Campbell, Harrington & Brear

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.

 

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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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October 7th, 2011
Posted By: Angela Wenner

Our new web developer, Christian Gloss, toiled late into the evening last Friday. As the office grew darker, he tapped away – writing, testing, inputting, uploading, linking, integrating, tagging, propagating, and staring into the bright light of his iMac, inhabiting a world that most will never understand and using a language that might as well be Martian. Gradually, a distinctive low rumbling noise began to fill his office. The sound seemed endless to him, relentless even, pulling him from his silicon and caffeine haze.

“Not from around here” as they say, Christian had no idea of the tradition, nostalgia, smells and sounds that make York Bike Night a must-do event for thousands of people each year in late September. What he was hearing was the sound of hundreds of bikers converging into a four-block area to show off, meet up, hang out, and simply enjoy the camaraderie that naturally happens when bikers get together.

This year’s Bike Night featured a Grand Marshall that legends are made of: Beese Wendt, a seven-time National Hill Climb Champion who happens to be from York County. A 1976 Sports Illustrated article described him this way:

“An intrepid gentleman named Beese Wendt helped build the Jefferson hill, and holds the record for climbing it. His given name is Truman, but years ago the other riders tagged him with Beese (Bee-zee), sort of short for BSA, because he was fighting faithful to his trusty BSA bike. It is a classic 1949 Vincent, painted bright purple, although Beese swears the aerosol can said burgundy. For Beese Wendt to ride a purple Vincent at Jefferson is akin to Buddy Baker driving a flathead Ford with fender skirts and a Continental kit at Darlington. Despite years of hillclimbing, Beese’s bones are intact. “Got a lot of bruises, and once I hit that darn concrete shed at the top of the Muskegon hill and tore all the cart-ridges out of one of my knees, but that’s all that’s ever been hurt bad,” he says.

“But I don’t know,” he adds reflectively. “Last year was like all the others. I traveled 10,000 miles, and all I got is a car that’s wore out, a bike that’s wore out and a body that’s wore out. I just don’t know….”

The 2012 commemorative Bike Night t-shirt was designed by CH&B’s Mark Leinaweaver, who captured the flavor and excitement of  the 1960’s era Hill Climb competitions where Beese became legendary. Within a few hours, the T-shirts were sold out, vendors headed home and only the hard core partiers remained. I’ll bet Beese was around somewhere, in a smoky bar, telling young riders stories of the good old days.

A few blocks west, Christian shut down his iMac and headed home – for a quiet martini, and a soft pillow.

 

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September 27th, 2011
Posted By: Allan Pettit

A website has no value if no one can find it, which is why web development, content management and expertise in search engine optimization (SEO) work hand-in-hand-in-hand.

When properly executed, SEO allows your site to leap-frog competitor sites and appear on the top pages of search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo.

That’s because SEO is the science – as well as the art – of understanding how search engines go about their business. SEO experts know what search engines look for and value as they sift through billions of sites, finding, then ranking the most appropriate for each individual search.

The problem is, while “experts” are a dime a dozen, real expertise is rare.

Recently, we were asked to perform an SEO audit on a company website that was underperforming, despite their efforts to elevate search performance. Our analysis revealed many problems, including scores of coding errors in the HTML – a red flag for search engines – as well as a host of “black opps,” dubious optimization techniques that may provide short-term juice before running dry, and can, over the long term, get a site blacklisted.

Further, the site ignored social media and the role it can play both within your site – providing continuous content – and outside. As Stephen Marcum, our director of media strategy explains, “What people are saying about you and your products or services can have a dramatic impact on SEO.”

Finally, the site was abusing keywords, stuffing them in ways that today’s search algorithms patently reject.

What does this have to do with your site?

• If it’s not performing well in search, start by making sure your site is, as Stephen says, “fresh, new and engaging.” Start adding informative, relevant content regularly.

• Invest in SEO expertise. It will begin with an SEO audit. Says Stephen, “A properly executed audit becomes a portal to understanding where your website stands in terms of search engine visibility, and a platform for creating and executing an SEO strategy.”

• That audit will then allow a reputable SEO specialist to assemble an effective plan, using a range of formulas, techniques, coding strategies and frequently overlooked SEO tools such as social media and reputation monitoring and management.

• We repeat, hire “a reputable SEO specialist.” Not someone who heard about SEO a few months ago, then added a new bullet to the business card, but someone like Stephen who eats, breathes and sleeps SEO … and has done so for years.

To learn more about our SEO and reputation management services, call Angela Wenner, director of new business development, at 846-2947, or email her at angela@chbadv.com.

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August 23rd, 2011
Posted By: Allan Pettit

Hey, this isn’t California. This the East Coast, baby, where earthquakes and Halley’s Comet keep similarly low profiles.  Until today, that is, when a 5.9 quake centered over Louisa County, VA, spread rumbles as far north as Martha’s Vinyard. So just in case you forgot what to do when the walls start swaying and the earth starts shaking, here’s an earthquake refresher, courtesy of our friends at FEMA.

If indoors…

1. Drop to the ground. Take cover by getting under a sturdy table or other piece of furniture and hold on until the shaking stops. If there isn’t a table or desk near you, cover your face and head with your arms and crouch in an inside corner of the building.
2. Stay away from glass, windows, outside doors and walls, and anything that could fall, such as lighting fixtures or furniture.
3. Stay in bed if you are there when the earthquake strikes. Hold on and protect your head with a pillow, unless you are under a heavy light fixture that could fall. In that case, move to the nearest safe place.
4. Use a doorway for shelter only if it is in close proximity to you and if you know it is a strongly supported, loadbearing doorway.
5. Stay inside until the shaking stops and it is safe to go outside. Research has shown that most injuries occur when people inside buildings attempt to move to a different location inside the building or try to leave.
6. Be aware that the electricity may go out or the sprinkler systems or fire alarms may turn on.
7. DO NOT use the elevators.

If outdoors…

1. Stay there
2. Move away from buildings, streetlights, and utility wires.
3. Once in the open, stay there until the shaking stops. The greatest danger exists directly outside buildings, at exits and alongside exterior walls. Many of the 120 fatalities from the 1933 Long Beach earthquake occurred when people ran outside of buildings only to be killed by falling debris from collapsing walls. Ground movement during an earthquake is seldom the direct cause of death or injury. Most earthquake-related casualties result from collapsing walls, flying glass, and falling objects.

If in a moving vehicle…

1. Stop as quickly as safety permits and stay in the vehicle. Avoid stopping near or under buildings, trees, overpasses, or utility wires.
2. Proceed cautiously once the earthquake has stopped. Avoid roads, bridges, or ramps that might have been damaged by the earthquake.

If trapped under debris…

1. Do not light a match.
2. Do not move about or kick up dust.
3. Cover your mouth with a handkerchief or clothing.
4. Tap on a pipe or wall so rescuers can locate you. Use a whistle if one is available. Shout only as a last resort. Shouting can cause you to inhale dangerous amounts of dust.

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August 9th, 2011
Posted By: Mel Campbell, Jr.

Now we are down to the final chapter … if “advertising” in the phone directories is not the way to go what should you do?

Here are the steps to a better advertising approach while spending your companies money more effectively and efficiently.

1. Drop all of your phonebook directory advertising.  All of it.
2. Do not enter into the phone directory company’s new on-line services.
3. Take your existing directory commitment budget and put it all on red in Vegas.  Just kidding.
4. Take your existing directory commitment budget and develop a strategic new media plan of your own that includes a well thought out website, a social media component, e-blast marketing, and support it with a strong SEO program and possibly an SEM program.
5. It must start with a strategic plan first.
6. It must be supported by a strong SEO commitment.
7. Everything must be executed by well qualified, new media experts with at least five solid years of experience.  Find a good company, they are out there.  Try 717-846-2947.
8. If you can’t do it all in one year, build it over a number of years.  Website with SEO first.
9. Embrace your program and commit time to it.  It will pay off with business results much better than your yellow page advertising ever did.

The good news is by reassigning your phone directory dollars you can move into the new interactive media world without additional expense.

THE END.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: For the record.  Over the past thirty-four years or so, none of the companies who followed our recommendation to drop yellow page advertising ever went out of business.  Nor did they lose business.  They all survived and in many cases flourished because they put those phone directory promotional dollars into alternate media that really did advance their business.

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August 1st, 2011
Posted By: Allan Pettit

The York Builders Insurance Trust needed some marketing jiu-jitsu.

The Trust has been serving the insurance needs of York Builders Association members for nearly half a century. It seemed as if their marketing plan had been around about that long, too.

“Association members had been seeing and hearing the same message over several years,” says CH&B’s Director New Business Development Angela Wenner, herself an active member of the York Builders Association. “Members were either becoming bored with it or ignoring it altogether. We thought it was time they updated their look and message and joined the electronic age.”

At the center of our recommendation was our plan to rebuild an existing website on a new content-managed, SEO-friendly platform, allowing better search engine visibility. The content was also revised to more effectively sell the Trust and provide SEO advantages.

To drive traffic to the site, we crafted a 12-month advertising schedule around three fresh print ads and three new digital ads that are rotating throughout the year in various York Builders Association vehicles.

We also provided an email marketing package that includes a custom email sending tool, as well as an email template design that carries the new brand look. Combined with a user friendly list management component, the Trust can now create and send regular targeted messages that inform existing customers and/or prospects.

“What we have done for them is create discipline and consistency within an easy-to-use platform that allows them to manage their own marketing on a very small budget,” says Angela. “And they’ve embraced it whole-heartedly.”

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July 19th, 2011
Posted By: Mel Campbell, Jr.

Over a year ago, I wrote an article called Beware The Digital Age.  I felt there was so much material written about the good news side of new media – and there is a good side – that people needed to be made aware of the negative side and all the many hidden traps that accompany this new advertising medium.

The major warning I wrote was, “… they are dying industries.  Industries who have felt it coming for years but are now at the Pearly Gates.  For newspapers, the Yellow Pages, many printers, and some publishers, it’s over.  The big danger to you is they are quickly reinventing themselves and now marketing themselves as experts in fields they know nothing about.  Newspapers are web developers, web advertisers, your digital expert source.  Yellow Pages is selling SEO and SEM services.   Even printers are entering the SEO, SEM business.  Desperate industries do desperate things.  They know nothing about these things.  Avoid being a victim in their decline.” Continue reading “Part IV: Resist! Don’t Be Assimilated into the NEW On-line Directory Companies’ Programs.” »

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July 18th, 2011
Posted By: Mel Campbell, Jr.

When New York Wire Company spun off its consumer insect screening line last year, it also sold the New York Wire brand name and its unicorn logo.

The company was now free to specialize in its true competencies: the design and production of engineered industrial open mesh and light wire material for a strong group of core customers – as well as for a yet-unknown, untapped universe of potential customers.

Continue reading “Making Marketing Mesh for a Re-Wired Company” »

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