RALEIGH, N.C. — April, 2014. Innovative creative services agency The Marketing Machine (theMmachine.com) recently introduced a new force for good, rivaling the likes of Spider-Man, Batman, Superman or the X-Men: Max, the tireless champion of entertainment centers far and near.
The agency has published a case study on Max, a superhero developed for CenterEdge Software, to help promote the company’s industry-leading point-of-sale, reservation, inventory and ticketing solutions.
“It’s not often that we get to do something with so much creative latitude, but every now and then a gem of a project comes along that really gets us fired up,” said Paul Spinak, president of The Marketing Machine.
Following up on a successful advertising campaign that had featured a series of stock-image superheroes, Spinak pitched the concept of creating an original superhero to reflect the feeling clients had for CenterEdge’s facility-management software. The company helps owners and operators successfully manage revenue and labor for family entertainment centers, trampoline parks, theaters, museums, skating facilities, and water parks throughout the U.S. and abroad.
“We actually have customers who think of us as superheroes within the amusement industry, and Max is the perfect embodiment of that sentiment we’ve worked so hard to achieve,” CenterEdge Software Director of Operations Marcus Mayer said.
Although The Marketing Machine had previous experience using animated characters as part of logos and direct mail, they had never before created a unique character for an entire ad campaign. After a detailed discovery process with CenterEdge to determine boundaries, Spinak’s team developed a very descriptive creative brief, put together all the ads they’d previously done, then brought the information together with an illustrator to collaborate on concepts.
“The illustrator we chose happened to enjoy drawing superheroes, so it was a perfect match,” Spinak said.
The creative process included several iterations of Max to reflect the embodiment of the hard-working, behind-the-scenes functionality of the CenterEdge Software products and support team on behalf of clients. The final version of Max is being utilized throughout a 2014 ad campaign for CenterEdge, highlighting his ability to defeat customer “pains” such as Profit Stealers.
According to Spinak, managing client expectations and the tedious nature of the work were some of the more challenging aspects of the campaign.
“We had to build and approve one part of Max’s body at a time; we started off with nine faces, very subjective, and had to get to a point where we felt like it was right and good enough to show for approval,” he said.
In addition to serving as the centerpiece of CenterEdge’s 2014 advertising campaign, Max is being used within the company’s Roxboro, N.C., offices to emphasize support of its hard-working employees, and will also be seen on a new CenterEdge website currently in development.
The case study on Max is available online at theMmachine.com/story-max.
The Marketing Machine uses its portfolio of essential core services to keep clients’ brands in front of prospects and customers and to grow their market share, providing quality, innovative marketing consulting; advertising campaign development; creative services; web design, strategy and internet advertising; direct mail; email marketing; and a wide array of supporting services such as video production, photography and public relations.
For more information, visit theMmachine.com.
About The Marketing Machine: The Marketing Machine is your go-to partner for comprehensive branding, marketing expertise and strategy, campaign planning, project management and graphic design solutions. We are an innovative creative services agency specializing in helping our customers grow their businesses, whether it’s a company getting serious about their marketing or a high-profile nonprofit or corporation whose marcom staff is wearing too many hats and needs a reliable partner. The Marketing Machine boasts years of experience and expertise working with business owners, C-level executives and marketing directors as an outsourced member of their internal team, enabling TMM to address every project with open communication and a focus on professionalism. Our creativity-friendly business structure and location in the heart of the action in downtown Raleigh help create an environment of excitement and innovation in our team that’s passed along to our clients in the work we do. Learn more about how you can start building and maintaining a strong brand at theMmachine.com.
About CenterEdge: Grown directly from venue operations, CenterEdge delivers real world solutions to meet the everyday needs of facility owners and managers. Backed by a team well versed in the industries they serve, the CenterEdge product suites offer solutions for point of sale, online sales and reservations, labor management, capacity scheduling, food and beverage sales, attractions management and mobile transactions. Headquartered in North Carolina, CenterEdge Software has been redefining the successful operation of family entertainment centers, trampoline parks, water parks, museums, roller skating rinks, and large-scale amusement parks across the country since 2004. For additional information on CenterEdge, please contact the company at 336-598-5934 or visit the web site at www.centeredgesoftware.com