Stories
We've been creating web solutions for 11 plus years now and our philosophy's yet to change — our answer is always "yes" to a client's request. It's enabled us to produce some work of which we are extremely proud and we enjoy sharing with others.
Parkland Health & Hospital System — Success Built on Trust
In late 2004, Parkland Health and Hospital System awarded QuickSilver Interactive Group (QSI) the project to develop a complete new site. Parkland, as Dallas' County Hospital, had unique needs and a demographic that varied greatly; they were a teaching hospital; and they were an award-winning hospital. QSI was up to the challenge. By spring of 2005, ParklandHospital.com was launched; delighting both the client and visitors with its employee-centered photographs, basic content and simple, easy-to-use format. They went from 3,000 visits a month to 11,000 its first month to today's 33,000 per month.
It was the beginning of a great relationship. One built on trust, where Parkland listened and allowed QSI to guide them in their interactive marketing endeavors. And they still do.
QSI and Parkland's Corporate Communications staff work together to keep the content fresh and current. They use QSI's Newsroom tool on a weekly basis and we advise them on their social media needs.
"From day one, the fit was right. Our relationship with QSI is one where we know we can trust their advice and knowledge of the industry," said April Foran, director of corporate communication. "They think of our needs and how to balance all these new technologies with our varied demographics and budget. We especially appreciate their fresh ideas; nothing too out there, yet they continue to showcase Parkland. We treat them as an extension of our team and know that they truly have our hospital's best interest at heart."
Services: Web Design, Site Maintenance, Consulting, Web 2.0
Simple Solution — A Not So Simple Site Gets Simple
QuickSilver Interactive first met Simple Solution, a pet care company, when we responded to an RFP to refresh Simple Solution's web site. With more than 100 pages of products and information, it was a mammoth and cumbersome site and the breadth of data prevented pet-loving perusers from easily identifying must have items for their furry friends.
Rather than just working with the original layout as suggested in the RFP, QuickSilver advised Simple Solution to consolidate pages and streamline the site to a quarter of its original size. The end result is something that customers can use to more easily find the product of choice. The site is now used to cross promote products and increase sales. The client listened to advice and achieved overwhelming success.
QuickSilver's consumer-savvy thinking led to an invitation from Simple Solutions to update two of the company's other sites - OutInternational.com, a secondary line of pet products and TotallyToddler.com, a specialty product aimed at moms in need of removing stains made by little ones.
Pet owners are a wonderfully enthusastic group -- so innovative products are often eagerly accepted. The client created a new product called "Bags on Board." It's simply a small container that clips onto a dog leash and contains plastic bags that the pet owner can use to clean up after their dog. But to make the product unique, a set of adhesive labels was included and instructions to visit a web site, BagsOnBoard.com, where they could design the "skin" for their bags container. Their designs could include photos of their pet, color schemes and patterns and numerous pet graphics.
"QuickSilver was the perfect partner," said Angela Torrey, director of marketing and communications. "It was obvious that they cared about our business. They didn't just mindlessly follow our requests and update each page. They really thought through every aspect of our site, how our customers would interact with it and how we could deliver the best user experience. It was a complete 360 evaluation with attention to every detail from branding to usability. We continue to use their expertise on additional sites for our family of products."
Services: Site Maintenance, Consulting
BlockBuster Incentives
In 2002, QuickSilver Interactive Group was called on by Blockbuster's business-to-business unit to centralize order processing between the corporate office and their call center.
The project quickly grew to include communication with fulfillment vendors and Blockbuster's accounting group. Now the fun could begin and QSI could build a web site and online store component to expand Blockbuster's business services and allow for ease of purchase for consumers.
Once the new web site, BlockbusterIncentives.com, was in place, Blockbuster could benefit from the many other services offered at QSI. Soon followed an email system and then an electronic newsletter was created, allowing for cost effective communications with customers and prospects on a regular basis. Research conducted with the target who would receive the enewsletters helped define the content that would appear in the all electronic newsletters.
In 2005, the decision was made to branch out to include eCoupons, online delivered product coupons that allowed a purely electronic delivery of Blockbuster rental coupons. In short, customers could purchase online using a credit card, print our the rental coupon they received and within minutes use the coupon to receive movie and game rentals at any of the thousands of Blockbuster stores nationwide. This allowed escalated growth for Blockbuster and their company as a whole.
The functions and systems put in place by QSI were so successful that in 2008 we created an electronic coupon system for Blockbuster's Customer Care Group, allowing them to instantly send customers rental coupons and decreasing the costs of mailing out coupons each day.
Services: Site Development and Maintenance, Consulting
EBBY.COM
For ten years (1998-2008), QuickSilver worked with Ebby Halliday, REALTORS as their interactive marketing agency. It was under our direction that Ebby.com was created and guided to become the #1 real estate site in this part of the nation.
It all began with three sheets of paper with a single-spaced list of all the things the client wanted on the main page of their new web site. Knowing that our job was to counsel our clients before we launched off and started building, we came back with 5 items and it's those 5 items (Sell a Home, Find a Home, Agents, Careers, Relocation) that truly changed the way that real estate web sites presented themselves online. Within a year of our launching Ebby.com, numerous sites with copycat navigation began to appear throughout the region. We were flattered. Today, it's the basis for most real estate web sites throughout the U.S.
During our time together, we built Ebby's first agent intranet (MyEbby), created and managed the company's Celebrate Ebby anniversary ad campaign and agent gathering, and devised and implemented multiple brand and online promotions. In 2004, QuickSilver directed the marketing efforts for the company's rebranding and created the current logo and the taglines "Best Address in Real Estate" and "The First Name in Real Estate" that became the central part of the company's marketing effort.
Services: Strategic Marketing Planning, Creative, Site Deveopment and Maintenance, Consulting
Theatre Three - Building Ticket Sales Online
We love theatre! Over the years one of Dallas' most respected regional theatres has been Theatre Three. Originally tapped to help them in their email marketing efforts, it soon became clear that what was really needed from QSI was so much more. What that "so much more" lead to was a new, fully functional web site and ticket sales system with a fresh design that was easy for Theatre Three staff to manage themselves. The most important feature of the new site was a customized online ticket system for single tickets sales and season ticket holder ticket swaps.
One of the truths of Theatre Three has been that if they can just get you in their doors, they can convert you to a regular patron. Single ticket sales were (and still are) an extremely important part of their growth. In 2007, the first year of Theatre Three's new site, it saw an immediate increase in single ticket sales. Theatre Three attributed that increase to the ability for people to purchase quickly and easily online. Single ticket sales have continued to grow each year. Even better, was the increase in season subscribers, an increase that the Theatre felt was a direct result of the increase in single ticket sales.
In 2008, QuickSilver was awarded the North Texas Business for the Culture and the Arts Obelisk Award for New Initiatives for its work with Theatre Three.
Services: Site Development, Maintenance, Consulting