News

Would you consider your last experience as a caller on hold to be "terrific"?

The On Hold Messaging Association presents the annual MARCE Awards, an international competition that honors marketing and creative excellence in On Hold Messaging productions, and yes, that's how one of this year's judges described our work.

"Terrific!" wrote Andy West, Creative Services Director at Sports Radio 92-9 / The Game in Atlanta.

Once again, it was our humorous approach that won praise. Click on the play button above to hear the winning audio. It's for a company called Binkelman Corporation. The entry received the MARCE competition's top prize, earning the most points and a coveted Gold award.

That On Hold Messaging "actually made me laugh," commented another judge, Kurt Kleidon, director of PR and online marketing at Kleidon & Associates. He added that the content was "funny and well written."

Judge Ricky Roo, a broadcast production professional, noted the "Nice delivery of the humor!" and wrote that the funny approach "would keep an on-hold caller waiting to hear what comes next."

BusinessVoice has a long history of making people laugh on hold, creating unique experiences for callers, and differentiating our clients in the process. We've also won 12 On Hold Messaging Association awards, more than any other agency.

Listen to a few samples on our Humor On Hold page, or for more details, please call 866/473-9000.

Steve Evert has been elected to the On Hold Messaging Association's (OHMA) Board of Directors.

An Account Executive with MadAveGroup, Evert will serve a one-year term on the board, while working as the Chair of OHMA's Vendor Relations Committee.

The On Hold Messaging Association exists to promote the benefits of On Hold Messaging as a marketing tool, and to encourage high standards in the OHM industry.

"As a director, I'll be focused on increasing the main and affiliate membership of OHMA, and developing greater value for the organization's membership," Evert said.

Evert joined BusinessVoice in 2009. (BusinessVoice is one of the three agencies that make up MadAveGroup.) Within his first 12 months, he established the all-time sales record for new business bookings by a new member of the sales team. Evert has been the agency's top-seller every year since.

BusinessVoice has played a prominent role within OHMA over the years. Agency president Jerry Brown has served the organization as Chairman and in many other capacities. Other staff members have served in various positions. And BusinessVoice has won 12 OHMA-sponsored awards for creativity and marketing excellence, more than any other agency.

BusinessVoice and our web agency teamed up to win two Silver ADDYs at the 2013 ADDY Awards ceremony. Presented by The Advertising Club of Toledo, the event was held February 28th at the Seagate Centre in downtown Toledo.

BusinessVoice was recognized for a humorous On Hold Marketing production it created for Binkelman Corporation of Toledo, Ohio. 

Our web agency was awarded for its entry in the Mixed Media category. The elements included the website, Facebook page and radio campaign that the team created for Spirit Services of Columbus, Ohio.

Since 1994, the BusinessVoice team has been recognized more than 100 times with local, regional, national and international awards for creative and marketing excellence.

The Advertising Club of Toledo is an affiliate of the American Advertising Federation. It sponsors the annual ADDY Awards to encourage and acknowledge the creation of outstanding advertising by local agencies and marketers.

BusinessVoice and its in-house website design and marketing agency have teamed up to win four 2012 MarCom Awards for creative and marketing excellence.

Winner of a Platinum MarCom Award, “Metric Metals & You,” is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the educational films of the 1950s. The two-video campaign was produced for use on the Parker Steel website. BusinessVoice Creative Director Scott Greggory wrote, directed, oversaw the edit and performed in the videos. Nick Amrhein of 3by1 Media served as videographer and editor. Ed Hunter played the role of Professor Ed Beam.

The agencies won two Gold MarCom Awards for their work on behalf of Spirit Services. In another nod to days gone by, both the award-winning website and Facebook page feature a fun retro look and irreverent copy. Next Year’s News provided the website design. Scott Greggory wrote the copy and created the Facebook images. Chris Witeof provided additional content.

BusinessVoice's web agency also earned an Honorable Mention Award for their creation of the Buckeye Telesystem website. The site was designed by Kristin Fisher with additional design work provided by Greg Stawicki. The copy was written by Jessica Miller. 

The MarCom Awards is a creative competition for individuals and companies involved in the concept, writing and design of print, visual, audio and web materials and programs. The mission of the MarCom Awards is to honor excellence and recognize the creativity, hard work and generosity of marketing and communication professionals. More than 6,000 entries are received each year.

BusinessVoice has been recognized with more than 100 local, regional and national awards for creative and marketing excellence. 

BusinessVoice has been recognized again for creative and marketing excellence, this time at the 2012 MARCE Award ceremonies. And, once again, it was the agency's use of humor that left an impression on the judges.

"Really great concept here. Engaging and fun, which makes it much more enjoyable to be on hold. Makes me want to come see this business," wrote one judge.

"Comforting voices. Funny and out of left field (in a good way)," commented another judge.

BusinessVoice received a Silver MARCE award for its work on behalf of Walter's Goodyear, a tire and automotive service center in Mission Viejo, California. The winning entry, titled "Visit Our Souvenir Shop," can be heard here.

"By using humor, we turn a potential negative – being on hold – into a fun and unexpected experience," said BusinessVoice Creative Director Scott Greggory. "But no matter what the mood or tone of the content, the primary goal is to meet our clients' marketing goals by providing valuable information their callers can apply."

Presented by the On Hold Messaging Association (OHMA) during its annual conference, the MARCE Awards is "the only competition that encourages and rewards creative and marketing excellence among On Hold Messaging providers exclusively." BusinessVoice has won more MARCE Awards than any other agency.

According to the OHMA website, "all entries are judged on their copy, voice, production value, and On Hold Messaging format. Special emphasis is placed on two more areas: creativity and marketing effectiveness."

BusinessVoice is pleased to announce the launch of the new Buckeye Telesystem website. 

Created by BusinessVoice's in-house web design and marketing agency, the new Buckeye-Telesystem.com features user-focused content, improved navigation, and easy access to communication solutions for specific vertical markets, including healthcare providers, legal firms and real estate professionals.

"We wanted to create a site that everyone can use as a resource," said Mike Davis, Buckeye Telesystem Director of Customer Operations. "The new Telesystem website will help businesses research our capabilities and understand our products."

Since the launch of the site on March 1, 2012, that vision has begun to manifest itself. As of mid-May 2012, the website's conversion rate (Outcomes/Unique visitors) has increased by 50%. Also, 20% of all the site's targeted keywords are ranking on the first page of each of the major search engines.

The site's blog - known as Pipe Lines - highlights technology, applications and information on how businesspeople can use modern communication tools to simplify their businesses, while improving productivity and outcomes.

"Our business has grown so much in the past several years and we were maintaining several primary microsites," said Michael Seay, Marketing Supervisor at Buckeye Telesystem. "The new Buckeye Telesystem site is not only more user friendly and aesthetically pleasing, but now consolidates all of our products and services into one convenient location for the businesses we serve."

BusinessVoice founder and President Jerry Brown has won The Silver Medal Award, the Advertising Club of Toledo’s highest honor. (Watch Jerry's acceptance speech below.)

Presented to one Ad Club member each year since 1959, the Silver Medal Award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to advertising, actively advancing the industry's standards, exhibiting creative excellence and demonstrating a commitment to social concerns.

Ad Club President Kathy Jex wrote that “When Jerry founded BusinessVoice, he helped to create a new advertising sector: on old messaging. Not many people can say they’ve been instrumental in developing an entirely new medium. And as a pioneering member and past Chairman of the international On Hold Messaging Association, Jerry helped to bring recognition and credibility to an entire industry.”

Brown was President of the Advertising Club of Toledo in 2004-2005. He also served as Vice President, ADDY Chairman and Auction Chairman, and continues to support the Club and its activities both personally and professionally.

Since Brown founded BusinessVoice in 1989 as an On Hold Marketing company, he’s grown it into a comprehensive Point-Of-Entry Marketing agency that serves thousands of client locations across the country. He is also a founding member of CEMA, the Customer Experience Marketing Alliance, a global organization dedicated to serving clients through effective Point-Of-Entry Marketing services. 

An innovative leader, a national account executive, and a man passionate about providing marketing solutions for his clients, “Jerry is an excellent example of creative entrepreneurship and community awareness,” wrote Kathy Jex. “He is a champion of our industry.”

BusinessVoice and its in-house website design, development and marketing company have been recognized once again for creative and marketing excellence. The agencies won two 2011 Gold MarCom Awards on November 8th.

The team received an award for its work on the website for Mountain View Tire, a 30-store chain of tire and automotive service centers throughout southern California. Since we re-designed, built and have been marketing the new MountainViewTire.com, the site has generated 218% more phone calls from unique, web-only phone numbers, and a 100% increase in online appointments.

We also manage Mountain View Tire’s social media and provide ongoing search engine optimization (SEO Marketing) and Website Marketing service to continually draw organic traffic to the site.

BusinessVoice also received a Gold MarCom Award for a humorous On Hold Marketing production it created for Walter’s Goodyear in Mission Viejo, California. (Watch the video version of the award-winner here.)

The agency has been acknowledged dozens of times for its funny approach to On Hold Marketing. “Often, callers will accept a company’s marketing information more readily if it’s mixed with humor,” said BusinessVoice Creative Director Scott Greggory. “Using humor on hold also works well because it’s not expected. It catches callers off guard, and then draws them in to listen more intently.”

Nick Mitsos and Mountain View Tire have been named Tire Dealer of the Year by Modern Tire Dealer magazine. MVT was selected as the 19th annual recipient of the award from more than 33,000 eligible independent tire dealers throughout North America. 

Mountain View Tire is a 30-store tire and automotive service company that serves Los Angeles and southern California. The company will celebrate its 25th year in business in 2012.

Mountain View Tire was nominated for the honor by its marketing agency, BusinessVoice. “We’ve worked with the Mitsos family and Mountain View Tire since 2005, and I can confidently say that no one is more deserving of this award,” said Scott Greggory, BusinessVoice Creative Director. A panel of judges evaluates the nominees on their business success, marketing and management skills, industry knowledge and community involvement.

“Mountain View Tire is known as the ‘home of the WOW experience,’” said Greggory. “That customer-first attitude begins at the top with [founder] Nick Mitsos, and permeates the culture. The success of their approach is reflected in the testimonials that Mountain View Tire’s customers voluntarily send in and the long-lasting relationships they’ve developed over the years.”

BusinessVoice and its in-house web company provide several Point-Of-Entry Marketing services to Mountain View, including Website Design-and-Build, Website Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, BE-Mail Email Marketing and On Hold Marketing.

Modern Tire Dealer, the magazine that presents the Tire Dealer of the Year award, has been the industry’s leading publication since 1919.

How do you typically react to being placed on hold?

With laughter?

Not likely, unless you happen to be calling a company that uses humor on hold from BusinessVoice.

(Listen to samples of Humor On Hold.)

“Humor is still underutilized in telephone applications,” says Scott Greggory, BusinessVoice Creative Director and an award-winning copywriter who’s been helping to differentiate companies with humorous On Hold Messaging for two decades.

“It’s everywhere else: on radio and TV, in print advertising and all over the Internet, but many brands have seemed reluctant to take a funny approach on hold.”

And that’s good for you, according to Greggory. He points out that your competitor’s reluctance to capitalize on humor can help your brand stand out even more distinctly when you choose to go the funny route. He says, “Humor on hold can be used very effectively to create a unique experience for callers. Not only can it be a positive surprise, it can leave a lasting impression that callers will remember and maybe even tell their friends about.”

Using Humor to Sell

“We employ humor to disguise the marketing message,” says Greggory. “It’s the audio equivalent of using a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down. When we make callers on hold giggle, we lower their defenses and make the ‘real’ message easier to swallow. And by creating a fun, enjoyable telephone environment, we increase the likelihood that people will call back.”

BusinessVoice leads the On Hold Marketing industry in its creative approach to content. We've been acknowledged nearly 100 times by local, regional, national and international creative and marketing competitions. We’ve also received more awards from OHMA – the On Hold Messaging Association – than any other member agency.

Visit the BusinessVoice Humor On Hold page here. Or for more details on how OHM can work for your company, call 866/473-9000.