DesignRush is a B2B marketplace that connects brands with professional full-service agencies, web design companies, digital marketing firms, direct marketing firms and top technology companies. Their platform lists over 9,300 agencies from over 50 different countries and is consulted by thousands of decision-makers looking to start a project.
“We’re excited for Nahan to be recognized for driving performance improvement for clients through our integrated suite of services,” said Alan Sherman, VP-Marketing Strategy. “We’re proud to be a true one-stop-shop for all of their direct marketing needs.
Nahan’s team of experts across strategy, data, creative, production, postal logistics and fulfillment enable our clients to successfully acquire, develop, and retain profitable customer relationships, while continuously improving Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI).
We are thrilled to announce that the Nahan website is the recipient of a W3 Gold Award in the category of General Website – Professional Services. The W3 Awards recognize digital excellence in the categories of websites, apps, social content, videos, podcasts, and marketing. Our team is incredibly excited to be awarded this honor that recognizes the hard work of our website launch team and the talents of the team at Lawrence & Schiller. This accomplishment would truly not have been possible without the collaboration of Lawrence & Schiller – a huge thank you to their dedicated team! The award win comes just one year after our website launch in October of 2019. To celebrate both our W3 Awards win and our new website’s one-year anniversary, I spoke with the members of the website launch team to gather insight on the goals and accomplishments of the website launch.
Our website launch team included the following Nahan team members
Melissa Fransen (Marketing Manager)
Aaron Weekes (Director of Business Support Services)
Curt Tillotson (Chief Operating Officer)
Jim Hesch (Client Service Team Leader)
Adam Rohde (Department Leader – IT)
John Klumb (Vice President of Sales and Marketing)
Brenda Blonigen (Senior Account Manager)
Joseph Jachimiec (Security Administrator)
Our Nahan website launch team (from left to right): Melissa Fransen, Aaron Weekes, Curt Tillotson, Jim Hesch, Adam Rohde, John Klumb, Brenda Blonigen, and Joseph Jachimiec
What were some of your goals with the new website?
Melissa: We wanted our website to represent Nahan and our brand, be SEO (Search Engine Optimization)-focused, and be optimized for lead generation. We also wanted it to focus on our people, thought-leadership, and our culture.
John: One of my goals was to have a robust group of blogs available that would be added to on a regular basis. My hope was that this would drive repeat visitors and make us known as a leader in providing valuable content. Thanks to the efforts of many, this is a reality.
What did you enjoy most about the process of relaunching the website?
Aaron: I really enjoyed identifying and creating the profiles of people using the website. The process really helped us understand the content that different consumers would want to know and the best way to tell our story to them. It was a great exercise that Lawrence & Schiller helped us through.
Lawrence & Schiller: It was a unique and rewarding experience to work with our long-time print partner and help them to create a website that is as innovative as they are. For a business who is always dedicated to producing the best work, it was great to turn the tables and put the focus on Nahan.
Brenda: I thoroughly enjoyed learning how much it takes to create a website and the intricate parts of it. It was a great learning experience for me. The Nahan and Lawrence & Schiller team members were so knowledgeable and I learned so much from all of them. They were fun, creative, great thinkers, and such a joy to work with. Wow! Such amazing people.
Does anything in particular stand out to you as something cool or noteworthy you learned during the process?
Jim: I thought it was pretty cool how easy it was to add content. We were able to add some awesome pictures to our website. I’m happy that it’s able to show some friendly team faces.
Melissa: It was a fun process as to how our team built the site tailored to all of the different personas of people who come to the site – from job seekers to community members to customers to print professionals that have been in the industry their entire career to print newbies. There is something for everyone and we continue to build blogs tailored to all of the different people that come to our website.
Adam: I loved the cross-department collaboration that went into the build. The chance to highlight individuals and show who we are was probably my favorite part of the process.
Lawrence & Schiller: Nahan assembled the perfect team to tackle this project. When I say perfect, I really mean that. It was a diverse group of folks from multiple departments and parts of the business, but the special part was how focused their team was when it came to decision-making. As L&S led discussions on vision, audience, content, design and functionality – the Nahan team (time and time again) would collaborate and reach a final, definitive direction on where they wanted to go. This was also a nod to Melissa who had a passion for innovation but a commitment to team.
From your perspective, what was the most difficult challenge you faced during the launch?
Aaron: We took the approach to start from scratch instead of just improving the current site. This was challenging because it took time and caused us to rethink everything, but it was worth the investment.
Joseph: The Nahan team was so fun to work with, and Melissa was a great team lead, so I honestly don’t remember any particularly difficult challenges. Lawrence & Schiller was top-notch, very friendly, talented, and professional. I’m just glad I was able to play a part in the launch from a security perspective, as well as helping with the design, photography, and content. It’s a great website!
Brenda: My greatest challenge was just to understand the whys behind the creative portion of what we were trying to accomplish. How exactly information pulls into a website was a mystery to me, but so very interesting learning this.
Curt: The most difficult part of the process was deciding which words we wanted to make sure that we mentioned on the site so that we show up on Google searches. It was a daunting task, but Melissa and our team at Lawrence & Schiller showed us how to work through it.
What made you the most proud during the process of launching the website?
John: I am proud of the fact the new website does such a great job of conveying who we are and what Nahan is and that we’re not just a printer.
Jim: I’m proud of our collaboration and brainstorming sessions. And then we would all get together with each addition and review . . . oh my, I love smart people.
Lawrence & Schiller: Adding the photo/video shoot to this project really made the website go from “great” to “award winning”. Nahan’s decision to invest in capturing the company culture, people and processes through photography and videography allowed L&S to design a website that was modern, forward-thinking and simply different from your typical print shop. The website truly delivers on its promise of being world-class.
Curt: Our Nahan team that brainstormed our website was amazing. They brought energy, creativity, and competency to the project well beyond what I ever could have imagined. They worked as a team and got it done.
Feel free to explore our website and let us know what you think!
Bio: Camille Lehmann is on the Marketing team and started with Nahan in January of 2020. Camille is responsible for assisting in Nahan’s marketing strategies and goals. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Marketing with a specialization in Project Management. In her spare time, Camille enjoys writing, going to coffee shops, and spending time with friends and family.
SAINT CLOUD, MN – May 6, 2019– Nahan was honored to attend the Annual PIM Star Awards in Minneapolis, MN on Thursday, April 26. This event celebrates the Midwest’s leaders in print.
During the awards ceremony, Nahan was honored to receive two Awards of Recognition for Print Excellence in the following categories: Variable-Data Digital Printing and Digital Printing – Brochures & Booklets. Nahan also received recognition for the categories of Product Catalogs, Booklets, and Promotional Campaigns.
In addition to receiving Awards of Recognition for their printed pieces, five of Nahan’s team members were recognized as Nahan’s nominees for the Customer Service and Production Professional of the Year Award. Nahan’s nominees were: Amanda T., Lori S., Ernie K., Jenny C., and Samantha M. Nahan was proud to nominate these individuals based on the following criteria that was given as testimony of their work:
Going above and beyond in daily work
Being proactive on new opportunities in the workplace
Empowering and encouraging other employees to grow
“We are very fortunate to have a team of really talented people at Nahan. I don’t think I can express in ways that would do justice, the level of collaboration and service excellence I get the honor of experiencing every day with these individuals. These five individuals are driven, present in the moment, self-directed, and take pride in their work. They represent Nahan in the best possible way and I look forward to working with them every day,” said Jim Hesch, Department Leader of Customer Service.
About PIM
PIM, Printing Industry Midwest, is a trade association representing the graphic arts and communication companies in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. They add value to companies that provide print, graphic communication services, market or manufacture supplies for the printing industry. The mission of PIM is to be the leading resource to enhance the strength and profitability of the printing, graphic communications and related industries through advocacy, education, safety, and environmental information.
