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.

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.

Rockin’ Around the Kicksmas Tree

We beat the naughty child allegations, and we officially made Santa’s nice list. Here’s what we’re hoping to find under the Kicksmas tree this year.

Matt — I need a new outdoor grill. When I moved into my house a couple of years ago I didn’t have a grill and I just never ended up getting one. I have a small backyard that’s hard to get to so I want to get a smaller grill that can fit on my front porch without burning the house down.

Josh — My shopping habits and desire for instant gratification creates a problem for the Christmas season. What I want this year is a wonderful Christmas where people don’t overstay their welcome at my house. 

Chris — I think I’m ready for my first Kindle. Not because I read a ton, but because when I’m reading I get super cozy and the idea of reaching out from under my blanket to flip the page of a real book feels like the biggest challenge in the world.

Summer — Ya girl really needs to stop fooling around in the kitchen and finally get a Kitchenaid mixer. Why am I using baking as a replacement for arm day?? What a workout. I need a mixer pronto.

Kickin’ It Around Indy

Christkindlmarkt at The Athenaeum, through Dec 17 — Downtown is dressing up for the season, with The Athenaeum’s annual Christmas market. Eat, drink and be merry with tons of vendors and wintertime fun to be had.

Christkindlmarkt in Carmel, through Dec 24 — For the north-inclined, Carmel will once again hold their own Christmas market featuring seasonal food, drink, and tidings of comfort and joy.

Winterlights at Newfields, through Jan 8 — Oh, you like holiday lights? Then name every million and a half of them that will be strung around the garden behind Newfields. We’ll wait.

What do you do when you’ve got a super talented team, but no name, branding or website? You do what the legal and financial experts at the now-named Torchlight Resolutions do — put Kicks on the case.

Oddball Gobbles

Thanksgiving is a time of tradition, but what if we, like, didn’t? Here’s how the Kicks crew remixes the standard T-Gives tradish.

Matt — My family is very traditional for Thanksgiving. My dad is an excellent cook so every part of the meal is super tasty. We save the meal experimenting for other holidays.

Josh — I go full-ass into the holiday cooking. I will be the one moving with the grace and precision of a peregrine falcon. The kicker? I do all holiday meals with caloric density in mind so that we can enjoy more than seven minutes at the table. 

Chris — Thanksgiving food can be super bland, so my family usually tosses some Indian-inspired dishes in the mix to kick the spice factor up a notch. Pass the pav bhaji, please.

Summer — Pretty traditional over here! Plenty of turkey (sometimes smoked!), a kiddie-pool filled with mashed potatoes, and 1 singular can of cranberry sauce to stretch across 15 people.

Kickin’ It Around Indy

Fear is the mind killer, Nov 3 — Nerds rise up, it’s opening day for Dune: Chapter Two! If you’ve somehow managed to avoid spoilers for a 58-year-old book, you’re in for a wild ride.

Election Day, Nov 7 — Go vote, ya schmucks.

WinterFaire, opens Nov 18 — Move over Jolly Days, the Children’s Museum is starting a new tradition. Catch the Kicks crew spelunking in WinterFaire’s indoor ice cave.

Don’t talk to me until I’ve had my international coffee, Nov 18 — You can do better than the cup of mud from your office’s Keurig. Expand your palate at the 4th annual International Coffee & Tea Fest.

Indy is home to some killer videography talent, if you know where to look. To help get more eyes on their work and land more business, Mork Productions tapped Kicks to pump up their website with some SEO prowess and slick design.

See how we got the job done and got Mork Productions the awareness they deserve in our latest case study.

Halloweiners

Halloween is for the kids, and as kids at heart the Kicks crew loves us some costumes and free candy. Here are some of our Halloween highlights throughout the years.

Matt — I’ve never been a big costume guy, but I appreciate the effort some other people make. The craftsmanship down in Bloomington when I was at IU was unbelievable. Kids that probably should have been in class and not at Goodwill piecing together the perfect ensemble. 

Josh — When I was a handsome baby boy, I wanted to go as a football player and go out with the neighborhood kids trick-or-treating. My mom gave me shoulder pads from her old 80s jackets and put makeup on my face. At the time, I thought everyone knew and it would be lame. I cried. I didn’t go out. I now hate halloween. 

Chris — Back in college I made a 3D Pac-Man costume and had my friends wear shirts of the ghosts. I chased them through unsuspecting classrooms and around campus for a couple hours. 

Summer — In high school I had a momentary obsession with Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas (she’s so relatable, what of it??) and I sewed an entire patchwork dress for Halloween and did my own stitched mouth makeup. It was a whole vibe.

Kickin’ It Around Indy

Cuuuuuuuuuuute — This month the zoo is anticipating the birth of a baby elephant! There’s some portmanteau of “elephant” and “infant” we could use here, but we’ll let you do the heavy lifting.

My spider sense is tingling, Oct 3 — If you like spiders and men, then you’ll love Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse with live musicians at Clowes Hall. Grab your tickets right here. 

Heartland Intl. Film Festival, Oct 5-15 — 300+ independent films across Indy’s artsiest venues. If you’re a movie buff, you’d be a philistine not to snag your tickets.

Long-time Monthly Mullet buffs will remember that late last year we shouted from the rooftops about our awesome clients at One Down Dog, a yoga studio based in LA. They tapped Kicks to build out a fancy new website that allows for easier scheduling, simpler navigation, and a lot better vibes than their old site.

We recently put together a full-blown case study on the work we did with One Down Dog, and we’d sure wag our tails if you gave it a gander. You’ll see how we pulled off all the technical mumbo jumbo to make ODD’s site really purr — forgive the mixed animal metaphors.

Brand Refresh vs. Rebranding — What’s The Diff?

When it’s time to rekindle the love with your branding, you’ve got two options: full-fledged rebranding or a light brand refresh. Which is right for you? Kicks’ Design Lead Summer sounds off in our latest blog.

Tales From the Cheap Seats

Summer weather means it’s concert season. The Kicks crew has been to their fair share of shows and festivals over the years, but here are some of our all-time favorites.

Matt — The best show I’ve seen was Tom Petty in 2005 at Deer Creek. The Black Crowes opened and they were great. Tom Petty came on and played for as long as he could. The whole evening you could see a massive thunderstorm headed right towards the venue. Once it got there lightning hit a tree in the parking lot and it caught on fire, then it hit the stage and killed most of the power to the venue. Petty tried to sing “Learning to Fly” without any power, but eventually he said, “Hey we’re gonna have to cut this short. Show’s over.” There was a mad dash to the parking lot to not get stuck in hour-long traffic. That was the last time I wore sandals to a concert.

Josh — I went to Madison Square Garden to see Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. We were a few drinks in and headed on our way to grab our seats. As we neared the entrance, a scalper offered us $1,000 for our tickets. A sweet $800 profit would’ve been nice. We weighed our options for a good 10-15 minutes. We decided against it and headed in – scalper, not too happy we wasted his time. While we sat in our seats I noticed a familiar rug and an acoustic guitar. About twenty minutes later, Eric Clapton (the headliner) takes the stage and proceeds to play the entirety of Clapton Unplugged, one of my favorite albums that inspired me to learn guitar. Jeff Beck followed with a crushing set, another full-band Clapton set, and then another entire set of covers where Clapton and Beck teamed up with both bands, a full orchestra, and choir. Was this a ploy to get me to spend over $400 on alcohol and snacks? 

Chris — The first show I ever went to was Jimmy Buffet, I think I was like twelve maybe? I had to have been pretty young, because I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why all the grown-ups were acting funny after smoking their weird-smelling cigarettes.

Summer — I saw St. Vincent at Egyptian Room a couple years ago, and that was pretty nuts. It was real groovy and psychedelic, but there were these two dudebros in front of me who were absolutely blitzed before the show even started. It kinda felt like they wandered in from the street, because I wouldn’t have pegged them for St. Vincent fans. I hope they made it home okay

Kickin’ It Around Indy

Food Truck Fridays, through Aug 24 — Broke: eating food from a restaurant. Woke: eating food from a truck. Head on down to Georgia Street right outside of Pan Am Plaza and hit up some of Indy’s best food trucks from 11am-1:30pm.

WonderRoad Music Fest, June 17-18 — Garfield Park is about to pop off. Come see Weezer, Jason Isbell and Chris’s faves Tegan and Sara, among other great bands, in this all-weekend outdoor extravaganza.

Father’s Day, June 18 — Who’s yer daddy? Whoever he is, don’t forget to get him something nice… might we recommend some nice leather goods from Howl + Hide?

There’s a lot that has happened this year at Kicks Digital Marketing. Recapping the highlights has been a fun walk down memory lane. Starting off with:

Team Growth

We had two new members join our team this spring and summer—content marketer Chris and marketing manager Ali. 

Chris brought a plethora of content expertise, along with a cute corgi and wit to boot. He’s elevated our clients’ content and our own. 

Ali joined our team in the summer, bringing with her lots of fresh marketing ideas, a mind for creative content, and a bubbly personality. She’s learned to juggle all of our clients’ needs with grace. 

I think I speak for the whole team when I say we’re excited to keep growing together and see where 2022 takes us. (Hopefully adding more team members! This is a great time to plug our careers page, no?)

New Office Space

After working remotely since March 2020, we finally moved back into an office space in November 2021. The hybrid work from home or office practice is where we really thrive, and we are thrilled to have a space to collaborate in and host clients again!

We’ve moved into the Murphy Arts Center building in the heart of Fountain Square (downtown Indianapolis for those out-of-towners who are reading). We’ve already made neighbor office friends and have made quite a few trips to Bovaconti and Snakeroot Botanicals across the street. Many more Fountain Square adventures are sure to come. 

We couldn’t talk about the office and not give a shoutout to our gal Brooke for really working to make the office space Kicks’ home! It’s really come together because of her.

Coffee & Cocktails

To know Kicks is to know we love these two things deeply, but even more so in this post-vaccine world. With the ever-evolving COVID-19 protocols, we’ve been grateful this year for the times we have gotten to get together for any reason as a team. 

The new office has made getting together much easier, but 2021 was marked by sporadic hang sessions. We’d gather at coffee shops for client meetings, visit one another’s houses for team huddles, and enjoy a drink or two on a patio on a warm summer day. We even got to go to our first conference together in 2 years. That one felt GOOD.

There’s just something magical about being with your people—from clients to friends to family. We’re thankful for that this year.

We hope we didn’t get too cheesy on you, but this year has been one for the books in a lot of ways (and we’re pretty sure we’re not the only ones to experience that).