Marketing and Communications Case Studies

• Greening the Brand of a Leading Recycled Building Products Manufacturer

• Securing the Success of an Information Security Recruitment Firm

• Defending and Expanding Global Market Leadership

• Taking a Market Leader to New Heights

 

Greening the Brand of a Leading Recycled Building Products Manufacturer

Client Profile
The client’s structural fiberboards made from 98 percent recycled materials have been unique in the North American construction industry with its strongest markets being commercial, multi-family residential and institutional buildings. The company’s products’ recycled composition has also found strong acceptance in the rapidly emerging green building market.

Challenge
The client had widespread name recognition in the industry due to its longevity as a century-old manufacturer, but lacked nominal market penetration beyond several established regional markets. Though its recycled products were primed for market expansion in an environmentally-focused era, client’s brand was unfocused and suffered from inconsistent marketing.

Solution
Creative Marketing Alliance (CMA) developed a marketing plan based on a CMA Marketecture™ strategic analysis session with Homasote management as well as additional market research including a nationwide electronic survey of architects and general contractors, the primary target audiences.

Logo/Brand identity

A new, contemporary corporate logo and brand design were created and carried through all of the company’s print and digital marketing communications.

Re-positioning/Messaging

CMA re-positioned the company as the “premium performance alternative” to higher priced competitors—in other words, a position at the bottom of the top market as opposed to the top of the bottom. Strong brand messaging was developed to drive a marketing campaign leveraging the company’s differentiated status as the nation’s leading manufacturer of recycled building products, with superior and independently tested sound control attributes.

Print advertising

Print advertising in architectural, construction and green building trade media positioned Homasote boards as the solution to the number one and number two sources of construction lawsuits—inadequate sound control and mold.

Corporate and product brochures

A new corporate capabilities brochure covering all the company’s products was created with an inside back cover pocket to hold individual product sell sheets and brochures dedicated to specific target markets.

Public relations/e-Newsletter

CMA PR focused on communicating third party test results to the industry as well as creating a steady stream of company case studies for placement in construction and architectural trade media. A bi-monthly e-newsletter, updated clients and prospects on products, projects, independent testing and success stories.

CMA has strategically overhauled the company’s brand identity to power its marketing direction into the company’s second century, resulting in a transformational impact in the marketplace and on the company’s bottom line.

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Securing the Success of an Information Security Recruitment Firm

Client Profile

The client is a national personnel recruitment firm specializing in Information Security, one of the fastest growing segments of the IT industry.

Challenge

Despite its leadership position, the client faced increasing competition from large generalist recruiting firms with limited Information Security expertise, but with the competitive edge of receiving soup-to-nuts recruitment contracts with Fortune 2000 corporations.

Solution

Sales folder

CMA created a new folder targeting both corporate clients and Information Security Professional candidates which spotlighted the client’s impressive track record in recruiting superior candidates and supported the client’s penetration of a specialized market niche.

Tradeshow booth

CMA developed a tradeshow booth to mirror and support other marketing communications through a unified brand design and messaging which advanced the client’s tradeshow marketing objectives and successes.

Website

The client’s website was revamped to align with its folder and tradeshow booth. The improved graphics and copywriting boldly emphasized the company’s specialized strengths pertaining to candidate selection and retention, which resulted in increased hits from recruitment candidates.

CMA’s integrated marketing campaign strategically positioned the client as the leading Information Security Recruitment company and effectively communicated the benefits of working with a specialized recruiting firm. The increased visibility and marketplace awareness have buttressed the client’s core market claim of having the best candidate selection and the highest hire/retention rates in the field.

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Defending and Expanding Global Market Leadership

Client Profile

The client is a recognized world leader in research animal caging systems to ensure safety and comfort for both animals and research personnel, the company leverages four decades of proven performance and innovation in more than 10,000 installations worldwide at many of the most prestigious research facilities.

Challenge

Defend and expand the client’s global leader position in a growing market for infectious disease research (i.e. AIDS, Avian Flu) and increased competition from European cage manufacturers.

Solution

Global trade advertising campaign

Driven by global trade print advertising, an integrated marketing campaign positioned the client as the provider of choice for customized research animal housing and airflow control solutions. Advertising included a series of animated new product banner ads developed for the client’s website.

Sales material and tradeshow booth

CMA also developed an expansive, sleek and futuristic tradeshow booth with ample room for displaying a variety of caging systems as well as public and private sales areas.

External publication

CMA’s comprehensive design and editorial makeover of the client’s one-color newsletter transformed the publication into a four-color flagship magazine focused on product innovations, lab design trends and customer case studies.

CMA’s marketing and creative strategies have been highly effective in launching new airflow equipment as well as a number of proprietary and patented caging system innovations. The campaign has defended the client’s market leadership in North America and rapidly built market share in Europe, keeping the client at the forefront of the research animal housing industry.

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Taking a Market Leader to New Heights

Client Profile

The client offers container sales, rental and leasing services with distribution centers across the United States and globally as North America’s largest manufacturer of intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) and drums for overland shipping of primarily chemical- and solvent-based products.

Challenge

Position a domestic market leader for future growth against consolidating regional and global competitors, while introducing the new container e-tracking software which utilizes barcode and radio-frequency identification (RFID) technologies to enhance the client’s value proposition and competitive differentiation.

Solution

Event management/CD-ROM

CMA orchestrated a news conference in conjunction with the client’s grand opening of an IBC distribution supercenter in the Midwest, which attracted media coverage from trade publications as well as regional newspapers, radio and cable television. CMA also wrote and produced a CD-ROM on the future of industrial packaging and logistics for the company president’s presentation at a major tradeshow in New Orleans, which generated substantial trade media coverage.

Public relations

The public relations team developed a launch press kit targeting industry trade publications and reaching the new software’s potential customers. CMA also researched editorial calendars to tie the new software’s supply chain e-technology into planned editorial calendar topics, proactively pitched the story and coordinated interviews with company spokespersons and the media.

Trade print advertising

Trade print ads creatively focused on single metaphoric objects such as a boomerang to underscore the technology’s ability to track a container’s position in the distribution chain at any given point in time and seamlessly facilitate its return to its point of origin.

As a result, the story was highlighted in numerous feature and cover stories that included quotes from the lead spokesperson, new product mentions and round-up stories in each of the top publications which reached the client’s target audiences. The client also received a number of inquiries and sale leads from significant potential customers as a result of the public relations and advertising strategies, accelerating the sales cycle and enhancing business opportunities.

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