Aries Electronics: a Marketing Communications Success Story

Frank Folmsbee, Aries Electronics

Aries Electronics does a lot of things very well.  One is the way they design and manufacture interconnect components and assemblies for the electronic original equipment manufacturers market.  Another is the way they market their products and technologies. Adhering to an age old, time-proven adage, and guided by their close and long-term relationship with The Simon Group, they do it with consistency…in good times and bad.  And, as a result, have had very few “bad years”…even during economic downturns, such as the last one.

Aries was founded in 1972 by Bill Sinclair who remains at the company’s helm today, both as chief executive officer and chief new product designer.  The company has had only two marcom agencies in its 41-year history. Aries reluctantly moved on from its first agency, recognizing that they had outgrown what that agency could provide.  Several of the area’s leading media reps had talked to The Simon Group about Aries…and  to Aries about The Simon Group.  And, in 1991, Aries president Bill Sinclair and sales and marketing manager Frank Folmsbee made a visit to The Simon Group farmhouse.  The rest, as they say, is history.  We’ll let Frank tell the story…

Read more…

Articles, Business, Integrated Marketing Advertising, Branding, Integrated marketing, Marketing, Media strategy, PR, press release, Social Media, Web

The same holds true for every company’s marketing plan. Each is unique, so why wouldn’t you create an integrated marketing communications plan customized to match your products, markets and objectives?

One mistake we, as an agency, see over and over again when it comes to marketing communications is that people like to stick within their comfort zone, unwilling to deviate from the tactics that may have worked before.

Of course, there are many timeless marketing principles that will hold true regardless of the delivery method, but try getting a publication to provide you with bingo card leads on pre-printed labels…

Sure, I could lament about feeling old…but I like to look at it in a different light. This evolution keeps us marketing folks (now there’s a dated term) on our toes and on the lookout for new ways to promote our clients’ products.

Read more…

Articles, Integrated Marketing Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Media strategy, PR

The proliferation of social media has finally infiltrated the world of B2B and you know what, it’s not as bad as we thought it would be. I used to think social media and B2B were like the sun and the moon…never the two shall meet.

But, leave it to the web to once again alter the landscape and shake the tree of traditional marketing.  Just as the proliferation of email and websites started to fragment the way in which we could talk to an audience, RSS feeds, Twitter, Facebook and even the blogosphere are providing new ways to talk with those people who are interested in our clients’ products and technologies, and actually engage them in the process.

Isn’t social media for business really just customer relationship management (CRM) on steroids? It does have applicability and gives companies direct feedback from the audience they most want to reach—people looking to buy a product or service. Imagine the impact of harnessing that firsthand input and applying it to product development to meet market needs!

The good news is that even though the pie keeps getting sliced into more pieces, there’s still enough pie to go around.  The bad news is keeping up with it all can be mind boggling.  An easy way to start is to apply these new social media tactics to one aspect of your campaign and grow it from there.  We tend to get our clients’ feet wet by first integrating social media with our PR program.  From there, once you’re familiar with the lay of the land, the process just snowballs and pretty soon, social media has become an integrated, and valuable, part of your marcom program.

So, next time you get friended or someone asks for your Twitter name, remember this is the environment your customers are operating in.  Like it or not (but we’ve come to like it), social media is enhancing B2B communications.

Read the post “Mixing in Social Media” for more info.

Articles, Integrated Marketing, Public Relations Facebook, Marketing, PR, Social Media, Twitter

By Marty Simon – CEO

The marketing communications business has seen a lot of business cycles come and go in the last 40 years…even a few recessions. Through it all, we’ve seen that clients who remained aggressive in their marcom efforts during downturns come back stronger and faster than those who cut back on marcom expenses.

We used to think this was only anecdotal based on our clients’ experiences. But it’s really much more than that. Research over the years has proven precisely what we’ve observed.

A few weeks ago a summary of research in just this area landed in our email. It tracked four recessions since 1970 and the impact that marcom expenditures had during those downturns. It showed the same trends for the country as we saw in our clients: those who maintained or increased marcom budgets during the recessions fared far better than those who trimmed their marcom costs.

If you think about it, it just makes sense…you get a bigger bang for your marcom buck because your competition is cutting back and you’re not. That’s a simplified view for sure, but it seems to be the essence of the strategy! The research is everywhere…search your favorite marketing resource or view the studies we read at www.gtms-inc.com and www.americanbusinessmedia.com.

Thanks to Go-to-Market Strategies and American Business Media for this valuable research!

Articles, Integrated Marketing Advertising, Branding, Marketing

By: Nissen Isakov, President, LCR Electronics, Norristown, PA

Building a company requires knowledge of several business sectors, from design and development to production and customer service. One important aspect is all too often left at the end of the to-do list: marketing efforts. Creating products, incorporating the latest technologies into them and offering supporting services always comes first, but the next step is letting your customers, and potential customers, be aware that these items are available from your company

Once you have in place the right products, services and infrastructure to support them, you have to get the word out. Establishing a marketing plan is a comprehensive way to ensure the right people know about your business.

For years we performed in-house marketing: print ads, online ads, website management. We thought we were handling ourselves fairly well, never thinking that as a small business we could afford the services of an outside agency. Although the company has had a history of steady growth, with the downturn in the economy, we realized that we needed the help of a professional marketing company. It was a natural part of moving our business forward.

After reviewing and interviewing multiple agencies, The Simon Group sold us on one main point: they knew our products, our markets, our industry. We knew the only way to move into the future effectively and efficiently with a new marketing agency was by working with a group of people already well established in our target markets. And of course, their great personalities helped, too.

Immediately, The Simon Group proved how well an integrated marcom plan can work. We graduated from an internal plan narrowly focused on advertising and website management to one that also included an extensive public relations (PR) program, greater emphasis on our website, tactical print and online advertising with The Simon Group’s Strategic Marketing and Planning (SMAP™) Program, direct mail and continued support and research in all areas of marketing.

Read more…

Articles, Integrated Marketing Advertising, Branding, Marketing, PR