Greenwood’s largest employer to launch $69M expansion
Endress + Hauser Inc., one of Greenwood’s biggest employers, is planning a major expansion that will bring 234 jobs to Johnson
County.
Marketing
Articles
Jennings County group hires PR firm
The Jennings County Economic Development Commission recently hired Indianapolis-based Brand Acceleration Inc. as its agency
of record to handle advertising, public relations and brand management.
Indianapolis Airport opening good news for local PR, hospitality firms
In the last two months, the Indianapolis Airport Authority board has approved spending at least $850,000 toward grand-opening
parties for the new airport terminal and events in the form of contracts with caterers, event planners and public relations
firms.
‘Instant gratification moments’ key to ChaCha’s biz strategy
Carmel-based ChaCha Search Inc. has been winning accolades and enough teen fans to rival Hannah Montana. But none of that makes it apparent how the company can make money giving free answers to random cell phone queries.
Lucas says please don’t call stadium ‘The Luke’
Officials for Lucas Oil Products Inc. are imploring fans and media not to refer to the team’s new stadium as The Luke,
a nickname that has cropped up on sports talk radio shows and been repeated in print and on TV. The nickname
seems to be gaining momentum, and that doesn’t sit well with Lucas brass already playing defense against
New Jersey-based Lukoil Co. California based-Lucas Oil signed a 20-year, $121.5 million naming-rights deal
for the Colts’ new stadium.
Marketing veteran Ray Compton unveils Webcasting venture at State Fair
Local radio icons Big John Gillis and Jeff Pibeon will be broadcasting live this year from the Indiana State Fair. But
you won’t find their show on any radio station. Gillis and Pigeon have been hired by locally based Compton Strategies to create
audio-only, Internet-based shows for area events, companies and entertainment venues.
Entrepreneur has high hopes for deck-chair markers
In late May, Darrell Bowman launched Lounge Hats LLC, an Indianapolis-based company that makes fabric covers that fit over
beach or pool-side chaise lounges to make one thing clear: This seat is taken. Bowman withdrew $20,000 from personal savings
and added another $50,000 from an investor, his friend Mike Oswalt, to start the company. He runs Lounge Hats out of his garage,
hiring a Chinese company to sew the hats and contracting with a local printer to finish them off.
Open-wheel reunion creating more business opportunities
In the end, the catastrophic sponsorship shift from open-wheel racing to NASCAR became too much to ignore, driving the long-divided
sides of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League back into a unified series.
Guerrilla advertising might seem wacky, but often gets results
The 24 area Liberty Tax Service outlets are known for their human mascots dressed up as the Statue of Liberty or Uncle Sam,
standing on street corners and waving in traffic. Liberty’s approach is just one incarnation of one of the fastest-growing
trends in advertising: guerrilla marketing.
Players benched for new Pacers ads
The Indiana Pacers recently rolled out a marketing initiative that was in sharp contrast to last year’s campaign, which prominently
featured players and proclaimed, “It’s up to us.” This year’s new television, radio and print advertisements appear with not
a whisper from or mention of anyone actually wearing the blue and gold.
First Indiana’s new marketing plan features superhero mascot
First Indiana Corp.’s new marketing campaign features a superhero sporting an orange cape and a white jumpsuit with the First
Indiana logo. But First Indiana Man is just a means to introduce the real star of the bank’s most aggressive marketing and
account-growth effort in a decade: a free checking account the bank hopes will generate 20,000 new accounts in the next year.
MZD Urban division gains momentum
As head of MZD Urban, a division of one of the city’s largest advertising agencies–MZD Advertising–Troy Julian Gipson is
ready to take the city into the future of multicultural marketing.
Red Hat Society over-50 women pursued by marketers
Members of the Red Hat Society get together monthly to celebrate life after 50, a demographic marketers often overlook. But
these women-and their spending habits-are attracting attention as the California-based club gains traction.
Colts seize Super moment for marketing
With a season-ticket waiting list of more than 13,000–and growing by the hour–the Indianapolis Colts marketing team can
settle into cruise control, right? Owner Jim Irsay thinks not.
Carmel company helps clients determine next big thing
The employees of production-innovation consultant Insight2 interview customers, but they also watch and videotape them using
various products. That footage then is dissected to see how consumers deal with problems they encounter. More times than not,
the result is a new product intended to satisfy needs consumers didn’t even know they had.
RCA ends 15-year run as sponsor of tennis tournament
After a 15-year run–the longest on the ATP Tour’s North American Circuit–Thomson Consumer Electronics’ RCA brand is ending its title sponsorship of Indianapolis’ professional men’s tennis tournament.
Colts plan to let sponsors decorate portions of stadium
The Indianapolis Colts are giving sponsors a chance to help design the interior of Lucas Oil Stadium. The newly announced sponsorship packages, which parcel out naming and design rights for 12 parts of the stadium, are expected to generate up to $10 million a year for the franchise.