Fall Site Visit
First of all, I would like to apologize for not updating this blog more often. It’s hard to know what information is post-worthy. One thing I know is post-worthy is a summary of our site visits (and hopefully more topics in the future).
Last Friday, Nov. 13th, AMA did a site visit here in Eugene to see what kind of innovative marketing opportunities exist just down the street from our marketing classrooms in Lillis. Thanks to Ben, we ended up with two really cool companies: Imagine Graphics and King Retail Solutions. Oddly enough they ended up having a lot of similarities in that they both do a lot of signage design; however, their businesses catered to completely different clients. The similarities and differences gave me a good idea of how marketing can change depending on who is the client.
The first stop was Imagine Graphics, a Eugene born company that makes digital signage for a variety of client needs. As we pulled up to the parking lot we were all immediately impressed with the aesthetics and bright colors of the building. We soon learned that the building itself was a major aspect of Imagine’s marketing strategy. Upon entering the building the President of Imagine, Chris Meeker, welcomed us with the same enthusiasm mirrored by the building’s colorful and green feel. He explained that within the last couple years Imagine has undergone a brand revamp which involved changing the name, the logo, the colors, and the facility.
Chris detailed Imagine’s history and the transformation it underwent through the years as technology and client needs changed. Originally signage was all done by hand using a layering technique (if I understand correctly). Apparently only two colors could be put on a sign at a time! That is extremely different from the digital signs made today that can literally have any amount of colors and detail unheard of by the old way. We toured the facility and saw the huge machines used to print fancy banners and giant stickers (wraps) used to decorate cars. Qdoba was actually having a car wrapped as we toured so we got to see an artist in action!
One of my personal take-aways from the site visit was the way that Imagine used the facility to create a consistent marketing message. I remember at one point Chris asked us to turn off the fountain in the lobby so we could feel the difference the water made in the feel of his building. I had never considered how a water fountain can contribute to a marketing message! Chris showed us that everything about your business talks to the client. It’s all about details and consistency!
Next stop was King Retail Solutions, another Eugene born company that designs the physical set up of retail stores. Having just been at Imagine, we were immediately making comparisons. KRS was not housed in a fancy, bright building, but it was a HUGE warehouse. The lobby area with a water fountain was nonexistent. Why such differences? Well, we learned that KRS was not marketing its services directly to consumers, they get their business from other businesses (aka B2B). Suddenly the drastic differences made a lot of sense; if your business is not interacting with consumers, then your physical “look” is not important. The key to KRS’s success was innovative and well planned designs. Once we got to see some of their work we were definitely impressed.
Our tour of KRS involved seeing many different aspects of the company. We started in an organized cubicle environment where I saw a product list the length of the wall and overflowing onto the ground (woa overwhelming!). Then we moved into the design space that had a completely different feel. There were examples of work hanging all over the walls, bright colors, a library of textures, and dark wood desks filled by scribbling designers. Next we went to the warehouse section where the designs become reality. We saw some of the same printing machines from Imagine Graphics, and some that were even bigger! All the the signs and design details seen in retail stores made by KRS were crafted in this one building in Eugene!
The end product achieved by KRS was the most impressive take-away for me. I had never truly analyzed how the layout and design of Safeway, for example, contributes to the marketing of the store. However, when I saw the stores that KRS had designed I genuinely wanted to be shopping at those stores! Also, the ability to see all the aspects of the business (cubicles, scribbling, and warehouse) and then to see the final product gave me a really nice overview of the company.
Overall, the companies impressed us with their innovation. Sometimes it seems like marketing professionals need to be focused around big cities and big corporations, but site visits like this show us that forward thinking marketing professionals are right down the street.
5 days ago
