IBM Marketing

Interactive Marketing Support Tools
consulting to marketing & ad agency (3 mo.)

IBM Info Systems Group wanted to be able to use their own PC-Videotex decoder and SVS-1 minicomputer hosting system as direct marketing vehicles. In 1985 and 1986 they asked us to create several sites for them.

Marketing Media

The challenge was to create a simple, straightforward direct marketing product that was simple enough for a salesman to operate, but still demonstrated the power of an interactive system.

cross-referenced into multiple informational sections
"step-by-step" billboarding
keyword access
global "Help" and "Directory" information

The graphics and page design were oriented toward the display capabilities of the EGA card, and included palette control, animation, extensive overlay display, macro management, and other Elemental Database design techniques.

Product Packaging

During that same period IBM also asked us to work with Compton Advertising to provide electronic screen graphics that were used to illustrate their InfoWindow and PC/Videotex product packages (shown at right).

Note: The screenshots displayed here were designed using the limited 16-color palette then standard for most PC's.

Skills & Techniques : We were able to load the software decoder, the database software, and the entire site onto a single floppy disc (which was at that time limited to 360K).

For ease of use by field representatives, we engineered the standalone sites to boot up automatically. We also provided complete simple "step-by-step" instructions for its operation and maintenance.