25th Anniversary Shirt

After celebrating the official 25th anniversary of The Simon Group on March 17, 2011, the Groupies celebrated TSG-style last weekend at the Fab Fall BBQ, complete with custom shirts!

We announced an honorary Groupie, presented Marty & Karen with a cake and gifts, indulged in homemade 25th anniversary chocolate lollipops, chatted with friends and of course rocked away the afternoon!

A sincere thank you to everyone who came out for the event as well as those who have supported us throughout the years. Clients, editors, reps, Groupies, freelancers, vendors, friends, family and everyone in between. The Simon Group wouldn’t be the same without any of you.

Check out pictures and song performance videos on our social media sites. If you have any pictures from the BBQ, send us an email.

We’re looking forward to another 25 years and another great Fabulous Fall BBQ next year!

TSG Updates Fab Fall BBQ, Facebook, Social Media, Twitter

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 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.

Read the full press release

Public Relations, TSG Updates Advertising, Branding, Facebook, Marketing, PR, press release, Social Media, Twitter, Web

Welcome to what we like to call the New Wild West…online brand management.

Yes, we’re actually talking social media, which has officially become the new sheriff in cybertown.  And its arrival on the B2B scene has caused quite a stir…kind of like what ensued at the OK Corral between the Earp brothers and the McLaury and Clanton boys.  Lots of shots going off and when the dust settled, no one really knew who’d done what, and if it was truly effective in the end.

Social media has definitely infiltrated B2B marketing, but too many companies are scrambling to grab hold of the ever increasing opportunities presented without thinking them through from a business sense.  As with any marketing tactic, how useful will it really be if it’s not implemented properly, managed effectively and integrated with your other campaign elements?

So, how’d it happen?
Although Facebook may have started as a college networking source, it has evolved to be a functional marketing tool enabling companies to offer a captive audience information on its products and services.  And, when you get right down to it, if you don’t claim your company’s Facebook page, someone else will.  Are you willing to hand over your brand like that?

LinkedIn has made great inroads in aggregating people into highly sought after, user-driven groups that enable the sharing of common ideas and provide a forum to

Some emerging developments with Twitter are positioning this site to be a powerful force in tracking more of the sales ‘funnel’ (the steps from a first contact to the actual purchase), which will lead to better results tracking and give marketers more insight into how to tailor certain aspects of a marketing campaign.

Read more…

Articles, Online Marketing Branding, Facebook, Marketing, Media strategy, Social Media, Twitter, Web

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.”

Download the Full Press Release (Word.doc 158k)

Public Relations, TSG Updates Branding, Marketing, PR, Social Media

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

Thought online advertising meant just web versions of print ads? Think again!

Although print advertising is still effective, it’s important to tap into the new world of online advertising, since this is the prime source of information for some market segments.  And, research from various sources (Nielson, MRI, eMedia Strategist, and our own analysis of media kits and publication data over the years) repeatedly shows there’s minimal overlap between people that get their information from the web and those that obtain it from print, so if you want to reach your entire target audience, you need to use both advertising channels.

Online advertising takes many forms – e-newsletters, banner ads, webinars, white papers, virtual trade shows, videos, podcasts, social media, pay per click…the list goes on.  With all the technology available, an advertisement can be much more than just words or an image.  Online ads can incorporate motion and sound—something a print magazine ad is incapable of doing.

Online Advantages
A major advantage to online advertising is accessibility.  Unlike print, where the ad reaches only a certain amount of people, online ads have virtually no limit and can reach anyone in the world around the clock. Long after the advertisement is posted it can continue to brand your product or company.

Online advertising also provides something print advertising could rarely deliver: information about the people who are actually responding…clicking on your ads, downloading your whitepapers and tuning in to your webinars. While print advertising can provide you with circulation data and readership details, it can’t provide the names and contact information for the last 10 people who really, actually viewed your information (though the amount of data provided varies by publication).

Read more…

Advertising, Articles, Online Marketing Advertising, Analytics, Facebook, leads, Marketing, Paid Search, Social Media, Twitter, Web

The Groupies have been busy keeping in touch with our many friends (clients, reps, editors, vendors) from our infamous BBQ, to client dinners and our holiday card video shoot. To see some of our recent activities, including the Fabulous Fall BBQ 2009 edition, cross-country meetings, our new logo and more, go to Facebook.com and search for “The Simon Group.” Just click “Become A Fan” under our logo on the left.

Now you can also follow us on Twitter @TheSimonGroup86.

And don’t forget to check back after The Simon Group’s 24th Anniversary party on March 17th for more photos and updates!

TSG Updates Facebook, Social Media, Twitter

Jena Stauffer has recently taken on the role of Marketing Specialist, specializing in expanding the company’s online marketing programs, including online advertising, social media outlets and other web venues. Jena enters this position after initially joining The Simon Group as an intern in May 2008. She will also continue to provide account support for all areas of marketing, such as strategic planning, research, advertising, public relations, collateral, direct mail and new business development.

Download the Full Press Release (Word.doc 187k)

Press Releases, TSG Updates Advertising, Marketing, press release, Social Media

The list of social media is virtually endless, with big names like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn dominating the landscape, and the infinite amounts of blogs on every topic imaginable.  All of these different social media sites have one thing in common; they never deject conversation, comments and feedback as many consumers feel email and other websites do. In fact, they encourage interaction.

B2B marketers should view social media as a new way to interact directly with customers, in addition to employing traditional marketing techniques to generate even more brand awareness.

Follower-Driven
Social media can take traditional electronic communications, such as email, to the next level. On Facebook and Twitter you can encourage customers and prospects to follow you and be on the look out for your news and product announcements to help generate buzz early on by providing useful content and pertinent updates.

Community-Based
A B2B blog can be another useful type of social media by surpassing the one-sided limitations of a mass distributed press release to provide different elements not available with traditional press release distributions.

A B2B blog can provide:

• A user-friendly environment
• Two-way conversation capability
• Increased SEO (search engine optimization)
• Daily exposure to unique users

And, B2B blog users do not need to be confirmed as “friends”, like on Facebook or a fellow “tweeter” on Twitter, or even on the PR or marketing firm’s exclusive e-mail lists, so many times this format is viewed as a less intrusive means of communicating on industry happenings and technology developments.  It can also encourage a good problem/solution community, where customers and the company alike can share information to make products and services better and align future development with specific industry needs.

Read more…

Articles, Online Marketing Branding, Facebook, Marketing, SEO, Social Media