Risers For You is a women-owned and -founded company selling premium furniture risers to help people retain their independence in their homes. Their two-woman team has been an absolute dream to work with, and we are so excited to see their business grow and impact the lives of their customers. We worked alongside the Risers team to rebrand and build a new website you can check out here. Between their bubbly personalities and impactful work, we have loved working with the ladies at Risers For You from start to finish. 

Vimme Learning was founded by a female teacher to empower her peers in teaching math. The Vimme curriculum lends a much-needed hand in classrooms across Central Indiana, where students of all skill levels can bridge the gaps in their math ability. Our journey with Vimme has spanned everything from web design, marketing strategy and everything in between. Working with Vimme is always a highlight of our week!

Adoption Support Center is staffed by a lovely all-female team who have defined modern adoption in Indiana. In their 35+ years in business, they’ve strived to make the world of adoption more empowering for expectant mothers, adoptive parents and adoptees alike. Their new website is a testament to content-driven marketing, and we’re so fortunate to have a client that’s doing so much good in our own backyard.

Among all these amazing women, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention our leadership team’s own Brooke Heffernan! She’s a light and a leader in every sense of the word, and we’re grateful for all she brings to the Kicks team.

If you’re a women-owned business, we’d love to see what great work we can do together. As our Partnership Director, Brooke would love to arrange a chat to see how our marketing prowess can help your business thrive. Let’s get in touch!

 What 3 traits define you?

• Caring
  • I care a lot about the people in my life, and I try to go above and beyond to show it. I grew up in a small family, so I know that the quality of relationships beats quantity every time.
• Interested
  • Maybe not interestING, but I have a lot of varied interests that I love learning everything about. Ask me about baking, glam rock, beer history (I was a brewery tour guide for 5 years!), or any other number of esoteric topics that I’d love to talk your ear off about!
• Dogs
  • Woof.

If there was a movie about your life, who would you like to see cast?

Please see the Academy Award-winning 2007 documentary film about my life, “Ratatouille.”

What is your favorite place in the world?

Carcassonne, France. I got introduced to Carcassonne through a board game of the same name, and knew I had to visit. It’s an old castle city that sits atop a hill in southern France, so it’s a great blend of history and touristy stuff. Try the cassoulet!

What are some of your favorite spots in Indy?

Food stuff: Axum Ethiopian near the Central Library. Get the chef’s recommendation, every single thing on the menu is amazing.

Bike stuff: If you’re a cyclist, hit up Crown Hill cemetery. It’s about a 3-mile loop around the outskirts of the cemetery grounds, so you can go around and around without worrying about pedestrians or cars.

Nerd stuff: Good Games downtown is my home away from home. Catch me playing Magic: The Gathering there during non-pandemic times.

If you could learn anything, what would it be?

I always beat myself up for not taking drawing classes when I was younger, so I’m gonna have to go with that. I take occasional art classes at the Indianapolis Art Center, and I’m about to wrap up an animation class.

If you weren’t in marketing, what would your career path be?

My family owned restaurants when I was little, so there’s always that part of me that says I should trade in my laptop for a stovetop. My cousin owns a coffee shop in upstate New York, so at least one of the new generation is keeping up the family tradition!

How do you define success?

I’m not about the awards or trophies, I’m more about helping people do good in their communities. If I can help a small business or a healthcare organization make an impact, I’m pleased as punch.

Most importantly — what shows are you watching, what podcasts have your attention and what music has your ears? 

TV: I don’t watch that much TV, but I just finished What We Do In the Shadows which was hilarious. Anything Jemaine Clement touches is gold.

Podcasts: The Dollop. Each week two comedians explore the hilarious/horrible things that have happened throughout American history.

Music: I’m always listening to David Bowie, my taste in music never ch-ch-ch-ch-changes.

Projects We Loved

We love each and every one of our clients, but a few projects stuck out to us. These projects brought us and our clients’ joy, sparked new ideas, and left an impact we just couldn’t quite kick. 

Viable Insights

Viable Insights is a tight-knit team of incredibly intelligent researchers, evaluators, and data analysts who help organizations grow. They needed new branding to tell their complete story of who they are. By partnering with their team to talk through who they wanted to be, conducting immersive client interviews, competitor research, and focusing on industry trends, we were able to do away with the old and welcome the new. This project was especially memorable because we started from scratch: logo, branding, and website. The Viable team is full of great people, so that didn’t hurt either. Check out more about them here. 

ARCH App

The app hasn’t launched yet, so keep your eyes peeled for this one. Bringing branding together for an app has been a great project for our team and taught all of us something new. 

French Knot

French knot definitely made the top of our marketing charts this year. Not only have we loved working with them, but their products are SO CUTE. They came on in October, and from there we launched their first newsletter. We were amazed to find that the first newsletter send brought in over 3k in sales. Since then, we have sent nine more emails bringing in around 9k more. Definitely goes to prove email is not dead! We can’t wait to further our relationship with the lovely women at French Knot and continue to create amazing content with them. Check out their beautiful products here.

Last but not least…

The Kicks Rebrand

We couldn’t leave ourselves out of this one. If you haven’t noticed, we rebranded as well. A color palette update and a brand new website upped our brand and marketing game. We shifted the way we talk about ourselves in the past couple years, and it led us to making these changes. We think this matches who we are pretty dang well. If you had to check out one page right now, we’d say head to our Madness page. You’ll understand when you see it. 

Thanks for sticking with us through the good, the bad, and the pandemic. We will see you all in 2021. Stay safe and have a great rest of your holiday season!

Matt and Brooke, who grew Kicks from just two, talk about why they felt a brand refresh was necessary, the growth of the agency, how they feel about where we are, what being a creative digital agency means to them, and why what they’ve built feels so much different than any other agency.

Q: What was the final push that made you feel like Kicks needed a little facelift?

A: We’re spoiled working in a creative field. Everywhere we turn, we see the art of the possible. It’s easy to get order envy when the menu of what could be is so abundant. Kicks has more energy now than when it began and we’re big believers that you should look like you feel. As a team of collaborators our synapsis are always firing for craft and our clients, the old brand didn’t embody that enthusiasm, so a retirement was inevitable. 

Q: Every agency thinks of themselves as creative—what is it about Kicks that makes you feel we can back up that thought process?

Brooke: The difference between us and other agencies is that we believe that everyone is creative. Good ideas can come from anywhere and if you believe that, then you really lean into a collaborative process with your clients and your teammates. We avoid dictation, despise supioririty and unnecessary chains of command. This isn’t to say that everyone has the ability to artfully execute, but it does mean that anyone can inspire and contribute useful ideas in the creative process. 

Matt: Oh, and I’ll add that our team is eclectic. We’re very well-versed, well-read and well-intentioned as a bunch which makes relatable connections come easier with our client counterparts. 

Q: What does being creative mean to you, and how do you infuse that idea into the digital marketing world?

Matt: Creativity is hard to describe, but you know it when you see it and we have a ton of it here. For me, creativity in our business is taking an out-there idea and being able to refine it down to something that solves a business problem. 

Brooke: For me, I value the vantage points of the people around me. As a person, I think my core creative competency lies in translating those vantage points into relatable conversation. Sometimes the power of language and connection comes in handy when you’re relaying why something matters to the big, or even immediate picture. Digital marketing, if done well, incorporates the organization’s priorities, operations and sales objectives. Pairing these factors with brand aesthetic, voice, UI/UX, analytics, social media, content strategy and digital advertising– the specialization within the field is intense. Because of that specialization, priorities within aren’t always aligned. It takes a team of specialists churning in the same direction to make a sustainable impact. 

Q: If clients or peers could sit in with our team for a day, what would you be excited about them seeing?

A: We think they’d be pleasantly surprised to see the effect that their responses or performance have on us. We go on the roller coasters with people. We hate when something doesn’t work, or if something is rushed. We want to see them win. We want to win for them! I think they’d see our investment in them by the collective conversation we have around our clients. As for our peers, I think they’d be surprised at how naturally our personalities mesh together. 

Q: Kicks has grown quite a bit in the last four years—what are your hopes for growth in the future?

A: Being a boutique agency is good with us. We like it that way. We want to continue to deepen our relationships with our clients, adding as much value as possible. We’d like to expand upon client relationships that empower collaboration and creativity; we’ll continue to lean into the things we like and bring people on the team who compliment what we’ve built to date. 

Q: The Kicks team is filled with people who are so different from one another, yet work together like peas and carrots. As the leaders and decision-makers for Kicks, what do you look for when hiring new people? 

A: Confidence, competence, tenacity, and relatability. Above all else, we value the whole person. We want to know a persons’ way of being in the world brings out the best in the team members around them. We love putting people in positions to succeed and we think if you can find people who are compatible collaborators and hard workers, you’ll continue to elevate the company person by person. 

But what does that really mean? We can start by telling you what it doesn’t. The Anti-Agency isn’t about putting down our peers or feeling superior or thinking we have all the answers. It’s not about causing a fuss or wanting attention or denouncing our industry. It is, however, about taking a stand and standing out in a crowd where we didn’t quite fit in.

Each Kicks member comes from a different background. Some of us were in tech, dentistry, nonprofit work, corporate sales, retail, and some of us come with agency experience. Regardless, all of us come with a creative mindset and a desire to do things in a way that makes us smile about our work, laugh with one another, and push each other to get better. We all found that oftentimes, that’s more rare than people think. It sounds idealistic and unrealistic, but here we are, a small team that isn’t racing to beat one another for a title, isn’t trying to talk over one another or be the loudest voice, and isn’t being led by egos, but a sense of community. 

Call it luck, call it a good eye, maybe it was written in the stars, or maybe we just have a knack for knowing a good fit when we see one—whatever it is, we’re proud it’s made us who we are. 

What Does the Anti-Agency Mean to the Team? 

Matt:

I think it’s a good fit for Kicks because it’s not a bold statement for us. After years of working within an agency model, we understand what works and what doesn’t. We took those lessons and have been doing things differently ever since. We’ve emphasized the things that work and minimized the things that don’t. So Anti-Agency, to me, means we are an agency that operates like a partner.

Brooke:

While the statement is strong—so are we. This company was founded not as an act of defiance, but we did split from another company and formed into a mold all our own, very purposefully. From that time, we learned about what we liked and what we didn’t want to be. We don’t operate, price, or create quite like your standard agency. Since, we’ve shaped into something totally unique, smart, quirky, non-conforming, and authentic. To say I’m proud of it, of us, of our clients who make our work possible, is an understatement. We’re not the anti-agency because we’re anti-other agencies, we’re the anti-agency because try as they might, there’s only one agency like this.

Josh:

The concept of the anti-agency holds a lot of weight. If heard out of context, one could assume negativity as “anti" is common when referencing the opposition of a concept. But to me, there is a positive element to this term.

Anti-agency doesn’t diminish the stellar work that is done by the likes of heavy hitters like Leo Burnette, Ogilvy, and other organizations that have reached an unmatched level in superior work and require the common themes of an agency to grow. However, you will find a common thread amongst such agencies that we choose to push away from. For me, anti-agency is a reference to a mindset and structure.

On Structure

We broke off from a larger company because the work and morality didn’t align with our mission. We wanted to help businesses grow. We wanted their growth to be obtainable. We attached our success to theirs. We didn’t tie a team or employee to an account. I’ve seen teams let go when a client drops out of a political race. I watched others disappear when a few retainers were washed up.

A multi-faceted team that can contribute across different divisions of an agency is far more valuable than a specialized collective that can operate on one frequency. This is how and why we’ve maintained our team through the down-rounds of COVID.

On Mindset

It’s easy to read something with preconceived dislike, but I promise you at some point (and I am speaking to you AEs, Designers, and Developers) ego has been a topic of conversation through private slacks and to your “sig others" when the clock strikes 5 (or 6, 7,8, 9 etc. for the overworked). When you work with a tight-knit team responsible for specific accounts, there is no room for ego. 

Each idea, good or bad, is recognized and so is the person who produced it.

Often in the agencies, the hierarchies praise the middle-man (middle person PC) and not the creator. This creates movement upward for those not worthy and animosity against people in a team that is there for one reason; the betterment of the organization as a whole. This one-upsmanship is a disgusting trait that does more harm than good yet when you’re too big, the decision makers often only hear or see what their  VPs and other management elect to tell them.

Our concept of an agency isn’t much different than others. We came from them. We saw what we didn’t like about them. We just left those bits behind.

Haley:

When I think of Kicks, I think of a group of witty individuals who come together to create passion projects. While we are a marketing company, we don’t run by industry standards. I don’t do what Josh does, he doesn’t do what Matt does, and he certainly doesn’t do what Brooke does. But together, we are a complete experience. That’s where I think the anti-agency comes into play. No templates, no cookie-cutter staff, just six people using their talents to create work we are proud of.

Katie:

When I think of an agency, I think of a lot of specialized people working in one specific role with their specific responsibilities. This is something that can be cost-prohibitive and honestly creativity-prohibitive at times. We’re the opposite of that. While we all have our specified roles and responsibilities, we all have skills that span all types of marketing. Bringing that together is what makes us truly unique. We are collaborative in a way that not many agencies are, and I believe this gives us greater impact while we work on projects we love.

Madie:

The Anti-Agency is one helluva bold statement—but it comes from a place that isn’t meant to put down others, but uplift us. Kicks is this misfit group that is rambunctious at times, energetic, blade-sharp, and interesting. We all bring such diverse backgrounds that strangely swirl together in this rare way that just works. We aren’t saying we’re anti others, but we are trying to go against the egocentric, megalomaniac stereotypes of agencies that we see and hear about all the time. I mean, marketers are polled to be LESS trustworthy than politicians—yikes! We just can’t accept that. 

This statement is about us driving our stake in the ground and rallying ourselves to be better. It’s about staying humble, admitting when we make mistakes, treating our clients as our friends, respecting one another enough to listen to all ideas, support creativity even when it seems like a stretch, and never ever engage in cut throat behavior…also, this group is such a stone cold pack of weirdos, we don’t fit into typical molds already made—we wanted to make our own.

I’m Madie Szrom and I’m thrilled to join Kicks Digital as the team’s Content Strategist. I come from the agency world, with a brief hiatus working in-house for a family of brands. I went to school for journalism and creative writing and love infusing the two when it comes to writing for brands. I believe strategy builds strong content and can’t wait to help our clients tell their stories with compelling, distinct messaging. 

What 3 traits define you?

Considerate — It genuinely upsets me when anyone else is upset—yes, even strangers. So I’m always trying to ensure everyone from friends and family to clients and prospects feel appreciated, respected, and taken care of. It’s just my nature.

Funny — Give it some time and before you know it I’m cracking jokes left and right. As a major fan of Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Catherine O’Hara, and most of SNL’s alumni, humor is something that gets me through the day, helps me build connections with others, and just makes life worth living. 

Curious — If I don’t know the answer to something, I’ll go down a rabbit hole to find it. Whether it’s what’s under the deep blue sea, how environmental factors impact the brain, or what grapes are used to make Sangiovese, if I’m interested in it, I’m going to be researching it until I can give you a full report. 

If there was a movie about your life, who would you like to see cast? 

Oof, that’s a tough one. I love films and I love so many actors so this could take a while… But for now, let’s say I’d love Florence Pugh to play me despite looking nothing like me and I’d want it directed by Greta Gerwig because she’s an amazing storyteller, and I could learn a thing or two from her. Or Paul Thomas Anderson. His films are unlike many out there. Or… (just kidding).

What is your favorite place in the world? 

Italy. I’ve only been once a long time ago, but I’m half Italian and the culture has always been a source of curiosity and adoration for me. There is something about the pace of life there, the attention to beauty and detail found in cafés to cathedrals, eating is a production to be appreciated not rushed, wine and coffee are daily considerations and sipped with intention—it’s almost romantic. And the scenery is more stunning than anything I could dream up. Part of my family still lives in Lucca near the northern coast, so visiting again is high on my travel list.

What are some of your favorite spots in Indy? 

Bluebeard without question is my favorite spot in the city. The food, the vibes, the drinks, the patio, the people—it’s just the bees knees—which they happen to make perfectly there. A close second is Crown Hill Cemetery. It has to be one of the most beautiful places within city limits and the hill with James Whitcomb Riley’s grave at the top is one of the highest points in Indy. On clear, sunny days, the view is absolutely perfect.

If you could learn anything, what would it be? 

I would love to play the drums, learn Italian so I can visit my family and speak their language, and play the piano—which I’m currently trying to reteach myself. Oh! And screenwriting. I’d love to learn how to write for the silver screen.

If you weren’t in Marketing, what would your career path be?

I’m an avid museum-goer and almost went into museum studies so I could work for the Field Museum in Chicago. If I wasn’t in marketing I could see myself as a curator for a natural history museum. Or a reporter for Rolling Stone, but we’d have to go back in time to the golden years for that. 

How do you define success? 

For me, success is feeling confident in what you’re doing, laughing through the hard times to appreciate the good ones, being able to drive home smiling, and knowing that in some way you’ve made a positive impact on someone other than yourself. Life is way too unpredictable to define success with tangibles.

Most importantly- what shows are you watching, what podcasts have your attention and what music has your ears?

I’m a repeat offender for shows and movies. I’ve watched Mad Men twice in its entirety, rewatched 30 Rock more times than I’m comfortable admitting, and probably watch IT three times a year. (The old version with Tim Curry. If you have three hours, I’ll explain why.) I’m a true crime and ghost story kind of gal, so Crime Junkie, And That’s Why We Drink, and Spooked are podcasts I always have on rotation, but I’m also a big fan of This American Life, Invisibilia, How Did This Get Made?, Stuff You Should Know, and Science VS. When I’m feeling musical, which is pretty much always, I’ll throw on Ariel Pink, Alex Cameron, The Strokes, The Black Angles, or throwbacks from the 50s and 60s—to name a few.  

What is TikTok?

TikTok is a video-sharing app. Each video is either 15 seconds or up to 60 seconds, and topics are just as varied. It’s meme-culture in video form. While dancing, lip-syncing, and comedy tend to be the most shared types of content; there is content for everyone: cute animals, causes to care about, pop culture, and even motivational and educational videos. The video format leads to this ultimate use of creativity for whatever type of message the user wants to share.

Compared to the curated perfection of Instagram, at times it’s like a breath of fresh air. TikTok boasts over 800 million users worldwide, and a “For You" page comprised of everyone from famous celebrities to videos of people just like us with only a few likes. The videos don’t have to be perfectly curated to be popular or to be enjoyed, and personal lives aren’t necessarily shared. It’s a platform built on creativity, which has lead to a very different way of connection than the other social media apps we know and love.

Using the app is extremely simple. If you download the app, you don’t even need to have a login to enjoy the content. You can scroll to your heart’s content and never have to sign in. However, if you decide you would like to like videos, comment, or make your own, that will require a login. Similar to Instagram’s Explore page, there is a For You page that continually scrolls through new videos according to what you’ve watched and liked.

Why should we pay attention?

This app is definitely perceived as an app for the Gen Z population, but remember Gen Z “kids” can be as old as 24. They are entering the workforce, voting, and are whole members of society. This app may seem silly from the outside, but this is where we can connect and learn from this generation as they come of age. In addition, 1 in 8 adults are on TikTok, it was the 7th most downloaded app from 2010 to 2019 (and it launched in 2016), and TikTok reports having 800 million monthly users worldwide. We’ve been calling TikTok the next big thing, but we can confidently say it’s here. 

From a business standpoint, early adopters almost always prosper. Those who learn to use an app to their advantage early on have grown a large following and have been able to profit from social media (either in popularity, impact, or just straight cash flow). Heck, spicy nuggets are back at Wendy’s thanks to Twitter.

That being said, there are few businesses out there who have jumped in whole-heartedly and have amassed a decent following. The NBA, Netflix, and the NFL all have well over one million followers. Chipotle has 278.2k followers and some great videos, and the San Diego Zoo has 80.7k followers for their cute zoo animal videos. The fashion brand, Guess has 42k followers, but don’t let that discourage you. They launched the first TikTok challenge that took off – which meant lots of people wearing Guess clothing took over the TikTok For You page for a while.

Takeaways for your business:

Don’t be afraid to try new things! This is a new-ish platform, no rules and no best practices truly exist yet. (Starbucks doesn’t even have an account.) It is a fun place to show a different side of your company, be relatable, show behind the scenes, and grow your trust with your audience.

Engage with your audience. There is a myriad of different ways to engage on TikTok – likes, comments, duets, challenges, and shares all lead to connecting in different ways with your people. And like any other app, the more you engage, the more your following grows.

Don’t turn a blind eye. Ads started popping up on TikTok in 2019, and the last thing you want to be is behind when TikTok ads are the norm. Learning the platform now (even just enough to be familiar with it) will give you a good heads up on what you need when and if you want to start advertising there.

There’s a lot I didn’t cover here – there is so much to learn about TikTok and so much to explore. I hope you take the time to check it out. (I highly suggest Lizzo, the Rock, and Charlie the Golden Retriever @charliethegolden18 as a starting point.) Enjoy!

Who is Kicks Digital Marketing?

We are a tight-knit, hardworking team dedicated to helping (mostly) Indiana businesses conquer the web. We work together to craft our client’s brand messaging, digital stories, and web presence. You’ll love being a part of this team!

What do we need you to do?

We’re looking for an experienced team and people-oriented writer who would be responsible for client interfacing discovery meetings, supplemental brand, competitive, product or service-based research, content curation, and editing. The role will work primarily on foundational branding and web development projects. Secondarily, the role may require writing for the Kicks Digital brand and blog writing for our ongoing marketing clients. 

Our Content Strategist will work directly with the Director of Marketing and Partnership Director, as well as clients. We believe the best way to deliver the brand’s voice is to hear it directly, so interviewing the client and crafting a process that works for complete discovery and project delivery will be critical. 

Primary Responsibilities: 

• Collaborate with a variety of clients and business verticals to formulate or refine brand and content strategies
• Participate in team-oriented pitches, presentations and interviews
• Conduct 1:1 client interviews, competitor analysis, keyword and supplemental research 
• Prepare brand messaging recommendations which might include: mission, vision, value, positioning and promise statements, key messages/headlines or taglines 
• Prepare content recommendations that balance SEO best-practices and brand messaging 
• Make recommendations and work with our Marketing Strategist and Senior Developer to implement site architecture and design improvements with the goal of improved search visibility, page speed, and mobile-friendliness
• Map out site architecture and content URLs for new and existing verticals to ensure optimal search visibility and user experience

What you will need to have.

Experience is gained in the field; however, we’d like you to have a Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Journalism, Marketing, or the equivalent of experience and understanding in content and digital strategy. We’ll require 4-7 years of client-facing and, or agency experience. This experience includes excellent copy-editing and proof-reading skills with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously through prioritization and workload scheduling; work well under pressure with tight deadlines.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 4-7 years of experience with SEO and passionate about staying up-to-date with best practices 
• Strong English communication, writing, and grammar skills – please send us (3) samples of your work
• Strong interpersonal and interviewing skills
• Strong organizational and project management skills 
• Candidate must “get” our Foolishness, have a sense of humor, and work well in a collaborative environment
• Experience with industry tools (We’re super users of Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Moz.) 

If you are interested in the experience we’ve described and want to work with an awesome team, send your resume and (3) samples to hello@kicksdigital.com or submit your resume using the form below.

Hops F.O.R. Hope

Where: Metazoa Brewing Co.
When: January 10, 2020
Cost: Free

Head to Metazoa Brewing Co. on Friday, January 10th from 4:30-8:30PM as 5% of pint sales are being donated to the Friends of Riley Mission. And if this cause is something close to your heart too, their annual event is coming up in February! Learn more about that one here too.

Register here.

The Leadership Innovation Discussion Series

Where: The Speak Easy in Broad Ripple
When: January 23, 2020
Cost: Free

Are you a business leader ready to implement those New Year goals? Rebecca Scott from Vivid Spring Solutions is here to facilitate a day of actionable planning to help you lead your team and organization to a successful 2020.

Learn more.

16 Bit Arcade Game Night with Indy Pride

Where: 16 Bit Arcade Bar
When: January 30, 2020
Cost: Free

This is a free event, with an optional donation to Indy Pride (one of our very favorite causes). 16 Bit is a pretty fun place to hang out as well. If you haven’t been there yet (or you have), this would be a great night to go. 

Register (and/or donate).

Active Campaign Study Hall

Where: Refinery 46
When: January 29, 2020
Cost: $149

If Active Campaign is your CRM of choice – check this out. This one-day event is full of tips and tricks to make things like contact sorting, email campaigns, prospect tracking, and reporting even more useful to you. It is a study hall format, so bring questions! It is very interactive and a great way to get your AC problems solved.

Sign up.

Leadership Presence

Where: Meridian Mark II
When: January 23, 2020
Cost: $97-127

Looking to up your leadership presence? This is the place to be. They said it best: “If you’re looking to gain a competitive advantage in leadership, you’re not going to want to miss this. You’ll feel the power of your presence and walk away knowing what you need to do next to show up, speak up, and stand out as a leader.” 

Sign up here.

What did we miss? We’d love to hear from you if there’s an event that we should know about or if you have an event coming up that you’d like us to feature.

Self-awareness is key. It’s a beneficial quality for humans and for brands with human characteristics. KICKS is nothing if not the people behind the brand. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without our clients. Our clients enable us to pursue our passions, our hair-brained ideas and see challenging objectives come to life. While there have been countless shining moments this year for all of our clients, there are a few projects that stand out in particular. 

Pavlack Law 

Pavlack Law is in a class all their own. We learned quickly that not only was their peer review incredibly strong, but their client relationships were rock solid. Their client experience is unmatched. We heard countless stories of how assured, calm and easy the Pavlack team made them feel during tense times. We adapted key brand messages to reflect their ‘citizenship’ archetype. We refreshed the brand logo and color palette and designed a website user-experience that speaks to specific pain points, successes and academic writing so that potential clients and fellow lawyers find Pavlack a useful resource. 

Tinker House 

Tinker House Events has a beautiful space, but the talented people on this team make it even more marketable. With ample access to professional photography and a cheeky brand archetype, we love the Tinker House social strategy. Throughout 2019, we’ve incrementally grown our relationship with their team spanning social, web, design and soon Google Adwords. Tinker House is all of the good things about Indy living in one spot (humility, artful beauty and hospitality). 

EngagedMD

Occasionally, we get a client that’s really onto something. They have big ideas that address big problems in the world. We love getting to play a role in projects that make people, or painful processes better. EngagedMD shows up – they’re creators and problem solvers. Their software improves the chaos, uncertainty and headache of fertility education and informed consent. For EngagedMD, creating software is a response to dealing with the calamity of the process. In fertility there is an overwhelming amount of information the patient needs and the practices must deliver, and there are legal and ethical boxes that must be checked. It’s important for patients and physicians that the process is followed perfectly, consistently, every time for every patient. Each project we’ve tackled with the EngagedMD follows that same level of precision. 

CBMC Lighting Solutions 

CBMC Lighting Solutions is the unicorn of the lighting space. Amidst the chaos from many different verticals, the Lighting Solutions team is a constant simplifier. The team is required to have mass appeal, from lighting design architects to contractors, CBMC Lighting Solutions must maintain an approachable, knowledgable and professional voice. Yet, they’re breaking all of the ‘rules’. They don’t do things the way they’ve always been done. They’ve taken the traditional model and turned it on its head. They allowed us to have some fun with their brand and we can’t wait to see what’s around the corner. 

Dickinson Fleet Services 

Dickinson Fleet Services is a true force in the maintenance service space. Their team is competitive and ambitious. We’ve enjoyed being in their company: defining their ‘hero’ brand archetype and being conscious about messaging for their future. It’s rare that a company of their size and scale is so focused on the people on the ground. The organizational structure is not only impressive, but it sets them apart. It’s their defining and selling feature, every choice we made from branding to U/X reinforces that core value. We admire their tenacity and their commitment as a partner. 

To the people behind these companies, we give our most sincere thank you. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished together and we cannot wait to see what 2020 has in-store. 

Our sincere thanks,  

Matt, Brooke, Josh, Haley + Katie