What defines innovation for you? For your company? As we struggle with the new economy, companies with an innovative default setting (hint, it’s in their DNA, not a reaction to the economy) will not only survive, they’ll thrive. Join us for a tour around The Sign Depot in Kitchener and see how they’re using the new social landscape to leapfrog past their competition.
Does your company measure up?
The Sign Depot in Kitchener, a proud MIN member, excels at innovation. For 18 years, they’ve been working hard at building better signs and the recession is just another opportunity for this agile company to grow again. From 3-D technology to experimenting with different compounds to make a longer-lasting, more aesthetically pleasing signs, they’re moving fast to embrace new technologies.
They’re also on social media in a big way, which is how we came to shoot this video.
The Sign Depot’s secret to success
Using social media for business is no secret. According to Fuel Lines Blog, “The analysis found that 54 percent of Fortune 100 companies were using Twitter to engage with their stakeholders, while 32 percent were using a blog and 29 percent were actively using a Facebook fan page.”
Companies nimble enough to understand and leverage the power of social media will soon leapfrog past those that rely on traditional media channels.
Lisa McDonald operates the Twitter stream for The Sign Depot and uses the channel to reach out to local people, potential clients and current customers. For example, Brendan Sheenan recently tweeted that he was looking for a local digital printer. Within minutes a mutual twitter connection (Kurt Wissent), forwarded the request to the Sign Depot and Lisa made her pitch.
I interviewed Peter Moir, founder and owner of The Sign Depot. A New Dundee native, Peter founded the company 18 years ago after achieving a Fine Art degree at the University of Guelph – entrepreneur, innovator AND artist! Darin White from MakeBright, a local blogger, visited The Sign Depot as well and wrote a great post with lots of pictures.
The Sign Depot is a shining example of a manufacturer experimenting with emerging technologies, reaching their community quickly and more efficiently than their competition.
Is your company innovating in this new social world? We’d love to visit your factory and share your story with our members. Shoot us an email and let’s talk social.
Looking for newsworthy manufacturing information? Follow us on Twitter, friend us onFacebook or join our group on LinkedIn. We’d love to start collaborating and innovating with you!
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