You probably never thought a financial company would create a website that is entertaining, engaging and informative. Well think again as Quicken Loans has partnered with ePrize and taken a step forward with the launch of a virtual world Qtopia!

Qtopia is an animated, second life-style type site combining financial planning tools, information resources and community features  and is exclusive to Quicken’s 300,000 customers.

With the Marketing Team at Quicken Loans the Creative Team at ePrize developed the idea.   The first concept was much simpler, with a very small town and only a few buildings.

As the project started to develop, several different concepts were explored. At first, there was a very “cartoony” approach, but it was determined that style didn’t fit the Quicken Loans brand  appropriately. The team went back to the drawing board.

Designers took their cameras to places like downtown Northville and Plymouth, Michigan to capture their inspiration. They took pictures of places like the corner store, the local ice cream shop, and a unique historic home with a big front porch.  A big part of the project was the ability to use references from childhood memories to inspire the new and final look of Qtopia.

To explore Qtopia and for more information about Quicken Loans, please visit www.quickenloans.com

www.whatsthediff.com (Quicken Loans Blog)

http://blog.quizzle.com/ (Quizzle Blog) http://www.quickenloans-difference.com/ (Quicken Loans Difference Blog)

Filed under: Latest Postings on April 1st, 2008 | No Comments » Add Comment

The air is getting warmer, the snow is starting to melt, people are smiling more, and energy is up.  You may call this Spring Fever but around here we call it Summit Fever!

Our momentum is strong and there are only 6 days left until the hottest event in interactive marketing takes place: The Interactive Promotion Summit held in Las Vegas.

Here is a sneak peak at some of the speakers for the event: large brands such as Wendy’s, Playboy, and Coca Cola will be talking about what’s “hot and now” and the latest marketing trends in the interactive world. This is your chance to mingle and network with the top brands in the industry-we would love to see you in Las Vegas on April 30th!

Make your mark, catch some Summit Fever and change the way you think about marketing and request your invitation today!

To register for this event please visit http://www.promotionsummit.com/registration.aspx

Filed under: Latest Postings on March 26th, 2008 | No Comments » Add Comment

As I listened to the weather forecast on my slippery drive into work yesterday, I kept hearing about the “record snow” we’ve had in Michigan this February. This made me think about how records – the first, the biggest, the best – make things remarkable. If you’ve ever heard Seth Golin speak or read his books, you know that is what word-of-mouth marketing is about and what makes strong brand loyalty.

We make and break records all the time here at ePrize both for ourselves and for our clients. We know that because we measure everything. For example, last year our team drank 182,688 Coca-Cola products, used 202.8 terabytes of bandwidth, saved 110 trees by recycling and 2 of our team members got hitched. Of course, we also measure our business success, which we happily announce each year.

In 2007, we made records with:

· $49 million in total sales, a 38% YoY increase

· 184.2 million unique visitors to our promotions (in case you were wondering, if ePrize promotions players were to form a nation, it would be the 6th largest country in the world)

· 17 awards

· 67% increase in number of unique visitors to ePrize promotions

· 174 new clients

Gotta love the raw data. (Strategy team, please wipe your drool.)

(Warning: shameless plug coming) Personally, I’m trying to break our attendee record for the Interactive Promotions Summit—www.promotionsummit.com. Which, if you haven’t guessed yet, will be held at the Wynn in Las Vegas.

What records are you breaking or trying to break this year

Filed under: Latest Postings on February 27th, 2008 | No Comments » Add Comment