June 1st, 2010 / By Ray Ward

Dot Foods, a Hughes client, started in business when Robert Tracy and his wife, Dorothy (Dot), began a dairy product ingredient business out of their family station wagon in 1960.  Today the company is privately owned with many members of the Tracy family still very active in leadership.  As the nation’s largest food redistribution company, Dot employs more than 3,000 people and has almost 1,000 trucks on the road servicing distributors out of eight distribution centers across the United States.

Hughes serves as the strategic marketing partner to Dot and is also involved day to day in the company’s all important employee recruitment efforts.  Dot recently sought  Hughes’ advice for commemorating the company’s 50^th Anniversary.  Hughes set out to create a year-long celebration that would focus on Dot’s  employee base and the communities it serves, while reflecting positively on its customer base and suppliers.  Working with Dot all along the way, the event “Delivering the Dream” was announced at company Christmas gatherings in December 2009, through a commemorative video which provided a retrospective look-back at the founders, the heritage, innovation and collaboration that has characterized this great American growth story.   The event went public in May under the banner “Delivering the Dream.”   A one-of-a-kind golden trailer, depicting the theme, was created to deliver full loads of food and sundries free to charitable organizations within the operating areas of each of Dot’s distribution centers, as selected by employees of that DC.  This effort is now taking place throughout the second half of 2010, accompanied by local publicity, generated by Hughes and the local Dot distribution centers.

This commemorative event, one of many parts of a multi-faceted marketing communications program, captures the personality and character of a company committed to the success of its customers, suppliers, employees and the communities it serves.