By Z

With our new BFF, Emerge Sales, moving into a corner office here at New Media, this seems a good time to review the importance of strategic alliances — not only during times of economic crisis, like the Great Recession that rocked our national economy for the better part of two years, but also in times like these, when recovery is a reality and the business savvy are gearing up for better days.

See those logos up there? Each of those companies — Emerge Sales, Trade Show Solution Center, Software Reproduction Technologies and Naz Creative — is a New Media professional ally. And each brings something unique and critically important to the party. While New Media provides these partners with services such as website development, corporate rebranding and Relationship Marketing, the partners provide New Media with access to their valuable skills. The result is a solid team — a corporate bloc, if you will — capable of addressing an expanded range of professional needs.

If our good friend Laura McLeod at Trade Show Solutions Center has customers interested in developing a Social Media network, she refers them to us; if we have clients who need a killer presentation for the big convention, we know whom to call. And so on.

“This is where the future is,” says Michael Kitakis, New Media’s CEO and architect of many of his agency’s strategic alliances. “In today’s economic reality, companies like ours should embrace our ‘vendors’ and turn them into ‘partners.’ It’s just good sense.”

The benefits go far beyond the services allies provide each other; it’s not only about New Media’s advanced talent for web design or Emerge’s unparalleled telemarketing knowledge or Naz Creative’s SEO expertise. As with any sound business practice, these alliances don’t just benefit current clients — they help the member companies drum up new business.

“All of these companies share their databases,” Michael notes. “The idea is to provide existing clients, as well as potential ones, the kind of nourishment that shows them — rather than tells them — the benefits each company can provide.

“If I’m a business owner and I see someone is producing a webinar with an hour’s worth of vital content about trade shows, or search-engine optimization, or the kind of transferable-media services SRT provides, why wouldn’t I listen to that?” Michael adds. “This is all beneficial stuff, and if one webinar doesn’t exactly apply to your particular business, the next one will.”

The corporate quintet is already spinning some intricate webinars. This week, Emerge cofounder and CEO Michael Sperduti web-casted two live webinars for salespersons working the health-care trades from a New Media conference room. And production has already begun on a series of webinars, slated to web-cast live before the end of this year, featuring all five allies discussing the best bets for 21st century marketing and communications.

New Media and its professional pals, meanwhile, are always looking for new allies, with digital signage pros and networking aces being strongly considered. The more, the merrier, according to Michael K.

“As long as a business can provide a new or better service that applies to our world, we’ll consider bringing them in,” New Media’s head honcho says. “This is all about providing the best services for our customers, and for our partners’ customers, and for all the customers out there waiting to be discovered.”

By Z

Now here’s an account we can really sink our teeth into (ahem).

Unless you’re a dentist (according to the Bureau of Health Professionals, only one out of every 675,000 Americans is, so let’s assume you’re not), you’ve probably never heard of Hauppauge-based Mydent International. That’s perfectly fine with Mydent, so long as dental pros around the globe – and the key distributors servicing them – have.

So Mydent has turned to New Media to make sure the company and its exclusive Defend® product line are on the lips (and teeth and gums) of healthcare providers here, there and everywhere.

Now, we’re just cutting our teeth (sorry) on the dental industry, but we know how to develop a ground-up brand image. It starts with listing the unique benefits – and there are several – that make Mydent the best at what it does.

What Mydent does is provide superior infection-control products, disposables and impression-material systems for dental practices. It’s not glamorous stuff or, to the layman, especially appealing — but dentists can’t find better or more affordable wares for protecting their staffs, their patients or themselves.

Spreading this particular message is a challenge with real bite (ouch). Mydent provides a critical service; boasts an uber-impressive international production, storage and shipping network; offers an innovative product line as deep as they come; and satisfies customers in every global corner … but this is not your typical “look, hook and feel” job.

Of course, New Media never bites off more than it can chew (zing!). So far, we’ve helped Mydent develop those all-important Unique Service Propositions, and now we’re knee-deep in work on their hefty catalog – not only streamlining and modernizing its appearance, content and functionality, but developing new ways to share it with target audiences.

Next we hope to delve into Mydent’s tradeshow marketing efforts, as well as website expansion, Social Media networking and a complete communications plan befitting a firm already recognized as the standard-bearer across myriad vertical markets.

Can we get to the root of this challenge? Will we drill it home? Rinse-and-spit those doubts, dear reader – the doctor is in.

By Z

So this week New Media welcomed its nifty neighbors from the north, Alliance Designer Products, the Montreal-based maker of the planet’s finest hardscaping materials. President Jack Tutino was in town to catch up and look ahead, as New Media continues a wall-to-wall relationship-marketing effort.

Jack launched Alliance in 2003 with a single goal: conquer the hardscaping world with an unprecedented selection of paving sands and dusts and concrete adhesives, as well as top-shelf paving edges, nails and other support products. So far so good: In short order, Alliance has developed a dedicated multinational following, including busy distribution points in Virginia, Arizona, California and Oregon.

Already a success story etched in stone (or between stones), Alliance (like Jack himself) is quite aggressive. Not resting on its laurels, the company hired New Media to produce a state-of-the-art website, launch a blog and craft numerous print materials, from product sheets to ads – including that one up top, a preview of Alliance’s new contractor-support program.

Contractor support is a big part of Alliance’s success. It’s a business model that’s really caught on in this tight economy – manufacturers befriend distributors who refer venders to manufacturers, who boast advanced products that meet modern demands. Everyone finds more business, and the industry as a whole is strengthened. You see it everywhere, from green construction to auto repair, and in the hardscaping world, Alliance is its master.

“Jack really gets the concept,” says Mike Kitakis, chief dude here at New Media. “Everyone wins with contractor support: Jack educates contractors on his great products, contractors meet demand for new and better services, distributors increase sales and customers get exactly what they want.”

For a relatively young and highly innovative company, it’s a key strategy. And Alliance is always developing the next great thing, whether it’s a breakthrough formula for polymeric sand or a cutting-edge packaging system that increases product efficacy and storage life.

So the manufacturer needs a vehicle to keep the hardscaping world informed, and to disseminate and share these fast-paced advances, Alliance has found a strong ally in New Media.

Alliance President Jack Tutino (second from left) visits with New Media partners (from left) Graz, Mikey K. and Joe Lap.

“New Media understands my type of business very well,” Jack says. “You take the time to understand what my company does and work hard to position my company where we want it to be. New Media has done a fantastic job taking my ideas and visions to the masses.”

That will continue in the coming weeks with the launch of the new Alliance website. Meanwhile, learn about their trend-setting products here. And keep an eye out in January for Alliance’s comprehensive, all-new contractor-support effort. We’re sworn to secrecy now, but rest assured, the “Gator family of products” will take new meaning for anyone working the hardscaping trades – or anyone with a patio, driveway or sidewalk to improve anytime in the next decade.

Gene Stern (left) of the Green Peak Group and friends at Wednesday's Going Green Symposium & Business Expo.

By Z

For ’tis green, green, green, where the ruined towers are gray,
and it’s green, green, green, all the happy night and day…

This probably wasn’t what the late poet Mary Elizabeth Blake, a nice Italian girl from Dungarvan in County Waterford, meant. But some serious greenin’ went on Wednesday, when builders, plumbers, electricians, architects and the cream of Long Island’s business crop united for the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce’s Going Green Business Symposium & Expo.

The third-annual event – a smorgasbord of construction-related discussions and networking with an environmental edge – was split into successive sessions at Huntington’s Long Island Hilton and Melville’s Leviton Manufacturing Company. And it was bigger and better than its predecessors, according to Ronald DiGiacomo of the Huntington Chamber’s Board of Directors.

Ron, who chairs the chamber’s Environmental Committee, played an active role in organizing the symposium, which attracted “greater participation and more sponsors this year.” Among the luminaries was former National Grid CEO Bob Catell, chairman of Stony Brook University’s Advanced Energy Research & Technology Center, who delivered the keynote address.

Big-name sponsors included LIPA, National Grid, Verizon, The Home Depot, Newsday and Long Island Business News, a well as several of Long Island’s most influential construction and financial institutions. Also cracking the sponsor list was Green Peak Group, a Hauppauge-based enterprise that “integrates all facets of green construction and renovation, from conception to completion,” according to Ron, who’s also Green Peak’s chief operating officer.

New Media has enjoyed a close relationship with Green Peak since the environmental concern launched in December. We’ve honed their brand and their image, developing everything from their logo to their unique message; we’ve provided digital content and print ads; we even produced their booth for Wednesday’s expo, where Green Peak was more than a simple cosponsor.

Green Peak people, in fact, were all over the place. Charlie Hall, who manages Green Peak’s energy services, was part of the “Finding the Green to Go Green” panel discussion during the morning session. Joining Charlie was Jacob Goldman, a professional member of both Green Peak Group and Energy Tax Savers, an amalgam of CPAs, engineers and legal eagles consulting clients on federal greening incentives.

Dr. Ron Vitori, another professional Green Peak member and vice president of the construction-management firm Axis Group, moderated the “Training the Trades” discussion during the afternoon session at Levinton.

Carrying a heavy load at the symposium was ideal for Green Peak, and not only because its COO organized the chamber event. “As a consultant, a big part of what we do is finding the green to go green,” Ron told me. “Since we’re into construction as well, we’re also very interested in seeing the trades stay up-to-date on green building techniques.

“It’s all about making these buildings efficient and more sustainable,” he added. “Making them better places to live and work.”

For more on Green Peak Group’s comprehensive approach to environmentally friendly construction, check out their website (yeah, that’s one of ours!) at www.greenpeakgroup.com.

That's a wrap!

By Z

Holy guacamole, whatta week!

Two weeks, really, ticking down to deadline on Renewable Energy Long Island’s biannual Green Guide. I have friends in the newspaper business who will understand this immediately, but if you’ve never labored over a printed work – in this case, 64 glorious, full-color glossies highlighting humanity’s best environmental practices – under the frenetic lash of punctual printers and anxious clients, well, I’m not sure I can describe it.

Busy, certainly. Tense, yes. Hours of steady work punctuated by moments of deep despair and total triumph. As is often the case, however, the tougher labor produces the sweeter fruits – and so, New Media is very, very proud to present the latest edition of RELI’s uber-informative magazine, coming next week to a National Solar Tour stop near you.

We worked very closely with RELI on this book, conferring constantly with Executive Director Gordian Raacke and his top lieutenants on content, layout, art, even grammar. They were very exacting, and you know what? They should be. The Green Guide is their baby, their face, the No. 1 means of spreading their very important word. It should say what they want, how they want. This was a challenge, but in the end, we nailed it.

“When we saw the first printed copy, we were oohing and aahing over here,” Gordian told me.

From the exclusive one-on-one with superstar model, forthright activist and concerned Long Island mom Christie Brinkley to the eye-opening articles to dozens of everyday energy-efficiency tips, the Green Guide is exactly what was intended: the Island’s ultimate environmental resource and the blueprint for every Island-based greening brochure that follows. The photos and graphics are sharp (kudos to those punctual pros over at Spectragraphic), the information is up-to-date (and mind-blowing, in spots), even the ads are a wealth of practical ecological opportunities.

The green-minded (and everyone else) can find their copy and other important renewability materials all along the Island leg of the National Solar Tour. Sponsored locally by RELI, the American Solar Energy Society event is scheduled for 10 am-4 pm Saturday, Oct. 3, and stacks of the Green Guide will be available at many of the 90 LI stops. They’ll definitely be at 16 “hub” locations, according to Gordian, including the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, the Department of Conservation and Waterways in Hempstead, Tanner Park in Copiague (Town of Babylon), NYIT’s Central Islip campus and the Mount Sinai Heritage Trust facility (Town of Brookhaven).

For more information on the tour and its stops, see the RELI homepage (www.renewableenergylongisland.org). The tour is free, but participants are asked to preregister on the RELI site.

The Green Guide is also free. Considering what it can do for the environment and the homeowner’s bottom line, it’s priceless, too.

By Z

Nicolock Paving Stones and Retaining Walls came to us at the beginning of 2009 with a relatively simple request: Help us increase sales.

We jumped right in. Nicolock’s a strong Island-based company with a long tradition of excellent craftsmanship and fair dealings – exactly the client you want in your rolodex.

In the spring we produced Nicolock’s 2009 Product Catalog (below), and since a traditional book would never do for such a multidimensional company, Graz went all nutty with his Mac Pro and concocted a 3D catalog – complete with glasses – that brought the stones and walls to life.

We also helped Nicolock plan, promote and polish its 2009 Contractor Convention, a networking and training extravaganza at the Long Island Sheraton in Hauppauge. The event was packed with “Best Practice” instruction, business-building seminars, giveaways and more, and our aggressive advertising campaign helped Nicolock pack the house.

We followed up with Nicolock’s first-ever direct-response television ad, a 60-second spot that ran this summer and generated a “significant response,” according to Mark Fuss, Nicolock’s sales VP. Highlighting the firm’s patented Paver-Shield technology, the ad offered free home-ideas catalogs and design software, Nicolock’s guide to easy financing and a list of qualified Nicolock installers. It also invited viewers to learn more about Nicolock’s lifetime warranty and special installation rebates.

But our Nicolock efforts have hinged mostly on Hardscape Pro, an expansive contractor support program. In lieu of conventional advertising, this program speaks directly to the source – contractors and installers, front-lines types who can really push Nicolock’s wonderful products.

They can be Nicolock’s mini-sales force, the theory goes, the perfect middleman (and woman) between the company and all those customers itching to beautify their homes. Arming them with tons of Nico-knowledge, while supporting their entire business effort, is a win-win: The benefits to Nicolock are obvious, while small, independent contractors thrill at the prospect of larger marketing and support mechanisms.

The contractors don’t only learn how to sell Nicolock products, they learn how to sell themselves – no small thing in a troubled economy. Professional, informative, easy-to-use catalogs. Job-site signs that catch the eye and spread the word. Attractive direct-mail postcards, personalized for local campaigns. Referral programs, credit card processing services and, of course, extensive education on the latest technological advancements and techniques – the list goes on.

Members become part of something bigger, enjoying increased sales potential, enhanced marketability, extended advertising reach and an expanded scope of professional capabilities. And Nicolock is etched as a paving industry cornerstone.

One-hundred-fifty Hardscape Pros (and growing) will tell you it’s working beautifully, a testament to Relationship Marketing done right. And with the support program steaming along, New Media can refocus on more traditional services, developing new web and television campaigns for our Nicolock friends.

To learn more about Nicolock’s products or for information on becoming a Hardscape Pro, check out their site. To learn more about Relationship Marketing … look no further, baby.

By Z

Wow, things are flying forward on Renewable Energy Long Island’s new Green Guide.

We told you in this very space a few weeks back that RELI, the Island’s preeminent nonprofit environmental watchdog, honored New Media by choosing us to take creative control of its super-informative biannual manual. We also cited a daunting challenge – to improve a book that was already attractive and brimming with environmental resources.

Well, we picked up that gauntlet and now we’re thrilled with the Green Guide’s progress. It all starts with the backing of major sponsors like LIPA and National Grid and a list of advertisers that would choke Al Gore. (Did you get your ad yet? Pity. Your chief competitor did.)

And it rockets up from there. Our crack design staff has created a beautiful cover (that’s it up there) and head copywriter Jeff Borno – he’s what would happen if Ed Asner and George Carlin somehow produced a child, gruffy and absolutely brilliant – has crafted an A-list of departments and articles. Among them: discussions on cost-effective optimization of your home’s energy efficiency, explorations of more personal aspects of ecological sensitivity, workplace renewability and numerous ideas for scaping your land without ticking off Mother Nature.

And those are just for starters. Throw in a rundown of recent environmental headlines, a jam-packed calendar of regional energy events and enough tips and tricks to keep you greening until the next biannual issue (not to mention a possible celebrity cameo or two!) and RELI’s all-new Green Guide promises to be Long Island’s ultimate environmental resource. A slamming good read, too.

As Borno put it, greening “is not a sacrifice, it’s a gain,” and the Green Guide isn’t only about helping the environment or promoting healthier lifestyles. It’s about “opening eyes to what’s possible,” Borno said – and it turns out the first eyes opened were ours.

Get your copy of the Green Guide this fall!

By Z

So the lovely Sharon McGovern, marketing director extraordinaire for Nassau Suffolk Lumber & Supply Corp., was gracing the New Media mothership today, and it highlighted an impressive truth: Nassau Suffolk Lumber has had a professional relationship with New Media Marketing, or LKGS Marketing, or Joe Lapiana – the “L” in LKGS – for 22 years now.

Twenty-two years! We’re talking 1987, people … the days of Wrestlemania III, U2’s “Joshua Tree” and Jim Bakker’s defrocking. The year Baby Jessica fell down the well and Prozac debuted and President Reagan suffered several pains in the butt, including Iran-Contra and prostate surgery. The year some poorly drawn cartoon about four-fingered people with banana skin tones debuted on “The Tracy Ullman Show.”

A veritable lifetime, which begs an interesting question: What could possibly keep Sharon and NSL coming back more than two decades later?

“Well,” Sharon said in our conference room, “Michael does buy me a margarita once a month.”

She was joking, of course (“Well, he should.”), but the truth is close by. Twenty-two years later, it’s all about relationships. Sharon remembers Michael, as in New Media honcho Kitakis, in her apartment three days after the birth of her first child, going over ad proofs. She remembers her earliest dealings with Joe Lap, when he was a solo act producing radio commercials out of his home. She remembers when Joe and Michael and the artistic, cyclonic Chris Graziose first joined forces in their tiny Greenlawn office.

“That was their most creative time, I think,” she said. “The three of them had so much energy, not that they don’t now.”

Twenty-two years later, New Media still does radio and TV spots for NSL, and is pumping some 21st-century mojo into the company’s communications via snazzy websites, focused direct-mail services and radical Relationship Marketing efforts like NSL’s new contractor-support program.

“It’s really the full communications package,” Sharon noted. “The ability to bring print and web together. They can really brand a marketing package.”

But for all the branding, all the winning campaigns, all the bells and whistles, it’s the relationship that keeps NSL on the client roster – and keeps Sharon coming back. “Our minds just work well together,” she said.

Michael agreed: “I think if you have a relationship with a client for 22 years, through upturns, downturns, recessions, even through a metamorphosis of companies … there’s something really impressive about that.”

By Z

So New Media partners now with Renewable Energy Long Island, the membership-based nonprofit focused on clean, sustainable energy generation. They’re in all the papers. Under enthusiastic exec Gordian Raacke (pictured here with friend and supporter Al Gore), RELI champions financial efficiency and safeguards public health across Nassau and Suffolk, with enough muscle and influence to effect even national change.

Noble, and a natural collaborator for New Media. Much of what we do – particularly our social media and other digital services – is done with careful consideration to environmental and economic health. We were doubly enthused to take creative control of RELI’s biannual publication, the LI GreenGuide, with the exciting mission of turning an informative, successful guide into Long Island’s indispensable commercial and residential resource for all things green.

Be careful what you wish for!

Quality production is routine around here – the GreenGuide will sing and shine no matter what. But this book must do more than feed the mind and please the eye. It needs legs – perpetual life in living rooms and waiting rooms across the Island, on every coffee table and conference table. It needs to be the resource for anyone who decides to publish an LI energy efficiency guide from now on.

And it needs to do it again in six months.

So we’re busy planning, designing, researching, writing, all that. Ace copywriter Borno is sharing thinks up and down the New Media chain and there’s no shortage of good ideas. We’re thrilled with the material RELI has already produced and excited to build upon it.

Keep an eye out for the new LI GreenGuide this fall. Until then, tell us your green story – there’s always room for more good ideas.

By Z

It’s the energy-contracting initiative so nice, they’re holding it thrice.

Still basking in the glow of the June 16 “Energizing Business 2009” seminar at its Islandia Energy Learning Center, and deep into preparations for its Sept. 10 “Energizing” seminar in Warren, NJ, Wales-Darby decided to host a second Islandia seminar July 23.

It was a classic case of “popular demand,” according to Wales-Darby President Brian Darby, who noted the seminar’s unique combination of education, business-building and marketing – along with exclusive access to Wales Darby’s energyPRO Network – has proven to be a major draw.

“We were so pleased with (the June 16 event),” Mr. Darby said. “People really enjoy visiting our Energy Learning Center. Even though we were busy getting ready for the seminar at our Warren facility, we felt there was enough demand to justify a second event in Islandia.”

Created to educate HVAC/plumbing professionals on the latest in energy efficiency and help these contractors grow their businesses, the seminars invite participants to join the Wales-Darby energyPro Network – a rising professional association designed to give members the advanced tools and business support needed to expand their capabilities and grow their businesses. Membership provides information on contractor-certification programs, on-line resources, insurance, creating direct mailers and other promotional products and services.

Participating manufacturers in the “Energizing Business” series include AO Smith, Fujitsu, Taco, Uponor (formerly Wirsbo) and the Viessman Group.

For more information on the Sept. 10 seminar, or to register, contact Wales-Darby in Warren, NJ, at (732) 560-1001.