Just like any relationship, being mutually committed to your project’s success is critical to the agency/client relationship. 

When Anthrotech approached Kicks to update their website we built for them years ago, they brought to the table their full focus and availability. The result was a kick-ass process and finished product.

Back to School with Kicks

The big question: What color is math? Here’s our hot takes from the world’s brightest marketing minds circa 1990-something.

Matt — I always had stylized folders with sitcom characters and stuff. So I guess math is Sophia from Golden Girls.

Josh — Math is green because money. Duh.

Chris — Math is red because trying to do algebra sends me into a blind rage like a bull.

Summer — Math was reddish orange for me! Felt adequately intense for the subject.

Kickin’ It Around Indy

Home Again at Newfields — Ever wanted to scramble around on the roof of a house from the safety of the ground? This new exhibit at the Newfields nature park’s got your back. Free entry, dawn to dusk, all year long.

Indiana State Fair, Aug 2-19 — If you don’t make a beeline for the elephant ear stand, what are you even doing with your life?

S’mores on the Circle, Aug 8 — Snack up and support the Girl Scouts during your lunch break.

One Night of Queen, Aug 9 — Sure, the real Queen may still be touring, but this tribute concert at Clowes Memorial Hall has a Freddie Mercury lookalike. Eat your heart out, Adam Lambert.

Lady Liberty isn’t the only one in the spotlight this July. Our pals at American Law Label have a shiny new Kicks-built website that makes their complex offerings super easy to navigate.

Farmers Market-ers

Wake up and smell the small-batch ethically sourced artisanal soap bars. Farmers markets aren’t just for weekends anymore — here’s where you can find the best of the best across town.

The Original Farmers Market
Wednesdays, 10-1:30pm
Monument Circle

SoBro Farmers Market
Wednesdays, 4:30-7:30pm
48th & College

The Statehouse Market
Thursday, 10:30-1:30
Robert D. Orr Plaza

Broad Ripple Farmers Market
Saturdays, 8-noon
Glendale Town Center

Binford Farmers Market
Saturdays, 8-noon
Northview Church

Garfield Park Farmers Market
Saturdays, 9-12:30pm
Garfield Park

Irvington Farmers Market
Sunday, July 14, 1-3pm
Ellenberger Park

Kickin’ It Around Indy

Barbie The Movie: In Concert @ Ruoff, July 14

Indiana Microbrewers Festival, July 20

Limp Bizkit @ Ruoff, July 21

Red Hot Chili Peppers @ Ruoff, July 25

Alanis Morisette + Joan Jett @ Ruoff, July 27

9&8 Golf makes some pretty awesome gear that helps you look good and play better on the golf course. Here’s how Kicks teed up some big wins for their new website with ecomm and content marketing.

Oh Yeah… It’s Gamer Time

This June marks three years since the death of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the world’s biggest video game trade show. Here’s what the Kicks crew is playing while we pour one out in E3’s memory.

Matt — Along with the usuals like PUBG and League of Legends, I’m playing New World and Helldivers 2.

Josh — The only thing I play is mind games and Russian roulette.

Chris — My backlog is bonkers right now. I’ve got Baldur’s Gate 3, The Witcher 3, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Halo Infinite and the new Elden Ring DLC on the bench.

Summer — Well with 4 playthroughs of Baldur’s Gate 3 behind me, I’ve had plenty of time to juggle a new Stardew Valley run and ongoing games in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Destiny 2, Disney Dreamlight Valley, and Kingdom Hearts III.

Kickin’ It Around Indy

Indy Pride Festival, June 8 — The best part of summer in Indy returns. Watch the parade, do some day drinking, and stick around for the afterparty at Military Park.

Juneteenth Foodways Festival, June 14 — Nosh on food from local Black-owned restaurants and entrepreneurs at this 3rd annual celebration at the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site.

House of the Dragon Season 2, June 16 — The Game of Thrones spinoff is back with more dragons and more back-stabbin’. Rhaenyra, we kneel.

Elden Ring DLC, June 21 — Catch us back in the Lands Between for Shadow of the Erdtree, a massive DLC pack for 2022’s massive hit RPG Elden Ring.

Free RPG Day, June 22 — Dip your toes into tabletop roleplaying games with Free RPG Day, celebrated at Good Games in downtown Indy and other local game stores near you.

Eiteljorg Indian Market & Festival, June 22-23 — Spend a summer day enjoying handcrafted art, food and music from 140+ indigenous artists.

Okay, so the name Kicks “Digital” Marketing isn’t entirely accurate. Did you know that we make kick-ass print marketing collateral, too?

Brochures, trade show banners, business cards — you name it, we write it, design it, and help you get it printed. More like Kicks “Physical” Marketing, amirite?

A bold reimagining of the Indy 500

Here in Indy, we love to watch cars turn left. But what if… just for once, they turned to the right instead? Here’s what the twisted minds at Kicks think it could look like.

Kickin’ It Around Indy

I Made Rock ‘N’ Roll, May 18 — Headlined by Janelle Monáe, this one-day Black rock festival at the American Legion Mall is sponsored by local movers and shakers Forty5 and GANGGANG.

Indy 500, May 26 — If you don’t know what this is, kindly turn in your Hoosier ID card and am-scray.

Where has Q1 gone? Between sweet new web builds and campaigns we can’t wait to get your eyes on, we’ve been busy boys and goyls here at Kicks Digital Marketing.

Stay tuned in the coming months as we show off some of the projects we’ve had our grubby little hands all over. But for now, onto more celestial matters.

Look! Up in the Sky!

It’s a bird! It’s a p— actually scratch that, do NOT under any circumstances look up at the sky on April 8 without protective glasses. 

The total solar eclipse is sweeping through Indy just after 3pm, and there are plenty of great viewing opportunities across the city.

Lunacy! @ White River State Park — Downtown Indy’s greenspace has plenty of viewing opportunities, but it’s gonna be packed. Free to attend, eclipse glasses are first come first served at the Visitor Center.

Total Eclipse of the Art @ Newfields — Ring in the eclipse with DJs, light and fire shows, yoga, food and festivities on the historic grounds of Newfields. Tickets include eclipse glasses, general admission to Newfields and admission to The Lume featuring Dalí Alive.

NASA broadcast @ Indianapolis Motor Speedway — The moon nerds at NASA will be broadcasting live from IMS and answering questions from the audience. Tickets include eclipse glasses.

Eclipse Extravaganza @ The Children’s Museum — Outdoor viewing at the museum is limited, but there’s plenty of indoor fun and learning to be had for the kiddos. All activities are included with general admission, eclipse glasses are first come first served.

In the Path of Totality @ Sun King — Want to watch interstellar beauty with a pint in hand? Sun King will be slinging a limited-release coffee-infused golden ale in partnership with The Simons Foundation.

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Dalí at The Lume — Here’s a trippy one. The wild works of Salvador Dalí, the art world’s favorite madman, are blown to massive proportions and animated at The Lume at Newfields. Tune in and drop out.

Eclipse!!! on April 8 — Seriously, don’t miss this one. Play hooky, call in sick, fake your own death, whatever ya gotta do.

Mutt Cup: A Spirited Cocktail Competition, April 25 — Indy’s best bartenders duke it out for an evening of inspired cocktails benefiting FACE Low-Cost Animal Clinic.

LEGO Towers of Tomorrow, through May 12 — Brickheads unite! See 20 of the world’s most iconic skyscrapers recreated by a LEGO Certified Professional, and make your own tower from 200k loose bricks in the hands-on construction area.

This one’s major, folks: not only are we card-carrying members of the Indy Chamber, we were also honored to rebuild their massive, all-encompassing website for all things good and local.

Events calendars, membership enrollment, resource libraries — we break it all down in our latest case study.

Labor Day? More like LAme/BORing DAY jobs.

Think about the worst job you ever had. Now wash it away with a shot of whisky and listen in as Kicks reminisces about our crappiest 9-5’s.

Matt — Fortunately, I haven’t had a terrible 9-5 job. Parts of my past jobs have been pretty bad, though. My first job was cleaning movie theaters after the shows. Next I was a lifeguard, but part of our duties were cleaning the bathrooms every day after the pool closed. Both jobs made me appreciate people that clean up after themselves.

Josh — Angie’s List. Nuff said. (it turns hopeful college grads into money hungry monsters with little to no security)

Chris — When I was freelancing, I had a “boss” who would literally breathe down people’s necks while they worked. Nothing gets me more in the mood to write blogs than getting flavor-blasted by chicken salad sandwich breath.

Summer — I’d say the worst kind of job you can have is one that eventually crushes your spirit. Fresh out of college, bright-eyed, hopeful…a few years later, an agency had wrung it out of me. My advice? Don’t stay too long if your concerns are continually ignored.

Kickin’ It Around Indy

Oktoberfest? Jawohl! — Did you know that Oktoberfest is actually the celebration leading up to the titular month? That means September is prime time to drink lots of good ol’ local lagers at your brewery of choice.

Penrod Arts Fair, Sep 9 — Let’s get artsy fartsy! Penrod is back for their 56th year at Newfields, where you’ll find tons of artists, food and drink to keep you busy on the self-proclaimed “Indiana’s Nicest Day.”

ALL IN Music & Arts Festival, Sep 9-10 — Listen, there are probably a ton of talented bands playing here but TENACIOUS FRIGGING D is enough to make this festival worth the cost of admission.

Believe it or not, not every website needs to be a wordy behemoth that’s built to attract and capture leads. There’s still value in a lightweight site that’s more of a digital billboard, just to establish your legitimacy on the web.

Deskimate is a group of desk insurance adjusters who are more agile, more efficient and more cost-effective than the industry standard. Since all of their business comes from word of mouth, they tapped Kicks to build a lean site to proudly stake their flag in the digital sand.

A quick bit of content writing coupled with some snazzy graphics gave Deskimate a site they’re proud to call home. Check out our latest case study to see how it all came together.

State Fair fare, fairly stated

There’s plenty more to do at the State Fair than whisper “how the hell did they deep fry THAT?” in terror. Here are some of the Kicks crew’s favorite fair activities.

Matt — I go for the people watching, huge corn dogs and free music. Looking forward to seeing Three Dog Night! We usually just do one lap around and find interesting things to do and eat.

Josh — I have never been to the State Fair. I have lived here for… 10 years, and 3 were down the block from the back entrance. Big crowds, sweaty people, fried food, porta johns. Eh, maybe this year but I am not promising shit.

Chris — Hit up the Dairy Bar, order a grilled cheese, cottage cheese, chocolate milk, strawberry milkshake and vanilla custard, then end up throwing half of it away because dairy on a summer day in Indiana is a deal with the devil.
Summer — The State Fair is my favorite place to people-watch and explore greasy food options. I’ll always grab a funnel cake and a lemon shake-up before heading over to see the bunnies and chickens.

Kickin’ It Around Indy

Indiana State Fair, July 28 – Aug 20 — If you’ve ever wanted to barf up an elephant ear from the top of a ferris wheel, there’s no better opportunity.

NEEEEEEEEEEEERDS, Aug 3–6 — Gen Con is back, baby. Even if you’re not a turbo nerd lord like our content writer Chris, you can still head down to the convention center to catch the free cosplay parade and pig out on the city’s best food trucks on Georgia Street.

MORE NEEEEEEEEEEEERDS, Aug 25–27 — If board games aren’t your thing, the comic book guy or gal in you might want to check out PopCon, instead. You’ll find actors/voice actors from your favorite nerdy shows, along with more merch than you can shake a stick at.

You probably know that here at Kicks, we can whip up a killer website like nobody’s business. But every once in a while we get the “I didn’t know you guys did THAT, too” comment, and it’s usually about the little things that tie a marketing project together.

So yeah, we do business cards — but that’s just scratching the surface. We do all sorts of print media, from brochures and handouts to packaging and convention banners, too. 

Between Summer’s knack for logos and all-around design and Josh’s tastes for the finer things in life, Kicks has knocked out some killer print pieces over the years. Check ‘em out below, and holler when you need a hand with your next print project.

America. Ever heard of it?

Lady Liberty is turning 247 years young this month, and the Kicks crew is prepping for the birthday bash. Here are our hottest tips from Fourths of July past, for your Fourth of July present.

Matt — Check out the fireworks in Lawrence at Fort Ben. I haven’t been in a while, but when I was a kid it was a great place to watch fireworks if you couldn’t get downtown. After doing a bit of research it looks like it’s grown substantially.

Josh — First, move far into the country, so far that you don’t have neighbors for miles and their obnoxious fireworks don’t keep you up into the wee morning hours. Aside from that, visit Moody’s Butcher Shop and grab some brisket and brats, enough for the crew and three days following for tacos, chili, and other creative recipes. If you have dogs, be sure to safeguard them against the stress of the booms and bangs of the fireworks. A stress blanket, a quiet room, or keep them in close contact with you to help them weather the storm. Remember, dogs are friends, not food. 

Chris — If you want to see the downtown fireworks but don’t want to deal with traffic, set up a lawn chair by Virginia Ave down in Fountain Square. You’ll get a clear view and you’ll be right next to some great restaurants for a bite to eat afterwards.

Summer — Have a barbecue the weekend before with all of the staples – we’re talking grilled meats, homemade potato salad, watermelon, beer, the works. Then on that fateful Tuesday night, channel your inner hermit and throw on some headphones. Grab your vice of choice, hold your pet close, and hunker down for the loudest night of the year.

Kickin’ It Around Indy

Free indoor running track, every Mon–Sat — Want to take a jog, but can’t stand the heat? The Broad Ripple Park Family Center’s indoor track is free to use, and is open six days a week. No membership required.

July 4 — The stars and stripes: name a more gallant duo. We’ll wait.

Indiana State Fair, July 28 – Aug 20 — Holy moly, is it already State Fair time? We can’t wait to see what kind of culinary horrors are waiting for us this year.

COOL CLIENT ALERT When Market Street Wealth Management came to us for a new website, we weren’t just impressed with their super down-to-earth approach to wealth management — we were just as excited to work with the awesome people on their team.

Market Street’s new site was a true labor of love. It breaks the mold of stuffy, snooty financial websites and talks to people like — well, people! Give their website a peek and see how Kicks can help you redefine yourself to stand out from the rest of your industry.

What the heck is ChatGPT, and why is everybody talking about it?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock and you don’t have wifi under that rock, you’ve probably heard about ChatGPT — the AI writing tool that’s the talk of the internet. 

We put together a list answers to common questions and our hot takes on why ChatGPT may or may not be the best thing since sliced bread.

Suns out, buns out. Our buns, specifically.

Spring officially feels like it’s sprung, and the Kicks crew is out there enjoying the sunshine. Here are some of our favorite local spots to visit when the weather’s warm.

Matt — You’ll find me on a scooter headed to White River State Park to see my favorite band play.

Josh — Eagle Creek Pines. Shoot what you know so people don’t know you suck at golf.

Chris — Catch me biking around Crown Hill Cemetery. It’s super pretty in spring, and you don’t need to worry about getting squished by traffic. And if you do get squished… well hey, what better place?

Summer — The doctor ordered a sunny stroll through Garfield Park and Botanical Gardens for the ‘ol seasonal depression. Winter is the worst and any activity that starts with my face in the sun is a worthy one.

Kickin’ It Around Indy

Easter Begg Hunt, April 1 — Put your dog’s nose to the test at Three Dog Bakery’s annual easter egg hunt at Broad Ripple Park. Your entry fee will go toward helping dogs in need, and you’ll go home with all the treats and bakery coupons your pup sniffs up.

Kicks in the billiard room with the lead pipe, Apr 19 – May 20 — Remember how good the ‘80s Clue movie was? Tim Curry might not be making an appearance, but Indiana Repertory Theater’s upcoming production of Clue is based on the same screenplay. Should be a hoot.

Tomorrow Bookstore, opening soon on Mass Ave — We’re always hyped to welcome another local, independent bookstore to town. Go check ‘em out at 882 Mass Ave, right across the street from Love Handle and Yats.

You know those “do not remove under penalty of law” tags that are on pillows and beds and whatnot? Turns out the world of compliance for stuffed articles is serious business — and nobody is more serious about getting it right than Global Registration Services.

GRS is the undisputed king of compliance in their industry, but their website was undisputedly in need of some lovin’. Kicks streamlined their highly technical content into something much more digestible — and we gave it a much-needed makeover, too.

Check out our latest case study to see how Kicks put some OMG into GRS’s new website.

Red Flags In Marketer / Client Relationships

Just like any relationship, the relationship between marketing agency and client can be a rollercoaster. We’re no couples counselors, but we’ve put together a list of red flags for marketers and their clients to look out for at every stage of a project— and what to do about them.

Big Desk Energy

Laptop, keyboard, crippling pile of overdue tasks — there’s a lot of standard issue gear on every marketer’s desk. But the true measure of a marketer is what they keep on hand that’s outside of the ordinary. Here’s what the Kicks crew has within arm’s reach from 9–5.

Matt — My Dundie award for “Most Predictable Wardrobe.”

Josh — An old lantern slide box that’s been electrified. It used to hold photographic memories, now it holds ghosts.  

Chris — A cookie-scented candle and too much corgi paraphernalia.

Summer — My two desk buddies: Gudetama the lazy egg and a dumpster fire.

Kickin’ it around Indy

KHAAAAAAAAAAN, Mar 12 — William Shatner himself beams down to Clowes Memorial Hall to share behind-the-scenes stories following a screening of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

St. Paddy’s Day, Mar 17 — Our fearless leader Matt’s favorite holiday of the year! Catch the Kicks crew at Sam’s Silver Circle for the festivities.

Brickworld, Mar 18-19 — Walking on LEGOS: no fun. Walking through 65,000 square feet of creations from local LEGO enthusiasts: very fun.