2011 was a big year for GCG Marketing. We added 13, count 'em, 13 new clients to the roster and kept plenty busy, sinking our teeth into a bunch of new and challenging projects.

One of those new clients is Rheem, maker of a wide range of heating, cooling and water heating products for both home and commercial use. And while they may be new to us, they're one of the oldest companies in the industry, with more than 85 years in business. GCG won the account in the middle of last year, and we've been going hard at it ever since.

One of the first projects we undertook was coming up with a new way to package all of the sales and marketing materials Rheem provides to its distributors. As something that would get continuous use throughout the year, it not only had to look great, it also had to be sturdy and compact enough to fit on a shelf. Solving puzzles is what marketing's all about, so we got to work putting the pieces together.

Naturally, we started out with several design options. Once they picked the design they liked, we began figuring out the best way to bring it to life. We reached out to many different vendors to ensure that each component of the kit would be executed properly. And while you'd think it would be cheaper to have one company handle all the printing and production for a single project, that often isn't the case. Sometimes it's not even possible.

So after a lot of research, legwork and about a hundred phone calls, we were able to find the most cost-effective way to stay on-time and on-budget without sacrificing quality. The end results were certainly a success: The client was happy, we were happy, and one vendor even featured the kit in their new catalog.

Big companies often need big marketing ideas, and we're ready to tackle any marketing challenge our clients can throw at us.