To stand out you must actually stand
for something specific.
Which usually means giving up something. Brands that try to be all things to all people aren’t really brands. Like our clients, it was true for us too. We suffered through Fortune 500 bureaucracy to prepare us for a higher calling. By design, we choose to work exclusively for midsize brands.
Our involvement transcends the typical agency. In our world, marketing is bigger and more comprehensive than the next ad. We partner on aspects of your business like sales, channel strategy, internal branding, financial modeling and product development. The result is a refreshingly unique approach, rooted in years of successes and lessons learned while working with brands of all sizes. It’s absolutely what it takes to battle behemoths for consumer love and shelf space with far fewer resources. If you can’t outspend the market leaders, outthink them.
Why do we do it? It’s in our DNA. We love to overcome obstacles. We love to build brands. We are just plain competitive. And, there’s nothing more satisfying than to take down Goliath with purposeful boldness and a single big idea.
While the term "engagement" is not new, how we apply it is.
Typically, engagement is either a loose buzzword that reflects a brand's need to involve consumers and/or the end-user (big deal), or used more recently in discussions exclusively around Social Media (narrowly tactical). Our concept is broader, more holistic and proven...
What Does This Entail? A multi-phase process that approaches true engagement as mandatory for success in a deliberate manner, escalating a brand's importance and value. This is the single best way to level the playing field against those with deeper pockets or resources.
Steps include:
Listening / Actionable Insights
Start with wisdom, not conjecture. If you are going to engage the consumer, you have to understand what matters to them, what needs aren’t being met, what they really care about – and just how much. Why should they care about THIS brand more than rationally expected? Why should they care about price less?
Core Brand Development
Utilize the insights gained to create a tight, single focused brand (traditional branding) and a rationale to exist in a cluttered world. Represent something bigger than the sum of the ingredients. Zag where others zig.
StoryTelling
Dare to tell a more compelling big idea/ single story
that supports the entire plan and work a storyline that transcends USP and feature/benefit. From learnings
this must create reasons for further conversation AND
be expansive enough that you don’t need to reinvent
every year or for every tactic. When you nail this,
you will know it.
Bottom Up Strategy & Execution
The efforts of the first three elements handled properly allow for a natural roadmap to reach the endpoint successfully, and a targeted, more narrowcast effort to execute outbound communication. Often this works backwards from point of decision. Limited objectives should be defined so that the "win" is not speculative and all elements are supportive.
Meaningful Conversation
Are the right tools in place to facilitate and improve this conversation? This is often where social media and aspects of interactive itself are utilized. Can the brand tell a story from a PR POV that is worth covering. Brands that create conversations are the only ones that matter – or can afford to thrive today.
Trade / Channel Whitespace
Consistent with the core brand, how do you get often-cynical trade and middlemen to see a brand as bigger and necessary? Have key players been engaged BEYOND “the norm” to understand why THEIR customers will care more and raving fans will demand the brand.
Internal Consciousness & Advocacy
Most companies screw up their own brands. Honestly. How do you make it simple for those in your organization who are outward facing to carry the same message, understand deeper brand meaning, NOT resort to the “tools of desperation” and work in ways that don’t destroy a brand?
Retention / Reward
How do we utilize the conversations and the ideas of raving fans to re-energize the cycle, tighten the message further and provide them with the next installment that they are craving? Are we capturing this information in a way that shapes the future? We start over at step 1 – listening to the fans that mean the most and respond.