• by Robert Benchley , December 2, 2008

"Individuals don't sort themselves by media channel," says David Rich, senior vice president, strategic marketing, worldwide at experience marketing company George P. Johnson. Rich was explaining why his company, which has its roots as a sail-maker in the early 1900s, recently acquired mobile marketing platform MobilePromote and interactive agency JUXT Interactive.

GPJ is nothing if not adaptable. Going from making sails to making flags when the Great Lakes shipping trade dried up, and then from decorating early (really early) auto trade shows to a becoming a top-notch live marketing service for the auto industry, the firm has always crested on the tide of tech (even when tech meant rear projection lighting and plexiglass).

Integrating live marketing with the online world (what Rich and GPJ call an "Onlive" approach) is the next logical step for the company. Using the Web as a drive-to mechanism as well as for follow-up and integrating mobile into events is part of an overall integration GPJ has undertaken in recent years. Microsites and online partnerships are one step, and the plunge into social media is a part of melding live and online efforts. "We use word-of-mouth to maximize marketing investment," says Rich, "and leveraging the social media space is absolutely vital."