Follow us on Twitter Connect on LinkedIn Visit our Flickr gallery Visit our YouTube channel Blog Feed
Sprockets
Think of our blog as a window where you can see what's new with us, our clients and the demand creation world we operate in. To close the loop between advertising and sales, we find ourselves in interesting places: cornfields, laboratories, retail stores, bank lobbies and more. Enjoy our tales. Be sure to share yours.

Category Archives: Departments

February 17, 2011

Technekes Gets Even More Creative

To keep up with Technekes’ booming business and client needs, our Creative Services Team happily welcomes senior web designer Niels Toft.  Niels brings his considerable experience – and perspective – from Seattle via New Zealand, via — you’ll never guess – Denmark, where he still has family.

Specifically, with Niels’ expertise, we’ll boost our user interface design, brand and graphic design capabilities.

As Scott Miner, director of creative services, says, “Clients are clamoring for well-designed, sophisticated and highly-effective user interface design and branding. It took me a year, but when I found Niels, I knew I’d found the perfect fit.  I jumped at the opportunity to woo him away from the Seattle design scene.”

Seems that Niels feels pretty lucky to have landed here, as well.  His wife’s family lives here in Charlotte, and the couple is expecting their second child late this summer.

Be sure to welcome Niels aboard!  And word to the wise – the national language of Denmark is Danish.  Not Dutch.*

*Niels says he’s continually surprised by the number of Americans — none at Technekes, of course — who expect him to speak Dutch!

Author Cheri
1
February 16, 2011

Quality and Productivity: Keeping Your Programs Running Smoothly

No agency ever really wants to talk about the things that could go wrong with a marketing program, but let’s face it — things happen.  Glitches and setbacks are part of any business.  That’s why nearly every industry has its own, as well as government-regulated, quality assurance standards and product testing procedures.  Indeed, the safety and security procedures for financial services, agriculture and pharmaceutical companies are already among the most stringent in the U.S.

You’d think that the partners handling data and building applications for these industries would have similarly aligned quality assurance standards in place. But that’s rarely the case. We, however, are the exception.

You won’t find anything like our Quality Assurance team at other agencies.  We know that when we work with your data, mail your checks, or launch your microsites, you need to know without question that you can trust us and trust the process.

We are confident your program will run smoothly, because we are committed to the highest levels of quality, and we have a fulltime team of testers — the kind of folks who “just have to make sure” — to back that up.  Using SCRUM methodology and Agile software development, we test applications, websites, and fulfillment projects.  Our experts test, test, test, and for good measure, test once again.

As a customer, of course, you just want to know that your data is secure and that your applications are running smoothly 24/7.  At Technekes, you can be sure — it is and they are — giving you one less thing to worry about.

Author Cheri
1
February 8, 2011

Proven Methodology That’s Both Brilliant and Business-As-Usual.

Another in our ongoing series, describing the departments at Technekes.  This one focuses on our technology group.

Some folks like surprises.  Folks in technology do not.

Too much hinges on this essential element of your marketing and sales program.  You may not want to know exactly what goes on behind the curtain, but when it comes to your data, you should feel confident your program will go off without a hitch.  None.  Nada.  Zilch.

At Technekes, we get it.  Our in-house technology department is the kind other agencies wish they could offer.  We’ve got nearly 20 senior developers and database architects – working with the latest .Net Windows-based technology right in our own offices.

We start where you are, going through a point-by-point discovery phase to understand the technology needed to deliver your marketing program.

From there, at the point where most people’s eyes glaze over, we dig in right up to our eyeballs – which is exactly where we like to be.  We’ve built these systems more times than we could count.  We have fully redundant development, QA and production environments, as well as a formal backup and management infrastructure.

We don’t ask our clients to fund untested technology.  Instead, we use proven methodology to consistently deliver defect-free software and systems.  In the end, we develop solutions that are both brilliant and business-as-usual.  Sure, we could show you all the behind-the-scenes magic, but bottom line, we’re working to make sure that the only surprise is no surprise.

In the world of technology, that’s the best surprise of all.

Author Cheri
1
January 26, 2011

Creative Services: Design That Communicates. Copy That Resonates.

And now a word from our creative services group, as we continue our series about the departments at Technekes.

Specialized marketing necessitates specialized creative.  So while our creative group has all the services you’d expect, you’ll also find a depth of expertise and understanding you can’t find at a traditional agency.

We’re not here to blast a demographic with mountains of letters and brochures.  And we’re happy to leave logo design to the black turtlenecks on Madison Ave.  Instead, what we do is constantly work to identify the best way, the most effective way, the most efficient way to create a targeted, personalized experience for your customers.

Our in-house team has years of experience in traditional direct and digital marketing, working for the largest and most trusted brands in the world.  We know how to play nice with your agencies and legal teams, while bringing our own unique expertise to the table.

We’re focused on well-executed trigger marketing that is relevant, timely and ultimately, rings the register.  One reason we’re so quick and our programs so successful is because we’ve got it all right here:

•  Creative strategy

•  Design — print, direct and web

•  Copywriting

•  Production and delivery

•  Information architecture and usability

•  Project coordination for complex fulfillment projects

•  Application and web user interface design

•  Microsites and PURLs

•  Variable data communications

•  Digital print-on-demand production

•  Social media and emerging technologies

Plainly, we dig the details.  So when we say, “We can do that,” believe us.  We can.

Author Cheri
0
January 19, 2011

The “MIC” — Our Own Marketing Interaction Center

This is the second post in our new series on Sprockets, telling more about the departments at Technekes.

Your phone rings, showing a number you don’t recognize. What’s the first thing you think?

We know.  We’ve all heard from those “robotic” callers. Disinterested callers.  Improperly and incompletely trained callers.

That’s exactly why Technekes has its own Marketing Interaction Center — the MIC.

Yes, the MIC is a structured call center, but it’s also a place where innovation thrives.  (It is located, after all, in Research Triangle Park — the leading research and biotech center in the US.)  We hire top level talent — folks with degrees and specific job experience in the industry.  We’ve got ag folks with their own farms.  Financial services folks working on MBAs.  And healthcare folks with years of pharma experience.

Our 13,000 square foot facility is unlike any marketing interaction center you’ve ever seen.  Our associates go through extensive and ongoing training to ensure we can engage in dynamic conversations with clients and prospects.  A customer never feels that he or she is talking to someone who doesn’t know or doesn’t care.  In fact, your customer knows it’s you, as soon as the phone rings, because your caller ID — not ours — is programmed in.

We care.  We listen.  We engage.  We learn.  And we share what we learn with our clients.

Among our services:

•  Branded calling on a client’s behalf

•  800 inbound/outbound

•  Click to chat

•  Appointment setting

•  Multi-lingual support

We’d welcome the chance to tell you more and let you know how the MIC might fit into your marketing program.   Just let us know you’re interested by commenting on this post or calling the MIC directly at 919.747.8031.

Author Cheri
0