We are your hired guns.
Social Forces is a freelance creative team built for a new kind of advertising. We're grounded in traditional strategy, versed in new media tactics and refined by years in branding and design.
For agencies, consultants and brands in Tampa Bay and beyond, we're a turnkey solution for scaling creative forces and broadening digital capabilities.
We are your social reserves.
Got a big job in need of extra creative firepower? Have a one-off project you'd love to hand to a trusted ally?
With just the right blend of social media savvy, design sensibility, strategic marketing know-how and traditional advertising experience, we're here when you're ready to call in the reserves.
FOR ADVERTISING AGENCIES
Hire us freelance for the same big thinking you expect from your internal team and an added dose of digital know-how.
FOR MARKETING CONSULTANTS
Bring your strategic vision to life with an agile team who can manage the creative process from concept to execution.
FOR BUSINESSES AND BRANDS
Supplement your internal marketing team with a high-powered, low-overhead solution that delivers support where you need it most.
Services
- Advertising Campaigns
- Graphic Design
- Copywriting
- Brand Positioning
- Logo + Brand Design
- Web Design + Development
- E-Mail Marketing / E-Blasts
- Social Media Strategy
- Blog Writing / Ghostwriting
Our Commanders in Brief.
Kate Whatley commands our troops.
Kate harnesses the creative and management capabilities she gained in over eight years of creative advertising and community leadership experience to help our clients reach their consumer engagement goals. [linkedin]
Carl Vervisch draws up our war-plans.
Carl draws on a wide variety of creative talents previously used in copywriting, designing and interactive management for brands like HSN and Comedy Central to propel our campaigns both creatively and strategically. [linkedin]
ALWAYS RECRUITING
Account: Looking out for client relationship counselors + detail defenders. [apply]
Creative: Searching for mercinary masters of strategic design + writing. [apply]
Coders: Always welcoming self-proclaimed geeks, techies + dev dudes. [apply]
Our Mission
In mid-2009, Social Forces began as a social media agency, immersing ourselves in the world of social media tools, people and possibilities. But we quickly found that "social media support" wasn't really what the industry needed.
What advertising needed was a fresh, social-savvy perspective. Today, we work with our partners to make every ad "social": worth talking about and easily shared.
Social isn't our focus. It's our state of mind.
Brand History
Here's some of the brands our
team members have worked with:
Connect With SoFo Today.
Become a Fan
FACEBOOK
VISIT OUR PAGE
AND BECOME A FAN
Check us out on YouTube
YOUTUBE
SEE OUR TEAM
FEATURED ON VIDEO
PHONE
813.434.0275
CALL TODAY
Follow us on Twitter
TWITTER
FOLLOW US
@SOCIAL_FORCES
Contact us via email
EMAIL US
TO SET UP
A TIME TO CHAT
Find us on Google Maps
SOCIAL FORCES
3202 W. BARCELONA ST.
TAMPA, FL 33629
Call Us When...
My Summer Cadetship
When I began my summer internship with Social Forces, I was fairly new to the advertising world and didn’t really know where I fit in. I figured I couldn’t hack it as a creative due to my serious lack of artistic talent and figured my diplomatic nature might make me a better fit for account management. Social media, though, was new and exciting. I was dying to learn more about it.
Luckily, I feel like I’ve been able to explore all of these areas of advertising [and the nooks and crannies in between] as a Social Forces cadet.
I explored social media and how it can be effectively implemented in a campaign. I now feel proficient in Facebook, SEO, Google Adwords and more thanks to time spent both in the office and out at events and conferences.
I also got to try my hand in account management, dealing with clients, gathering information and scheduling calls and meetings.
What I found most valuable during my time as a cadet, though, was being encouraged to explore my creative side. It was a little difficult at first, but the SoFo team is appreciative of any and all input. Eventually I found myself coming up with some really good ideas in brainstorms, even keeping up with the other team members.
(Keep reading…)
Tampa Grows with Social Fresh
Last June we struck up a conversation with Jason Keath in a hotel lobby outside the American Advertising Federation’s national conference. Aside from being a former colleague through the national network of Ad 2, Jason (@jakrose) is also probably one the smartest and most highly regarded *real people* I know in the social media world. He’s the old guard; the early adopter; the antithesis of today’s all-too-common fly-by-night “social media (insert title of prominence here).” And we were literally days from the official founding of Social Forces.
I was honored just to share a drink and a chat with Jason – so you can imagine how exciting it was to share an idea – Social Fresh Tampa.
Jason and his team have been putting on Social Fresh conferences across the country for the last couple years: big, juicy, all-day events bursting with the flavor of the most accomplished, engaging, knowledgeable sources from the biggest brands and companies in the field of social media. Big names (whether you’ve heard of them or not). High-level discussions. Serious conversations about how social media impacts business.
At the time we spoke, Jason was plotting out his national tour for the year. And as our discussion continued, it was clear that Tampa Bay was definitely somewhere he should consider. (Keep reading…)
Or Are We Spammers?
This past fall, I taught an Internet Marketing class at a local college. The class was introductory, so I was prepared for the students to start with minimal knowledge of the topic. What I didn’t expect was to help them overcome a moral dilemma.
Asked during the first week what they thought internet marketing was, the students’ replies were mostly limited to labels like “Pop-up windows,” “Banner ads,” and “Spam.” They weren’t excited — they were uneasy. They thought they were going to learn how to do things they’d feel guilty for.
Destroy 2009
This year, Social Forces is doing something a little different for the holidays. Instead of giving things, we’re destroying things. If you haven’t done so yet, you should check out our Facebook fan page to take part. Tell us what you want to destroy by 5pm on December 30th and we’ll take care of the rest.
So why are we doing this? Let’s take a look at just a few reasons:
1. Efficiency – In a global landscape that’s buckling more each day from too much — too much stuff, too much noise, too many people — it’s far more efficient to focus our efforts on removing things we don’t like than to look for things we’re not sure of yet.
2. Resolution – The New Year’s Resolution is a joke. In all too many cases, there’s no real commitment; no time-frame for completion and no accountability. By setting out for destruction, we must consciously consider the root of what’s holding us back.
(Keep reading…)
My Ad Can Beat Up Your Ad
In recent months, we’ve seen rampant accusations in the ad industry — Direct marketers crying fraud at social media marketing types. New wave marketers decrying junk mail. Traditional shops and digital agencies licking their chops at each other’s inadequacies.
It’s not surprising. Everyone’s vying for their share of the proverbial pie, while the pie shrinks and more of us sit down to the table. And in some ways, this kind of competition can be good.
It forces each marketing discipline to push itself further — increasing efficiency, tracking results, measuring effectiveness — all toward the end of earning a larger share of the work.
But at some point, doesn’t this battle become unfair to the client? (Keep reading…)
Viral Must Die
Viral. Everybody wants it, and these days, everybody’s doing it. It’s a simple enough concept – a message, like a virus, spreads through consumers rapidly and exponentially. It thrives on cheap production, free media and irreverent humor. It’s amazing. Magical. Recession-proof.
And it’s a lie.
There’s an unfair assumption that just because social media gives consumers an efficient tool for spreading a message, they will. An unreasonable expectation that any mediocre message placed on a social network will reach one million views / friends / tweets / hits. And an unprecedented practice of encouraging these ideas from within our industry. After all, when was the last time you heard someone sell a viral billboard? A viral print ad? How about a viral sandwich? (Keep reading…)