Strategic Marketing

ArtiGras is the largest arts festival in Palm Beach County and is consistently ranked as one of the top 50 in the United States. With the goal of increasing awareness of the event, as well as attendance, the producers hired Strategic Marketing to develop and implement a complete advertising campaign from billboards and print ads to radio and television spots. In addition, we designed a full complement of collateral materials, including tickets, brochures, artist applications and event programs, and coordinated the event's public relations campaign. ArtiGras' attendance and public profile rose dramatically, and many of the materials Strategic Marketing produced for the event won local, state and international awards, including six International Festival and Events Association Pinnacle Awards, the most prestigious in the industry. With these positive results, ArtiGras' producers chose to retain our services for the next year, and our team developed a completely new campaign to promote the event – locally to patrons, and nationally to potential attending artists. That year's event was another record-breaking year for attendance.

We were involved early on with the Pompano Beach-based Irish Cultural Institute of Florida, which had been staging Irish festivals in Broward County and wanted to have one in Palm Beach County. In 1993, we helped them to secure the site on Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach where SunFest and many other festivals are held. They had no budget for advertising, but because they are a not-for-profit organization, we were able to negotiate public service announcements, cross-promotions, value added and trade agreements which enabled them to consistently garner well over $100,000 of media exposure each year. Irish Fest on Flagler is now a very established and popular event in West Palm Beach.

Working with the Marine Industries Association, we negotiated all the media, value added, advertising, marketing and public relations to promote the Palm Beach Boat Show when it was at Riviera Beach Marina. The event was a huge success, so much so that in subsequent years, they have held it in West Palm Beach on Flagler Drive to accommodate all the boats and people attending. As a result, it has grown to become one of the premier boat shows in the country. In addition, the MIA also presents the Holiday Boat Parade, and in its early years, we were responsible for the marketing and publicity for that event as well.

Fischer was one of our first accounts in the early days of the agency. With three nameplates appealing to different demographics, we helped them build an image of quality and integrity. In contrast to the screaming announcer radio and TV spots of their competitors, Fischer's spots were more low-key and focused on excellent service and customer satisfaction. The late comedian Alan King was a Fischer customer; and we were fortunate to have him on several radio and TV spots, which can be heard on the links below.

Car dealer newspaper ads are notoriously cluttered and disorganized. The conventional wisdom is to list as many cars as possible in the space; but we never thought that such an ad did the reader or the dealer justice. So when Braman Honda asked us to give their print ads a new look, we could hardly resist. The result: an attractive, readable ad that still features a lot of product and price points.

We began working for a franchisee that owned centres in Miami, Boca Raton, Orlando, Jacksonville and Clearwater, Florida. Before long, he had referred us to other franchisees that owned centres in Houston, Dallas, Cleveland, Detroit, Atlanta, St. Louis, Kansas City and Sacramento. The work we did for franchisees eventually received attention from the corporate franchisor, and they hired us to produce TV and radio spots, direct mail, print ads and more. We also handled a 52-market ad fund television campaign and a subsequent print campaign.

Events & Adventures is a social and activities organization for singles. We began buying radio and TV airtime for the owner of the Miami/Fort Lauderdale franchise, who was struggling to stay afloat. We revamped his schedules and renegotiated with the stations, getting him more reach and frequency in more favorable time periods. Leads for new members began to increase dramatically, the club is now flourishing, and the owner has opened locations in several other cities. During this time, we also began doing work for three other Events & Adventures franchisees that own multiple locations. In addition to media buying, we handle all creative work, online lead generation strategies and lead tracking for seventeen locations and growing, from coast to coast.

We have applied our knowledge of and experience in lead generation to bring in business for this franchise owner. We began by reworking his television advertising schedules, and we were able to increase the efficiency of his budget by 60%. We renegotiated his print media, resulting in a savings of 12%. We also have implemented pay-per-click, search engine optimization, Google Maps placement, online business directory listings and other online strategies to bring in even more leads, all of which we carefully track and report to the client.

We have created direct mail campaigns, radio and television commercials for numerous South Florida franchisees. Based on this work, we were asked to conduct a national direct mail campaign. Some of the direct mail concepts we developed for franchisees were adopted by the corporate franchisor and utilized nationally. We also place radio and television schedules on behalf of the South Florida franchise owners.

UFG is the parent company for a group of franchise brands. Strategic Marketing and SmartLink have preferred vendor status with UFG, and we attend their annual World Expo, where franchise owners of the various brands come from all over to meet and learn. One of UFGs primary objectives is to expand each of its brands, and we have assisted this effort by developing marketing initiates to generate franchise sales.

With approximately 1,000 locations in the United States and Canada, Sign-A-Rama makes custom signs of all kinds. We have worked with the Ad Fund board on a number of projects, including a national pay-per-click campaign that has been extremely successful. We have also developed creative materials, including print ads and direct mail campaigns. We have implemented local pay-per-click campaigns, Google Maps placement and online business directory listings for individual franchise owners.

Specializing in custom embroidered clothing and advertising specialty items, EmbroidMe has some 250 locations in the United States, Canada and Australia. We have been very involved with the EmbroidMe Ad Fund board on numerous ongoing projects, including national pay-per-click, Google Maps and online business directory listings campaigns. The corporate franchisor has retained us to conduct an ongoing national online public relations campaign. We also created a series of print ads, direct mail pieces and other materials for them.

Franchise owners of Billboard Connection help businesses to market themselves with outdoor advertising. Strategic Marketing has worked on a number of projects, including writing a brochure and a sales video, and we are running pay-per-click campaigns for a number of individual franchise owners.

This is a consulting service for people who are looking to invest in a franchise. Strategic Marketing was involved in planning the grand opening and generating publicity for the flagship location in West Palm Beach, and we currently have pay-per-click campaigns running for the Ad Fund and for number of individual franchise owners.

This is the newest member of the UFG family, and its franchise owners specialize in planning events for individuals and corporations. We are conducting an ongoing national online public relations campaign for the corporate franchisor, and also have pay-per-click campaigns in place for the U.S. Ad Fund and numerous individual franchise owners.

We developed numerous marketing materials for the franchise owner as he opened a new location in Palm Beach Gardens, including print ads, direct mail campaigns, a television commercial, and a pay-per-click search engine advertising campaign. The work we did for him opened the door for us to do work for franchise owners in Boca Raton and Boynton Beach.

Martin Memorial Health Systems had just made major enhancements to its web site and asked us to develop a campaign that would increase hits to its site by 15% over a six-month period. We used a combination of direct mail, television and newspaper to reach the target market. The results far surpassed their goal: hits to the site increased 25 to 30% in the first month alone, and increased steadily in subsequent months.

Dr. Lisa DeRosimo came to us as she was starting her new medical practice, which specializes in bariatrics and nutrition. We came up with the name, designed her logo and corporate identity, business stationery and brochures, then created a web site and pitched a story to the Palm Beach Post which resulted in a profile article in the business section. Although her Palm Beach County practice was successful, she has relocated to South Carolina to be near her husband, a thoracic surgeon. Dr. DeRosimo is an expert in bariatric medicine and has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show with Dr. Mehmet Oz to discuss weight loss.

Jupiter Medical Center is one of the last non-profit community-based hospitals in the area. We were asked to develop a campaign to introduce its new obstetrical facility and simultaneously reinforce the hospital's identity as a community-friendly hospital. We took the hospital's existing logo, which was "institutional" green, and changed it to pink and blue. Then we came up with a name, Bright Beginnings, which we trademarked for the client, and created the print ad campaign, featuring photographs of babies and clever headlines, such as "Men are from Mars, Women are From Venus, and Babies are from Jupiter" and "My mom thinks I'm out of this world…that's why I was born in Jupiter." This campaign was so successful that it gained national attention. In addition, we created a complete marketing plan, which not only included media but also strategies for staff members to implement internally that would help to attract and "capture" expectant families. Finally, we designed an introductory brochure as well as a kit for expectant families.

When we began working for Capitol Carpet & Tile in 1994, the owner, Lou Morano, had been through four advertising agencies in as many years with disappointing results. In fact, he was resigned to the notion that he would have to handle all his advertising and marketing in-house and was reluctant to even give us a chance. We began with some simple research, then developed a marketing plan, using television and print as the primary media, to most effectively and efficiently reach his target audience of women 35+. Capitol Carpet & Tile is now the largest flooring retailer in Palm Beach County with five locations.

We have also had excellent success with periodic direct mail campaigns to promote sales in certain stores. Capitol Carpet & Tile has experienced steady and continued sales increases. A good example of their success is that in 2001, the flooring industry was flat nationwide and down 5% in Palm Beach County; however, Capitol Carpet & Tile was up more than 17% over the previous year.

Although the copy points in the commercials themselves have been pretty consistent over time (best selection, best service, financing offer, etc.) our scriptwriters and producers develop new, decidedly offbeat and often humorous themes to keep the message fresh. The company's president, Lou Morano, has become something of a local celebrity because of his antics in the commercials. Lou claims he cannot even go to the grocery store without people recognizing him and commenting on his commercials. In fact, he has received a large amount of business from Mar-a-Lago because Donald Trump saw one of the TV spots, liked it and sent the club manager into one of the stores to select new carpet for the Palm Beach landmark.

Toojay's is arguably the best-known deli chain in South Florida. We completed a lot of different projects for them including a print ad campaign, a TV spot, a menu redesign, outdoor and transit advertising and more.

This restaurant in Boca Raton came to us before they opened but after they had committed to a name and concept. We advised the client that the name "Pangaea" had an obscure meaning and was difficult to pronounce, but he was determined to proceed. Within the first year, they dropped the name and we helped them to rebrand as the Floribbean Bistro. We created print ads, direct mail pieces and radio commercials.

This seafood restaurant on Singer Island was very established and had a solid base of regulars, particularly in the bar, but they needed more diners. We created newspaper ads, radio commercials and much more to sell the fact that they were the only waterfront restaurant in the North County area with seafood fresh off the dock.

To say it was a great privilege to handle this account is an understatement. Prominent West Palm Beach trial attorney and philanthropist Robert M. Montgomery hired us in 1995 to manage the advertising and marketing for his remarkably successful law firm, which was already very well known for its representation of Kimberly Bergalis, Burt Reynolds and other high-profile clients.

Mr. Montgomery bought hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in advertising airtime in Palm Beach County, which he used to promote his favorite charitable organizations and causes. Our first assignment was to rework some existing TV spots for Home Safe, a facility for abused and neglected children. We went on to produce radio and television commercials for such organizations as the Palm Beach Opera, the Armory Art Center, Ballet Florida, and many others. We renegotiated all of his television schedules and secured one-for-one bonus spots due to the public service nature of the commercials. We won a lot of Addy awards for our work. But perhaps the most fascinating part of working with Bob was the public relations work we did.

We wrote news releases, pitched stories and staged news conferences for the firm when it was representing the State of Florida against the tobacco industry, when Lake Worth Middle School teacher Barry Grunow was murdered by a student, when a Boca Raton high school student was gunned down by a neighbor, and any time the firm won a favorable judgment.

We worked with Mr. Montgomery for some twelve years, until, sadly, he passed away in 2008. For a long time, he was our biggest account, and certainly the most prestigious. His high expectations inspired and challenged us to produce our very best work. And we are forever grateful for the many opportunities he gave us and the role he played in helping us grow our agency.

Liggio, Benrubi & Williams is a West Palm Beach law firm that specializes in a niche area of law called insurance bad faith. The firm wanted to make its expertise in this area more widely known among members of the legal community and to increase referrals, so we designed a direct mail campaign, featuring full color brochures and postcards to accomplish this goal. Although we had planned to execute this campaign in a series of drops, the client called us after the first drop and asked us to "please stop." When we asked why, the client said, "Because my phone hasn't stopped ringing from the first drop and I can't handle any more."

We have worked with this West Palm Beach personal injury law firm for more than a decade, designing a new logo and printed materials, producing television commercials, placing airtime on broadcast stations and conducting numerous direct mail campaigns. We also created a new website for the firm.

We created a Silver Addy Award-winning corporate identity package for this Boca Raton law firm, which included letterhead, envelope, business cards and pocket folio. We subsequently designed direct mail cards designed to encourage referrals from other law firms, and a number of other projects.

This Palm Beach Gardens personal injury firm hired us to implement referral marketing strategies for them. We produced a brochure as well as a direct mail campaign.

We produced a brochure for this West Palm Beach personal injury firm.

This parochial school in Palm Beach Gardens had come a long way in a short time. Founded in 1979 as a preschool, within 16 years it had steadily expanded its capacity to include the 8th grade. When we became involved in 2001, it was time for some upgrades: a logo enhancement, a redesign of the school newsletter and annual report. We also produced the printed catalog for the school's fundraising auction two years in a row, banners for events and more.

Hope House was a charity that supported persons living with HIV/AIDS and their loved ones by providing housing, counseling and other needed services. We created brochures, annual reports, collateral materials for a capital campaign, newsletters and more, in addition to public relations services for their fundraising events.

Palm Beach Harvest captivated our interest because it was a charity that was not out to raise money! Instead, they collect unused food from restaurants, hotels and grocery stores that would normally be destined for the dumpster, and take it to food pantries and soup kitchens for the benefit of hungry children and adults. What they needed was a logo and two flyers: one to explain their mission to prospective food donors and the other to recruit volunteers.

The Palm Beach Opera came to us with a dilemma that is challenging most opera companies: how to attract the next generation of opera patrons. Realizing that its audience is literally dying off, we knew we had to somehow dispel the notion that opera is boring and stuffy and for old people and make it capture the interest of baby boomers that grew up on rock & roll. Our answer was a series of print ads with salacious and tantalizing headlines, giving a contemporary edge to a traditional genre of entertainment. We also developed a publicity campaign, based on the children's book, The Great Poochini, which was designed to appeal to children and young families.

We first became involved with Home Safe because of the late Robert Montgomery, who was one of the founders of this much-needed facility for physically and sexually abused children. He generously featured Home Safe in his law firm's television commercials which we produced, urging members of the community to support it. We also worked closely with the executive director and development director to produce annual reports, brochures and other fundraising materials.

When Robert Montgomery purchased the Museum of Modern Art in Lake Worth and renovated the building to house the new Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, the facility needed to communicate its rebirth and new mission not only to local art enthusiasts, but also to artists, art patrons and critics nationwide. Starting with a clean creative slate, Strategic Marketing came up with the new name and developed a visual identity for PBICA, including logo, stationery, a range of collateral materials, advertising and catalogs for exhibitions. We also coordinated the museum's grand opening and initiated a full-scale international media and public relations campaign, including advertisements in national and international art publications and arranging for a number of art journalists to tour the facility and view the inaugural exhibit. Our public relations efforts resulted in a big splash on local television and newspapers during the museum's grand opening, as well as extensive coverage by art publications here and abroad, helping attract world-class art exhibits to the museum.

Prudential Gary Greene is one of the largest real estate agencies in Houston, Texas. We had worked with them for years, primarily placing their half-hour real estate show on television stations in the Houston market. They subsequently asked us to develop a campaign to increase hits to their web site. After doing some research, we launched a campaign using short-length television commercials and outdoor advertising. Before the campaign began in February 2003, they were consistently getting 60,000 hits a month on their site. Within a few months, they were on track to receive more than 170,000 hits. The agents in the field were ecstatic because their phones were ringing, and both buyers and sellers were coming in the door. The number of listings steadily increased, and the client also received an unexpected benefit--higher agent retention.

Because of the successful campaign we developed and managed for Prudential Gary Greene, we were referred to Howard Perry and Walston to create a campaign with similar objectives. Again, the campaign far surpassed expectations and was extremely successful. Once this was up and running, we were asked to develop a new branding strategy for the company's various divisions, so that each related entity would have a logo that related back to the overall brand. The result was a more cohesive and unified look to all company materials.

This Palm Beach County custom homebuilder came to us initially seeking a new corporate identity, business stationery and pocket folder. We went on to produce two full-color image brochures and a successful direct mail campaign targeted to homeowners who are looking to remodel or add onto their existing homes.

We created and produced a full-color image brochure for this Jupiter-based supplier of windows and doors to the construction industry.

We produced a number of television commercials for this family-owned furniture retailer with numerous locations throughout South Florida. We also redesigned their newspaper insert, giving it a cleaner and more contemporary look.