Do Better Marketing

We have 30+ years of experience helping others make a difference in our communities, environment, and your bottom line. We love the power of promotional products to tell stories and to remind people of how you made them feel when we touched them with yours.

But, our story isn't limited to promotional products. We have created apps to generate better leads and reduce paper waste, and recently, the world's first carbon-neutral virtual event platform.

How can we help you do better and make a bigger difference?

In 1990 one of last great stands of Canada's temperate interior rainforest, outside of Nelson B.C., was slated to be clear-cut logged. It would create a few jobs for a few years. A large part of the community turned up to block the road.

David decided to put his talents instead towards creating a satirical line of t-shirts and using them to raise awareness and support both a petition drive and letter-writing campaign. He traveled across Canada more than a dozen times visiting universities, gathering signatures and promoting a letter-writing campaign. While in a town he would go to a store and tell them if they would carry his t-shirts, he would promote them to a new audience at the universities, thus bringing in a new market to their stores. All they had to do was keep the petition and letter campaigns going.

After five grueling years on the road, 180 stores nation-wide were carrying his merchandise and tens of thousands of petition signatures had been submitted. Then Dave secured funding from Aveda to produce a video on the threatened forest. That seemed to tip the scales, and his campaign was instrumental in establishing the West Arm Provincial Park.

The forest would be protected forever.

Then businesses started asking Dave to create branded merchandise for them, so he did. And then came uniforms, festival t-shirts, and promotional products. The company grew rapidly, but there was something missing; the kinds of results Dave had created with the park. We were watching our customers waste money on the newest marketing shiny things with little or no results. So, we introduced them to the unique, compassionate approach that helped create the park.

Soon we were delivering massive results and were recognized with seven national marketing awards. But that did not stop us from innovating to create better results for our customers.

Last year we launched our PrintFree™ family of apps to help our customers capture better qualified leads, reduce their event print costs by up to 100%, and save trees at every event.

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to our newest innovation, GreenShows™, our virtual trade show app dedicated to keeping people and events working.

EBA Engineering Consultants Ltd.

Objective: to attract two senior engineers to Canada and client's consulting firm during the height of a labor crisis.

Strategy: created a unique Dimensional Advertising™ piece which targeted 12 individuals.

Results: Seven came to Canada for interviews. Our client hired three.

PPPC National Marketing Award: Gold ECMA National Recruitment Marketing Award

National Post: "Canada's Beauty Seals The Deal" Alberta Venture Magazine: "A Target Of Twelve."

Alberta Council of Women's Shelters

Objective: to deliver sensitive information regarding spousal abuse, and the plight of women’s shelters to a group of male business leaders.

Strategy: created a unique Dimensional Advertising™ piece which was given to business leaders at an event.

Results: the promotion was so successful it was repeated in two other jurisdictions in Alberta, and then used as an example to 40 other women’s shelters nation-wide.

PPPC National Marketing Award: Silver

Frogfriendly.ca Launch

Objective: to raise awareness about the global amphibian extinction crisis and to be part of the solution by increasing our sales of sustainable marketing materials.

Strategy: Launched frogfriendly.ca web site and promoted the new vertical with a unique, very green, Dimensional Advertising™ piece. Launched Canada's first green brand management resource.

Results: the new vertical added six figures in sales but also started a movement- the leap towards sustainable marketing.

PPPC National Marketing Award: Canada's First Gold in Green Marketing

LocalMotion Project

Objective: the goal of this pilot project was to reduce CO2 emissions by compelling individuals to reduce single passenger vehicle use by 100 km in 30 days.

Strategy: The campaign involved two phases. The first phase involved creating awareness and developing a baseline from which to measure. The second phase concentrated on incentives, rewards, and the tools participants would need to be successful.

Results: Approximately 12% of the community participated in the 30- day challenge. The average km reduction was 400km (4X the 100km target). Estimated CO2 reductions exceeded four metric tonnes.

PPPC National Marketing Award: Second consecutive gold in green marketing

What you say means so much more than anything we could ever say

Paul Says, "As CEO of an consulting engineering company, I had seen us for years give away marketing materials for seemingly little real return. It was frustrating to see resources being literally thrown away. There had to be a better way. I first got involved with David because he was driving our marketing staff crazy. We were just trying to buy stuff and he was asking us why we were buying it and what outcomes we were expecting. Outcomes? What did he mean? We just gave it away because everyone else gave it away.

I came to realize that, unwittingly, I had found an answer to my frustration. David taught us that every give away was actually an opportunity to get something back and we had better figure out what we wanted. He didn't give up and we came to understand the power of real marketing.

A powerful example. We were headed to the UK to try to recruit talented staff and sell them on a new life in Canada. However, we were going with our competition, who were also going to try to hire these same folks. David's solution? A focused marketing effort that played to the move that our potential employees would have to make: A leather travel case packed with Canadian stuff. It was expensive!! But it left the potential employees with a massively great impression about who they were talking to - a company that was serious about moving them across an ocean that cared about quality.

Our competition brought hats.

We hired three senior staff on that trip: Our goal was one.

I would strongly recommend David to you if you worry about your marketing budget. I guarantee he will change your perspective on those "throw away" costs. I have found the more freedom you give him, the more you will get. Your costs will actually go up. But you will find that each give-away leads to sales leads. Or potential recruits. Or something you had not planned. But it will be good."

Paul Ruffell Vice President Canadian Programs at Tetra Tech

Julia Says, "David is a brilliant and fun marketer in a world of boring scam artists. He is full of helpful ideas, insights, and strategies for anyone with a heart who wants to succeed in business. In one conversation he gave me several ideas I can immediately implement. Thanks David."

Julia D. Stege The Magical Marketer

Fred Says, "David is an intelligent, engaging, creative person. My best recommendation is the simple fact that if I was looking for a person I could trust to provide me with clever, effective, results-oriented advice I would choose David!"

Fred von Oesen VP ASI Canada

Wendy Says, "David brings a great mix of environmental sensitivity, marketing acumen and long range planning to his clients. You will get a great promotional plan that ticks all the boxes. I would not hesitate in recommending Avatar Brand Management for anyone wanting to send a meaningful message to their customers or employees."

Wendy Kinsella Director Corporate Communications at City of Fort Saskatchewan

Clint Says, "One item of note that was significant to our company was a program that Dave initiated. It was an accident prevention measure that took our total recordable on site vehicle incidents from well over a dozen to 0 in its first year. The direct repair savings exceeded $50,000, however the indirect savings due to less investigations, lost productivity and credibility with clients would far exceed $250,000. This trend brought our total recordable incident frequency (TRIF) well below industry standards which has given us an advantage over our direct peers in the challenging marketplace that is Alberta’s current oil industry. We have enjoying stable workload during these hard economic times and are seeing future opportunities still coming forward. We attribute this to better efficiencies and high productivity that programs like these create"

Clint Weir VP of Projects at Big Country Energy Services

Robert Says, "Would I like to write a Recommendation? Silly question!! It's not often at all that I get to meet and establish a friendship with someone who is equally the most positive and enthusiastic person I know. And, a marketing genius to boot!! Really! 3 words come to mind: Imagine. Explore. Believe. THIS is David Betke. Go ahead! Link In with David and then tell me, am I correct or what regarding David."

Robert Manolson BA, CCDPPowerful Play Experiences

Maria Says, "Dave is pure genius with a matching heart. He has the experience to take your conscious business to new markets you never even considered. What’s more amazing is that he truly cares about you, your goals and dreams. Before Dave I didn't have great experiences with marketing consultants - they were always impersonal, rushed, or didn't really listen to me. While they offered "free advice", a few generic suggestions later always lead to an expensive service, or asking me to enroll in an online course.

Dave, on the other hand asked me questions no-one else had. He took time to understand where I was at and where I wanted to go. He then built a step by step actionable plan for success that made more sense than any prior plan I had come up with, or sought out.

Now I love the direction my business is going! It is really expressing my heart and now I’m more focused and motivated than ever. One last thing; Dave saved me saved thousands of dollars and months of frustration before I even paid him a dime? I didn’t know if I could afford to work with him at the beginning, but it quickly became obvious I couldn’t afford not to!"

Maria Latouf Owner at EquilibriOm, Creator of Posture Beads

Michelle Says, "I first met David when I interviewed him for an article on eco-friendly promotions. We have kept in touch. I don't know if this man uses a different part of his brain than other marketing types, but he and his ideas are entirely new and refreshing. Best of all, they work! His small company has pummeled marketing giants in national awards competitions, and for good reason. David combines genuine goodness and humanity with clever, strategic ideas that deliver results."

Michelle Morra-Carlisle Tutor at TutorBright

Cliff Says, "David is a master at creativity. He is open-minded, innovative, client focused and measurement driven. If you choose Dave, you’re 90% of the way to being successful... the rest is up to you.

If you choose not to utilize his talents, pray your competitor doesn’t."

Cliff Quicksell, MAS Professional Speaker, Author, Consultant & Coach

Patti Says, "Communicating with others is one of life’s biggest challenges, whether in the personal or the public domain. When we get it wrong it can prompt frustration, unanticipated failure, or even a permanent falling out. When we get it right, the results are often surprisingly beyond what we planned – escalating buy-in, fostering partnerships and allies, and intensifying that ‘aha’ moment of understanding.

David and Andrea have the uncanny ability to take a key message and merge it with a unique visual focus to make a ‘pitch’ that can be unforgettable. One of many pieces they created, for my past work with the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters, used a light beam to highlight little known facts about interpersonal violence for businessmen at an awareness event. Several years later, a former guest noted that every time he sees that “darn little flashlight” he is reminded of how those facts changed his thinking. I think that comment is a fitting tribute and a perfect example of their invaluable contribution.

Making heartfelt connections, underscoring fresh perspectives, communicating something memorable - that is what David and Andrea do best and what sets their work apart from simply ‘marketing’. I wish them continued success in their work to discover exceptional solutions for their clients.

Patti McClocklin (Formerly) Alberta Council Of Women's Shelters

Julie Says, "We initially approached (Avatar) to provide eco-friendly give away items, but instead they worked with us to develop a more comprehensive campaign that included incentives and measurables, breaking down a large goal to small manageable steps."

The results are in and we are very happy!

A few numbers of the Localmotion Challenge:

• 12% of the households in the neighborhood of Parkallen registered for the challenge. • 13, 534 fewer Km were driven • Approximately 3979 kg less CO2 was emitted from May to june 2009 • average reduction of approximately 400 car km per household

Julie Cournoyer Office of Environment & Energy The City Of Edmonton

We are a full-service promotional marketing agency that specializes in cause and event marketing.

Our story began 30 + years ago by helping save a 65 000-acre forest, forever!

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