News

	James Ehly (center) poses with the creators of MODx, Ryan Thrash and Jason Coward.

James Ehly, web developer for Idea Bank Marketing, attended the MODxpo web conference in Dallas, May 10-12, 2010.

Sponsored by Microsoft® WebsiteSpark^TM, the conference featured the founders and developers of MODx, an Open Source Content Management System (CMS) Idea Bank uses in building custom websites. Ehly attended forums that discussed future developments in MODx programming, and networked with developers from around the world.

"Our custom developed MODx websites let website owners easily update their sites in-house, eliminating the need to rely on web developers for routine maintenance," said Ehly. "The program creates websites that are easy to navigate, can be customized to particular needs, and are search engine optimized."

A member of the Idea Bank Marketing team since 2007, Ehly builds custom CMS websites for healthcare, manufacturing, education, tourism, nonprofit, business, and industry sectors. Idea Bank Marketing has been providing creative, comprehensive marketing and advertising services since 1982, and can be reached by calling (402) 463-0588, or online at ideabankmarketing.com.

WHO WE HELPED:

Eakes Office Plus is a 60-year-old office furniture and supply company with 11 locations across Nebraska.

WHAT THEY NEEDED:

A television campaign that showcased their HON and Sharp lines of office equipment and promoted a Bowl Game Ticket Giveaway. The spots would air during collegiate and professional sporting events, mainly Husker football.

HOW WE DID IT:

Knowing that these ads were going to run predominately during sports events, we were able to determine the target audience – professional office workers, male, ranging in age from 25 to 55.

With the target audience and programming in mind, we wanted to create visually dramatic and humorous spots that could grab and keep attention of sports fans for the duration of the spot.

We decided on a “destruction” theme that shows a 30-something professional showing his frustration with outdated equipment and furniture by, well, destroying it.  We made one spot for each line of office equipment.  

To promote the ticket giveaway, we incorporated a text “crawl”, similar to what sports and news broadcasts use.  This allowed us to provide the specifics of the contest, along with the Eakes web address, and was an element that could easily be removed once the contest concluded.

HOW IT WENT:

Eakes Office Plus reported the there were over 1,500 registrations for the Bowl Game Tickets Giveaway and that their new location in Norfolk, Neb. received higher awareness.

Idea Bank has received recognition from the Lincoln American Marketing Association and a Telly Award in the "Local Television Commercial" category for these spots.

Check out the spots on our YouTube Channel and Facebook Page.

by Anthony May
Multimedia Designer/Digital Video Specialist

Nearly 250 million Americans are using cell phones - over 40 million of which are "smartphones" - to make calls, send and receive text messages, surf the web and visit their favorite social networking sites.

But how should you go about approaching this massive audience in your marketing plans? Here's three facets to consider when developing a mobile marketing strategy.

MOBILE SITE

A natural way to enter the mobile marketing space is with your website; The key is to make sure your website is optimized for mobile viewing. Traditional websites are designed for browsing on a computer, which can be a vastly different experience than looking at a site on a mobile phone.

Because of differences in the technology - such as screen size and connection speed - mobile sites should have fewer images, clean layouts and simplified navigation. But that doesn't necessarily mean you need an entirely new website.

Your existing website can be used as the foundation for a mobile version, which can be programmed to automatically display for mobile users. Your mobile site can also have its own URL, m.sitename.com, sitename.com/mobile or sitename.mobi.

Here are a couple examples of sites Idea Bank has converted for mobile devices.

Grand Island Public Schools: gips.org to m.gips.org
Idea Bank Marketing: ideabankmarketing.com to m.ideabankmarketing.com

TEXT MESSAGING (SMS)

You've probably seen text promotions before; Something along the lines of "Text SOMEWORD to 55555" in order to receive a special offer or to be entered in a contest. These are referred as "Opt-In" messages, where individuals choose to become part of your messaging list by giving you access to their phone number.

Think of SMS campaigns as the mobile version or extension of e-mail marketing. SMS campaigns are just another way to build a database of customers who agree to accept your special offers, promotions, news and information.

APPLICATIONS

Currently, the fastest growing area within the mobile space is 'apps,' or pieces of software that users download to their device. Available for devices such as iPhones, Droids and BlackBerrys, mobile apps are projected to be a $17.5 billion industry by 2012.

While that revenue is generated by pay-per-download apps, branded apps - distributed for free - can help a company engage with its customers. Providing an entertainment, utility or social app will give customers repeated and prolonged exposures to your brand, in a format not generally perceived as advertising.

Anthony May is a Multimedia Designer and Digital Video Specialist at Idea Bank Marketing in Hastings, NE. He has been working with the web since 2003.