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Central Illinois marketing agencies find success in telling company's story [Journal Star, Peoria, Ill. :: ](Journal Star (Peoria, IL) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 29--When Caterpillar Inc., a multinational corporation with a worldwide audience, wants to tell its story, the company often turns to marketing firms in central Illinois. One of those firms, Simantel, 321 SW Water St., recently won an award from Ad Age, a national advertising journal, for a campaign aimed at recruiting diesel technicians for Caterpillar dealers. Simantel devised the campaign around Mike Rowe, star of TV's "Dirty Jobs" and a Caterpillar spokesman since 2009. The communications plan focused on a national need for skilled workers, said Susie Ketterer, a partner with the Simantel firm. "It was a recruitment campaign for Caterpillar. A lot of different things went into it," she said. "Creating impressive machines means nothing if there aren't skilled workers to run or maintain them," said Ketterer, sounding the theme of a campaign that included print ads, videos, digital media and a website -- all featuring Rowe. Simantel even helped Rowe develop "Profoundly Disconnected," a book about the nation's growing skills gap. Rowe's book signing at Con Expo in Las Vegas earlier this year generated additional publicity for Caterpillar. But Simantel isn't the only agency working on behalf of Caterpillar. The old Easton Manor, a grand Victorian home at the top of Main Street built in 1881, is home to Converse Marketing and some 21st century technology. Working with OneFire Media, a firm based in the Peoria NEXT Innovation Center, 801 W. Main St., Converse has developed a touchpoint display unit that's been deployed around the world to tell Caterpillar's global mining story. "We do a lot of work for mining," said Becky Krohe, a design director at Converse, who also helps produce Viewpoint, a full-color magazine on mining for Caterpillar. The touchscreen/augmented reality unit helps Caterpillar detail its "exploding product line" in the mining field with machines that are too big to fit in a showroom, said director Jason Salyers. The unit has been so successful in showcasing Caterpillar's mining line that the company's gas-and-oil division seeks to have Converse create a similar display for use at trade shows, said account manager Josh Sepich. Adco Peoria, 1302 W. Pioneer Parkway, meanwhile, is in its sixth year of producing the magazine for the Worldwide Antique Caterpillar Owners Club, a not-for-profit organization not affiliated with Caterpillar Inc. but a great source of history on the company's products, said owner Julie Russell. "You've got a wide variety of people -- doctors, lawyers and others all over the country -- that collect old Cat tractors," she said, referring to the club magazine edited by Paul Gordon, former Journal Star business editor. - Other area agencies have developed their own niches. "Our emphasis for the last 25 years has been working with medical device companies," said Jim Flynn, president-CEO of Hult Marketing, 401 SW Water St. Much of Hult's business deals with out-of-town clients, said Karen Korsgard, Hult's director of client services. "Typically, we're not pitching locally," she said, pointing to exceptions such as Maui Jim and the Illinois Eye Center. Randy McDaniels, president of McDaniels Marketing in Pekin, cited his agency's work for Pekin Insurance. "Over the past two years we've introduced a series of videos called 'You Need That' that help to educate existing and potential new policy holders on some of the innovative coverage available through Pekin Insurance agents," he said. Also in Pekin, Deverman Advertising has been in business for 47 years but is staying current with the changes, offering high-definition video for client websites, YouTube and other outlets, said owner Jim Deverman. Central States Media, 2006 W. Altorfer Drive, specializes in digital marketing, said president Ann Johnston. "With the rise of digital marketing and social media, there are so many options and market segments," she said. Burdess & Associates, 1901 Wisconsin Ave., reports that it's been a busy year working on several projects of local consequence: the Louisville Slugger Baseball Complex, the new Downtown Development Corp. of Peoria, and branding the recent Marcellus Sommerville Foundation "Back to School Bash." Steve Tarter is the Journal Star's business editor. Tarter's phone number is 686-3260, and his email address is [email protected]. Follow his blog, Minding Business, on pjstar.com and follow him on Twitter @SteveTarter. ___ (c)2014 the Journal Star (Peoria, Ill.) Visit the Journal Star (Peoria, Ill.) at www.PJStar.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |