Latest Posts

Five stories for your 2016 marketing roadmap

Reprinted from the South Florida Business Journal.

Marketers are starting to leverage Agile, a tried-and-true planning process methodology used by software companies. Agile methodology allows a cross-disciplinary team to collaborate and express all that they want to accomplish for a program or a project by creating a roadmap of the entire project. They do this by writing short, plain-English descriptions called stories, which are mutually agreed upon by the team and their stakeholders. (more…)

How do we make an already successful business luncheon even more delicious?

In partnership with the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Marine Industries Association (MIASF), Starmark supported the 2nd Annual International Marine Hub luncheon, an exclusive invitation-only business event at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS) by bringing even more business leaders together for this second year. Speakers included Mark Baker, President of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association; and Carolyn Plummer, CEO of It’s a 10 Haircare. Hosting the luncheon were Skip Zimbalist III, President and CEO of Show Management; Nicki Grossman, President of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau; Bob Swindell, President and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance; and Phil Purcell, Executive Director of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida. South Florida Business Journal sponsored the event. (more…)

Boat show kicks up digital experience

Reprinted from South Florida Business Journal.

As with most major consumer purchases today, prospective boat buyers spend a great deal of time researching online before they buy. And, for boat buyers the buying process continues at major boat shows worldwide, which make purchasing a boat a fun-filled experience – even an adventure – that marketers can learn from. (more…)

Zero in your target and go for it with beacons

The last time we discussed proximity-based marketing in our Geofencing, we introduced the concept of sending targeted messages to users based on their physical location. Now take it one step further; zero in on your target with even more relevant messages when their physical location triggers a signal, and you harness the power of beacons. (more…)

Schlep-Free: Parking Gets Easy Peasy At FLL

The number-one source of revenue for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) is parking. But revenues were declining due to aggressive off-site vendors. Airport officials asked Starmark for help to reverse the trend – and Starmark delivered with double-digit revenue gains. (more…)

3 Ways to Energize your Tablet Publication

All too often we see digital publications that are mere copies of their printed counterparts with a few bells and whistles, shadows of the potential robust experiences they could deliver to drive increased engagement. (more…)

Leverage the Power of Sponsored Social and Marketing

Everyone knows the power of a celebrity and how celebrity sponsorships work. Sponsored social media is no different. A few eTips ago, we discussed leveraging the power of Vine Celebrities but now we take a closer look at “sponsored social” marketing.

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Is Twitter’s Periscope the new press conference?

Reprinted from South Florida Business Journal.

Live-streaming video connected to broadcaster Twitter accounts using the Twitter-owned app Periscope offers real-time news power. Americans love “reality,” whether it is a TV show, live interview or what is becoming live news as it is happening. And now, live-streaming video is in the hands of the masses, but its power can also be used by business. (more…)

Refining your Marketing Program

In light of ever-shrinking advertising budgets and human resources, marketers are under mounting pressure to do more with less so increasing ROI has never been more critical in keeping executives at bay when the monthly financial reports are published. But how do we do more with less? We get smarter. (more…)

How do you reposition THE largest international boat show? Tell the world they’re number one!

Show Management, producers of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS), has turned to Starmark to create a new brand mark, website redesign and strategic media campaign for this year’s event. (more…)

Florida tourism marketing best of the best

Starmark has taken top honors once again at the Visit Florida Govenor’s Conference on Tourism, which was held August 31st. The team, along with our client the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau (GFLCVB) took home the “Best of Show” award for the ground-breaking LGBT campaign, “Love is Love.”

Celebrating Florida’s recent marriage equality ruling, the campaign was the first of its kind, inviting 100 couples of all loves to exchange vows on beautiful Fort Lauderdale Beach. Campaign elements included videos, print and digital ads touting the headline “Finally, We All Do,” and a microsite where couples could enter to win.

At the Love is Love ceremony, (which took place just one month after the court ruling) NSYNC member and Dancing with the Stars alum, Lance Bass, delivered a moving address on the meaning of love as the event’s official “Love is Love” ambassador with his new husband Michael Turchin. A highlight of the ceremony was the pronouncement that the couples were all legally married, which was celebrated with an all out beach ball toss.

Additional wins for Starmark were a Henry for Love is Love in the mixed media campaign category; a Silver for Momentos Sunny (Latin American video series), a Silver for the GFLCVB Digital Magazine and Vacation Playbook; a Silver for the Destination Marketing Luncheon; and a Bronze for “The Beach Looks Good on You” Washington D.C. experiential event.

Starmark wins U.S. Travel Association Award for Hello Sunny Campaign

“Hello Sunny,” Starmark’s branding campaign for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau has won the U.S. Travel Association’s “Destiny Award” for Branding and Integrated Marketing Campaign.

The brand-defining campaign was originally created by Starmark to seed Greater Fort Lauderdale’s refreshed positioning both domestically and internationally, drive traffic to sunny.org, create desire and ultimately increase hotel bookings. In the three years since its launch, it has accomplished all of the above, and more. This Destiny Award is its latest achievement.

“We couldn’t be more proud of the team,” stated Lisa Hoffman, Starmark Chief Marketing Officer. “When you have a passionate group of creative people, complemented by a client who is willing to push the envelope, that’s when the magic happens.”

About the Destiny Awards
The Destiny Awards recognize members for excellence and creative accomplishment in destination marketing and promotion at the local and regional level; and foster the development of imaginative and innovative destination marketing promotion programs and activities.