Leading Global Consumer Goods Manufacturer Turns to Northridge for Marketing Intranet Solution

Northridge Interactive, the interactive design and marketing division of Northridge Systems, is pleased to announce the recent implementation of a new Marketing Intranet Portal for Newell Rubbermaid that is based on the Microsoft SharePoint platform. Leveraging tools such as the new centralized Marketing Intranet Portal, Newell Rubbermaid is striving to develop a common culture encompassing the various consolidated companies that have become part of Newell Rubbermaid over time.

As part of the overall SharePoint deployment led by the Northridge team, Northridge Interactive created a comprehensive branded and integrated user experience design for the Newell Rubbermaid Marketing Intranet leveraging various brand product images and cohesive branding elements, aiding in user adoption. The Microsoft SharePoint platform provides an excellent foundation for client intranets, customer portals, and public websites, and features the ability to highly configure and customize both the platform capabilities as well as the user interfaces.

The Newell Rubbermaid Marketing Intranet on the Microsoft SharePoint platform serves as a central repository for documents, presentations and other marketing materials that were formerly found in disparate locations across the various consolidated companies. The Marketing Intranet not only facilitates efficiencies in the fluid exchange of ideas and concepts, it also ensures common marketing language and processes across the organization, resulting in a more integrated and efficient marketing community. Due to the success of the Marketing Intranet project, Newell Rubbermaid looks to additional brand intranet and public website projects with Northridge on the Microsoft SharePoint platform.

“Our project with Newell Rubbermaid helps to illustrate how we can now push the design envelope of the user interface on top of SharePoint” commented Stephen Love, Group President of Northridge Interactive. “The success of this project is heavily tied to whether the users will adopt the tools; being able to create a site with SharePoint that is compelling visually and easy-to-use helps ensure that success.”

“Working on the Newell Rubbermaid project was an exciting opportunity to work with a client with specific business drivers,” commented Michael Kler, Project Management Director at Northridge. “Newell Rubbermaid used a combination of existing functionality with custom features to unite the various divisions and allow effective and timely collaboration. Although function was important, Newell Rubbermaid also requested an engaging look and feel that presented more like a public website than a corporate intranet. The challenge was an exciting one, and the effort will pay dividends for user adoption.”

About Newell Rubbermaid
Newell Rubbermaid Inc., an S&P 500 company, is a global marketer of consumer and commercial products with sales of over $6 billion and a strong portfolio of brands, including Rubbermaid®, Sharpie®, Graco®, Calphalon®, Irwin®, Lenox®, Levolor®, Paper Mate®, Dymo®, Waterman®, Parker®, Goody®, Bernzomatic® and Amerock®. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., and has approximately 22,500 employees worldwide.

About Northridge Interactive
Northridge Interactive (www.northridgeinteractive.com) is the interactive marketing and design division of Northridge Systems. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Northridge Interactive provides an array of services including interactive strategy consulting, branding, web design, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) user interface design, e-newsletter design, Flash and Silverlight interactive applications, and search engine marketing (organic optimization and pay-per-click).

About Northridge Systems
Northridge Systems, Inc. (www.northridge.com) is a privately held professional services firm focused on delivering high-caliber technology consulting and managed services on the Microsoft platform. Founded in 1999, Northridge Systems is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and one of the leading Microsoft partners in the Southeast. The company delivers value-added services in the areas of Business Intelligence (BI), Corporate Portals, Custom Development, and IT Infrastructure. Northridge Systems is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and provides services to clients throughout the United States.

Northridge Systems’ clients range from well-established firms to Global 2000 companies and include industry-leaders such as Acuity Brands, Atlanta Gas Light, CARE, Carter Real Estate, Cousins Properties, FootSmart, Georgia Pacific, Gold Kist, Harry Norman Realtors, Johnson Industries, Naturally Fresh, Newell Rubbermaid, ReMax, The Athlete's Foot, Time Warner Cable, TitleMax, Trout Unlimited, SCANA Energy, Smithsonian Institution, and W.C. Bradley.

In assisting clients to reach their business goals, Northridge Systems leverages leading-edge Microsoft technologies including Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS), SQL Server, Microsoft .NET Framework, Windows Server, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF), and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF).

For more information regarding this press release, you may contact Monica Yano via email at myano@northridgeinteractive.com.