Murat Shrine Circus

Kron & Associates began working with the Murat Temple on the marketing of its circus for the 1992 Indianapolis engagement.  When the relationship began, the circus had been running for over 45 years.  Ticket prices were stagnant and well below market average for event pricing, and sales to the general public, except for Shrine members, had declined to near extinction.  While the circus is only a once-a-year event with a small budget, we have seen significant results from implementing a complete overhaul of marketing.  We focused on building brand awareness and image, creating a more efficient pricing structure, developing corporate sponsors, creating a group ticket sales program and producing a series of ads, including newspaper, radio, television and out-of-home.

Quality Draperies

Corporate ownership had bankrupted the company and essentially left it for dead when a group of employees purchased the corporation.  In the wake of what had been Westfield Decorator Fashions was bad debt, angry vendors and limited customers (most customers had been unable to get work done as Westfield’s vendors stopped shipping supplies; thus the customers went elsewhere).  The resurrection of the company is due in large part to the efforts of its new owners and a commitment to customer service.  While establishing that philosophy, the company worked with Kron & Associates to develop some publicity and sales strategies along with a marketing program that would position Quality Drapery as a true service-oriented workroom. After just three months of the Kron & Associates marketing and advertising plan more leads for new customers were generated than Quality could follow-up with.  Today the program remains in place and steady continued growth has followed.  Now, one of the largest challenges is to find enough labor to support the level of sales.

Fundex Games

Fundex is a growing player in the toy and game business.  When we first started working with Fundex in 1992 they were doing approximately $1.6 million in sales, but through the use of our marketing and strategic planning Fundex reached sales topping $9.5 million.  We started with some basic collateral piece design.  Then we worked to design packaging, create publicity and buy the necessary media placements.  In 1997, Fundex shopped their national media promotion campaign and selected the proposal from Kron & Associates over larger, national players.  Kron & Associates devised third-party marketing tie-ins, national media reviews and a “road show” for the company’s attempt at an initial public offering.

Indy Saab, owned and operated by Bob Falcone and located in Indianapolis grew to become one of the largest full-service exclusive Saab dealers in the nation.  In 2001, Bob opened Saab of Fishers, a suburb north of Indianapolis, and was concerned with driving traffic to this new location without taking away traffic from the established Indianapolis location.  Through a comprehensive marketing campaign, consisting of television, radio, outdoor and direct mail, we were successful in getting Saab of Fishers to their five-year goal in only six months.

Through continuous marketing campaigns, Indy Saab and Saab of Fishers had continual growth and record sales of 20 percent growth in 2002 and 30 percent growth in 2003.  Indy Saab/Saab of Fishers grew to the 8th largest full-service exclusive Saab dealer in the nation, and monthly sales out preformed all Midwest locations including Chicago.

With 14 campus locations across the state, each with its own admissions director responsible for student enrollment, Harrison College needed a cohesive and comprehensive marketing campaign.  Kron & Associates worked through the school’s vice president of marketing to create an image standards and advertising style guide.  

Each admission director for localized promotion and recruitment utilized this guide while Kron & Associates initiated statewide campaigns.  Additionally, Kron & Associates developed independent media plans for each campus/market with input from the local director while maintaining the cohesive campaign.

Sullivan Hardware

Sullivan Hardware  & Garden, owned and operated by Pat Sullivan, has three locations in the Indianapolis area and has been in business since 1954.  One of our associates, Ted Austin, has consulted with Pat Sullivan for over 20 years.  Their relationship began when Indianapolis was closing its only “big box” hardware store, Central Hardware.

Since then, Kron & Associates has worked with Pat to create continual, comprehensive marketing campaigns consisting of radio, print, television, newsletters and, most recently, online and social media marketing.  We have been successful in generating continual annual growth even as “big box” hardware stores like Builder’s Square, Lowe’s and Home Depot have continued to enter the Indianapolis market.  We were also responsible for setting up Pat Sullivan as co-host of “Home and Garden” radio show airing on WIBC-AM each Saturday morning.  Pat has been co-hosting the show with Dick Crum for nearly 15 years.