Happy 25th Anniversary to Markitects

Let’s start at the beginning…

You could say that marketing for technology products officially started in 1984 (when I was just starting my career in marketing) with the mind-blowing Apple Computer Super Bowl ad—clearly a watershed moment for Apple, if not the entire industry. The meteoric rise of Apple, Microsoft, IBM and other technology leaders of the day incited a revolution—and the eventual birth of an entire industry—one comprised of hardware, software, distribution, service, and R&D companies of all types, started by individuals and financed by the venture capital community. Who wouldn’t want to be part of these exciting times?

Prior to this moment, the marketing done by technology, science, and engineering companies was terrible, if it even existed. Marketing in its purest form was for consumer products. Then came the creative, risky approaches from Apple (even though still a consumer company, more so than B2B, at the time). Naturally, as the industry grew, everyone wanted to be like Apple—and I wanted to play a significant role in the marketing of burgeoning products and companies throughout the Philadelphia region.

I started pursuing my concept—that of helping to launch technology companies—in the early 1990s, first as a consultant, and later as a marketing agency. In November of 1994, I incorporated as Markitects, Inc., the ‘architects of marketing’, indicating that we were true designers, builders, and constructors of great marketing programs. My company name also emphasizes marketing as the discipline, and technology as the category of clients we initially served and the methods I used to market their products. Early on, most of our clients were in the technology field; now, we work with a variety of B2B clients in industrial, engineering, science, finance, and professional services.

One thing I knew for certain was that in order for my little firm to be sustainable and grow, the name had to be timeless. To this day, I get dozens of compliments about my company name—and how it says it all. The current logo (our 2nd) is comprised of a lower-case m and a growth arrow. The m is lower case because we are a service firm, secondary to our clients’ needs, which are primary. The red swish, which breaks up as the growth climbs ‘off the charts’, indicates the unlimited potential that we work toward, for our clients. As you can tell, I believe in company names and logos that have meaning.