ThinkAgency.com

D I G I T A L P R O J E C T S P O R T F O L I O

MIND OVER

MOVING ARCHITECTUREKINetic™: A Social Platform For Architects, A Marketing Platform For Kingspan

DIGITAL INNOVATION AS A BRANDProAPP™ Expands Atlas Pro Tools — And It’s Brand

THE WORLD’S ONLY AUTO-UPDATING ARCHITECTURAL BINDERWikiSTIK™ & WikiSTIK™ Mobile by Th!nk Agency

CONTENT MARKETINGContent Is King – Thirsty For Execution

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AN SEC APPROVED FLIGHT PLANAmerican Financial Advisors

LOCALIZED SEARCH & LEAD GENERATIONJackson Hewitt of Central Florida

GENERATION KINGSPANStudent Architectural Design Competition

MARKETING

Marketing sometimes has a mind of its own. The best intentioned marketers find that the marketing process or the project intent itself can seek its own path—sometimes failing to follow the map provided in a business or marketing plan. The result? Circuitous trips to sometimes unexpected destinations.

Digital marketing projects such as web sites, mobile applications and related enterprise tools are among the most difficult to tame. Multi-headed monsters with multiple stakeholders, varied objectives and disparate goals; digital marketing projects require a steady guide who can carve new paths based on business intent. Each path is a creative journey, shared by both the client and the developer.

Th!nk is uniquely equipped for the journey as two development principles always light our way. Firstly, each objective should help our client increase positive awareness through the delivery of relevant content. Brilliant applications simply can’t overcome irrelevant or flawed content. Secondly, the digital tool should improve on what currently exists. It should help both end users and content managers increase granular focus without increasing interaction time.

Finally, just to clarify, there’s no such thing as “monsters”. Every project is a series of manageable goals met through conventional project management processes: Plan—Design—Develop—Deploy—Repeat. Surprises in the form of business environment changes to stakeholder preferences to technology updates, however, lurk around every corner. Strict adherence to this process reveals potential marketing pitfalls before they’re upon us.

As your guide, we’re always thinking several steps ahead. Mind over marketing.

REINVENTING CORPORATE IDENTITY FROM THE INSIDE OUTPlastics Color Corporation’s Rebranding Implementation

STRATEGIC EVENT EXECUTION, POWERED BY A TURNKEY ONLINE PORTALGypsum Management and Supply’s BUILD AMERICA: GMS EXPO 2015

CONTENT MARKETINGContent Is King – Thirsty For Execution

Since the first known advertisement sold in North America — a newspaper spot for a plot of land in Long Island — the strategies and tactics used to reach potential customers have grown exponentially. A few centuries later, and with a little help from desktop computing, the internet, and mobile technology, Content Marketing has become the new Ruler Supreme. As a strategy, content marketing has completely engulfed traditional advertising and public relations efforts, repositioning these and giving rise to a multitude of new channels for reaching customers.

Content marketing is successful because it strips away ‘the pitch’. Useful, relevant, engaging information delivered through inbound rather than outbound channels is its foundation. Content marketing values information that viewers value. This is the yardstick by which we measure all proposed content marketing tactics at Think Agency.

This as our guiding premise, execution of an effective content marketing strategy requires implementation within all four of its media channels: shared, paid, earned and owned. Failure to properly utilize each channel where and when appropriate is why most content marketing plans fail. An optimized plan can only be achieved by professionals who understand the channels, or the combinations of channels, that will provide the best opportunity within a given environment.

So, if content is King, then Think Agency is his sword. Sometimes the sword is used surgically to pierce specific targets and sometimes it’s used to deliver a sweeping blow. Regardless, it is always used with calculated intent. Let’s begin with some basic swordplay.

Paid media is likely the most widely adopted and understood of the four content marketing channels. In the digital space, Google’s Adwords is the most widely adopted example. When evaluating potential clients or client competitors we find many companies paying for first page position through Adwords — even though their site already appears on the first page organically. This is an acceptable strategy as a stop-gap measure to gain first page visibility on low-ranking keywords or as part of a consumer or e-commerce sales strategy. For most B2B companies, however, those dollars would be more wisely allocated to other channels. Perhaps to a channel that would help elevate a page two organic result to a vastly more effective page one position. This reallocation of dollars would substantially increase organic traffic and would eliminate the perpetual cost of page one visibility for a low ranking keyword.

In the scenario above, redirecting focus on shared media channels may yield more traffic, more qualified site visits, and reduce paid expenditures — not to mention the potential to build brand champions through engagement. Examples of shared media include social media channels and third party blogs. In the B2B space, however, shared media

continues to be the most misunderstood and frequently under-utilized channel.

The direct benefits (traffic, conversions, sales) are admittedly not obvious, and the metrics typically used for measuring effectiveness are vague at best. However, we do know through our own findings and through interpretation of Google’s stated search engine goals and

algorithm updates, that sites who’s engagement is high in shared channels can yield increased organic rank on properly targeted keywords. So, rather than measure shared channel success by something as intangible as ‘engagement’, initiate a well optimized social plan

and measure its effectiveness related to the organic gains of specific keywords for your web site.

At Think, we have seen strategies such as these work reliably for every client in almost any market. In a recent example, Think Agency employed the paid and shared tactical changes describe above, in combination with owned and earned tactics, to the substantial benefit of Atlas Roofing Corporation — manufacturer of commercial polyiso insulation, roof shingles and underlayment. Atlas Roofing’s web site was able to secure top 3 search engine positions for more than 20 of its targeted, non-branded keywords within one year of beginning execution. These are highly sought positions that account for 61% of all organic search clicks. Control of these positions not only helped yield a 20% increase in organic visits (that’s more than

50,000 additional visits) but also pushed their competitors back to lower yielding positions — and in some cases off of the first page.

Again, this was not accomplished through targeted paid and shared tactics alone. Critical to seeing a surge in organic dominance is a company’s owned media. These types of media include your web site, corporate blog or mobile applications. These owned media are critical because they are always there when you need them.

In the case of Kingspan Panels North America, manufacturer of pre-engineered insulated metal panel systems, their web site content required extensive keyword optimization. This began with a discovery phase in which industry relevant keywords were harvested and evaluated for their potential effectiveness. A final keyword list was created and prioritized based on the initial strategy, and refactored during the implementation period as needed through ongoing evaluation and monitoring. Nearly all critical pages on kingspanpanels.us were re-written — and are now infused with industry relevant, high-value terms and phrases.

We also engaged in an aggressive attack on the earned media front leveraged by a small paid media expenditure. This involved creating, submitting and pitching keyword articles, case studies, and press releases to online and traditional media outlets. As an agency that specializes in the AEC industry, we have developed great relationships with editors and publications. This unique position allows us to deliver an earned return that often far exceeds the limited reach of a paid-only campaign.

$156, 665 of equivalent [ FREE ] ad

space exposure.

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Through this effort, Kingspan has received $156,665 of equivalent ad space exposure in print and digital industry specific publications, with a four-month budget totaling just over $61,200. Further, by producing and placing original content for Kingspan, they have experienced a 100% increase in their organic visits. Again, all directly attributable to the implementation of a comprehensive, integrated content marketing strategy.

Conversely, if media outlets showed lackluster interest in a story — in true content marketing fashion — we simply turned to our owned outlets on which to publish. (No editors to say, “None shall pass!”) And not only does this tactic allow us to publish at will, it also drives post-release traffic spikes and encourages repeat visits from those who come to depend on our clients’ insights. Best of all, new content is a critical factor used by search engines to determine the authority of a web site.

By generating new and relevant content for distribution within all four of the content marketing channels, we have found that not only are publications frequently eager to run our clients’ content, but more importantly, we’re never without effective channels through which to drive our messages. This approach increases brand reach, builds trust, attracts customers, and ultimately earns the favor of the King.

[ ]

DIGITAL INNOVATION AS A BRANDProAPP™ Expands Atlas Pro Tools — And Its Brand

Atlas Roofing Corporation’s residential products division is an innovative, customer-oriented manufacturer of residential and commercial building materials. To this end, Th!nk Agency has played a critical role in helping Atlas build a reputation for digital innovations.

The most recent of these is the ProAPP™ for iPad—nothing less than a pocket-knife of business management and development tools for contractors. On its surface, the ProAPP is a powerful project management, estimation and sales tool allowing individuals or groups to manage client leads, estimates/invoices, materials lists or even give customized sales presentations.

Behind the scenes, however, the ProAPP integrates with more Th!nk Agency applications driving Atlas’s corporate web site. “We actually conceived of the ProAPP during a discussion about the warranty submission component in the

contractor control panel,” remembers Th!nk Vice President, Jerry Eisen. “We thought, the contractor has already collected this information—let’s capture it at that point, reducing the need for re-keying the information

later.”

Preliminary functionality and visual wire-frames were developed and presented in contractor workshops to determine the viability of the ProAPP concept. Participating contractors of varied sizes agreed that the

tools and reduced steps would benefit contractors. One-click warranty and rebate submissions were among the first “must have” features in addition to the project management tools. Visualization tools such as the Shingle Visualizer were refactored and included. Third party tools, such as EagleView® aerial roof measurement, were integrated giving contractors the ability to purchase reports using their earned rewards.

This process was streamlined because Atlas’s web site and related contractor tools were already centrally managed through Th!nk Agency’s proprietary content management system (Th!nkCMS™). The site serves as

the center of Atlas’s digital marketing universe through which actionable business intelligence is gathered and used. As a matter of practice, all new applications, digital campaigns and other marketing tools are built on this platform. Likewise, all Atlas sales representatives, regional managers and marketing personnel manage customer content through their own control panels provided in the Th!nkCMS™.

This integration of services for end users and content managers speaks directly to the many benefits related to centralizing marketing processes—of which Th!nk is a big proponent. It affords companies more opportunities for developing tools like the ProAPP that reduce data interactions, saving both marketers and customers valuable time.

Today, the ProAPP and related web-based contractor tools have been adopted by more than 4,000 contractors in North America. This digital tools-driven model continues to be the cornerstone of Atlas’s marketing efforts, and the ProAPP is another example of how Th!nk is helping make “innovation” Atlas’s brand.

[ ]4,000+ contractors

use ProAPPTM

related features

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Relevant Technologies

Apache Web Server on CentOSiOS & Web Based ToolsTh!nkCMS Administrative InterfaceMySQL Relational DatabaseCloud Storage & Offline Cloud SynchronizationMultiple Third Party API’s

BORAL WIKISTIK (DESKTOP)WIKISTIK CONTROL PANEL

KINGSPAN WIKISTIK (DESKTOP)

ATLAS WIKISTIK(MOBILE)

Relevant Technologies

Platform Independent Java AppApache Web Server API on CentOSAPI Endpoint (Th!nkCMS & Kentico Integrated)iOS Platform App

THE WORLD’S ONLY AUTO-UPDATING ARCHITECTURAL BINDERWikiSTIK™ & WikiSTIK™ Mobile by Th!nk Agency

The WikiSTIK™ is a unique solution to an industry-wide problem that has existed for decades. Namely, how do building or technical product manufacturers like Boral, Hunter Panels, Atlas Roofing Corporation, Quanex and more, keep product literature and technical information updated for the audiences that need it most? The answer is the WikiSTIK.

Th!nk Agency has developed numerous manufacturer tech-nical binders and web sites. As an integrated partner with our clients, it was apparent that sales reps and marketing staff were frustrated with the process of updating printed binders and the distribution of outdated cds, dvds and flash drives. We put our application development team to work.

The goal was to provide a distributable, low cost digital binder whose content

could be updated through a web-based control panel. The result is a sustainable way for manufacturers to distribute always-current technical and sales materials. “We spent a great deal of time evaluating application platforms, initially thinking

that Adobe’s Flash would serve our needs.” recalls Jerry Eisen, Vice President. “Eventually, we found that Sun’s Java provided the most desktop and mobile platform compatibility, as well as more control over sync performance.”

While both the flash drive and mobile WikiSTIK versions continue to gain popularity, the countless ways in which our clients are able to expand upon its core functionality is astounding. “Frankly, we’re shocked,” said Dennis Claypoole, President. “We have thousands of WikiSTIKs in the field today with integrated features such as spec editing,

advanced sharing, customized case study viewing and even integrated sales presentation delivery.”

To further support this sentiment, the WikiSTIK can be integrated into almost any web site providing companies the ability to centrally manage documents on both their web site and their WikiSTIKs. Those not requiring single-source management can take advantage of a standalone control panel. Localization tools are also available allowing the restriction of content to certain geographic regions or to specific users. Companies whose web sites are based on the Th!nkCMS™ can event target WikiSTIK registrants through the CMS’s e-newsletter component automatically. 7

[ ]“The extensibility

of the application

seems almost

limitless”1

1 Dennis Claypoole, President of Th!nk Agency.

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REINVENTING CORPORATE IDENTITY FROM THE INSIDE OUTPlastics Color Corporation’s Corporate Identity Development and Rebranding Implementation

As a global leader in color concentrates, functional additives, and custom polymer masterbatches for the plastics industry, Plastics Color Corporation understands that in their industry, the ability to adapt to an ever-changing consumer-driven market is a crucial component in supporting the continued growth of their business. Possessing an authentic corporate identity is fundamental to this process.

With a new leadership team on board, the company turned to Think Agency with an important overarching objective: To reinvent and reintroduce themselves and their brand by enhancing and elevating their existing corporate identity

with an updated, effective look and feel. Think set out to help Plastics Color retool their corporate identity, creating one steered by internal discovery and involvement, and led by customer expectations and needs.

The Think team approached these needs with a defining rationale: Begin by gathering information and input from the company’s own—their management and staff. Doing this would create harmony between the company’s culture and the new brand, and would ensure the new corporate identity would be authentic and believable from both inward (corporate) and outward (customer and public) perspectives, with no potential disconnect between the two groups. Involving the Plastics Color staff in the discovery process assured their buy in and approval later.

Next, Think planned to use this research to create the new corporate identity, and finally, to develop a strategy to implement and roll out the new brand and identity across all assets—including their website and beyond—through social media and other relevant vehicles and outlets.

Think began by gathering the internal information needed to shape and steer the entire project, an approach

designed to help the Think creative team better understand Plastics Color’s goals and expectations, and to collect the information that would guide them in the new identity development. Utilizing research methodology designed to extract the visions and anticipation of the staff, Think queried the Plastics Color team via discussions and research tools. The approach included an interview component used to collect information about the company’s existing corporate identity and its product brands.

This interview was followed by a survey in which participants completed a workbook to provide further insight into Plastics Color’s corporate values and brand personality. Filled with worksheets, word association exercises, questionnaires, and other data collection tools, the goal of the survey was to gather opinions and feedback from the staff on their corporate values, company culture, brand identity and personality, color psychology, and more.

Internal buy in is an excellent precursor to client approval—and it results in the creation of an authentic logo and branding package that reinforces a company’s vision. During the discovery process, the Think creative team found that people and relationships were

two very important concepts to the Plastics Color staff. Therefore, they wanted an approachable logo that truly represented them and their corporate culture.

The results and findings from the survey were presented to Plastics Color through a comprehensive report. In addition to presenting the raw data, the report also provided a top-level analysis of the findings and their implications as they pertained to Plastics Color’s corporate identity. Corporate logo and identity concepts derived from this data were also presented and discussed.

Once reviewed and blessed by Plastics Color’s internal team, the survey findings and resulting logo and identity concepts were fully developed and incorporated into all company assets, the most visual and essential being their website. Think’s web development team utilized the new corporate identity to create an entirely new online presence, designed to reintroduce the company to clients and prospects, and to showcase their new corporate personality to the public and the industry. Think also rolled out the new look of Plastics Color via social media and more. Overall, Think’s inside out approach resulted in an authentic corporate identity package that truly represented Plastics Color.

Relevant Technologies

Apache Web Server on CentOSTh!nkCMSMySQL Relational DatabaseBusiness Intelligence Driven Text NotificationsOther Third Party API’s

STRATEGIC EVENT EXECUTION, POWERED BY A TURNKEY ONLINE PORTALGypsum Management and Supply’s BUILD AMERICA: GMS EXPO 2015

As the largest independent distributor of drywall, acoustical and other specialty building materials in the U.S., when Gypsum Management and Supply, Inc. (GMS) and its 170+ branches plan and host an event, it’s no small feat. GMS wanted to bring back its popular annual Expo, but with a bigger, grander execution, designed to gather contractors and manufacturers from across the country.

GMS turned to Think Agency with a two-fold request: First, they needed complete conceptualization, planning, branding, promotion, and execution for this flagship event. Secondly, they needed a turnkey website platform with full capability to attract and secure vendors, promote and enable attendee registration, and offer comprehensive event details and information in one unified, user-friendly online portal. This would enable GMS to effortlessly monitor, acquire and track vendor and attendee information through all stages of the event, from pre-show planning to post-show nurturing.

Think began by determining GMS’s event goals and needs, and armed with this information, put their creative team to work developing an overarching theme to steer the tradeshow and ancillary after-show events. Soon the BUILD AMERICA: GMS EXPO 2015 was born. Think’s creative team developed and presented two unique concepts to brand

and graphically represent the show. The first was ParadiGMS, which played off the word and idea of “paradigms,” plus the fact that the last three letters were the abbreviated name of the company. The second concept took a Nashville-inspired approach, with a western flair woven into the logo and graphics. Ultimately, the client chose the latter.

Following direction from and working with GMS’s marketing staff, Think set about handling all aspects to strategically plan, create and execute the entire multi-day event schedule in full-service fashion. This included acquiring vendors who had their choice of event sponsorship tiers, identifying and securing locations for the various event needs, promoting attendance and facilitating registration for the full schedule of Expo events, and finally, performing crucial after-show attendee nurturing to maintain valuable relationships.

Well-executed project management was essential in Think’s handling of such a sizable event with numerous components, subtasks and more — all requiring concurrent development, implementation, and fulfillment as the event dates neared. Employing strategic planning, Think was

able to successfully manage the ongoing collection of numerous, fast moving parts as the project progressed, all while maintaining constant communications with GMS, assuring client satisfaction and approval.

The creation of a website to drive vendor sponsorships and offer full registration capabilities for both vendors and attendees was key to overall event success. Think’s web development team set to work

building a highly functional site that offers turnkey online services designed to empower vendors and attendees to review and self-select their desired space, order specific event tickets, and more.

With detailed floorplans and interactive selection

tools, the site enables vendors to preview space options and choose exact locations, simultaneously empowering them while minimizing GMS’s need for extensive, hands on (and potentially time-consuming) contact or fulfilling constant information requests. Think designed the site to handle it all, so GMS could simply sit back and monitor the ongoing pre-show activity, fully engaged but not overwhelmed. Think’s developers also created an app for in-show use, with event specifics and resources to provide

convenient, handheld event information, on demand.

From a creative and graphic perspective, Think knew GMS wanted a fun yet functional approach to the Expo. They strove to showcase GMS’s family-oriented roots and provide an informative set of events, interwoven with plenty of fun and relationship-building opportunities. Think designed a comprehensive campaign to brand, promote, and execute the Expo—one that stayed true to the show’s lively location in Music City. Special afterhours events included a Battle of the Bands at the Wild Horse Saloon, an ideal venue for team and relationship building alike.

The bottom line: Think breathed new life into well-loved event from GMS’s past by reinventing it with a broader scope and an updated approach. As promised by the event’s tagline, ‘Educate, Entertain, Inspire,’ the Expo is shaping up to be a rousing success based on the robust interest and steady flow of vendor and attendee sign ups GMS has already realized. Thousands will join GMS in Nashville for an unforgettable time, thanks to a highly anticipated event powered by Think’s strategic planning and vision, project management prowess, and turnkey digital solutions. 11

[ ][ Think’s ] Well-executed

project management was essential

LOCAL SEARCH OPTIMIZATION & LEAD GENERATIONJackson Hewitt of Central Florida

Jackson Hewitt of Central Florida (JHCF), the second largest franchisee in North America with over 80 locations, needed a new plan for local lead generation that would best industry giants such as H&R Block. In the past, local visibility was accomplished through traditional means. JHCF, however, found these means increasingly ineffective. National television advertisements, likewise, were not providing the lead “bump” expected. (Remember Steve? Dancing on his desk reveling in getting his refund?)

Jackson Hewitt’s primary goal was reaching individuals and families in the 20 to 40 year old age group. “This group lives on their phones,” said Th!nk Vice President, Jerry Eisen, “They understand the difference between paid and earned content—they don’t want to be overtly marketed to. They’re looking for organic results so they can ‘do their homework’.”

Th!nk Agency proposed a mobile-optimized web site supported by a content marketing promotional

strategy for increased organic rank. The strategy also employed automated marketing components, which included coupon incentives delivered via text messages based on collected business intelligence. The site itself would serve end users like no other existing Jackson Hewitt web property and would automate processes that reduced JHCF’s involvement in redundant marketing processes.

The site objective was increased lead generation through organic search engine rank. Strong rank requires the site to have timely, relevant and optimized content. Th!nk Agency’s Content Marketing team began developing stories around e-filing, filing deadlines, dependents considerations, and more.

This content helped the site gain first page rank within weeks of launch. Traffic was consistent and steady, but the success of the site would be measured by the number

of people filling out forms or making phone calls. It was imperative that the UI/UX on both desktop and mobile was flawless.

While there was little time for UI testing at the wireframe stage, we planned for multi-testing live interfaces immediately upon launch. The multi-testing process was designed to test the conversion process and included three unique approaches. Two of the approaches were more traditional

providing unique in-page mini-forms. The third was a more aggressive method that forced the user into a funnel that always led the user to a conversion page.

“We were confident this variation would work,” remembers Mr. Eisen. “It was a really heavy handed technique as almost every click on the page placed the user into our conversion funnel, but the variation testing confirmed it was precisely what most users wanted.” As it turned out, the site averaged an unprecedented 27% conversion rate through two tax seasons.

[ ]Unprecedented

27% conversion rate

12Relevant Technologies

Apache Web Server on CentOSTh!nkCMSMySQL Relational DatabaseBusiness Intelligence Driven Text NotificationsOther Third Party API’s

Relevant Technologies

Windows Server on MS Azure CloudKentico CMSMS SQL ServerKingspan Panels NA and KINetic Single Sign-in 15

Generation Kingspan (GenK) is an evolution of Kingspan Panels original legacy student competition concept. Th!nk’s mission was to maintain the fundamental intent of the contest, but make it more relatable to a student audience.

“The creative process lead us down three unique paths,” recalls Jerry Eisen, Vice President. “Each was powerful in its own way. We were all secretly pulling for the Minecraft concept, but in the end we all agreed that the GenK concept was the right message in the current climate.” This message was to contradict common employment concerns and let students know that they are not timidly entering an uncertain job market; but instead making their own destiny—with Kingspan.

Through Th!nk-built web-based tools, this contest integrates friendly competition, social engagement, social voting and peer/mentor feedback for the purpose of motivating young architects and exposing them to the benefits of building design with Insulated Metal Panels.

While eligibility is limited to students, professors, design professionals and influencers are provided ways to participate. “We thought it was important to expand the reach of the contest by taking it

online. In part, so we could integrate it into other Kingspan Panels applications, such as KINetic.” said Th!nk Agency President, Dennis Claypoole. “The engagement and commenting components of the contest opens participation to a much wider audience.” This is evident in participant engagement seen through the built-in commenting tools and on the supporting GenK blog.

While the application from the end user’s perspective is quite simple, it is supported by

a complex engine that drives the contest. “This year’s version integrates KINetic as a vehicle for improving your chances to win,” explains Chris Davis, the Director of Application & Web Development. “All built on the Kentico CMS, we were able to implement simple luxuries such as single sign-in across all Kingspan

Panels North America related applications: KINetic, GenK and Tech Resources.”

Today, GenK has yielded thousands of social interactions and numerous marketing opportunities for Kingspan, while encouraging all members of the design community—whether professional or academic—to support and promote GenK’s core criteria: design vision, sustainability and energy efficiency.

GENERATION KINGSPAN Student Architectural Design Competition

[ ]GenK has yielded

thousands of social

interactions

MOVING ARCHITECTUREKINetic™: A Social Platform For Architects, A Marketing Platform For Kingspan

Th!nk Agency has built its share of digital visualization tools—from visual roof system configurators and system R-value calculators to shingle aging simulation tools; all of which have been uniquely effective in penetrating architect and design professional audiences.

Kingspan Panels North America’s unique needs, however, quickly revealed that traditional tools would be, well, too traditional. Architects leverage expert level CADD tools daily for their visualization needs. Building a visualization component robust enough to integrate directly into these tools would be costly and yield only a singular benefit. Something groundbreaking was in order. We knew we needed to move architects on an emotional, visual and practical level. KINetic was born.

We believed that by providing architects a platform for sharing, connecting, and collaborating, they would create a community for ideation, concept mapping and learning, while at the same time giving Kingspan Panels access to an increasingly elusive target audience.

Here’s how it works: KINetic™ is a web-based application built on Kentico CMS. Members of the KINetic community post their visual concepts, reference, discussions, and projects in “clusters” and “spheres,” which are depicted graphically on the site in colorful, dynamic circles. This allows users to easily browse and search others’ clusters and spheres to find the topics, projects, and inspiration they want.

One of the most unique aspects of the application’s dynamic clusters is each sphere’s ability to rise in influence and popularity within the KINetic community. As a sphere’s followers and interactions increase, so too does its influence within the cluster. Cluster owners and followers can visually (kinetically) reorganize spheres within a cluster based on each sphere’s influence or importance. These dynamically

changing states inject powerful crowd-sourced insights into the designer’s creative process. “Architects have continually been looking for resources to enhance their collective capabilities,” said Keith Spurlin, Business Development Manager for

Kingspan. “KINetic offers that in ways not found in any other social media community.”

A myriad of collaboration tools exist within the application, allowing users to control privacy, invite

participants, share on other social networks and even access and post from vast technical resources that are centrally available on the Kingspan Panels web site. Featured in multiple publications such as Architect, Metropolis Magazine and Walls & Ceilings, KINetic is gaining traction and is now poised to be the premiere social media network for architects, design professionals and student architects worldwide.16 1 Lira Luis, AIA, RIBA, NCARB, CeM,

LEED AP BD+C is chief collaboration architect at ALLL in Chicago

[ ]“KINetic may prove to be a true break-through in

how architects communicate”1

Relevant Technologies

Windows Server on MS Azure CloudKentico CMSMS SQL ServerJavaScript Canvas LibraryKinetic.js Animation Library

Relevant Technologies

Apache Web Server on CentOSTh!nkCMSMySQL Relational DatabaseThird Party ETL Import Features

American Financial Advisors (AFA) works with successful individuals, businesses and institutions to address a full range of investing and planning needs. AFA saw opportunity in the Airline Pilot segment of their target audience. They came to Th!nk Agency for help and we saw an opportunity for AFA to set a new course.

Based on the initial discovery meetings with AFA’s senior staff, we discovered that marketing coordination and lead generation tasks were diverting the attention of key staff away from their core business, in part due to SEC requirements. As a financial planner, AFA’s distribution of content is regulated in that it must be reviewed by an approved independent third party before being distributed publicly. This process frequently slowed or even derailed marketing efforts.

Th!nk Agency recommended an approach that would use the web site to both streamline their compliance plan as well as eliminate manual steps in AFA’s client acquisition process.

“We spent hours—sometimes days—trying to acquire new client information.” recalls Matthew Boyce, AFA’s Chief Financial Officer. “Now, prospective clients such as pilots can access their customized portal and submit their information instantly online. This pilot-focused strategy was a real boon to our client portfolio. Something that we couldn’t have as quickly achieved without our new web site.” Mr. Boyce estimates that the site played a major role, increasing AFA’s client portfolio more than $200 million dollars since its launch.

Further, mandatory steps required by the SEC were automated through a virtual approval system integrated into to the Th!nkCMS™—the backbone of the web site. This system not only

ensures SEC compliance, but also allows AFA to roll site pages back to any prior state. “This was a real challenge.” states Th!nk Agency Vice President, Jerry Eisen. “The approval process had to work for multiple participants, each with different

skill levels. We had to be sure that nothing went live without sign-off.”

The system employs both a secure email-based approval component as well as traditional roll-based access to the content management system. Each user in the process can either wait for email notifications which alert them about required actions—and provide a vehicle to process the request directly through the email itself—or simply login to a control panel and process “pending approval” request.

Boasting online, centralized marketing tools including web site content management, compliance processing and audience-specific lead generation funnels, AFA’s marketing plan is now flying high.

AN SEC APPROVED FLIGHT PLAN American Financial Advisors

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[ ]$200 million

site played a major role

Single-source Integrated Services For The Building Industry:Strategic Planning & Implementation Marketing Plan Development / Business Intelligence / Automated Marketing Retargeting / Lead Generation / Sales, Loyalty & Incentive Programs Reporting

Corporate Identity & BrandingBrand Analysis / Product Positioning / Brand & Logo Development Consensus Building / Product Launch

Content Marketing / Internet MarketingInbound Marketing / SEO / SEM / Social Strategy & Engagement Infographics / Traditional and Digital Public Relations

Creative ServicesAdvertising / Corporate Literature / Trade Shows / Script Writing & Video Production / Animation / 3D Modeling / BIM

Application & Website DevelopmentMobile Applications / Web Applications / CRM Integration / Custom CRM Enterprise Applications / Customer Portals

We connect all of these. Now connect with us: 407.875.1999