About Our SEM Agency
1997
Context Control, Ltd. began in 1997 when founded as Fine Brand Media, Inc. by Rian Schmidt. Mr. Schmidt had worked in roles ranging from Information Services team leader to Internet marketing and technology consultant for clients including Silicon Graphics and Macromedia during the peak of the Internet bubble in Silicon Valley in the 1990s.
Fine Brand Media, Inc. was started in 1997 to address the need for a solid, stable resource to support the rapidly expanding application of Internet technologies in both marketing and operations. Focusing on the design and management of large, complex sites, Fine Brand Media found customers in both start-ups and Fortune 500 clients including Hewlett-Packard, Lucent, Fujitsu, and many others.What is SEM?
SEM or Search Engine Marketing is a term used loosely to refer to many functions of interactive marketing on the Web.
While, strictly speaking, SEM deals with your presence on the search engines, the increasing integration of other ad channels with search vendors means it can also refer to general Web marketing activities as well.
2004
By the time of the collapse of the Internet bubble, Fine Brand Media had begun to specialize in providing search engine optimization (SEO) services, including pay-per-click (PPC) campaign management, to companies including The New York Times, MGM Studios, and BrassRing. Mr. Schmidt's desire to develop this growing specialization in a more consultative management role led to his decision to divide the company into Fine Brand Media, Inc. as a search engine marketing (SEM) service provider and Collaborint Web Management Services as a hands-on website design and maintenance service provider, an independent company led by the experienced former Fine Brand Media managers of those operations.2007
Most recently, further evolution of the company away from hands-on media development-- and a move to the Pacific Northwest-- led us to change our name to Context Control, Ltd. Context Control refers to the ability of the interactive marketer to insinuate their message into the existing context of the interactive technology user. Whether using a cell phone or browser, the user's existing process and environment must be understood and influenced rather than expected to conform to marketers' desires. The term arises from computer networking and also implies some of the organization and technological leverage that are critical to managing the complex flows of information involved in the management and analysis of a significant PPC campaign.
Context Control, Ltd. has developed processes and tools from our experience in managing millions of dollars of PPC spend each year. Our tools and reporting applications are custom-developed and tuned to each client's specific needs. We do not sell our services to a client only to deliver them to a low-level employee for daily management. Mr. Schmidt is involved with each client's account on a daily basis.
As Principle Consultant, Mr. Schmidt takes personal responsibility for the complete satisfaction of our clients. He holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.
