By Terri Sommella, Coyne & McClean Chartered

[Editor's note: Coyne & McLean Chartered recently received an award for a marketing campaign carried out under the leadership of Marketing Director Terri Sommella. She describes the award winning campaign.]

Our budget was winding down, but the firm still had multiple objectives to meet. We were looking to--

* create an interesting segment for our homepage that would draw people to the site, but that was still related to our services,

* advertise our new website, and

* help Walter Overfelt, our new computer consultant, establish target contacts on which to build his business.

Through creative thinking, we were able to combine and achieve all three objectives on the budget of one campaign. We developed a unique angle for a computer consulting segment on our website, then advertised the segment through a multimedia blitz. We put Walt on the Web! His comments on Internet, Extranet, and Intranet issues are posted weekly, and he is available to answer questions e-mailed to him at our site. A mousepad is sent to prospects that e-mail him to keep his name and our homepage address handy for their future use. We also set up the website to track exactly who is sending the e-mail so Walt could establish a contact database.

This idea of a fun segment for an accounting firm was a bit risky. However, we felt it was appropriate for our target market and distinguished us from all other consultants. Offering online consulting also gave us a cutting-edge image.

The campaign was very cost-effective, as all concept, design, and copy work was done in-house. The print and radio spots were no additional expense since we rearranged our existing annual ad schedule, increasing frequency to create the campaign. The direct-mail piece was selected to increase impact with the additional pieces doubling as handouts at networking functions. We chose to run the campaign in May, the month after tax season, to keep our visibility high for our June year-end prospects.

Walt on Tile Web Campaign

The results were immediate! Website hits began the first day of the campaign, and by the end of the first week Walt was working with one of the largest law firms in our state on Intranet issues, and a nonprofit requested a quote on a website design. Calls from clients, prospects, referral sources, and even the media have been overwhelmingly positive. We have already surpassed our objectives since we didn't expect immediate new business opportunities.