One of our most exciting clients is Suzanne Hand & Associates, the eminent court-reporting agency. There’s a steely cool about court reporting … Bondian, really, with the intrigue and the gadgets and the girls (as Suzanne told me this week, court reporting remains an overwhelmingly female industry).
But it’s not the truth, justice, or American ways that make Suzanne Hand & Associates super; it’s Suzanne and her staff, as dynamic a bunch of professionals as you’ll find.
Suzanne, who specializes in awesome and injects that mindset into every metaphorical inch of her business, is always on about something. It’s exhilarating. To stay on top, she stays ahead of the latest techniques and technologies. To ensure quality, she stresses the continuing education of her reporter corps. To fortify the future, she runs Long Island’s best intern-reporter training program. To keep her mind and body sharp, she conquers 50-mile bicycle tours. And when these challenges aren’t enough, she concocts entire corporations out of thin air — the way she tapped a decade of video-conferencing experience to launch her new Video Connect service.
For a marketing and communications firm like Slightly Mad — hungry for multimedia challenges — it gets no better. We’ve worked closely with this invigorating client on a top-to-bottom marketing overhaul, starting with fresh and well-organized USPs (Unique Service Propositions, the things that make Suzanne Hand & Associates special and the reference points for the entire marketing project) and a lengthy photo shoot at Hand HQ.
We tweaked the classic Hand logo and wrote a clever new tagline, then fashioned a logo and tag for Video Connect. We printed up new Suzanne Hand & Associates desk calendars and executed striking print ads for multiple trade publications. We created two new websites — a revised digital domain for the court-reporting business and a shiny portal into Video Connect — and hatched the new Suzanne Hand & Associates blog. We even established the company’s new Social Media network and executed a winning electronic newsletter campaign, targeting a “clean“ email list of existing and future clients.
“Everyone on the team is really on it,” Suzanne says. “I’m so impressed — the communication is amazing.”
Along with that communication, Suzanne adds, comes savvy — a smart strategy that synchronizes message and presentation to meet the needs of Suzanne’s various enterprises.
“We work around the plan and it’s always there, but it’s also flexible and can change as our needs change,” she notes.
“This account has been challenging,” admits Michael Kitakis. “It’s crossed several media and kept us busy. And Suzanne’s companies have very exacting standards that must be met — in their industry, professional reputation is everything.
“But accuracy and attention to detail are our trademarks, too,” Michael adds. “And executing multimedia platforms is the name of the game in twenty-first century marketing. We’re extremely proud of our work for Suzanne Hand & Associates — some of our best work, really.”
Suzanne is, of course, already hard at work on The Next Big Thing. She’s keeping it under wraps — a smart businesswoman, she’ll tell you, never shows her cards — but already Slightly Mad is smacking its proverbial lips with anticipation. Michael hopes to enrich Suzanne Hand & Associate’s Relationship Marketing efforts — constructing of a virtual world of communication and information around the Hand brand — but whatever Suzanne wants, we stand ready.
“Can’t wait to find out,” Michael says.
Whatever it is, Suzanne already knows where she’ll turn for marketing help.
"They are full of nice, smart people who take time to understand what you want and then go do it,” she says. “I really feel like my account matters.”