When Florida-based Cornerstone Community Bank decided they needed to redesign their website, they started their search where most people do: Google. Search “web design for banks” and it’s not hard to see what happened next. One community bank in search of a company who could help them redesign their website and one guy who happened to be named Banks running his own digital agency. All it took was Google to bring us together.

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Once upon a time in a creative land far, far away, account managers were viewed simply as project planners and not creative-types. These account managers were expected to know about budgets, timelines and client relations, with very little input on creative concept, design and implementation. But as the creative world evolved into a digital-centric universe, so did the role of its account managers. Digital producers emerged with an entirely new playbook, or shall I say, storybook.

My, what big ideas you have! Today's digital producers are active participants during concepting meetings, thinking strategically and contributing big ideas. We bring a unique skill set that combines project management expertise and a strong passion for digital marketing. Digital producers need not be shy about sharing ideas among designers and developers. After all, collaborating with a team is far better then strolling through the dark, scary forest all alone.

Mirror, mirror on the wall... As the liaison between clients and the creative team, digital producers must be sharp communicators. Just like the magical mirror in Snow White, delivering delicate news is sometimes part of the job description. Perhaps a client is hesitant to trust a remarkable design concept, or a developer wants to incorporate an ubercool feature that just isn't in the budget. Digital producers must tread lightly as they carefully determine who truly is the fairest of them all.

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Our team recently designed a new website for Edgeview Partners, an independent investment bank specializing in mergers and acquisitions. The site better represents the firm's leadership, experience and expertise serving the unique M&A advisory needs of middle-market clients.

"After becoming an independent firm last year, we had the opportunity to revamp our marketing strategy and website," said Grant Hamilton, Edgeview Partners' vice-president. "Studiobanks was our guide and partner through the entire process, which led to a new website that far exceeded our expectations."

The highly competitive nature of Edgeview Partners' business demanded a clean, professional website that communicated trust and credibility. Our team worked hard to ensure the tone of the site directly relates to the business it represents and offers the functionality users need to gather information quickly and easily.

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This year's Charlotte ADDY Awards Show & Preview Gallery brought together a record 275 industry professionals to celebrate creative excellence in our community. The Mint Museum Uptown provided a gorgeous setting that matched the evening's award-winning, artistic achievements.

During the Awards Show, Studiobanks was presented with the following awards:

• Gold ADDY: Parker Poe Holiday Microsite
• Gold ADDY: Studiobanks Holiday Microsite
• Silver ADDY: CMA Awards Website
• Silver ADDY: CMA Country Christmas Microsite
• Silver ADDY: Muzak A/V Systems Website
• Silver ADDY: Reel-Scout Marketing Website
• Silver ADDY: Reel-Scout Search Website
• Silver ADDY: SAFER Barrier Website
• Silver ADDY: Varrow Website

Awards are an important part of our industry as they benchmark creative excellence and online success. We happily accepted these awards on behalf of the collabortive efforts and partnerships with our awesome clients.

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We’d like to take a moment to welcome new client Cornerstone Community Bank to the Studiobanks team! Charlotte Observer Reporter Eric Frazier shares the funny story behind our new partnership with this Florida-based bank:

Search leads a bank to a Banks

Businesses spend gobs of money trying to make sure their name and Web links show up prominently in Google search results for the products or services they offer.

But for Studiobanks, a Charlotte digital marketing agency, it didn't take a sophisticated search engine optimization campaign to catch the eye of one Google-searching prospective client.

Instead, a quirky coincidence of the Studiobanks name - and its president's name - did the trick.

It all came about when the Cornerstone Community Bank in St. Petersburg, Fla., decided to hire an agency to redesign its website. Someone at the bank was running Google searches for bank website designers and stumbled across Studiobanks.

The firm hadn't actually done any bank websites, but did have the luck of being a website design firm run by one Banks Wilson. (When he founded the company eight years ago, Wilson thought it'd be cool to make the firm's name a play on his own).

Studiobanks got a chance to make its pitch, and Cornerstone officials hired the firm - none of which would have happened without Wilson's parents and the fortuitous name they picked.

Shouldn't he offer Mom and Dad some sort of commission?

"I probably should," Wilson said, chuckling. "When they named me Banks I don't think they ever thought it would have paid off quite like that. It's just funny and random.”

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In the wake of the current economic recession, marketing budgets are going to become a lot tighter in 2009. We already see evidence of this as companies search for the best bang of each marketing dollar spent. We expect this trend to grow as companies plan their 2009 budgets. With a renewed focus on ROI and effective marketing, companies will inevitably focus on their online marketing strategies for next year. With that we offer our “Top 5 Interactive Marketing Tips for 2009.”

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When discussing usability, I tend to bounce from element to element - menu this, font-size that and so on. The last year or two introduced some non-design elements to the conversation, like AJAX, accessibility and semantics. Not until the last few months, however, have I considered URL construction an important part of usability. SEO, sure, but usability? Never.

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I just finished reading two great books on branding, The Brand Gap and Zag. The book's author Marty Neumeier is president of San Francisco based Neutron, a brand consulting firm. I highly recommend these two books to anyone involved in marketing or running a company. I have already been able to apply some of their teachings into my work with our client's marketing strategies.

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