Our approach takes The Long View™

Are you asking “why” and “what if”, or are you stuck in the “what” and “how” of business?

Do you know the true essence of your product or service offering?

 

Building a solid brand and recognition for your company takes more than a great logo or a series of clever ads. It requires a comprehensive approach and a focused strategy. But that strategy means nothing if it doesn’t align with your business strategy. Most agencies jump to the creative execution with the hopes of achieving results in the short term. Our approach takes The Long View™ — examining your Vision and Business Model in order to create lasting change for your company and meaningful relationships with your customers.

Our agency’s process is built upon the 7 common denominators of successful marketing over the past 25 years:

                1. Target profitable customers
                2. Create distinct brand positioning
                3. Translate positioning into brand personality
                4. Have a solid brand vision
                5. Develop a strong brand architecture (internal/external)
                6. Create a killer brand identity system and tagline
                7. Deliver communication plans that break through the clutter

 

The Long View™ is our process for developing and communicating a brand. The first half of the process is based upon discovery and development of the brand, the critical foundation for successful client marketing efforts. Brand discovery and positioning is conducted with our client’s CEO and senior level executives to discover the brand’s distinction, determine its most effective positioning, and ensure business strategy and brand strategy are in precise alignment. We employ our practiced and proven brand discovery process to all our client relationships.

We Employ 10 Steps to Grow Your Business:

STEP 1: Industry Trend Analysis

The saying goes “Skate to where the puck will be.” Knowing what’s happening and where you need to be is a critical first step. Change is constant and we must have the ability to accept it, learn from it, and grow with it.

STEP 2: Analyze Competitors

What are all of the factors your competitors place on your business success? Is there room for you to maneuver and where are their weaknesses? Creating a matrix with every aspect, from location and offerings, to messaging and audiences, will set a stage for creating a distinct strategy.

STEP 3: Research Your Customers

Don’t skim through this effort. Dive deep and then go deeper. After all, if your offering is not resonating and motivating, or worse, not something they need or want, then all else is futile. Create profiles for various customer types and brand touchpoints that best fit each.

STEP 4: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

Examining all of the internal and external factors of your business, favorable and not so favorable, helps guide the goals and objectives you wish to achieve. Peeling off the bandage is painful, but you can’t heal without facing the facts of who your company is and what it needs to do to grow.

STEP 5: Discover Your Brand

Together, we delve into the history, philosophy, culture and mindset of your organization. We work together to explore and discover the essence of the brand. Our goal is simple: to define your brand’s unique positioning and its evidence of distinction.

STEP 6: Set Measurable Goals

Goals should be S.M.A.R.T.—Sensible, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time Specific. These days, measuring customer engagement and loyalty is equally important as sales growth.

STEP 7: Create Integrated Marketing Plan

It’s important to be channel agnostic when doing a strategic marketing plan. A PR firm is going to push PR. And a digital agency will push digital and social media tactics. Consideration and integration of all marketing platforms along with the various channels that can be leveraged helps to optimize your marketing spend.

STEP 8: Create a Killer Brand Campaign

Take your brand’s unique attributes, mix them with your target customer personality profiles, sprinkle in some magic pixie dust of creative messaging and identity, and bake longer than you think. Just when you’re getting tired of the campaign is just when it’s starting to make an impact.

STEP 9: Measure – Adjust – Repeat

There’s going to be things that work and others not so much. Tradition says use the 80/20 rule: 80% in proven promotions, 20% in testing new variations or outlets. Modifying these percentages reflects your particular industry, brand and comfort levels.

STEP 10: What's Your Big Idea?

It can be a one-for-one business model like TOMS Shoes or Bombas Socks. Or simply the Got Milk campaign reminding us of certain foods that create a craving for milk. The point here is to find an emotional connection with your audience at a deeper level and universally communicate it through all of your brand touchpoints.