Looking in the Rear View Mirror – Part 2

Even though I am not on vacation this week, I wanted to continue a nostalgic look into eTapestry. When one mentions marketing and advertising around our office usually Steve Rusche is not far behind. I think you enjoy his parade of our advertising. The Non-Profit world sure seemed to like many of them!

Last week John Moore gave you a glimpse of the early days of the eTapestry application. This week we look back at some or our early eTapestry ads, which helped get us the exposure needed to launch our fledgling company.

The first eTapestry ads were literally "homemade". It didn’t take us long to realize that we needed something a little different if we were going to get recognized in the very competitive fundraising software sector. So we began a relationship with a local advertising agency, Young and Laramore, to help us build our advertising.

We had a number of challenges in the early days. First, we had a radically different product for that time – a web-based database. Second, we were the new kid on the block and had to battle the skepticism some folks had of a start-up organization. So our ads needed to convey our unique product and at the same time make us look like a professional, established company.

As you can see, we took a very creative approach to our ads. We wanted them to be eye-catching, simple, different, and with a little humor. It fit our company. We were – and continue today – a group that likes to look at things a little differently and to have some fun along the way as well. Here's a sampling of some of our ads over the years.

This is one of several ads that invited folks to attend one of the first "online seminars". Today online seminars are a common tool for all types of services.

This ad series highlighted the differences between "traditional software" and our web-based, online software.

A more recent ad promoted an offer to get organizations up and running quickly.

Our most recent ads continue the eTapestry tradition of fun, different ads with a specific message. In this case, illustrating the symbiotic nature of the relationship we have with clients. Our success depends on their success.

I hope you have enjoyed a brief look at our advertising history. You can continue to expect something different from eTapestry in the future. We are already at work on something special for 2010!

Steve Rusche
Chief Operation Officer