Cobalt Past & Present: What It Means to Be a DieHard Part Two

March 11, 2010 — aspeyer

On St. Patrick’s Day, Cobalt will be having a 15th anniversary party in celebration of its expansive growth as well as the hard work and dedication given by the company’s employees, both new and longstanding. Within Cobalt, there are 50 people who are given a badge of honor for their venerable commitment to the success of Cobalt. They are dubbed Cobalt DieHards and have been with the company for nine or more years.

Community Counts
Over the past few months, I have had the privilege of getting to know a few of these well-respected and enthusiastic DieHards. They have shared with me their stories of Cobalt’s past and present and are certainly on board for the future. Cobalt’s exponential growth within the past decade and a half is undeniable and couldn’t have been accomplished without them.

“Seeing us grow from dot com to big company is amazing. Throughout the ten years I’ve been with Cobalt, no matter what department, there’s a feeling of close-knit, small community. I love working at Cobalt because of the people I work with as well as our strong leadership,” said Ben Patawaran, account advocate.

DieHard Dedication
In Part One of this article, I wrote about the amazing transformation Cobalt underwent from using dial up connections and hard-copies of websites to being first in line for dealer and OEM digital marketing. One thing that remains consistent with Cobalt, despite new technologies and the ever-changing automotive industry, Cobalt has held true to its motto of “work hard, play hard.”

“During the 2001 earthquake, I was the safety coordinator for my floor and had to make sure everyone evacuated. I ran through the floor to double check; and there was still one person typing away at her desk. She just had to send off one email before leaving. That’s dedication!” said Patawaran.

Room for Even More Growth
Many of the DieHards began when Cobalt had fewer than 100 employees. Now, the company has grown to over 1,000 strong, expanded their offices across the nation and gained large accounts with Lexus, GM and Volkswagon.

“Winning GM was definitely one of the greatest accomplishments we’ve had at Cobalt. We were in the right place at the right time. After that moment, we doubled revenue, hired 350 employees and did 5,000 websites. The aftermath of that sale was incredible,” said Matt Muilenburg, vice president of enterprise marketing solutions.

With its efforts to double innovation, the company’s growth trajectory will not taper for quite sometime. Cobalt remains on the pioneering end of digital marketing for the automotive industry with its unique and successful digital ad packages that coordinate marketing messages from the brand to the dealer.

Work Hard, Play Hard
Another point that rings true for Cobalt’s corporate culture is its strong sense of community. Aside from company parties, events and celebrations, trust and camaraderie is the foundation of Cobalt and one of the reasons why the company has so many DieHard employees. In everything they do, DieHards and newer employees, alike, work hard and play hard.

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Quest for the Best Burger

February 4, 2010 — aspeyer

small burger from Lunchbox LaboratoryCobalt employees seek the best in everything: the best technology, the best people, even the best burgers.

That’s why, when Seattle Metropolitan magazine published a list of the 13 Best Burgers in Seattle, several people on Cobalt’s Human Resources team felt a need – nay, a duty! – to investigate for themselves. Thus began a quest for the best hamburger in Seattle.

The group first headed out to West Seattle for a burger at Zippy’s where they were not disappointed but not yet overwhelmed with meaty goodness. Next came Skillet Street Food, which had burgers cooked in a shiny silver Airstream trailer parked near Safeco Field, only a few blocks away from Cobalt’s Seattle office. Cobalt employees tested Skillet’s signature bacon jam and delicious, herb-seasoned fries. These items were far more unique than the previous outing.

Still, employees weren’t convinced of and didn’t limit themselves to Seattle Metropolitan’s list. Many workers and friends recommended Lunchbox Laboratory in Ballard. Off they went to a tiny shop, and Two Bells Tavern Signperhaps, the rudest service outside of a real New York deli (maybe that’s part of the charm!). The Lab offered the most diverse menu imaginable with about 20 daily creations and the option of building your own from a menu of different meats, breads and condiments. Look at that burger on the upper left. Eat one of those, and you won’t need another hamburger for a month!

Blue Moon Burgers in downtown Seattle was next, another recommendation not on the original list. Closer to home and with a friendly, casual atmosphere, the burgers here were tasty but lacked individuality. A few weeks later, Cobalt employees took a chance on a nearly unknown spot on the Seattle Waterfront: the Grubstake. These burgers were simple with only three variations on the classic combination of bun, cheese and grilled meat. While the burgers  were delicious and a meal in themselves, the small selection of side items (huge potato wedges or sweet onion rings) were not as satisfying.

The most recent stop was Two Bells Tavern. While they did not offer fries, the six different burgers on the menu more than made up for it. Served on a bTwo Bells Burgeraguette and looking beautiful, Two Bells ranked high on most of our lists, and the cozy tavern atmosphere made it easy to want to hang out for a while.

So which is the best so far? Opinions differ. Skillet and Lunchbox Lab seem to be the strongest contenders with Grubstake and Two Bells close behind. For some, which burger is best depends partially on one’s gastronomic mood of the moment and budget, of course. (One creation at Lunchbox Lab costs roughly the same as two of the Grubstake’s huge delights.)

But the quest continues. Who knows what will be next? Something that will delight the senses and excite the palate is sure to follow. Perhaps, when you’re truly looking for the best, you never stop looking. However, one can always hope!

The Cobalt Group
www.cobalt.com
www.twitter.com/CobaltMarketing
www.youtube.com/cobaltlive

The Cobalt Group

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Cobalt Keeps on Giving

January 28, 2010 — aspeyer

Back in December, Cobalt employees gave time, money and gifts to several local Northwest charities, including Northwest Harvest, Treehouse, and Childhaven. Cobalt matched employee donations and made a donation of its own, and in the end $16,000 was given to both Childhaven and Treehouse along with donations of gifts for children for the holiday season.

Normally Cobalt focuses on local charities for giving, but in January events took a different turn. Everyone at Cobalt has seen, along with the rest of the world, the devastation in Haiti. On January 13th, Cobalt CEO John Holt announced that Cobalt would be making a donation of $2,500 to the Red Cross specifically for the Haiti relief efforts.

“It is unbelievable that such an awful thing has happened to a population that already lives in such difficult conditions,” said Holt, followed by an offer to match employee donations up to an additional $2,500.

The response was immediate. By January 15th, two days after the initial announcement, Cobalt increased the donation match amount to $5,000. One week later, on the 22nd, Holt sent a follow-up announcement: “The Cobalt community has been very supportive. Thank you. The tragedy is still building and the restoration efforts will be long and tortuous.” Cobalt employees had already “blown away” both initial donation targets and the new match amount was set at $10,000.

As of January 26th, Cobalt employees have also surpassed the $10,000 goal. Included in that amount is one employee who alone contributed $1,000 and another whose children contributed a jar full of coins collected over time from their allowance.

This means that Cobalt and Cobalt employees will together be making donations of over $22,500 to the relief efforts in Haiti. From an effort that started with modest goals, it has grown as the need has grown.

Cobalt chose to give to the Red Cross in this case because they are reputable; and more importantly, they have the scale to deal with a large disaster. We also encourage any efforts for the people of Haiti. In the words of CEO John Holt, whatever you can do, “the important thing is to give.”

The Cobalt Group
www.cobalt.com
www.twitter.com/CobaltMarketing
www.youtube.com/cobaltlive

The Cobalt Group

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Cobaltians go for the gold

December 22, 2009 — digitalmileage

When describing his experiences with the Paralympics, longtime Cobalt employee Mark Bathum used these words to describe his fellow athletes and their attitude toward the endeavor, “It’s just what you do. You try to make a difference.”

Cobalt believes the same thing, a belief that manifests itself in many ways. For the next few months, Cobalt is sponsoring two Cobalt employees – Mark Bathum and Shane McSimov – in their efforts to do good.

Mark is realizing a goal he has had for 20 years, and started seriously trying for in 2008 – to race for the US Paralympics ski racing team. In 2010, in Vancouver, he will achieve that dream, but only after a lot of hard work and arduous training. Mark raced all last season to see how it would feel to do it. This year he’ll still be working, though remotely, while ramping up his ski training schedule in preparation for the big event. Cobalt will be following his efforts closely and supporting him in his bid!

Mark’s not the only one reaching out, though. Shane McSimov, another Cobalt employee, is organizing his own charity event in a very different way: a charity ping-pong game. Shane has challenged Scott Harrison, the founder of the organization charity: water to a $5000 ping-pong match in New York City, with the money going to build a well for a community that needs fresh water.

As Shane says, “A ping pong match in NYC can that save lives overseas and give clean drinking water to an entire community for 20 years; that’s a game worth playing.” The event will take place in early 2010, and will be streamed live on Ustream.com.

We’ll be writing more about Mark and Shane in the next couple months. Until then, keep updated on Mark’s progress on his website at www.markbathum.com, and you can donate to Shane’s ping-pong game by clicking here.

Cobalt is proud of both Shane and Mark for their efforts to give to something greater than themselves. As hard as we work, Cobalt also knows that when it comes to what really matters, it’s just what you do.

The Cobalt Group
www.cobalt.com
www.twitter.com/CobaltMarketing
www.youtube.com/cobaltlive

The Cobalt Group

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