MINDSCAPE at Hanon McKendry, a Grand Rapids-based Internet marketing and web development firm, has launched the MINDSCAPE Content Division. The division brings branded online content development and management in-house, including keyword-focused web page content writing, social media strategy and management, and video concepting and production.
“The appetite for online content is huge,” said MINDSCAPE Co-Founder Pete Brand. “Every time someone conducts an online search, watches an online video or visits a website, they’re consuming content. If businesses and nonprofits want to successfully compete, their content has to be fresh, engaging and relevant—and it has to be aligned with their brand. If it’s not, their competitors will offer something that is. It’s a challenge to keep up.”
Since joining forces with Hanon McKendry in 2008, MINDSCAPE’s expansion has been focused on services that were not marketing priorities just five years ago, but are now in high demand.
“According to a recent survey, 59 percent of marketing professionals plan to increase spending on content initiatives,” explained Brand. “That’s up from 42 percent in 2008. Content spending is expected to comprise 33 percent of the average total marketing budget in 2010—and that number jumps to 40 percent when you look at small businesses.”*
A critical point of distinction among content service providers will be the ability to understand and express a client’s brand in the digital realm.
“Great branded content leads to great relationships with your brand. Relationships lead to trust, and trust leads to success,” contends MINDSCAPE Director of Branded Content Dawn Pick Benson. “Engaging content is critical, but the web is a crowded space. The key to success is creating optimized content that will elevate and distinguish an organization’s brand voice and then work to engage their audience across a variety of platforms.”
Content Division staff draws on Hanon McKendry’s 16 years experience providing strategic brand counsel for nonprofit, educational and corporate clients, as well as MINDSCAPE’s strong digital marketing expertise.
The division offers project-based content development and on-going monthly content services through a team of content writers and editors, SEO/SEM experts, social media strategists and a motion content director. The firm has added four staff members over the past few months to lead development of the new division:
Dawn Pick Benson, director of branded content, joined the agency with 12 years experience in journalism and marketing. She’s an award-winning magazine editor and marketing director who has served in the non-profit, higher education and corporate worlds, most recently as director of marketing and communications at Cornerstone University. She oversees strategic direction and administration of the Content Division.
Mike Schurr, creative director for motion content, provides creative direction and video production services for both Hanon McKendry and the MINDSCAPE Content Division. He brings nearly 20 years experience in photography and videography, animation, and creative direction to the firm, including work for Disney, Hanna-Barbera, Filmation Studios and West Michigan creative agencies.
Christina Torri, social media coordinator, joined MINDSCAPE in August and has partnered with the management team to build out and implement social media strategy and management services. Following marketing positions at Verizon Wireless and National City, Torri received an MBA from Grand Valley State University with a focus in Internet marketing and social media.
Jonathan Michael, content client services, recently joined the agency from Zondervan, where he served in project management, content management and marketing positions for the international publisher’s Zonderkidz division. Michael serves as the lead contact for content clients as they go through the content review, direction, development and delivery process.
*According to a 2010 Content Marketing Spending Survey conducted by Junta42.
About MINDSCAPE at Hanon McKendry
MINDSCAPE at Hanon McKendry is a web success company that creates powerful websites, custom programming, and managed web marketing programs to provide consistent investment return for over 500 clients. MINDSCAPE applies SEO/SEM; custom web, business and mobile app development; packaged web design on the proprietary webTRAIN® platform; branded content development and social media to help companies understand and effectively engage target audiences. With award-winning service, state-of-the-industry technology, and reliable, measurable results, the firm and its platform enjoy a 99 percent client retention rate. http://www.mindscape-hm.com
MINDSCAPE is the interactive division for Hanon McKendry, a national brand consulting and advertising firm that excels at helping clients shift perceptions beyond what their brands offer to what their brands mean. Nearly 80 percent of the firm’s annual revenues are derived from initiatives to launch, re-launch or restage brands. Hanon McKendry has earned national recognition for it’s work with leading corporations such as Furniture Row Shopping Centers, Rayovac Batteries, Rubbermaid Home Products, Wilsonart and Zondervan (a division of Harper/Collins Publishing), as well as for its issue-based campaigns and brand development for clients such as the Alliance Defense Fund, National Arbor Day Foundation, World Vision and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum. Hanon McKendry is a Gravity Six Alliance partner. http://www.hanon-mckendry.com / http://www.gravitysix.com
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