immediaC
Organizations in sectors as varied as transportation, health care and tourism have linked up with immediaC Worldwide Incorporated – an integrated web marketing and software agency in Dartmouth, NS.
“We effectively web-enable businesses,” says immediaC founder and CEO John Leahy. Innovation and collaboration are the tools that the agency’s 15 employees use to help businesses embrace technology.
Take, for example, webfrontIRP™ (Internet Resource Program), immediaC’s latest content management tool. The program offers a set of software applications from which clients can choose, including search engine optimization and interactive media and design. There are also modules covering such areas as human resources, e-commerce, social networking, the management of multiple sites and analytics.
“It really is an alternative to a storefront,” Leahy says. “Most people who experience you for the first time in your business are going to do that through your website. And a big part of that webfront product is the ability to build what we call high-performance websites, which are two generations beyond static websites.”
The integration of business processes online – which a customer can access from anywhere – results in efficiencies including reducing costs and streamlining processes.
There are also efficiencies for organizations with multiple websites. “Larger customers can take advantage of being able to run many sites within one infrastructure, with multiple designs and different presences,” Leahy says. “We have customers who run 50 sites and sometimes one piece of content needs to show up on all 50 sites. Publishing content across multiple web presences is one of the things we do very effectively.”
In immediaC’s development of web-based software – the application of which extends beyond websites to include media devices such as iPods and mobile phones – elegance in design and ease of use are key considerations.
Leahy says the agency, which opened in 1998, has just over 250 clients accounting for almost 500 web applications or websites. About 80 per cent of immediaC’s business comes from Atlantic Canada. The fastest growing business base is Alberta, where clients include Edmonton Airports, Tourism Red Deer and Trek Escapes.
Whether it’s in the west or in Europe and the United States, where immediaC also has clients, the development of collaborative relationships is key. In fact, the term “client engagement” is preferred over customer service.
An award-winning collaboration occurred when immediaC and production company Ad-Dispatch worked with the College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia on a website to recruit internationally educated nurses. The site showcases videos of nurses speaking in their home languages including Mandarin, German and Japanese, about their Atlantic Canadian experience.
In spring 2007, the site earned an Award of Excellence from the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS). In its announcement release, the College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia stated, “The CPRS award judges described the nursingatlanticcanada.com website as ‘an innovative, breakthrough site.’”
immediaC also played a leading role in another project involving video when it joined forces with Ad-Dispatch to develop web-based video training for Loblaws employees. The program, featuring Cory from Trailer Park Boys, is designed to engage the high school youth market – the target audience for the training.
Going forward, the integration of video in web-based applications will continue to be a focus. More than 75 per cent of the projects immediaC is working on involve video.
“We’re at a point where people expect that,” Leahy says. “It’s a YouTube kind of world.”
It’s also a world where Google is part of the common parlance. “Google has been called the database of intentions,” says Leahy who, five years ago, developed the search engine optimization software called GetGoogled™. “At any given point, at any hour of the day, Google knows what humanity is thinking.”
This year, immediaC will launch a new set of search engine optimization tools designed to help clients tap into that thought process and develop sites which will gain stronger search engine rankings.
“Almost everybody gets found when you look for them by name. But what if you don’t know their name? What if you’re looking for content that’s deep in their site?” Leahy says. “The content of most organizations isn’t organized in the way that people think. We have a set of tools that will allow them to really repurpose existing content.”
Over the next year or two, immediaC plans to increasingly bring its expertise to Europe.Nova Scotia’s proximity, cultural similarities and companies’ desire to have English versions of their websites are advantages in developing an expanded presence overseas.
Closer to home, Leahy appreciates the work-life environment Nova Scotia offers. A host of easily accessible outdoor sporting activities is just one way individuals can recharge and return to the workplace with new ideas.
That’s good fuel for immediaC’s continued innovation and collaboration – and that spells success for the future here in Nova Scotia.
Feature story written by Marie Weeren
