Company History

PCM Interactive (PCMI) was launched in late 2008 as an online search marketing company to take advantage of the burgeoning online world and the need to help clients improve their search presence, ranking and ultimately their return on investment on the three-billion page Internet.

PCMI builds on a long pedigree of delivering search marketing services as PCM International founded in 1995 which became a Certified Marketing Representative for national clients using Yellow Pages print directories and more recently on-line directories. With the realization that Internet search engines like Google were becoming more powerful and universally used than traditional directories like Yellow Pages, PCM International transitioned into PCMI and merged its extensive search knowledge and experience with the technical expertise of embedding effective search functionality into websites.

Early Evolution

PCM International began as a one-person, independent consultancy called Prairie Choice Marketing, launched in 1995 as a result of Elizabeth Gage's conviction that there was a better way and a better approach to create telephone directory advertising that would stand out from the generic display approach that was the standard of the day. Initially working on a laptop (often plugged into the cigarette lighter of her yellow Mazda 323), she quickly discovered a niche within Yellow Pages advertising with her cost-effective, creative and eye-catching advertisement designs. Directory clients liked the increased business leads the new approach generated, and were willing to pay a premium for this independent service.

Growth required a new development strategy, and for Prairie Choice Marketing, this meant pursuing accreditation as a Certified Marketing Representative (CMR). By becoming a CMR, PCM earned the respect of the industry and was able to place Yellow Pages advertising for its growing national client base in over 6,000 directories published by over 200 Yellow Pages publishers throughout North America. In addition, PCM's ability to place Yellow Pages advertising electronically reduced PCM's overall operating costs.

The CMR certification provided cost savings for customers as well, since PCM could now stop charging design fees, which were now offset by commissions the publishers paid PCM for their placements.

With growth came the need to provide expanded service to PCM's clients. The service diversified beyond ad layout and design to include market research, ad placement and monitoring.

Prairie Choice Marketing, originally conceived to service prairie-based Yellow Pages advertisers, needed a new name to reflect its new business reality. In 1999, Prairie Choice Marketing changed its name to PCM International Inc. to better represent its national and international business focus.
A decade later, responding to a further evolution in the search-marketing environment, the former team of PCM International reengineered a new company focused on the emerging opportunities in universal search.