Clarian ads win major award
Indianapolis ad firm The Heavyweights and its local client Clarian Health have won one of the ad industry’s biggest awards
for one component of Clarian’s “A Call to Change” campaign.
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Athenaeum will launch awareness campaign
The Athenaeum is seeking better name recognition in the community, with the help of a grant from the Indianapolis Foundation.
Compendium casts eye on national blog market
Two-year-old tech startup Compendium Blogware has launched its first out-of-state sales force and said it signed on 70 new
customers in the fourth quarter.
Company banks on targeted texting
Steven Dickerson realized the potential for mobile advertisements when he saw his daughter texting.
Tennis tournament goes on advertising offensive
The Indianapolis Tennis Championships (formerly the RCA Championships) has for the first time hired an advertising agency to boost ticket sales.
Tourists rank Indianapolis as the second-most-popular Midwestern destination
Fueled by a $740,000 regional advertising campaign, local tourism spending went sky high even as the economy was in a free
fall.
Steak n Shake seeks younger customers
Steak n Shake hopes to create buzz with its new marketing plan targeting youth.
Holiday promotional campaign helps Indianapolis venues boost their attendance
The 12 Free Days of Indy Christmas promotion runs through Dec. 24 and gives patrons of several city destinations the opportunity
to enjoy them without the cost.
Bloomington wins recognition for being gay-friendly
A national newsmagazine for the gay and lesbian community has named Bloomington as its top U.S. small-town vacation destination.
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.
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.