ORLANDO, Fla. – March 14, 2005 – Convergence, an Orlando-based production and creative services firm, has announced the formation of a new division, EXP Marketing, to provide a marketing strategy and tactics resource to integrate with the company's multi-faceted production and creative services.
Led by Curt Westlake, the division will specialize in new product launches and brand building through a host of direct marketing, email and Internet marketing, as well as non-traditional promotional tactics. The company will build upon the experience Convergence and Westlake have in the golf industry, but will also take advantage of their collective experience in other consumer product and service categories including real estate marketing, tourism and retail.
"We're somewhat of a hybrid concept," stated Curt Westlake, Managing Partner of EXP Marketing, "We're not an agency, creative boutique or marketing consultancy, although we offer a lot of the same services." EXP Marketing combined with Convergence's video, multimedia, web production and creative services, will offer a beginning to end solution on both a project basis, and an ongoing basis.
"It's a convenient way for companies who don't need a full-service agency to get great ideas and execution. While a significant portion of our business will be working directly with marketers, we are positioning ourselves as a resource for creative boutiques, design studios and even full service agencies as well," said Westlake.
An example used to illustrate this point was a recent project where the organization was brought in to work with a golf equipment company and their agency to extend a print teaser campaign with a web-based viral marketing effort using teaser video clips and chat room marketing tactics.
Said Westlake, "In instances like that, our job is to seamlessly plug into a campaign and extend the brand message concept in other channels."
Kenny Taht, Partner/Creative Director at Convergence added, "Another aspect of EXP Marketing is that we can offer many of our DRTV (Direct Response TV) clients an integrated marketing solution to build around our infomercial and short-form DR campaigns with the end result being greater response rates and a higher ROI."
About Convergence
Convergence is a multi-faceted production and creative services company that offers end-to-end creative, production, design animation, post production, encoding and mastering for broadcast and multimedia video as well as web channels. The company has produced many successful DRTV and brand marketing efforts for a range of products and brands, including the George Foreman "Next Grilleration," Perfect Club, Butch Harmon Ultimate Golf, Jim McLean's X-Factor II, Ron Jon Surf Shops and the Marriott Faldo Institute.
Through its audio-visual systems division, Technomedia, the company has conceived and implemented numerous state-of-the-art multimedia projects for museums, theme park and corporate applications such as the Spiderman attraction at Universal Studios and the 51 screen High Definition multimedia experience in Time Warner's new corporate headquarters in New York City. Convergence is located Orlando, Florida. More information at www.goconvergence.com.
About EXP Marketing
EXP Marketing is a new division of Convergence that offers marketers innovative turnkey solutions for individual campaigns, viral marketing launches or ongoing brand development strategies. Combined with Convergence, EXP Marketing can provide a seamlessly integrated approach from strategy to final production. EXP is based in Greenville, South Carolina. More information at www.goconvergence.com.
About Curt Westlake
Curt Westlake has more than 20 years of strategic marketing, direct marketing and marketing communications experience in a broad range of categories. His specialties are new product launches, sports equipment marketing and Internet-based guerrilla marketing campaigns. He brings the perspective of both extensive agency side and corporate experience to our clients' assignments. His 15+ years of golf industry experience includes work with Dunlop, Maxfli, Pro Golf of America, The Golf Card, Mizuno and SRIXON.
Contact:
Curt Westlake
EXP Marketing
864-370-1098
curtw@goconvergence.com
