What Are You Thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Whether you’re having Thanksgiving at your house or traveling to a relative’s house, everyone will be joining together to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday. To help get everyone in the spirit, CMA asked its employees to share what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving:

“I’m thankful for the hardworking team here at CMA who apply their passion for what they do every day.” – Jeffrey Barnhart, President and CEO

“I am thankful for the health of my family and the good will that we share with each other. Particularly as my sons begin to make their way in the world, I find my relationships with them evolving and growing stronger.” – Christian Horn, Vice President of Communications

“I am thankful for the health and happiness of my friends and family.” – Corie Eisenberg, Marketing Coordinator

“I’m thankful for celebrating 5 years with CMA!” – Erin Higgins, Director of Marketing Services

“I’m thankful I work with a really fun group of people who make it easier to be creative.” – Diane Webster, Senior Associate Creative Director

“I’m thankful for my wonderful family and friends who complete my life in every way!” – Lauren Ward, Marketing Coordinator

“I’m thankful that I work with such a fun, creative, intelligent group of people!” – Kaitlin Friedmann, Manager, Public Relations

“I am thankful to work in an environment that encourages creativity.” – Meghan Higgins, Public Relations Coordinator

“I am thankful that my family is healthy and happy!” – Melanie Kotsonis, Executive Assistant

Feel free to share with us what you are thankful for this Thanksgiving. Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Happy Thanksgiving!

FIN Turns to CMA to Apply Financial Industry Experience

Challenge: Raise product awareness for Financial Investment News (FIN) among investment management marketing and sales professionals and stand out from competing companies at industry events.

Solution: CMA developed a comprehensive product offering brochure designed to catch the attention of attendees of the Association of Investment Management Sales Executives (AIMSE) Annual Conference this fall. The design reflects a professional and modern feel in a well-organized manner. Using a unique shape, CMA created the piece to stand out among competing investment management industry service providers and publishers.

The brochure communicated the benefits, ease, and abilities of the company’s major product, FINsearches, while tying in information about the features and highlights of its FINdaily and Nonprofit News publications. As a piece that defines and incorporates the company’s products as well as publications, this brochure serves as a memorable “leave behind” after face-to-face contact.

Why CMA? Impressed by CMA’s knowledge of the financial industry, the resulting brochure received rave reviews from the client about what CMA was able to deliver.

CMA’s work with FIN is a perfect example of the results of good team work. FIN has worked with members of the PR team for years helping to promote the conferences of long-term CMA client PAICR (the Professional Association for Investment Communications Resources) through informative articles in their magazines. Over time, the FIN publishers began to see that CMA is more than just a PR firm and turned to CMA to more effectively market themselves.

Revisiting Your Brand

As we approach the end of 2010, it is important for business owners to revisit their company’s brand identity. Does your brand still represent your company’s mission and goals? Does it continue to effectively showcase your company’s products and services? Does it appeal to your target audience? Once you’ve determined how your brand measures up, it is important to evaluate whether your company’s marketing pieces reflect this direction. Consider these tips for evaluating your brand.

Strategy. When revisiting your brand, it is important to take the time to meet with the decision makers in your company to evaluate your company’s strategic direction and if it still holds true. Through CMA’s Marketecture™ process, we take clients through a strategic planning session to determine an appropriate direction for branding and marketing their company.

Logo. As your logo is an important element to your company’s brand identity, make sure to evaluate whether it continues to standout in the minds of current and prospective clients. Does your logo format, color and design represent your company and speak to your target audience? You ultimately want to ensure your brand is identifiable throughout your targeted market.

Sales brochure. Your company sales brochure is consistently utilized by your team during the sales process. Make sure you determine whether it effectively showcases your company and its products and services, as this is a main tool in helping to bring in new business. Also, evaluate whether the information in your brochure clearly explains to your target audience why they should select your company’s products and services to fulfill their needs.

Need help re-establishing your brand? Give us a call today.

Jeffrey Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

CMA Selected to Launch Energy Watch Blog

CMA was recently selected by marketing veteran, Bill Attardi, for the launch of the blog version of his popular Energy Watch newsletter.

For over a decade, electrical industry insiders have turned to Attardi for breaking news in lighting, distribution and other related business segments. Trusting in CMA’s understanding of the industry as well as our team’s rapid adoption of digital media, Attardi selected CMA to develop the structure and new look of the Energy Watch blog and maintain fresh content on a weekly basis. The blog retains popular features such as Attardi’s monthly commentary “Something to Think About,” provides critical news updates in a more accessible format and introduces a newly designed Energy Watch header, custom created by CMA’s design team.

Since September, the blog has developed a devoted following and CMA continues to work with Attardi to increase readership and interest in the new format.

CMA Director of Marketing Services Selected to NJ CAMA Board

CMA’s Director of Marketing Services, Erin Higgins, has been selected to the New Jersey Communications, Advertising and Marketing Association’s (NJ CAMA) Board.

Higgins will serve as Co-Chair of the organization’s ASTRA Awards, which honor the best creative, strategies and design work created by the communications, advertising and marketing community. In her role, Higgins will support the ASTRA Chair with award submissions, event content, scheduling, location selection, promotion as well as on-site coordination.

Bill Petzinger, President at NJ CAMA commented, "I am delighted to welcome Erin to the Board of Directors of NJ CAMA. She possesses the strategic ability and passion that our organization needs which will ultimately prove valuable in her role as ASTRA co-chair. We look forward to working with her."

Marketing Must Haves

Regardless of size or even budget, there are key marketing items that every business, big or small, needs. Below are the basic marketing items that can help build your company’s brand.

The Essentials

Strategy. Throwing marketing against the wall to see what sticks wastes both time and money. The rest of the marketing essentials fall into place once you have a strategy set.



Logo. A professional logo for print and online usage as well as black and white executions are the building blocks of your company’s brand identity.



Website. When prospective clients are looking for a product or service, their first step is usually Google. A well-designed and easy to navigate website can be developed on any budget.



E-blast template. More communication is done via e-mail than ever before. Make sure your company is not left behind with the typewriter and design a template that incorporates your logo and branding.



Business cards. An old school favorite that still has impact, this is truly an essential marketing item for in-person networking that shouldn’t be left to a fly-by-night printer/designer.



As with any list, there are going to be many of you who feel I missed an “obvious” essential (leave your thoughts in the comments section).

Marketing is a sum of its pieces and what is essential to one company might be an extra to another. CMA works with all of our clients to put together a customized marketing strategy for their unique needs.

Are you ready to put together your “essential” marketing pieces? Give us a call.

Jeffrey E. Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

Humanizing Your Brand With Social Media

More and more businesses are breaking into the world of social media and are utilizing this medium as a way to promote their brand and products and services. Fully delving into social media and capitalizing on the world of two-way communication can be rewarding for any business, if done effectively.

Having a thought leader from your company act as the social media liaison truly helps humanize your brand. Customers and prospective customers will be more comfortable sharing feedback about your company and its products and services knowing they are speaking directly to someone from the company. Consider these tips for humanizing your brand with social media.

Be open. Since you are trying to create a comfortable atmosphere that will encourage participation and feedback, make sure you share information about yourself with your audience. The more they know about you, the more willing they will be to provide their thoughts on your brand and its products and services.

Provide stimulating content. When participating in any form of social media outlet, make sure the content is stimulating and valuable. Your goal is to effectively serve your customers and engage prospective customers. Providing content that won’t help them in any way will lead you further away from obtaining and keeping their business.

Keep readers engaged. Respond to comments and create an ongoing dialogue. Post as frequently as possible.

Need help charting a social media course for your business? E-mail us today.

Erin Higgins
Director of Marketing Services
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com