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Starmark Celebrates Eight Communicator Awards

The Starmark team earned a record eight 2018 Communicator Awards for work spanning Digital, Marketing Effectiveness; Video; Integrated Campaign; and Design & Print categories. (more…)

A Tech Marketing Campaign That Commands Attention

A worldwide leader in digital workspace, networking and security, and analytics technologies, Citrix is trusted by more than 100 million users across 400,000 organizations, including 98% of the Fortune 500. In this instance, Citrix put their trust in Starmark to help them relaunch their Citrix Workspace™ product and showcase its exciting new intelligence capability in a competitive market.

The Challenge

Citrix needed an entire suite of marketing materials for prospecting and follow-up, including digital banner ads, paid social ads, emails, an infographic, an ebook and a video.

We needed to effectively communicate Citrix Workplace’s interruption-minimizing capabilities to an audience of IT-savvy decision-makers. Our creative approach emphasized the key benefit of these features — an improved employee experience, which boosts engagement and productivity.

An Idea That Understands the Audience

Our target audience consisted of the decision-makers in an organization’s IT department, from those who give the approvals to those in the trenches every day solving end users’ problems. To understand their pain points, we studied audience personas and conducted research to concept the big idea that would resonate with IT professionals:

Liberate IT. Empower People.

Our clients at Citrix agreed that this theme captured that Citrix Workspace is enabling IT directors to provide a great employee experience. It is this digital transformation that will empower a workforce transformation.

Online Ads to Generate Leads

Citrix Workspace with intelligence is a big solution with multifaceted features, so we needed to tell this complex story efficiently. To capture attention and get clicks with digital ads, the Starmark creative team piqued the target’s interest visually and verbally, encouraging prospects to click the ad and request the ebook or infographic.

We utilized images that would demonstrate the emotional payoff to working within a Citrix Workspace environment. Because Citrix Workspace is a cloud-based platform, we didn’t need to show workers at their desks. In fact, a benefit of Citrix’s solution is that it makes seamless remote working possible. We also made the concept accessible and concrete by showing satisfied people paired with graphic representations of the Citrix Workspace features that made this success possible.

An Ebook to Tell the Entire Story

An ebook is a slick tool for lead generation and for moving prospects deeper into the marketing funnel toward conversion. Starmark created an informative 10-page ebook — “The modern digital workspace is here for you: Citrix Workspace™” — which we loaded with evergreen information, third-party research and validation, as well as an explanation of the features and benefits of using this solution.

An Infographic Is Worth a Thousand Words

Featuring vibrant graphics and concise, data-driven copy, an infographic is a valuable marketing asset. And for prospects too busy to read the ebook, an infographic offers an easy alternative to the TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) ebook version.

In creating “How IT Can Empower Employees to Do Their Best Work,” we chose to use an eye-catching set of graphics from the Citrix brand toolkit. We knew our IT audience appreciates industry sources and quantitative data. So we prioritized third-party data about loss of productivity due to context switching, interruptions and complexity, as well as the flip side; how employee productivity improves when those sources of friction disappear. We then brought it home with an outline of the Citrix Workspace features that power a modern digital workspace.

A Video Brings It to Life

To reinforce the ebook and infographic, Starmark created a two-minute video embodying the idea that the next big move toward better employee engagement and empowerment will come from the IT department. “Understanding How People Want to Work: Citrix Workspace” sets up the problem — these are challenging times for an IT leader — and delivers the solution — Citrix Workspace improves the employee experience by organizing, guiding and automating work.

We employed footage of the way people work today, onsite and offsite. The video brings in some of the proof points from the infographic and ebook. We also included a brief demo to engage viewers with a look at the interface and select features which are as familiar and user-friendly as the phone in their hand.

This was a great opportunity to create a B2B campaign based on a powerful customer insight. – Brett Circe, Chief Digital Officer

Outcome: A Successful Marketing Toolkit

The turnaround time was short, but the outcome was huge. In just two months, the Starmark team was able to produce a multi-piece marketing toolkit that the Citrix sales team could use across the U.S. and translate for their international markets.

Generate Buzz and Bookings With a Meetings Incentive Package

An Incentive Package That Drew $7 Million In Revenue

Starmark developed a new incentive package called “Hello Savings” for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau. Since business-meeting bookings between August and December were typically slower, the package strategically offered U.S.-based meeting planners up to $10,000 in the form of cash-back rebates, along with extra hotel perks, when they booked eligible 2017-2018 dates. The campaign successfully resulted in 19 meeting bookings closed, adding $7 million in additional revenue impact.

“Hello Sunny” to “Hello Savings” — A Nod to An Award Winning Brand

The video promoted the area’s unique meeting venues, including its 300 miles of scenic waterways. The “Hello Savings” theme was a clever nod to the destination’s successful and well-established “Hello Sunny” brand positioning, while the overall campaign components effectively supported print, digital, social and trade show marketing channels.

The campaign directed users to a landing page that discussed the offers in more detail to seal the deal.

Create a resort brochure specifically designed to be an immersive experience for travel agents

The Connoisseur Collection by Karisma Hotels & Resorts was designed to far surpass the sophisticated expectations of upscale travelers. It is comprised of their most luxurious accommodations, with an exceptional level of service to match.

(more…)

Use new GDPR to build customer trust

Reprinted from South Florida Business Journal.

When I read about the heavy fines for noncompliance that the European Union’s newly revised General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) could levy on any company anywhere in the world, I was at first distressed. Then, I thought: “Perfect. Fear of noncompliance is the exact reaction intended.” That thought was followed by: “The European Union may have just done the world a big favor.” And then: “Not only individuals, but businesses, can benefit from the protection of data privacy.” (more…)

Starmark Ranked #5 Creative Agency In North America By Mobile Marketing Association

Starmark proudly announces having earned a ranking of #5 Creative Agency on the 2017 Mobile Marketing Association SMARTIES North America Business Impact Index.

Starmark Ranked Amongst Top Agencies In North America

The MMA SMARTIES Business Impact Index is the first and only global mobile marketing index that identifies, ranks and awards top agencies, advertisers, brands and technology enablers that drive significant business impact through mobile-first campaigns. Brett Circe, the Chief Digital Officer, stated saying:

“Starmark is incredibly proud to be featured on MMA’s Business Impact Index. It’s an honor to be ranked #5 in an index that includes 72 and Sunny, Havas and McCann–among others.”

Starmark’s Innovation Lab & Mobile Marketing

The Starmark Innovation Lab keeps Starmark on the edge of marketing technology, revolutionizing and expanding our clients’ possibilities. In 2010, Starmark made a strong push into mobile, including web, payments and apps for our clients.

In 2011, Starmark committed to the MMA Code of Ethics, which applies to everything we do. We have the utmost respect for the MMA and the SMARTIES because they uphold a high standard in the somewhat fragmented field of mobile marketing.

Today the lab continues that push today into the world of augmented reality, voice skills and more. The Lab is continuously recognized with a variety of awards, including earning two patents. Among these awards are two SMARTIES from the MMA, one for an IoT location-based social reward technology, the other for an IoT App that creates synchronized lighting sequences for movies & TV with Philips Hue Lights.

What’s better than last-click attribution?

We Are Now Able to Understand and Re-Attribute PPC to Other Channels

Historically, marketers have leveraged last-click attribution as the go-to measurement tool for media attribution per sale or event, but looking closer at attribution modeling, we are now able to understand and re-attribute PPC to other channels including display, search, social media, email, direct mail–among others to quantify the contribution these efforts are making to the bottom line.

Furthermore, we can now understand which ad sites, banners or any other campaign components are driving sales and which aren’t allowing marketers to recalibrate efforts and budgets from impressions and clicks that are unlikely to drive sales, to display and search efforts that are more likely to result in sales. (more…)

Peggy Nordeen Named Seafarers’ House Business Leader of the Year

Seafarers’ House is pleased to announce that Peggy Nordeen, CEO of Starmark International, Inc. has been selected as Seafarers’ House 2018 South Florida Business Leader of the Year. (more…)