Recent Projects

Blogs and sOCIAL MARKETING: Top online REal Estate Company Taps the Power of Modern Media

Move, Inc. (www.move.com), the world''s largest online moving community, turned to MarCom:Interactive to support the company's national marketing efforts with blogs, online word-of-mouth and other “social media” strategies. We are working side-by-side with traditional advertising, marketing and public relations activities — just the kind of campaigns we like.

One of our first tasks was to launch Move's blogging community, which includes sites and stories focused on city life, local neighborhoods, home ownership, renting, renovation and related topics. In addition to creating content and generating site traffic through organic linking programs, we are helping Move reach out to recruit “Citizen Journalists” to write about their cities and what it is like to live there, and what people moving to the area should know about.

More social media and “Web 2.0” marketing programs are planned in the coming months, so stay tuned to Move! .

 

 

Blogs and Webcasts - Major Consumer Healthcare Company Uses Modern Media to Support 2008 Beijing Olympics Marketing Efforts

The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing may seem far away, but when you are a major corporate sponsor working with some of the world's top athletes, you need to start early and communicate widely.
 
The sponsor turned to MarCom:Interactive and video production partner KDHD Interactive to create a strategy for its Olympic marketing team to collaborate, learn and share best practices.

 

We created and are implementing an on-going program of live and on-demand webcasts, supported by an internal blog community, specifically designed for the global marketing team and partners to expand and extend the conversation while creating an online knowledge base.  It's all integrated into the company's extranet for everyone concerned to benefit.  

As the first health care company to join the elite group of major Olympic sponsors, the company's Olympic marketing effort is an impressive initiative, both in spirit and in execution.

 

 

Blog — Enter the Modern Mediasphere

It’s easy to get buried in blog posts about new technologies and trends of the moment, but it’s near impossible to find out what all this great new media means for our clients, our world, and us. The Modern Mediasphere™ hopes to change that. 

 

We’re obviously biased – The Modern Mediasphere™ is a publication of our company, but this is a blog we have been waiting to read for a long time.

 

As Linda says in the blog’s inaugural post:

    “I started this blog with the goal of helping people new to modern media (new media) find out what new and emerging media mean - practically - to them, their business, their practices, and the people who touch those businesses.  I want to help answer the question “what is [insert new media here] good for?”  It is the number one question we get from our own clients and the people we meet through our presentations and seminars. The immediate next question is, ‘so, what does it mean for me?”

 

    “I’m committing to answering these questions specifically via this blog.  I’ll be pointing to new models and new media technologies, examine how they are being put into use, what trends they express, and give ideas on how they fit into professional communications programs or strategies.”

 

Check it out and let us know what you think!

Blogs and RSS — Connecting Families of Acutely and Critically Ill Patients

For health care company CareMeridian, blogs and RSS are modern ways to raise its online profile and connect with prospective patient families in a personal and authentic voice.

 

CareMeridian is connecting with the families of its patients via an internal blog. This allows the families to share information with each other, as well as will as other families who are considering using CareMeridan's services for their loved ones. They will soon make this blog public, as well as start another blog and RSS feed to distribute articles and stay high in online search results to ensure those in need can find them.

Blogs and RSS — Modern Media At Work

An international financial services company is using modern media to mitigate false online information about its products and practices – and enhance its brand reputation at the same time.

 

MarCom:Interactive conducted a thorough communications audit. In some cases conversations were occurring online that were being heard by prospective customers, but were not being tracked by the company. We recommended strategies using blogs and RSS (syndication), as well as other online content creation and distribution, to track and address negative postings that were adversely affecting sales.

 

In a matter of weeks, the company found its Google ranking jump exponentially by adding RSS feeds to its content. This not only pushed down the false postings, but it also helped drive traffic and leads to its web site.

Emerging Media Consulting and Strategy — National University

National University, answering the call for future communicators trained to implement and manage modern media, brought in our expertise to assist them in developing one of their newest schools of education, The School of Communication and Media. MarCom:Interactive worked as a member of the University's task force in developing the initial business plan and proposed degree programs and curricula.

 

The program began accepting students in June 2005. Work continues, however. MarCom:Interactive will assist National University in developing individual courses that address new mediums, globalization, new technologies and new behaviors that power modern media.

Internal Communications — Avery Dennison Worldwide Office Products Webcast

How do you get hundreds of people from all over the United States into one room? You can either fly them all into one location and spend more than $500,000 USD, or you can simply bring the room to them for a fraction of the cost.

 

Avery Dennison Worldwide Office Products, based in Brea, CA, USA, produced its first-ever interactive webcast for more than 100 national sales reps and hundreds of corporate employees. The two-hour event featured video cut-ins, slides, live Q&A, a contest and other engaging content.

 

Typically, the meeting is held in person – but this time, Avery used the power of modern media to deliver its message and energize its sales force. MarCom:Interactive provided end-to-end services, including on-site encoding services, secure login and webcast production and technical consulting. Avery saved hundreds of thousands of dollars on the cost of their annual sales meeting and they are moving on to additional modern media successes.

Auto Sales Training Driven by Modern Media

You may not have bought a car from this man, but chances are you have from one of the thousands of auto dealers who use the Joe Verde Group sales training and management program.

 

MarCom:Interactive worked with The Joe Verde Group to create an online sales training network, which features dozens of on-demand video presentations and supplemental materials.

 

The people at MarCom:Interactive consulted and implemented moving Joe Verde Group’s distinguished sales training and dealer management program, used worldwide, from traditional VHS tapes or DVDs to a dynamic web-based video-on-demand e-learning. So now material is instantly available online, 24/7, for the “always on” demands of today’s business environment. But most importantly, managers can now quickly and easily track sales training time and directly correlate the training with increases in vehicle sales.

E-Learning — U.S. Food & Drug Administration

The Food and Drug Administration has a continuing need to train staff in searching and effectively using informational online databases. It happens that staff cannot always leave their posts to attend group classes to learn the finer points, tips and techniques of searching and information retrieval.

 

So the logic goes, if the tools are online, shouldn't the courses be as well? Absolutely! MarCom: Interactive developed a series of e-learning modules for the FDA to teach online learners how to access, search and manipulate data in the Federal Register and the Federal Code of Regulations, using three entirely different online database tools.

The modules are self-running, or can be completely controlled by the learner. And, in addition to being simple and full-featured; they are also designed to be accessible by screen readers for the visually impaired. The e-learning modules provide a cost-effective way to for the FDA to teach new staff members or they act as a refresher course for those who did attended live classes.

 

The application is currently being used internally, and FDA Library Services is considering posting a public version for the relevant Government Publishing Office database.

Web Site Development and Management

Web sites are the foundations of an organization’s modern media initiatives. While “Web 2.0” is upon us, the significance of the web site as modern media has not diminished. What has changed is that with near online-ubiquity, your web site is likely to be the point of first connection for all your audiences.

 

We have strategized and developed literally hundreds of website over the last 12 years. Here are a few recent samples. For some sites below we provided the strategy and architectural approach, others we also provided the graphical design and developed end-to-end, and continue provide ongoing communications support:

• Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort
• Unihealth Foundation
• Irvine Health Foundation
• CareMeridian
• Hydrosorb
• Tejon

Personalized Wedding CD — Hyatt Hotels

A dream location for a wedding - and the CD-ROM we created with the Hyatt Huntington Beach perfectly reflects that theme. It captures the essence of the Hyatt’s outstanding location and experience, giving the Hyatt Huntington Beach a unique way to service their very special guests.

 

We strategized and produced a personalized and individually customizable CD-ROM that provides catering information, guides and planning resources for the bride and groom. The theme and graphics coordinate with the accompanying print pieces. But, the best part is the Hyatt staff is able to easily create a personalized wedding CD-ROM that is as unique as each couple serving to personalize the entire package.

 

Webcasting and Public Affairs — Peter Ueberroth for Governor

Peter Ueberroth, head of the U.S. Olympic Organizing Committee and former Commissioner of Major League Baseball, made webcasting history when he ran for Governor of California. Mr. Ueberroth became the first candidate for major political office to conduct live, interactive web broadcasts simulcast on broadcast television with supporters around the state and the world.

 

MarCom:Interactive provided end to end production, satellite distribution, webcasting platform, interactive features, encoding, Internet distribution, along with a lots of guidance along the way.