. Our expert negotiation skills have secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in media value for our clients — especially for our not-for-profit partners. Your success is our success.

    NITTY-GRITTY

    Regardless of advertising need — whether it’s a television schedule, cinema ad placement, social media promotion or POP display advertising — Media Garage Group will strategically develop, execute and facilitate your campaign with creativity, professionalism and expertise. We adhere to deadlines, manage priorities and provide hands-on customer service.

    Our services include:

    We use relevant analytics tools to develop a plan that is based in fact and supported by qualitative and quantitative research. We are skilled storytellers who are able to craft effective media campaigns by implementing the following media planning tools:

    Who does Media Garage Group work with?

    media garage group orioles spring training kids health bookletMGG provides advertising and media buying services for many clients and local community events, including the Baltimore Orioles Spring Training, Grand Central District’s Chili Cook-off, Tampa Bay Hospice Cup, Madeira Beach Veteran’s Boat Parade, Spring for the Arts and Come Out St. Pete.

    We live and work in St. Petersburg. I’m an active member of the St. Pete community: I serve as both the President of the Board of Directors for the Grand Central District Association and the Marketing Chair and Board member for Creative Clay. Additionally, I participate in St. Pete Chamber activities: I’m a Leadership St. Pete graduate (class of 2014), I was on the Leadership St. Pete Planning Committee in 2015 and was a Leadership St. Pete Alumni Board Member and Communication Chair from 2014 to 2017.

    Let’s chat!

    We’re always looking to meet like-minded professionals with interesting advertising challenges. Whether you’re building your brand from scratch, looking to add to your media mix, seeking one-off project management or taking your business in a new direction, we want to hear from you! Call us at 727.258.0318, shoot an email to karen@mediagaragegroup.com or submit our contact form and let’s discuss how Media Garage Group can spark success for your business.

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