June 24th, 2010
With a higher marketing and advertising budget than any other event in company history and over 230 hours of related programming, ESPN’s efforts supporting the 2010 FIFA World Cup comprise a comprehensive, multi-platform campaign across traditional, integrated, and social media. In addition to their national TV and digital strategies, the company’s widespread print and outdoor efforts feature thirty-three original murals depicting the unique story and history of each participating country. Following an 80% jump in viewers from the 2002 to the 2006 games, the massive efforts support an additional expected increase in viewers of 25-50%. FIFA’s official partners and sponsors, including Adidas, Coca-Cola, Visa, Sony, McDonalds, and Budweiser, are also contributing campaigns, while unofficial endorsers are forced to engage in controversial ambush marketing to participate in the marketing craze.
Tags: ambush marketing, Articulation Agency, Articulation Team, ESPN, FIFA World Cup, global sponsorship, integrated media, integrated media campaigns, marketing plan, online branding, social media strategies, sports marketing, strategic marketing plan, target audience, world cup soccer
Posted in Advertising | No Comments »
June 24th, 2010
It’s hard to argue that Facebook marketing isn’t here to stay. A Facebook page is quickly becoming a necessary complement to many companies’ online branding strategy. While the platform doesn’t have the branding and design user experience that a traditional website delivers, it certainly is convenient way to instantly reach and push content out to all those who “Like” your page. It is also easy to maintain and update, from almost anywhere. But that doesn’t mean anyone should do it! Instant distribution certainly is a powerful feature, but to maximize the impact of your Facebook marketing, it should be integrated and managed as part of your overall marketing plan and messaging strategy. It may make sense to get professional help, as we currently manage the social networking platforms for several clients across multiple industries. This includes a recent launch of green documentary called Happy Planet, which also featured the song of our musician client, showing another powerful benefit of social marketing platforms.
Tags: Articulation Agency, Facebook, Facebook marketing, Happy Planet, Hollenbeck PAL, Marc Robillard, marketing strategy, Matt Brunini, online branding, online branding strategy, online marketing, positioning, social networking strategies, strategic marketing plan
Posted in Client Projects | No Comments »
June 24th, 2010
Articulation recently underwent efforts to refresh elements of their own brand. Focusing on the website homepage and the Portfolio of work, the visual update maintains the same color palette and style long associated with the firm’s core identity, while implementing a bold new design to emphasize recent work and successes. It is important to periodically revisit your branding strategy to ensure that your visual identity evolves as your company does. Adjustments to your look, when consistent with the overall brand, can take advantage of new services, features, and technologies, as well as repositioning your firm to reflect current focus, goals and offerings. A brand refresh can also serve as a new and interesting touch point to reach out to past and current clients and prospects.
Tags: Articulation Agency, Articulation Team, brand identity, branding, company rebrand, core messaging, design, extend brand, overall brand, positioning, strategic marketing plan, update brand, update website, visual identity, website, website development, website rebrand, website redesign
Posted in Identity, Web | No Comments »
June 24th, 2010
Throughout the second quarter, the Articulation development team worked extensively to build a robust, customized inventory and product management system for a fashion design firm. Originally charged with automating what was a half-day process to develop materials into just three clicks, the platform was built on top of the Magento online sales management system and includes both front-end sales support as well as back-end inventory control. Housing nearly a thousand unique pieces, the application aggregates all product-specific information, from wholesale and retail prices, to descriptions, quantities, locations, and imagery. To maximize the utility of the system, the team developed and implemented several distinct capabilities to fit the needs of the client. The additional features enable the company to instantly create branded line sheets for any selection of products, generate unique URLs for each image, and produce multiple levels of password protected segments and log-ins for buyers.
Tags: Articulation Agency, Articulation Team, content management system, custom CMS, design and development, fine jewelry company, interactive website, inventory system, jewelry industry marketing, K Brunini Jewels, Matt Brunini, product management, website development
Posted in Client Projects | No Comments »
March 31st, 2010
As social-media evolves to become a must for nearly any marketing plan, it is important to assess your firm’s strategies. In a recent project for an emerging singer-songwriter, Articulation created and leveraged a strong presence on several social networking sites to drive traffic to his website and to other profiles, to gain exposure and listeners, and interact with fans. With most sites now linking to each other through easy-to-use applications, you gain a complex web of avenues to reach your target market, allowing you to engage in ongoing conversations with frequent touches. While Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are the most common networks, industry-specific communities offer unique audiences, while media-sharing sites like Youtube and Flickr, blogs and forums can be equally effective tools in a multi-tier marketing scheme.
Tags: Articulation Agency, easy-to-use applications, extend brand, gain exposure and listeners, increase website traffic, industry-specific communities, interact with fans, Marc Robillard, marketing plan, marketing strategy, Matt Brunini, multi-tier marketing scheme, online branding, overall brand, reach your target market, social networking strategies, social-media, strategic marketing plan, target audience, target audiences
Posted in Client Projects, Interactive, Public Relations, Web | No Comments »
March 31st, 2010
Spurred by their recent giveaway of a free bag of chips for the signing up of new fans, SunChips Facebook page gained nearly 200,000 fans in a matter of days. Following up the efforts with a free song download for all fans and a promise of more giveaways in the near future, the company is set to gain a significant following on the ubiquitous social networking site which could translate to real-life profits. PandaExpress, Baja Fresh, T.G.I. Friday’s, 1-800-Flowers.com, The Children’s Place, and many other companies have also begun using giveaways as a means to expand their fan base, promote their offerings, and build brand awareness. As with any strategy, it is important to assess whether the strengths of your company’s offerings can be effectively conveyed through this type of method before including it in your marketing plan. When executed appropriately, a fan giveaway can be an excellent marketing resource as well as true testament to your product.
Tags: Articulation Agency, build brand awareness, drive web traffic, extend brand, facebook promotion, free product giveaway, giveaways, giveaways as a means to expand fan base, Marc Robillard, marketing plan, marketing promo, marketing resource, marketing strategy, Matt Brunini, music download giveaway, online marketing, promote offerings, promotional giveaways, promotional offer, social marketing strategies, social networking site, social networking strategies, strategic marketing plan, SunChips
Posted in Advertising, Identity, Public Relations, Web | No Comments »
March 31st, 2010
Articulation partnered with a leading provider of branding, interactive, and content services for athletes to develop the design framework for the firm’s corporate identity brochure and print materials. The company, which provides branded content that reflects the individual interests and personas of each unique athlete, contacted Articulation to develop a Brand Blueprint, or creative brief with a multi-tier strategy demonstrating the marketing potential of an individual athlete. The team at Articulation contributed significant identity and design efforts to the brochure, which has since been successfully employed as part of their marketing and branding process.
Tags: Articulation Agency, athlete marketing, Brand Blueprint, brand development, brand identity, branding, corporate identity brochure and print materials, extend brand, identity and design efforts, marketing and branding process, marketing materials, marketing plan, marketing strategy, sports agency marketing, sports marketing, sports marketing materials, strategic marketing plan
Posted in Client Projects, Identity, Web | No Comments »
March 31st, 2010
Throughout the first quarter, Articulation Agency worked closely with a synchronous web training provider, developing and executing a multi-tiered marketing plan corresponding to the launch of their global online learning platform. Challenged to effectively convey the firm’s unique position in the industry as the leading provider of live, instructor-led online training, the team incorporated strategic branded messaging throughout their website and marketing materials, with additional emphasis on the company’s deep experience and unique expertise. The project, which involved significant research, custom website design, core messaging, content development, an email marketing campaign, and press materials, helped to solidify the company’s substantial market presence by reincorporating their core values and benefits into their brand identity.
Tags: Articulation Agency, CMS platform, communication strategies, content development, core messaging, core values and benefits into a brand identity, custom website design, elearning, email marketing campaign, esynctraining, experience and unique expertise, marketing materials, Matt Brunini, multi-tiered marketing plan, online training courses, press materials, significant research, strategic marketing plan, strategic messaging, unique position in the industry, web training
Posted in Client Projects, Identity, Web | No Comments »
December 30th, 2009
As your business grows, it is important that your website grows with it. A content management system (CMS) allows you to better manage and customize your site and make important updates about your firm as they occur, giving you more control of your site and your brand. While keeping a website up to date can be difficult, time-consuming, and potentially costly, a CMS is a simple, user-friendly solution to keep content fresh, restructure your site, and manage a large media collection, from anywhere, without any code or HTML issues. With a CMS to execute technical details, build the menus and navigation, and keep page layouts and design consistent, you can focus on reaching your target audience, as well as your company’s goals.
Tags: content management system (CMS), customize your site, reaching your target audience
Posted in Web | No Comments »
December 30th, 2009
Articulation partnered with a growing film and television production company, building and designing a custom website to showcase the broad capabilities and diverse body of work. In addition to web design and content development, the project involved significant media conversion and optimization to incorporate the firm’s media assets, moving logo, and action stills of their productions around the globe. The company’s latest program, Two Weeks in Hell, which details the trials of Green Beret selection, is currently airing on the Discovery Channel.
Tags: building and designing a custom website, media conversion and optimization, web design and content development
Posted in Client Projects, Identity, Web | No Comments »
