Contentlab Inc. Buys Downtown San Jose Site
Next Generation Agency Focuses on Building Unified Brand Messages and Implementing eCommerce Business Processes
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 16, 1999--Contentlab Inc., a new integrated marketing services firm with a focus on Internet commerce, has acquired and is renovating a 5,000 s.f. building in downtown San Jose. The facility was originally constructed as a residence by the Borchers family in 1917, and will now house professionals engaged in a hybrid blend of consulting, design and communications work.
''Contentlab brings the sensibilities of San Francisco's Multimedia Gulch and New York's Silicon Alley to San Jose,'' says Keith Kendrick, president of eCommerce Enterprises at Bank One Corporation (NYSE: ONE - news), a Contentlab client. ''These guys are pulling the best of the online and offline worlds together in ways that transform business practices. They're also creating an innovative operational space, sort of a physical portal on the virtual world, which contrasts distinctly with standard corporate fare.''
''What we wound up with is like the fusion of This Old House and The Jetsons episodes,'' says Contentlab founder Dan Post, who was most recently senior vice president of Benjamin Group Inc., the Silicon Valley's second largest independent marketing services firm. ''We have Ethernet cables in the dumbwaiter shafts and computer servers in the pantry.''
Post claims that the concept of taking something classic and renewing its context and purpose says a lot about what Contentlab does for its clients. ''It's easy to continuously introduce the next 'new' thing. It's tougher to take something with a history and reenergize it.'' Post says Contentlab's charter is to make products and companies, young and old, resonate with today's wired and impatient consumer.
Observers say Contentlab's business model is noteworthy because it defies traditional agency definitions like public relations and advertising. ''It is not tied to any one mode of expression or communications channel. The terms branding and market development probably come closest to describing their offering,'' says Joe Zarb, vice president of marketing for TopTier Software. Also a Contentlab client, TopTier is a late-stage pre-IPO company, which enables the rapid deployment of Enterprise Information Portals, an emerging category of integration systems for managing business intelligence. ''It doesn't really matter what they label their services. The people who they want to work with already get it. The new breed of 'digital change management' companies like Razorfish and Agency.com are in similar spaces, but Contentlab is a hands-on business partner that crosses a lot of lines to get the job done. They're a strategic asset,'' says Zarb.
''Brands are obviously one of the most vital corporate assets in the digital economy,'' says Bank One's Kendrick. ''But they're so much more than aesthetics and words. Brands are the result of how a company speaks to its customers and how it treats them. How it supports, influences and transacts. Contentlab knows how to design and build compelling experiences that enable customers to make good decisions. They also know that a web site is just the beginning. Companies require fundamental process changes in order to support and sustain eCommerce initiatives.''
Contentlab founder Dan Post, 40, has a unique blend of corporate, agency, entertainment and publishing experience. In addition to a portfolio of notable startups ranging from MessageMedia and NextCard to WirelessKnowledge, he's worked with companies that define their respective industries, such as Apple, Cisco, Qualcomm, News Corp., and Hewlett-Packard. He's also built identities for several leading bicycle manufacturers, including Kestrel, Voodoo and Beyond.
''Dan is a poster child for the new economy,'' says TopTier's Zarb. ''He's built several successful start-ups, edited magazines, made feature films and run both ad and PR agencies. Few of the hot new creative shops really have principals with his pedigree. He's been behind the scenes in making some pretty big things happen.''
Contentlab Inc. uses advanced Internet, multimedia and interactive technologies in concert with traditional print and broadcast mediums to promote its clients' companies, products and services. The firm also provides creativity and strategic planning workshops, as well as process consulting and training to improve customer service. Contentlab currently has eight professionals and a number of strategic partners with individual best-of-breed specialties ranging from web development and online advertising to graphic design, writing, media relations and strategic planning. Contentlab is located at 55 E. Empire Street, San Jose 95112. Tel: 408-998-CLAB. contentlab.com
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Contact:
Contentlab Inc.
Traci Calderon, 408/998-2522 ext. 110
traci@contentlab.com
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