Harris Marketing Solutions launched: Service aims to aid business owners in deciding what digital trend works the utmost for them

The Hutchinson News has launched a new service, Harris Marketing Solutions, to provide key digital marketing services to local businesses.

"Few business owners have the time to wade through the latest digital trends to figure out what might work for their business," said John Montgomery, publisher and editor of The News and vice president of Harris Enterprises, parent company of The News. "We know local businesses are being bombarded by companies trying to sell the latest digital marketing must-haves. Our goal is to assist them in assessing their needs and tailoring solutions that reach desired consumers."

Harris Marketing Solutions will be a service of Harris Enterprises offering a full suite of digital and traditional marketing services, including professional video and photography services, copy writing, graphic design, website development, social and search marketing, print advertising, event marketing and marketing strategy and planning.

"Our newspapers have been connecting with audiences and creating compelling content for over 140 years," Montgomery said. "It's our core competency. Seven years ago, we added the website design services of LogicMaze. Now we're expanding our marketing capabilities to include many more digital products and services. All of this puts us in a unique position to work with business owners to find the right mix of marketing to meet their goals."

The team

Harris Marketing Solutions, headquartered at The News, is led by Jenn Bertematti, a veteran of The New York Times and Time Inc. with 20 years' experience in digital media, and Chris Charlton, a 25-year veteran of Sprint and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC), the newly named director of business development for the group. Managing client service for The News is Kevin Rogg, digital solutions manager. Rogg is a veteran marketing solutions consultant at The News and has experience as a Kwik Shop store manager and account manager for Portfolio Recovery Associates in Hutchinson.

Bertematti, a Wichita native, has been developing digital products since 1995 when she launched the first website for Wichita State University's student newspaper, The Sunflower. She moved to New York in 1996 and was one of the first producers for The New York Times' website. While there, she led a team of editors, designers, developers and marketers in the launch of the first large redesign of NYTimes.com.

She later joined Time Inc.'s corporate interactive team where she headed up several of the company's biggest digital initiatives, including website redesigns for InStyle.com and EW.com, developing search engine optimization standards, launching mobile-friendly websites and creating People Magazine's first smartphone app. In 2007, she joined a digital development agency and managed digital marketing campaigns for national advertisers such as Nissan and Blue Bunny ice cream.

Bertematti moved back to Kansas in 2012 and joined Harris Enterprises as director of IT and product development. In that position she helped define the newspapers' mobile strategy, led efforts to create more efficiencies in digital publishing and introduced new digital advertising opportunities. She lives in Goddard with her husband and three children.

"I'm excited to be working with our local businesses in this new role. Even though I lived on the East Coast for almost 20 years, I never lost the pragmatic and common sense values of the heartland. I am all about getting the biggest bang for your buck," Bertematti said. "I have seen countless digital fads come and go, so I'm not about chasing the latest trend for the sake of being first. We are going to offer what we know works in our local markets and optimize that to meet each customer's unique needs."

Charlton led the national marketing efforts at Sprint during its key growth periods from 1998 to 2006, which included launching a website that generated $250 million of revenue the first year. He was also instrumental in creating Blue KC into the preeminent Blue Cross plan nationwide, garnering national attention with an innovative health care program that set the standard for businesses under 50 employees to make health insurance more affordable for their employees. President Barack Obama mentioned the program in his 2011 State of the Union address.

Other innovative products Charlton launched during his time at Sprint were text messaging, "Internet" on your mobile device and the ability to take and send a picture on your phone, items we use every day. He also used text messaging as a way for the under-35 crowd to sign up for health insurance. He was also instrumental in developing programs around the Sprint and Blue KC's sponsorships with the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals, Sporting KC and universities in the area.

A longtime resident of Kansas City, Kansas, Charlton, wife Staci and their two boys moved to her hometown of Hutchinson in 2013.

The services

"I met with a local retailer this past week on an overall marketing plan for his business," Charlton said. "He has been a print advertiser with The Hutchinson News and has wanted to grow but didn't know how or had the capacity internally to handle this. He now has the ability through this integrated marketing communications approach to target his customers with the right message, at the right time, in the right place from digital to print to social, even to skywriting."

Charlton can be reached at (620) 694-5700 or at ccharlton@harrismarketingsolutions.com.

Bertematti said Harris Marketing Solutions will be focusing its services on presence and reputation management, website design and development and targeted digital advertising.

"With presence and reputation management, we are looking at how well your business shows up online – even before consumers get to your website. If I search for your business, where do you rank compared to your competitors? Is your location information accurate? Are there reviews for your business?" Bertematti said. "With targeted digital advertising, we're working with you to deliver your message to the consumers you want to reach.

"We are also always evaluating new products and services to see what potential they have for our markets," she said. "We will add to our portfolio as we find promising new opportunities."

Harris Enterprises is a 90-year-old family-owned publishing business that includes The Hutchinson News, Salina Journal, The Ottawa Herald, Hays Daily News, The Garden City Telegram and The Hawk Eye in Burlington, Iowa.

Source: Harris Marketing Solutions launched: Service aims to aid business owners in deciding what digital trend works the utmost for them