Author Archive: Kevin Popovic
Kevin Popović is the Founder of Ideahaus®, a creative communications agency with studios in Pittsburgh and San Diego. He is also the author of “Satellite Marketing”, a trademarked strategy for using social media for business, and ranked #43 in Fast Company's Influence Project measuring the "most influential people online." To learn more about his career, academics and experience connect with Kevin Popović on LinkedIn.
The CEO of a wireless company…
Ideahaus answered the call of a wireless company CEO trying to establish a social media strategy for seniors.
Jitterbug, a simplistic, reliable, and easy to use cell phone was a hit. It quickly established sizable market share and won numerous awards. When the dust settled, customer loyalty was strong, but sales slowed when Jitterbug established dominance of the senior market. Worse yet, the new CEO discovered that the more Jitterbug became “the cell phone for old people,” the less inclined late adopters were to purchase and other audiences that stood to benefit from a simplistic, reliable cell phone hesitated to adopt for the same reason. The very thing that had made Jitterbug successful was now working against the brand.
The Executive Director of a local foundation…
Ideahaus helped a San Diego-based non-profit foundation generate awareness for its $1,000,000 grant program and to bring attention grant winners.
In the past, the foundation had sent letters to awardees congratulating them on their selection. Foundation leaders met recipient leadership during and private luncheon and thus concluded the interaction. The Executive Director added up the budgets for both and was surprised how much had been spent. The investment far exceeded her impression of the traditional event and its effectiveness in generating outside interest. “What if we sent them giant checks, like a Publisher’s Clearinghouse check?” Ideahaus asked. But how could we cost effectively coordinate 16 separate shoots for 16 separate organizations?
The CEO of a pop culture apparel company…
Ideahaus helped the CEO of a pop culture apparel company establish a social media following and increase traffic to his online store.
The company that James founded with the help of a loan from his grandfather was growing quickly and steadily until the market suddenly changed, causing sales to falter. Big retailers started carrying parody merchandise, and more vendors attended events. The economy dropped and took discretionary spending with it, a bad sign for a CEO that depended on the sale of super hero t-shirts and horror movie hoodies for his livelihood. Discount promotions kept the company alive, but the discounts cut into James’ profit margin. The red crept closer and closer, and James feared that the dream life he had built would slip away.
The Owners of a Harley-Davidson dealership…
Ideahaus helped a local Harley-Davidson dealership build a custom e-commerce presence and increase their market share – big time!
Spirit Harley-Davidson offered everything Harley, but the dealership alone was not enough to drive profits. Western Pennsylvania has the most Harley-Davidson dealers per capita in the United States, and as Spirit grew, neighboring dealerships challenged their customer base at every opportunity. When Spirit organized a ride, so would another. When Spirit ran a promotion, another would too. To up the ante, the Sanford’s created the first dealer website using Yellow Pages template, free as part of their annual advertising. They generated an additional $20,000 in annual revenue. Still, little changed in the showroom.
The Director of an International manufacturer…
Ideahaus helped organize and execute a global, multi-lingual community service campaign for an international manufacturer.
The ALCOA Foundation wanted to encourage employee volunteerism in the community. The project included the name of the program, the messaging, and the collateral to motivate employees to take action in their own hometowns. But the challenge was greater than it seemed. With offices located throughout the world, the foundation’s had to encourage employees from every ALCOA office – and in their native language – to volunteer in their communities. Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish. The message had to be uniform, and the launch had to be coordinated.
