Starmark swept the prestigious 2017 MarCom Awards, earning 18 honors total for client work in tourism, technology, healthcare, community outreach and education sectors. Platinum Awards winners included: (more…)
Most marketers have heard of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), with business leaders already exploring the benefits of both. But have you heard about mixed reality (MR) yet? (more…)
Right on the heels of the first approved patent this past September, Starmark now celebrates its second FanWise-related patent : Patent # US9922337B2 as registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. (more…)
Reprinted from South Florida Business Journal.
Technology can make us more efficient – or it can hungrily eat into our time and patience. Here are five suggestions to continually adapt, plan and integrate technology to make your work – and your workplace – smarter this year. (more…)
Your Facebook Newsfeed is about to pop off the screen – literally. The social media giant released the support for the industry-standard glTF 2.0 file format for Facebook 3D posts, making it easier for artist to share interactive 3D models. (more…)
Fort Lauderdale based integrated marketing agency Starmark was a nine-time ADDY® winner at the 2018 American Advertising Federation of Greater Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beaches Awards Gala, held at The Venue in Fort Lauderdale Thursday evening, March 8th, 2018. (more…)
Branding is one of the most important elements of any business, but it’s also one of the most misunderstood. (more…)
Reprinted from South Florida Business Journal.
Retailers may have woken up with smiles or not, during the week following Black Friday and Cyber Monday last year, depending on how their Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales fared. Those who spent time designing and testing the user experience (UX) are probably the ones smiling. (more…)
As an education powerhouse, Kaplan University (now Purdue University Global) prepares students with the knowledge and skills employers seek. Starmark and Kaplan worked together to create a campaign that highlighted the school’s commitment to advancing students’ careers.
The national campaign consisted of broadcast spots, social video, digital display banners and landing pages — each versioned for Kaplan’s Nursing, IT and Business programs for both online and ground campuses.
Kaplan’s core target audience wasn’t your everyday high school student. They were busy adults already working full time. The campaign needed to quickly illustrate why a degree with Kaplan was beneficial, as most prospective students were either looking to move up in their existing career or make a fresh start in a new field.
Starmark wanted to show that Kaplan University graduates are very different from the sea of other candidates, thanks to the school’s thorough academic curriculum.
Broadcast spots showed employees going about their workday and blending into their surroundings. Other employees and managers didn’t seem to notice them at all. It’s as if they were invisible. Then, things change. As the audience sees them take an online Kaplan University class; work an internship; or pass a certification, each of our heroes proudly emerges from their background and stands out vibrantly. Wardrobe changes and other visuals help convey their empowering ascent into higher-level positions and career satisfaction.
This campaign required three versions, to cover Nursing, IT and Business programs. It also needed still photography for banner ads and landing pages, plus specialized footage for social media that was different from the broadcast ad footage.
While our broadcast spots employed both visuals and voiceover to tell our story, our social versions were shot and edited to communicate well without sound to make an impression within users’ social media feeds — even when muted.
All digital assets directed to a campaign landing page, where prospective students found out all the ways a degree with Kaplan can help give students the technical and professional skills they need to stand out to employers.
Through proactive planning, we were able to capture everything, while saving Kaplan significant money. In just one two-day shoot, we covered:
Kaplan University reported that audiences responded well to the campaign, successfully capturing their school’s key value proposition while supporting university-wide enrollment goals.
It’s safe to say that when it comes to campaigns for educational institutions, this one stands out.
The industry’s reaction to skyrocketing ad-blocker usage rates is recognizing that the consumer experience needs to improve, and fast. As Google stated in a recent developer post, ad-blocking “reduces the ability for publishers to continue creating free content and threatens the sustainability of the web ecosystem.” (more…)
Nova Southeastern University, based in Fort Lauderdale with campuses throughout Florida and in Puerto Rico, was launching the new Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine. The mission: to educate the next generation of physician leaders. Students would gain a rare opportunity to experience a new model of teaching and practicing medicine that better reflected today’s real-world health issues and tomorrow’s opportunities.
NSU MD leaders weren’t worried about attracting enough applicants to its 2018 charter class. Their concern: finding the right applicants nationwide who could succeed in this unique hybrid case- and problem-based MD program. Along with strong grades and test scores, candidates needed a passion for medicine; the drive to lead; teamwork skills; and the discipline to work independently.
Starmark created a targeted recruitment effort, leading to a site that clearly spelled out the mission and instruction model of the new college before giving the option to apply. The goal was to better qualify applicants — delivering the right candidates, versus the most candidates, to make up the charter class. This approach helped attract and enroll the small number of students who were ideal fits for the program, while eliminating an enormous amount of application filtering by the admissions team.
Without existing classes or alumni, the website would be the vision and voice of NSU MD. It had to be as innovative as the program itself, appealing to millennial audiences. Based upon Starmark’s results for other universities, including NSU’s own H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship and Abraham S. Fischler College of Education, NSU MD chose the agency as the best partner.
The team conducted in-depth target user experience testing to inform its best-practices recommendations for site structure, organization and layout. The leading-edge, mobile-first design captures the college’s innovative spark, while infusing the friendly warmth of its South Florida locale. The copy is short, compelling and audience-friendly, sharing NSU MD’s differentiating benefits and offering easy pathways to deeper detail.
Attendees had a blast test-driving leading-edge AR and VR technology and left with real-world insights on how AR/VR can solve their own business challenges at Starmark’s February 9th VIP Luncheon, featuring Jay Miolla, Director of AR, VR and MR at Gramercy Tech. (more…)