::play::

Market: Government

We’ve been collaborating with Norfolk County Sheriffs Office since 1996 when we produced their very first Inmate Orientation Video so every inmate would receive the same consistent message in their native language [English or Spanish] and the facility limits its liability.  We even produced an award-winning televised documentary here entitled “Correcting Our Ways”.  Today we continue to produce their videos, provide onsite IT support, web maintenance, website hosting and writing technical RFP’s.  Most recently we have been hired to help them streamline their vendor contracts and operations for greater efficiency and cost savings.

Goals: improve efficiency, limit liability, increase productivity, consistency and deliver cost savings

Market: education

When it comes to criminal justice degrees, Eastern Kentucky University guys don’t mess around. Their Department of Criminal Justice and Police Studies has just under 700 majors and is one of the largest programs in the nation devoted to criminal justice education.  Our experience and key relationships in criminal justice made us the perfect partner to market and deliver their 12 live satellite broadcasts.  We did everything from rent teh satellite time/trucks to design and run the rehearsals and live studio production, simulcasts and interactive user participation elements.  Plus archiving and eLearning, DVD duplication and national emarketing distributions and campaigns.  They needed turnkey and we delivered.

Goals:

Actall Security Products manufactures personal alarm  systems currently installed in over 150 facilities throughout the United States and Canada.  This work hard team goes to extreme measures to deliver for their para military customers.  Headquarted in Denver, Colorado where the skiing is also exterme, they are also the only one of their competitor who can still say they are “made in America”.  Which is why when they came to us needing a fresh new image that would demonstrate their “protection and reliability” we instantly knew “mountains”. Now every prospect can feel the strength and reliability from the word “hello”.

Market: corrections

Corrections.com is the single most recognizable brand online for the global community of corrections and everything you see and everything you don’t see was built and managed by ::play::.  With 2.5 million page views a month and 66,000 email subscribers, it is the #1 ranked corrections site in Alexa and the top 3 in Google and Yahoo for ‘Corrections‘. We write, publish and syndicate content, manage a killer metrics dashboard, build and operate all the back-end functionality.  Just 18 months ago we rebuilt the entire site in Ruby on Rails.  Now the product search database screams.

Goals: There was a need for the corrections industry to have an identity online.

Results: Developed corrections.com from concept to full implementation online.

Website Redesign

Spectrum Litho is a wicked creative printing company in Canton, MA. Yes, these printers actually will weigh in and give you their opinion on papers, sizes, folds and they have great taste.  So they wanted a ::play:: design for their website presence.  Their goals? To draw in new draw new custumers.  We just launched their site today so check back for more on the results.

Market segment: hotel & hospitality

Linchris Hotel Management needed to centralize employee communications and they didn’t want employees to be frustrated or bored when they logged in.   So we went for a bottom-up build starting with the end users and created “The Lobby”, a virtual company wide intranet to centralize communications between Linchris corporate and its 25 hotel chains.  Events, documents, announcements all neatly posted, disseminated, archived and managed in true ::play:: style - without a single training or user manual required. Just jump in and it’s so intuitive you can get down to business.  Bocu efficency and employee morale. Not like thos intranets that get overbuilt and no one wants to use them.  This virtual hub is the new Linchris water cooler.

Feedback:

“we love it”
“incredibly simple and intuitive. Thank you. Thank you.”
“You guys completely lived up to what you said you would do”

CorrectionsMedia is the single most powerful and innovative media network dedicated to the $60 billion-a-year corrections industry, with the power to create and deliver your message in every medium. Atleast that’s what they became after we wrote it and they sold it!  Yup, these are the same guys who started Corrections.com only they couldn’t get advertisers to see them as anything more than a publisher of ads.  So we created an umbrella brand that aggregated the entire publishing industry under their CorrectionsMedia ad placement network. Then we explaioned the transition with a simple Flash movie helping to shorten the sales introduction and quicken the sale. Then we made a highly interactive services page that gave customers a 60-second “i get what they can do” view.   Results? 4 new successful product lines and steady upward revenues since its launch.

Goals: CorrectionsMedia wanted an online presence.

Results: Branded CorrectionsMedia and launched a new website complete with flash and video.

Market: Industrial

Able Restoration’s reputation as a premium-quality restoration company has grown over the course of 10 years.  Today, they are one of the largest, most respected independent restoration companies in Massachusetts.  They needed a ::play:: solution for tracking their equipment, jobs and personnel. They also needed an electronic dispatch board and they needed it fast.  In less than 6 months they were up and running with the Able Restoration InfoCenter.  One of our favorite clients to collaborate as they worked closely and rapidly with u at every turn.

With $1.6 billion in assets, HarborOne Credit Union is the largest state-chartered community credit union in New England and one of the top 100 in the country.  HarborOne continues to be a local leader in a competitive banking environment and we are honored to be able to offer them creative ::play:: solutions for their Annual meetings and videos.  Here’s one of our favorites.  It’s the year they hit $1 billion in assets and asked us for “wow”.   Look closely because that’s no ordinary video screen. It’s a water screen and it’s wicked.

Goals:

Market: Healthcare

Every year for the last 10 years ::play:: teams up with the marketing team at Signature Healthcare (formerly Brockton Hospital) to design a ’smokin’ user experience for their Ring of Champions Dinner.  It’s a mega fundraiser held every December with community leaders and healthcare staff with food, dancing and an auction.  Together we’ve come up with some pretty intense staging (multiple scrims, LED lights, laser lights, fog machine, dancers…).  And we produce several videos for main presentation.  This particular year they had just changed their name from Brockton Hospital to “Signature Healthcare” and wanted to seriously imprint the new name and network strength on every attendee.  See the ::play:: solution below. BTW - those are fabric panels gently hanging at varying depths and height to reflect their own diversity and depth. And we used a great program called WathOut to time the coorindated movement of images across the various panels during the President’s speech. One of our favorite shows.

Market: life sciences

Founded in 1978, Biogen Idec Pharmaceuticals is a global leader in the discovery, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of innovative therapies. Patients in more than 90 countries benefit from Biogen Idec’s products. In 2008, Biogen Idec’s total revenues grew 29 percent to $4.1 billion and the coall volume inside their IT department skyrocketed created delayed responses.  Committed to excellence for its employees, Biogen Idec quickly began improvements but they needed a way to rally the patience and support of 4500 employees in 5 countries .  After 3  informal user meet-ups (with food of course), the ::play:: team designed one simple phrase “tiny victories for success” marking each seemingly small and possibly insignificant change as a tiny victory for ultimate progress.  Now instead of everyone wondering where’s the progress, they can easily see Biogen Idec is on tiny victory #45.

Market: industrial

Best Plumbing Specialties is one of the largest independently owned plumbing specialty houses in the country with sales representatives in more than 25 states.  ::play:: has collaborated with Best Plumbing as far back as we can remember.  Based in Maryland these are an awesome group of people.  These guys toss tiny airline-sized bags of “nuts” inside every plumbing part shipped.  And yes, customers call when their free nuts don’t show up in the box.  They’ve built a whole identity around those tiny nuts. Love these guys!

::play:: and Best Plumbing  have teamed up several times to launch a GSA shopping online —  elearning — online automation w/ the sales team — ibuy integration with NY University and —- a green site to boot.  Now while they sleep, their website is working OT.

Plus their marketing pioneer, Bal, is also a big-time barbecue-grillin’ machine. His nickname? The Patio-Daddy-O (yes he cooks on those big grills that you hitch to the back of your truck at competitions. And they even have regular monthly cook-outs for their employees.  Bal - if you’re reading this we hope you’ll write in and send a picture of you behind the grill.

So next time you need a plumbing part…check these guys out. And enjoy the nuts! We look forward to many more great collaborations with the Best Plumbing team! And more grillin recipes (like the cilantro grilled corn on the cob!)

Market: Sports & Entertainment

The Ask 14 blog, is the official home for the thoughts and insight of former Boston Red Sox outfielder Jim Rice.  The brainchild and passion of the marketing team at Sullivan Tire, these sports fanatics just get more and more creative.  They teamed up with ::play:: to design, load and launch the site in 2008.