Window Dressing

October 4, 2011

Will we be bragging if we say this just may be our best building display ever? Spoiler alert! It will feature what makes us so great: our creative thinkers. Today, Designer Jason Jellis is preparing our windows in anticipation of HenkinSchultz’s 20th anniversary party later this month. (Jason’s watched the movie Fargo a lot.)

Jason works on HenkinSchultz windows

By amie

Filed Under Marketing, HenkinSchultz

Cures for the Viral Craze

September 20, 2011

Viral marketing campaigns have a certain allure. You simply give the customers the message, and they do the work for you, right? Sadly, it doesn’t happen like that. Viral marketing campaigns take a lot of effort, but if you do them right they can pay off. However, the risk is that there’s no guarantee that they will.

Let’s start with the basics. Viral marketing, quite simply, is getting a message to spread rapidly, just like a virus does. Viral marketing campaigns are trendy right now—remember the Old Spice Guy? There have even been literal viral marketing campaigns (yuck). Viral marketing doesn’t work for every business, but paired with a strong traditional marketing campaign and aimed at the right audience, viral marketing efforts can take off.

If you’re thinking about such a campaign, take the temperature of your campaign before making a decision. Here are some points to keep in mind:

Consider return on investment. Will your viral marketing campaign help you sell your product or spread your message? If the answer is no, it’s not helping your business and it’s not worth the effort.

You still have to plan. It takes ample thought and strategy to make any campaign successful, especially a viral marketing campaign. Strategizing on how to spread the message is an integral part of the campaign, and making a misstep could mean the campaign doesn’t produce the desired results.

Sharing must be built-in. Customers need the tools to quickly share your campaign with others, or its not going to spread. During a South Dakota Department of Education campaign aimed at high-school students, we provided students with sidewalk chalk and wording to spread the message themselves. Built-in sharing can be as simple as links to share on Facebook or forwarding the message to friends.

It doesn’t work for every business. It’s hard to predict what goes viral. While not a marketing campaign, this video of grandparents trying to figure out their computer has more than 7 million hits on YouTube. Having a thorough understanding of your audience and your company’s goals can help you determine if viral marketing campaign is a good fit.

You can’t control what customers say. You can, however, start the conversations and see where they go. Interaction with your customers during these campaigns can help propel the campaign further.

All your campaigns should be shareable. Sure, it’s appealing to think your viral campaign could spread like wildfire, but don’t you want all of your campaigns to have a strong message for people to share? Any campaign, traditional or otherwise, should have a strong message and value for your customers.

By amie

Filed Under Marketing

Color Me Happy

July 12, 2011

JazzFest posterDo you know what your business’s colors say about you? Many people don’t give it a second thought, but color is a crucial element of design. Color evokes emotion, sets a scene and grabs the audience’s attention.

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By amie

Filed Under Advertising, Marketing, Design, HenkinSchultz, The Process

Eye-Catching and Award-Winning

May 6, 2011

Building Hope Gala Invite

Last year, we were pretty stoked about winning some Aster Awards, so we decided to show off our goods again this year. For our creative efforts, we recently pulled in eight 2011 Aster Awards, which are only given to the most outstanding healthcare advertising campaigns in the nation.

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By amie

Filed Under Advertising, Marketing, HenkinSchultz

A Mix of Tradition and Technology

March 22, 2011

Dakota Provisions is a world-class meat processing facility located in South Dakota, but they were concerned that their technological innovation was being overlooked due to their strong ties to tradition and their humble corporate culture.

We worked with Dakota Provisions to strike a balance between technology and tradition. Dakota Provisions revised its look to focus more on technological innovation and sustainability efforts while staying true to its traditional values.

With a new company video, eye-catching sales and marketing materials, and an improved marketing plan, Dakota Provisions looks anything but old-fashioned.

By amie

Filed Under Advertising, Marketing, Design, HenkinSchultz, The Process

Moths to a Flame

February 22, 2011

HenkinSchultz helped Rosenbauer America polish the look of its marketing materials to reflect the company’s technological edge over its competitors. After taking a comprehensive look at the materials, Rosenbauer’s marketing staff and HenkinSchultz wanted to project even more that Rosenbauer America is a consistent, progressive and innovative company with locally owned values.

Smart CabRosenbauer America makes fire trucks. Really, really incredible state-of-the-art fire trucks and other firefighting equipment that lead the industry. We updated the marketing materials to have a clean and contemporary feel that matches the vibe of the company’s high-tech, innovative equipment.

Rosenbauer America didn’t need an overhaul of its materials; instead, it just needed to elevate them. Working with HenkinSchultz, Rosenbauer America examined and refreshed all its materials to make them consistent and relevant for customers’ needs. The result? A new look that has created excitement within the company and brought customers to the products like moths to a flame.

By amie

Filed Under Advertising, Marketing, Design, HenkinSchultz

Millennials Desire Online and Off-Line Communications

January 11, 2011

When planning an event or ad campaign for a younger generation, it’s easy to jump straight to social media. While Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter may be popular among the millennial generation, we can’t forget that people often use these platforms as a way to gather together. The most successful marketing campaigns use a careful blend of social and traditional media to meet their goals.

It’s definitely true that the way people communicate is changing. Text messages, tweets and Facebooking are more popular than ever, and social media is important to marketing campaigns. Yet research shows that as much as teens enjoy social media, they also love to meet up with their friends. According to the Keller Fay Group, a marketing research company specializing in word-of-mouth marketing, 75% of teens talk about brands in person, while only 13% talk about brands online.

As the new year began, many news outlets came up with lists of technology and innovations that will be obsolete for babies born in 2011. Travel agents, movie rental stores and videotape all made the lists. But what is not going to go extinct is the desire for people to connect, gather and communicate.

Social media is a great tool to reach a younger generation, but it shouldn’t be the only one in your toolbox. It’s important to constantly think of ways to harness online communications while supporting traditional marketing.

By amie

Filed Under Advertising, Marketing

SDSU Foundation Announces Historic Campaign

November 3, 2010

image_sdsu.jpg

We were proud to partner with the South Dakota State University Foundation recently on a historic, record-setting announcement.

The South Dakota State University Foundation recently set a campaign goal of $200 million, an unprecedented amount for a state university in South Dakota. The original goal of It Starts with STATE: A Campaign for South Dakota State University, was $175 million to $190 million, but the amount was raised due to the campaign’s overwhelming success so far.

The foundation asked HenkinSchultz to work with them on a grand announcement of the campaign’s goal. We worked closely with the foundation’s staff to coordinate the event, which included invitations, video production, staging, T-shirt and collateral design, live streaming video on the web and more.

Congratulations to the South Dakota State University Foundation on its goal and the opportunities that lie ahead!

By amie

Filed Under Advertising, Marketing, HenkinSchultz

Generation Gap

October 5, 2010

The Center for Active Generations isn’t just for the elderly. But the organization’s leaders were concerned its current advertising and marketing materials weren’t reflecting the breadth of services offered to people of all ages. The organization turned to HenkinSchultz for help in revamping and revising its look. The result was not only a fresh new advertising campaign, but also a new name and tagline.

Active Generations posterAt its headquarters on 46th Street, for example, the organization houses a fitness center that anyone can join. A variety of community programs, social activities and education classes are available at the center. Additionally, the Center for Active Generations supports families with resources on housing, employment, volunteering and more.

As HenkinSchultz began to look at revising the organization’s logo and other materials, it became clear that its mission and goals have evolved over time. The name without a tagline worked well when the organization began, but a tagline was now needed to accurately describe the organization.

First, the organization shortened its name Active Generations. But perhaps the most important element was the addition of the tagline “Opportunities for a Lifetime.” And that perfectly reflects the organization’s goals of supporting people of all ages.

By amie

Filed Under Advertising, Marketing, Design, HenkinSchultz

Wishing for the Attainable

September 7, 2010

A recent Harris Poll asked U.S. adults which they’d most want to be: richer, thinner, smarter or younger. Interestingly, the two most popular choices are the most attainable.

People want to be rich or thin, and realistically both of those can be achieved through a lot of dedication and hard work. Of the respondents, 43 percent chose richer and 21 percent chose thinner. Just 14 percent chose smarter, and 12 percent chose younger. Take all the ginkgo biloba you can find, it’s not going to make you smarter. And Cher can sing all about turning back time, but we’ve seen how well that’s worked out for her.

The results of the poll varied by age group. For example, it was less common for people ages 18 to 34 to wish for youth (4%) compared to people 55+ (19%). People 55+ still wish for riches (34%), but they do so less than people ages 35 to 44 (53%). That’s an interesting phenomenon; perhaps the older age group has accumulated more wealth, while people in their 30s and 40s are more likely to still be raising a family.

What do these little insights mean for advertisers? Think about who you’re marketing to and what wishes are still within their reach. People like to dream, but they still like their fantasies to be in the realm of possibilities.

By amie

Filed Under Advertising, Marketing

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