Spin Advertising uses comprehensive techniques to catch customers

Thursday, January 31, 2008 | Source: metromode

It's not enough just to build a better mousetrap these days - you've got to tell people about it, with an eye-catching print- and Web-based campaign, a handful of cleverly designed events and a comprehensive database to allow tightly-focused marketing. And that's where Spin Advertising comes in.

The Ann Arbor company's been active in marketing much of the recent development in the city of Detroit, says partner and marketing and media specialist Tom Cormie, working on high-profile projects like the Westin Book-Cadillac Detroit and the Park Shelton, and using techniques that represent the next generation in marketing.

"We deal with everything from initial naming, to white paper creation, to the website, marketing, new media advertising, as well as coming up with smarter marketing plans to capture interest from people who are looking for a place to live," he says. "What makes us cool is that we truly understand the power of new media and the Web... and we're just kind of passionate about the city."

To promote the top-dollar luxury condos at the newly renovated Book-Cadillac - bought by the Westin hotel chain, owned in turn by parent company Starwood Hotels and Resorts - Spin had a lot of work to do.

"We had to integrate three different entities to maintain this brand across the board," Cormie says. "We had to kind of ferret down into their marketing thoughts and find out what they thought the Book-Cadillac was supposed to look like and what the Book-Cadillac was, and lo and behold, they didn't fully understand what the Book-Cadillac was to the city of Detroit."

Spin, Cormie says, was able to come up with a look and feel to both please the corporation and to entice buyers. A key part of the strategy was the use of websites to gather personal information on the front end to determine browsers' level of interest in a Book-Cadillac residence - so by the time the development's grand opening was held, guests weren't casual shoppers.

"People who came to event were not so much shopping and looking for more information - they came down ready to buy, and that was exciting," Cormie says. "And we were able to generate that through very benign methods."

Source: Tom Cormie, Spin Advertising
Writer: Nancy Kaffer