logo design for airt group advertising and design agency

news & notes

January 25, 2017

Blackrock Micro taps LA agency airt group for brand re-launch, integrated marketing communications program

rebranding effort launched at Neuroscience 2016, extended to traditional and online company communications

Salt Lake City, Utah — Blackrock Microsystems has launched a new integrated marketing communications program, a product of comprehensive rebranding efforts with Los Angeles advertising and design firm Airt Group. The launch culminates a six-month strategic planning and creative development process that yielded a fundamental repositioning of Blackrock Micro, along with a new brand identity and 360° marketing communications campaign.

Based on the theme "Empowering Ephys," the new campaign debuted in October at the Neuroscience 2016 conference in Chicago, one of the most highly attended medical conferences in the world. The launch featured a new booth with redesigned graphic display panels, freestanding banners, over-head signage and demonstration station backdrops and surfaces. Related direct response marketing and print advertising campaigns preceded the event.

"Our new campaign was warmly welcomed by customers and the industry as a whole," said Blackrock Micro president Marcus Gerhardt. "In fact, we were commended by Neuroscience 2015 organizers for having the best booth design at the conference."

The new branding campaign references Blackrock Microsystems' Utah roots and pioneering history in the neuroscience research field. This is achieved through the depiction of various dramatic Utah geoformations, which serve as backdrops for Blackrock products and technical support specialists. This motif extends to Blackrock Microsystems' print advertising, direct response and online marketing programs including the complete redesign and redevelopment of the Blackrock Microsystems' website at blackrockmicro.com, which features:

  • Improved user experience including high-quality photos and graphics that depict research system components and setups and the integrated nature of Blackrock research solutions.
  • Helpful technical support information for neuroscience researchers including ways to design, modify and improve setups and experiments for various research subjects.
  • Complete access to technical support materials such manuals, app notes, case studies and whitepapers to help researchers design and conduct experiments.

"Our primary objectives were to focus and extend Blackrock Microsystems' brand presence within the neuroscience research community and in mainstream healthcare media," said Bill Light, Managing Director at Airt Group. "Neuroscience has become one of the hottest medical research areas in recent years, so the goal was to increase Blackrock Microsystems' brand equity in this marketplace, which continues to expand and segment."

Examples from the new campaign appear in airt's online portfolio pages.

about Blackrock Microsystems

Blackrock Microsystems, based in Salt Lake City, was founded in 2008 and has become the world's leading provider of technology in the neuroscience, neural engineering and neural prosthetics space. The company's technology has been at the core of worldwide innovations in Brain Machine Interface (BMI), implantable bionic technologies and epilepsy diagnostics.

about airt group

Located in Los Angeles, Calif., airt helps companies large and small improve their marketing performance and effectiveness through metrics-driven communications and brand development. airt ensures that its clients' marketing investments work harder, smarter and faster by keeping the focus on real-world strategy, tangible outcomes and creative solutions that are effective across all media channels.