By Marty Simon, CEO and Rhythm Guitarist

Wow! Twenty five years??!! Could somebody please tell me where that time went…and how it went by so fast!?

OK, so I’m thinking back to March 17, 1986…yes, St. Patrick’s Day. Karen, my partner and administrative assistant for four years at our previous agency,  and I laughed that first day and said…”well, this is a fine time to start a new marketing communications agency!” I guess we were right. The fates were with us…the fates and a couple of great clients who chose to come with us when we started this crazy business.

In the beginning, it was exciting and fun (and, believe it or not, it still is!!)…and maybe just a little scary although neither Karen nor I remember being scared…I guess we didn’t know any better. We started in my basement…just the two of us, a phone, a beat-up 1982 Compaq “transportable” computer and dot matrix printer. Oh, yeah, and a bunch of my amplifiers and guitars…for stress relief, of course.

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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…

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The Simon Group has been chosen by Woodstream Corporation to create and implement a marketing communications plan for the company’s FiShock and Zareba electric animal control and containment products that provide safe, economical alternatives to barbed and woven wire fencing.

Andrea Itnyre, category development associate for the electronic containment division of Woodstream, noted, “We looked for a company that not only shared our vision of growth, but also was able to help us rapidly gain the market share needed to achieve our goals.  Having worked with The Simon Group in the past, I knew they would deliver an all-inclusive, well-run program with the lofty results we are looking for.”

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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.

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The Simon Group has been hired by Applied Energy Systems (AES) of Malvern, Pa. to develop and implement an integrated marketing program for both AES as well as its Semi-Gas line of ultra high purity gas delivery systems.

The campaign will focus on total brand management as well as strategic market analysis and planning for the company and its products. Tactics used to educate the semiconductor market and related industries on the complete solutions provided by AES and its Semi-Gas product line will include both print and online advertising as well as public relations and direct marketing. This combination will ensure that AES gains widespread company awareness in relevant industries as well as targeted reach to key influencers.

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The Simon Group has been appointed agency of record for Elsys Instruments to implement a new public relations campaign in the U.S. to help continue the global expansion of the 30-year-old company. Elsys Instruments is the U.S. headquarters of Switzerland-based Elsys AG, a leading manufacturer of custom and standard fast, high-precision data acquisition systems.

“When we decided to look for an agency to coordinate our PR campaign, my first thought was The Simon Group,” said Klaas Vogel, Sales Manager of Elsys Instruments. “Having successfully worked with them while with a different company, I knew The Simon Group would deliver a comprehensive, well-managed program with consistently high results. The proven PR methods at The Simon Group are sure to get our company where we want, and need, to be.”

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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.

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Joanna Puglisi-Barley has recently been appointed Public Relations Manager for The Simon Group to help service the agency’s growing client base. With nearly 20 years of marketing and public relations experience, Joanna is no stranger to The Simon Group, having freelanced for the company since 2002. She will be working closely with the agency’s diverse clientele, implementing various PR programs and strategies in an effort to increase market exposure and product awareness throughout the industrial, high-tech and electronics sectors.

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One thing we pride ourselves on is our “business as unusual” philosophy.  Each client’s business is unique and should be treated as such…far too often this is forgotten in the agency world.

Through our internship program, started in January 2008, we are educating the next crop of marketing and PR professionals on this way of thinking so they can better implement marketing strategies and grow business more effectively.

The added benefit? To date, we have gained the insight and support of seven promising interns from many local universities and as far away as Rochester Institute of Technology.  They have helped to streamline processes and improve efficiency here at The Simon Group. In return, they are learning valuable industry tips and gaining experience in the B-to-B marcom world to help prepare them for their careers in this fascinating business.

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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.

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