Campbell, Harrington & Brear

October 10th, 2012
Posted By: Allan Pettit

A series of CPA firm mergers had created a vacuum in the regional accounting world.

Many small to mid-sized companies – those with revenues of between $2 million and $50 million – suddenly found themselves neglected in the shuffle of the newly merged mega-firms.

Rotz & Stonesifer PC was perfectly positioned to step up and serve companies of this size. The only thing it lacked was the branding platform necessary to reach and inform the company presidents, CFOs and CEOs.

The firm came to us for help, and we’ve responded with a rebranding effort that will enable Rotz & Stonesifer to cast a wider net into this deeper pond. You can get a first look at their website – the center of their new brand’s universe – here.

Fact is, Rotz & Stonesifer knows business. They speak their clients’ language. And they go beyond the science of accounting into the special art that separates valued business advisers from mere number-crunchers.

So our creative concept uses the slogan “Let’s talk,” with dialog balloons as the main graphic element to promote that strategic position. Not only do the balloons reflect the two-way flow of communication between clients and the professionals at Rotz & Stonesifer, they also suggest the relationships Rotz & Stonesifer seeks to build –relationships that will help their clients through the ever-changing maze of accounting regulations and business ups and downs.

The SEO-optimized website is fully content-managed, which means Rotz & Stonesifer will easily be able to keep its content fresh, relevant and attractive to Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc., making it easier to be found by those presidents, CFOs and CEOs.

Further, the platform is flexible enough that it will allow us to “talk about” other important Rotz & Stonesifer services, such as personal wealth management and tax advice, payroll processing, peer review, and HR assistance.

The brand is being supported through emails, literature, PR, social media and other elements to be determined.

To discuss this brand and website – or yours – email Mel Campbell or email Angela Wenner, or call them at (717) 846-2947.

Filed in Case Studies, CHBlog, Service Industries - 0 comments

April 19th, 2012
Posted By: Mel Campbell, Jr.

“Help! I’m advertising in yellow books and I can’t stop myself!”

That, in a nutshell, was a company’s call for help. For years, yellow book advertising had consumed this company’s marketing budget. And for years that made sense.

Then again, the company was founded in 1972. Here it was 2010, yet the company was still spending tens of thousands of dollars annually on an antiquated medium that’s essentially untrackable. (Yes, the days of the yellow books are over.  When was the last time you used one of the directories?  Heck, people under 35 never use them and those older use them very rarely. Today’s shoppers use their smartphone or computer.)

So the company came to us for guidance into this new digital world. And we explained how those yellow dollars could produce much more green using web-based marketing.

Unfortunately for this particular company, their present website was a manufacturer’s site reskinned for their own company’s use … very little branding and almost no SEO.

So the time had come for this local company to rethink its marketing strategies and step into the modern world of online marketing … a very efficient and effective tool.

Our Plan

By reducing the company’s yellow book commitment to the barest minimum (the client couldn’t go cold turkey), we were able to redeploy dollars into the creation of a new website – which launched in early 2011.  We also developed a web promotion strategy with trackable Search Engine Optimization and strategically designed, measurable pay-per-click campaigns (the first of which launched October of 2011).

We created a new website that is user-friendly and informative with multiple ways of contacting the client for pricing or service. And since the site is content managed, it’s easy to update the content frequently, which improves search engine visibility and allows the client to keep promotional offerings fresh.

Ongoing site maintenance, keyword research, the addition of fresh content and other search optimization techniques by CH&B has enabled our web-based strategy to succeed.

The site’s performance was boosted by a well-targeted pay-per-click campaign which benefited the organic performance of the site as well.

Compared to October of 2011, February of 2012 showed:

• an increase of 125.7% in average time spent on the website
• an increase of 41.7% in pages viewed per visit
• an increase of 5.4% in percent of visitors produced by organic search
• a drop in the bounce rate of 11.2%
• 54 calls were generated in one month via the mobile component of the pay-per-click campaign

Meanwhile, each month, the number of customers contacting the company via the website to make purchases, schedule appointments or ask questions increases. And our Search Engine Marketing techniques have turned the Special Offers page into the most frequently visited page on the site.  A harbinger of future sales results.

“We have been able to position this brand in a way that’s distinct from the manufacturer’s brand, while showcasing the company’s expertise and uniqueness in the marketplace,” says Angela Wenner, Campbell, Harrington & Brear account executive. “A lot of people claim expertise in web-based marketing, but the proof is in the data.”

Why continue to throw your money away in yellow book advertising when you can track and acquire real results in a web-based strategy?

Filed in Case Studies, CHBlog, Say No to Yellow Page Ads, The Know-How Exchange - one response

November 10th, 2011
Posted By: Allan Pettit

The Life Sciences Greenhouse of Central Pennsylvania (LSGPA) was like a physician too busy to get a physical.

For nearly a decade, seed-stage companies have been turning to LSGPA for funding, entrepreneurial expertise, and access to a vast network of connections within the life sciences universe. The firm’s uniquely qualified team offers years of collective entrepreneurial, operational and corporate governance experience, having helped start and build companies time and time again.

But like that busy doctor, they didn’t have time enough to treat their own brand. And they knew it was time for a check-up.

They discovered us through our website, brought us in for a consultation, then asked us to help them “find their blind spots.” What we discovered was a company with a strong, accurate idea of who it was and the space it commanded. “They knew themselves very well,” says Angela Wenner, Campbell, Harrington & Brear’s director of new business development. “They weren’t grasping for an identity, but they were having trouble articulating that identity.”

What they needed, we determined, was an overall polishing of the brand and the development of tools – both traditional and digital – which would allow LSGPA to efficiently execute a consistent marketing strategy. Our goal was the creation of a more current, cutting edge presentation platform, more in line with – and attractive to – the type of burgeoning high-tech companies they seek to serve.

We advanced the logo, taking its basic footprint and giving it dimension. We crafted a slogan – Leading Ideas to Market.^SM – that more clearly conveys their mission and role in the commercialization of life sciences innovations.

But our most important service was helping them take advantage of newer, better, more efficient marketing media tools available for pushing information outward toward their audiences. “They really hadn’t had a chance to focus on high-potential tools such as social media or a website that clearly and effectively serves information and is optimized for search engine visibility,” explains Angela.

Their new website, designed, written and built by CH&B, launched November 1 and now serves as a full presentation of the refurbished brand and the tremendous resources LSGPA has to offer.

If you think your brand needs a check-up, email Angela.

 

Filed in Case Studies, CHBlog, Recent - 0 comments

October 13th, 2011
Posted By: Allan Pettit

There’s power in numbers. We’re helping a group of electrical contractors tap it.

Years ago, several electrical contractors formed an alliance enabling each of them to select from a pool of more than 300 of the best, most thoroughly trained commercial/industrial electricians available in Central Pennsylvania. As a result, each member stands ready to handle the electrical needs of anything from small commercial shops and offices, to mid- to large-sized manufacturing facilities, to nuclear power plants.

From building a voice and data network, to installing a security system for a new bank location, to wiring anything from a big screen TV in a company lobby to a whole new factory, every one of these electrical contractors can mobilize a crew of these outstanding electricians to meet any customer’s needs at a moment’s notice.

There was a problem, however.  An issue that eluded them for years.

How do you market this arrangement?  How do you advertise a group?  How do you promote something that seems like a non-entity?  Also, how do you brighten electrical contracting and make it fresh?  Despite their previous marketing forays, no one knew much about them.

Enter CH&B. We developed a completely fresh and unique marketing model.  We took the alliance and totally repackaged and repositioned it with an entirely new image, a new edgy name – wiredworks.net – and a new brand umbrella.

All of our messaging – from logo to outdoor – uses bright, zappy colors, bold zippy modern graphics, and a zingy slogan … “when your electrician isn’t working … wiredworks.net.”

Through the use of outdoor – for significant name recognition and initial introduction of the brand – and humorous (yes, humorous) TV commercials, we direct potential customers to a single, cool, highly SEOed wiredworks.net landing page that tells the full story of the alliance and invites the target audience to either select a contractor individually via a link or go directly to the alliance for selection guidance.  Either way, within 24 hours you can have onsite as many electricians as you need for as long as you need them.

Think you need to rewire your image and message? Contact Angela Wenner, our director of new business development. She will develop answers for you that can build your business.

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September 10th, 2010
Posted By: Allan Pettit

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February 24th, 2010
Posted By: Allan Pettit

Members, associates and the rest of us tend to see the YMCA of York and York County from ground level. As the Y’s CEO, Larry Richardson sees it from the sky.

He sees a regional treasure, one that serves 38,000 people a year in its four area locations.

He sees a community resource that benefits youth and strengthens families and seniors by providing athletic, fitness, intellect and character-building opportunities that throw open doors to new possibilities.

He sees an organization so intent on embracing everyone, it offers financial assistance, including Membership for All, which makes membership available to the entire community through an income-based sliding fee scale.

Finally, he sees an undisputed leader, one that has invested more than $27 million in local community redevelopment, converting trouble spots, eyesores and other pockets of urban blight into retail and residential properties that beautify the neighborhood and generate tax revenue.

Continue reading “Getting a Pound of Ooomph! from an Ounce of Budget.” »

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September 15th, 2009
Posted By: Allan Pettit

CH&B is delighted to announce the launch of the new Accomac Inn website.

The Accomac Inn, for decades one of Central Pennsylvania’s most elegant restaurants, needed a brand new website – one as fresh as the redefined Inn itself.

Not only had the Accomac renovated its interior, making it lighter, brighter and more welcoming, it had transformed its menu too, thanks to a whole-hearted commitment to serving only the freshest local seasonal fare.

Our job was to conceive, design and construct a website as appetizing as this new Inn experience. What we delivered is something that they will be able to savor for a long, long time.

While touring the site at www.accomacinn.com, take a moment to visit the blog. Not only does it enable the Accomac to inform its customers about a range of issues in real time, it also plays a big role in search engine optimization.

Continue reading “Scrumptious New Website For Gourmet Restaurant” »

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August 3rd, 2009
Posted By: Allan Pettit

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March 17th, 2009
Posted By: Allan Pettit

Lori Gillon, executive vice president of the York County Builders Association, was six months into a promising relationship with a new marketing firm when the roof fell in.

A routine November call to the firm – the winner in an arduous agency search undertaken in the spring of 2008 – revealed that the agency’s phone had been disconnected.

Worse, the Home Show – her Association’s premier event – was less than three months away. Looming even sooner was the scheduled launch of a proposed rebranding effort. Faced with a lot of work and a little time, Lori called Angela Wenner, CH&B’s director of new business development.

The two had shared lunch over the summer after meeting in their golf league. Of particular appeal, given this new development, was the stability suggested by our 30-plus years and the fact that every one of our 10 employees has been here at least eight years.

Continue reading “York Builders Turn to CH&B to Build a Stronger Identity” »

Filed in Case Studies, CHB Posts, CHBlog, Construction - 0 comments