Tuesday, November 27, 2007

NORTH CHICAGO, IL, NOVEMBER 27, 2007 — StudioNorth announced today that it has been selected as agency of record by Landauer Inc., the world leader in radiation monitoring products and services. Under the agreement, StudioNorth will revitalize the Landauer brand to reflect the company’s forward-thinking goals and future market opportunities — for implementation across the full spectrum of marketing initiatives.

“StudioNorth will bring us the talent and power to leverage our market-leading position with new products and services,” explained Bill Saxelby, Landauer’s president and CEO. Saxelby, who had explored a diverse field of advertising and marketing firms before choosing StudioNorth, remarked, “The most important thing that differentiated StudioNorth from all the others was their message mapping, a structured process I knew would lead to a sharper focus for Landauer.”

“We were impressed with Landauer’s vision and dedication, as well as their receptiveness to new strategies and directions,” commented Greg French, StudioNorth’s VP of Strategic Services. “They have been overwhelmingly enthusiastic participants in our branding and message-mapping processes, laying a solid groundwork for the breakthrough results StudioNorth will help them achieve.” Added Mark Mohr, StudioNorth’s CEO, “Landauer is the perfect complement to our clients in the healthcare marketplace. As partners, we know they share our core values, and our passion for innovation.”

About StudioNorth
StudioNorth helps industry innovators achieve real results with breakthrough brand communications and advanced technologies. Founded in 1978, StudioNorth provides strategic marketing and award-winning creative communications supported by in-house multimedia and marketing technologies. This platform comprises a comprehensive resource for marketers in the education, healthcare, technology, and manufacturing industries.

About Landauer

Landauer is the leading provider of radiation dosimetry services to detect and measure occupational radiation hazards in the workplace. Founded in 1954, when the nuclear industry was still in its infancy, Landauer has been instrumental in shaping the radiation monitoring practices and technologies that now protect workers in hospitals, medical and dental offices, university and national laboratories, nuclear power plants and other industries in which radiation poses a potential threat. The first to advocate the retention and archiving of long-term exposure data, and an early industry adopter of information technology, Landauer has continued to lead the dosimetry industry in technology innovation and thought leadership.

Landauer’s patented, state-of-the-art Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dosimeter technology surpasses competing badge technologies, offering ten times greater sensitivity, which allows earlier detection of occupational radiation hazards. Combined with an average five-day turnaround on badge analysis reporting, Landauer truly serves as an early warning system for its customers. In addition to workplace radiation monitoring, Landauer also provides radon gas detection services to homeowners with its RadTrak® alpha track radon detection system, and is currently pursuing individual monitoring to measure patient exposure to both diagnostic and therapeutic radiation.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

NORTH CHICAGO, IL, JUNE 12, 2007 — StudioNorth, a 29-year Chicagoland veteran in creative marketing services, announced today that Mark Mohr, StudioNorth CEO, will be making his second trip to Africa in an effort to weave a new pattern of hope for students of the Ghetto & Urban Rehabilitation Education Center (GUREC), near Nairobi. Later this year, Mohr will travel to Kenya and Ethiopia to deliver school curriculums for GUREC, beads for making jewelry, which the students can sell to earn money, and a cash donation.

GUREC is run by Pastor Regina, a local Nairobian driven to start the school after a life-threatening ghetto confrontation made her realize how different things could be with some positive intervention in the lives of the teens of the region. The Kenyan government supports education only through the eighth grade. After that, considering the extreme poverty levels in Kenya, children are basically on their own. In some parts of Africa, these teens have essentially two options: join a gang, or enter the treacherous world of prostitution to help support their families. Pastor Regina’s vision is to relocate her school away from the slums of Nairobi to protect its reputation and to keep the kids away from the corruption of the city.

This past December, on behalf of StudioNorth clients and employees, Mohr made a significant impact for hundreds of children in Kenya through a charitable donation to the center. “Instead of giving popcorn and fruit baskets to our clients, we took the cash we normally would spend on corporate holiday gifts, and donated it to the GUREC School,” Mohr said. Also, the employees of StudioNorth participated in a suitcase packing event. They filled suitcases with hundreds of pounds of basic school supplies and creative games. But Mohr didn’t just drop a check and the suitcases in the mail. He and his wife, along with three of their six children, boarded a plane and delivered the gifts in person.

“When we got to Kenya, we were so moved by the warmth and graciousness of the people we met,” Mohr stated. “We are rewarded with a sense of great pride that we could make such a big difference in people’s lives. You don’t have to be a major celebrity or a large corporation to make a difference. StudioNorth employs only 50 people. Anyone on any scale can help.”

The StudioNorth cash donation purchased ten acres of land for a new school to be built. The suitcases of supplies brought giggles and smiles to the faces of the GUREC students.

The next step will be developing the land and constructing a new schoolhouse and accommodations for the students. With help from companies like StudioNorth, Pastor Regina will continue to build her vision of the future for her kids, and she’ll teach them to have a vision of hope and encouragement of their own.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

NORTH CHICAGO, IL, MAY 1, 2007 — StudioNorth, a 29-year Chicagoland veteran in creative marketing services, announced today that Chris Nordin has joined its design team as Art Director. Working with the Vice President of Creative Services, Chris will be responsible for overseeing design and creative strategy for StudioNorth clients in the healthcare, technology, education, and manufacturing industries. This addition is part of StudioNorth’s new “Break through or blend in” positioning.

Chris was most recently the Design Director at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, where she led the design team to produce award-winning work that enhanced the Shedd Aquarium brand. Chris has held senior-level design positions at leading Chicago-area and east coast firms, working on accounts such as Abbott, Coca-Cola, United Airlines, Chicago Board of Trade, and the American Hospital Association. Her work includes spearheading visual identity campaigns for high-profile companies to help their brands break through “competitive clouds” and strengthen their industry positions.

“Chris’s depth of experience in B-to-B and consumer communications will allow us to produce even greater results for our clients. Her leadership in design and strategic direction will bring significant value to our design team,” said Mark Schneider, StudioNorth Vice President of Creative Services. “We look forward to utilizing her talents in creative interpretation of research, strategic planning, and campaign development. This will help us in our goal to deliver a higher level of breakthrough work to our clients.”

About StudioNorth
StudioNorth helps industry innovators achieve real business results with breakthrough communications and advanced technologies. Founded in 1978, StudioNorth provides strategic marketing and award-winning creative communications supported by in-house multimedia and marketing technologies. This platform comprises a comprehensive outsource for marketers in the healthcare, technology, education, and manufacturing industries

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

NORTH CHICAGO, IL, March 6, 2007 — StudioNorth, a 29-year Chicagoland veteran in creative marketing and interactive technology services, announced today that it has hired three new people and promoted a fourth, all to accommodate its burgeoning client base.

New Hires
Joshua Fleetwood, a 3D animator and motion/interactive designer, from Protokulture in Chicago. Fleetwood has developed broadcast and interactive content for Sears, Kellogg’s and McDonald’s and will be joining the StudioNorth Multimedia division.

Filling a new Senior Designer post is Wendy Engelking, from DeForest Studios. Engelking brings StudioNorth more than 18 years of experience on business such as Johnson Wax, Sara Lee, Tootsie Roll, Parco Foods and other high-profile accounts.

Lukasz Majewski rounds out the new hiring spree for February as StudioNorth’s newest Senior Developer. Majewski joins StudioNorth from Career Education Corporation’s (CEC) Online Education Group, where he served as the technical lead on an ASP to ASP.NET 2.0 conversion project. The project involved converting more than 10 CEC marketing websites into a single ASP.NET application.

Promotion
Eight-year StudioNorth wordsmith Dan Gutknecht has been promoted to Content Director. In his new role, Gutknecht will report to the Vice President of Strategic Services and manage a staff of vertical-industry copywriters. Gutknecht reports, “In the past, StudioNorth was known as a design shop, though we’ve also been delivering strong content development and technology services to our clients for years. By aligning content development under our new Strategic Services discipline, we intend to strengthen our position as a provider of highly strategic marketing content driven by breakthrough creative and advanced technologies. This is a combination that’s rare in our business.”

StudioNorth CEO Mark Mohr said, “Our recent growth is due in large part to our enhanced focus in a few key vertical markets. Clients tell us they want their agencies to know more about their industries and to be able to analyze industry information and synthesize powerful marketing that delivers real, measurable results. Media changes very quickly and clients need to harness the resulting new media consumption trends. We’re taking all this to heart by hiring and promoting people with a passion for using a fact-based approach to creating breakthrough communications programs that prove value with real numbers.”

About StudioNorth
StudioNorth helps industry innovators achieve real results with breakthrough communications and advanced technologies. Founded in 1978, StudioNorth provides strategic marketing services, award-winning creative communications, and advanced interactive and marketing technologies, all from a single source. This platform comprises a comprehensive resource for marketers in the healthcare, technology, finance, energy, and manufacturing industries.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

NORTH CHICAGO, IL, January 30, 2007 — StudioNorth, a 29-year Chicagoland veteran in creative marketing and interactive technology services, announced today that it has been selected by Avery Dennison’s RFID Division to assess its Web branding, marketing, and technology strategies. Under the agreement, StudioNorth will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the division’s current Web strategy in terms of the Avery Dennison master brand and potentially implement the assessment recommendations.

“The Avery Dennison RFID partnership is a strategic one for our organization,” stated StudioNorth CEO Mark Mohr. “RFID is a technology that will improve people’s lives on a global scale, and Avery Dennison is a brand with roots strong enough to support a leadership role in its adoption. It literally applies to anything and everything that moves through the supply chain, from a mission-critical support role in disaster relief efforts to everyday supply chain security and promotional ROI metrics.”

Avery Dennison RFID Communications Manager Tony Sloan said, “StudioNorth and its PR partner, Outlook Marketing Services, are adding welcome new leverage to our mission. Simply getting the word out about RFID as ‘the future of the global supply chain’ is a huge challenge. StudioNorth levels the playing field for us by pushing the boundaries of a typical Web project into a true solution that combines strategic insight, creative excellence, and deep technology know-how that’s a rare find in any single firm. StudioNorth is in position to make a real difference in millions of lives by helping us drive awareness of the benefits of RFID.”

StudioNorth begins its engagement with a tour of the Avery Dennison Atlanta Technical Center (ATC), a sort of “Skunkworks” for RFID applications and testing. The 50,000-square-foot facility simulates key supply chain environments from department store clothing racks to warehouse distribution center conveyor systems. Real-world RFID environment testing is the cornerstone of Avery Dennison’s approach to the global adoption of the technology. “The ATC is one of Avery Dennison’s greatest promotional assets,” states Mohr. “If we can give Web site visitors even half of the experience – the ‘wow’ factor – of the ATC in an online environment, we believe that awareness and interest in RFID will increase dramatically.”

About RFID
RFID, an acronym for Radio Frequency Identification, originated in the 1940s, but is only now becoming viable as a revolutionary supply chain technology. Major retailers, the U.S. government, and industrial and consumer goods manufacturers believe in the power of RFID to greatly improve the efficiency of their inventory management and tracking systems. RFID is capable of helping to count, track, locate, and secure objects moving through the supply chains faster, more accurately, and at a much lower cost than traditional inventory management, such as barcode-based systems.

For decades, printed UPC barcodes have been a staple on pallets, cartons, and items that flow through the supply chain. In contrast to printed barcoding that needs line-of-sight access, RFID uses radio signal-activated tags rather than barcode scanners for information transfer. RFID technology includes more information and accessibility by mere proximity, unlike scanners that require line-of-sight access. This means that an entire pallet of mp3 players, for example, with RFID tags inside the cartons can be counted, identified, and routed by simply passing near an RFID scanner at any point in the supply chain.

About StudioNorth
StudioNorth helps innovative companies achieve real results with breakthrough communications and technologies. Founded in 1978, StudioNorth provides strategic marketing and award-winning creative communications supported by in-house multimedia and marketing technologies. This platform comprises a comprehensive outsource for marketers in the education, healthcare, technology, and manufacturing industries.

About Avery Dennison RFID
Avery Dennison RFID Division is among the company’s diverse portfolio of industrial and consumer products businesses. Avery Dennison’s expertise is leveraged in high volume, roll-to-roll manufacturing and production of multi-layered electronic labels to produce high-quality RFID inlays – the critical link in any RFID system.

To help assure that inlays will perform despite RF challenges such as difficult carton contents, awkward read angles, and diverse manufacturing and retail environments, comprehensive real-world testing is conducted at Avery Dennison’s dedicated technical center. In addition, Avery Dennison works with industry leaders throughout the RFID value chain, including micro-chip and hardware manufacturers, to maximize the compatibility of the inlays we produce. A strong working relationship with a network of qualified RFID label converters also helps to ensure a high-quality, high-yield RFID label that will consistently perform for end-users in the real world.

For more information about Avery Dennison RFID Division, e-mail rfid.info@averydennison.com or call 866.903.RFID (7343).

Monday, December 04, 2006

NORTH CHICAGO, IL, December 4, 2006 — StudioNorth, a 28-year Chicagoland veteran in creative marketing services, announced today that it has been selected by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) and its Illinois Designated Account Purchase Program (IDAPP) division to provide creative services relating to its student outreach and student financial aid programs and services.

“We are proud to welcome ISAC and IDAPP to our family of clients,” stated StudioNorth CEO Mark Mohr. “We believe strongly in its unique non-profit market position that provides an unmatched set of resources to Illinois students, their families and schools.” StudioNorth is also partners with other education industry clients, including Pearson Achievement Solutions and Career Education Corporation.

ISAC Assistant Director of Publications and Communication Services Jackie Eckley reciprocated, saying, “ISAC is very excited about our new relationship with StudioNorth. We looked at 10 other firms, but none had the combination of a strong background in our industry, deep understanding of our brand, and compelling creative execution we were looking for. All in all, [StudioNorth] just ran away with the score sheet.”

IDAPP Director of Marketing John Schwarm confirmed this sentiment: “We have high creative standards grounded in a demonstrated knowledge of our industry. The StudioNorth team easily cleared all the hurdles. They are truly genuine people with a uniquely creative culture. That counts heavily with us.”

StudioNorth Vice President of Strategic Services Greg French and Program Manager Lisa Dougherty provide 10 years of experience with ISAC business from their previous positions at the former ISAC agency of record. Over the past decade, French helped ISAC and IDAPP to revamp their brands and visual identities. “It’s great to be working with our friends again,” says French. “It’s like coming back home.”

About StudioNorth
StudioNorth helps its clients achieve remarkable business results with breakthrough communications and advanced technologies. Founded in 1978, StudioNorth provides strategic marketing and award-winning creative communications supported by in-house multimedia and marketing technologies. This platform comprises a comprehensive outsource for marketers in the education, healthcare, technology, and manufacturing industries.

About ISAC
ISAC is a State of Illinois agency that provides exclusive resources for Illinois students, their families, and schools. ISAC and its IDAPP division provide the only non-profit option for student information and funding in Illinois.