&Marketing recently helped an established company craft the logo and brand identity for a new, separate endeavor using Storytelling & Branding.

Business Challenge Summary

&Marketing’s client, Freya Systems, is developing a new brand called Allvaldi as a launching pad for a product strategy separate from their base business. Allvaldi will commercialize web and mobile applications initially focused on the inspection and maintenance space for pipelines, infrastructure, and aviation, with the eventual aim to broaden the platform.

Allvaldi’s name is based on a giant from Norse mythology, commonly known as Ivaldi or Alvaldi. The sons of Ivaldi were master craftsmen who created tools for the gods, and the client saw this new company as a digital smith forging powerful tools for their customers. They came to us with a desire to develop a brand that communicated this narrative, while also conveying a sense of modernity and fun.

&Marketing’s Approach

Before any design work began, we scheduled a working session with Allvaldi where we could understand their background, their audience, and their goals for the company. During this working session we utilized a unique combination of Donald Miller’s Storybrand Framework, along with a Brand Archetypes exercise. This allowed us to uncover who their customer is, what problem(s) they face, how Allvaldi is uniquely positioned to guide them to a solution, and how they can help their clients find their ‘happily ever after.’

Once we established that narrative, it was important for Allvaldi to know their place in the story. We shared the twelve Brand Archetypes (applied to marketing by Margaret Mark and Carol S. Pearson) with Allvaldi, and through a combination of a Narrative Marketing Outline and supplemental questions, were able to determine the Archetypal Guide their customers need.

In this case, their customer is seeking to minimize human error in inspections and reporting in order to focus on the things AI and programming can’t do. The guide they are looking for is one who understands the need to control the mundane (Ruler) in order to have the freedom to create the magnificent (Creator). Once the story (and their place in it) was established, the work of creating their visual identity could begin.

Here is our typical process for crafting a brand’s visual identity:

• Develop 8-10 concepts of a logo based on the Narrative Marketing Outline and Brand Archetypes
• Share with the client and narrow down to one design
• Refine the chosen design based on client feedback
• Share with the client, receive final feedback, and finish logo

Once the logo was approved, we moved on to create their brand guide. Here is our typical process for developing a brand guide:

• Select 3-5 color palette and font pairing options, and provide samples for the client using the finalized logo and lorem ipsum text
• Share with the client and narrow down to one color palette and font pairing
• Take the selected color palette, font pairing, and logo to create the brand guide
• Share the brand guide with the client
• Package and deliver the guide, logo, and font files

Results

Allvaldi received a visual identity that was congruent to their audience and what they are looking for in a guide. With their brand identity firmly in place, Allvaldi can now confidently launch into the marketplace with an engaging and consistent look and feel.

Additionally, the client is also confidently equipped with a strong sense of their own brand personality and can move forward with additional marketing strategies with clarity and consistency.

About &Marketing:

&Marketing provides the robust outsourced marketing department growing companies need without the high overhead costs of big agencies or full-time employees. Our variable model empowers businesses to reach their growth goals through access to the guidance and expertise of senior level strategists and a flexible execution team.

Our client partner is a distributor of industrial equipment with over 15 years of experience. Just prior to engaging &Marketing, they had rebranded and launched a new website. As a smaller company swimming in a sea of dominant, larger distributors, their differentiation was based on exceptional service and going above and beyond for their clients.

Business Challenge Summary

The primary problem this partner faced was a result of the company’s decision to change its name during rebranding. The client partner knew they needed marketing help, but they weren’t sure what specific mix of marketing assistance would be most appropriate. We worked with them to help them identify what they needed at a high level: a coordinated marketing program to target specific industry users to promote brand recognition and adoption.

&Marketing’s Solution

Here’s what we did to address their needs:

• Our web development team got to work rebuilding industry and product pages on their website, which would be used to drive engagement for their specialty areas.
• Next, we created a blog with compelling content that helped share their personality and uniqueness. This client’s ‘human-ness’ and service-oriented approach were the business traits that would set them apart from everyone else in their industry. The blog was the perfect way to give them a unique voice and set them apart.
• We implemented a Google AdWords campaign that began with broad strokes, then narrowed our scope to focus on more meaningful traffic.
• We helped them create an eCommerce platform using Shopify, so customers could interact directly with their site.
• We supported an industry trade show with planning assistance prior to the event, demo facilitation during, and follow-up after the conclusion of the show.

&Marketing Pro-Tip

Don’t forget the “after!” after a trade show. So often, the relief of getting througha trade show can overshadowthe need to check backin at the conclusion of the event, but the follow-up is just as important as the prep work. For example, doing simple things after a show can have a huge impact. Recap the trade show on your blog, share through social media, and send those you met a personal email with a link to your blog.

Ongoing Support and Execution

Lead generation drives our support, which includes consistent follow through and nurturing contacts with consistent email campaigns. So far, we’ve been able to increase our partner’s site traffic and pipeline by 2x using these methods. We also offer continual analytics and reporting, which allows us to enhance and change tactics as needed. Monitoring site traffic, engagement, bounce rate and that pathway of potential customers can help us improve in real time, as we go.

We at &Marketing offer something bigger firms can’t: Flexibility. We are limber and can pivot as needed while keeping an eye on your budget throughout. The support tactics we use vary based on each client’s individual needs shift. Let’s face it: Things are always changing in a fast-paced world, is your marketing team keeping pace?

About &Marketing:

&Marketing provides the robust outsourced marketing department growing companies need without the high overhead costs of big agencies or full-time employees. Our variable model empowers businesses to reach their growth goals through access to the guidance and expertise of senior level strategists and a flexible execution team.

When facing an emergency, more and more people use online searches to find services for help. The digital landscape is filled with information, and business owners must have a compelling online presence to compete in today’s technology-driven world and ‘break through’ the clutter. Fortunately, &Marketing has experience in helping such a business as part of our ‘win-win’ model.

Business Challenge Summary

&Marketing’s client partner is a professional services franchise specializing in damage repair for businesses and homes. The franchise operates under strict geographical restrictions, limiting the scope of all marketing work. The owner of the local franchise, who had been in business since the 1980’s, struggled with limited technical knowledge, exclaiming, “All I know is that phone isn’t ringing as much as it used to!”

&Marketing’s Solution

Up front, &Marketing: 

• Reviewed the franchise’s online presence (which was basically invisible in a sea of competition).

• Conducted a business review (employee interviews and secondary research).

• Comprehensively upgraded their online presence, tracking, and reporting:

• Revamped their social media presence on platforms such as Google My Business, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Yelp so that everything was updated and accurate.

• Installed a phone call tracking software to attribute calls to their original sources (social media, website, etc).

• Installed Google Analytics & Ads to fully capture all inbound traffic and built audiences, and mapped out advertisements.

• Developed a monthly tracking report to review key performance indicators.

&Marketing then used this information to execute a two prong marketing strategy plan to help this business grow: 

1) Content Creation & Distribution:

• Developed a content strategy (including case studies, tips, and employee profiles) to target several B2B and B2C customer groups through personal outreach, social media, and targeted email.
• Organized these campaigns into a cohesive execution calendar based on the seasonal nature of the business so that potential website visitors could find the franchise quickly when needed.

2) Digital Advertising:

• Ran zip code specific Google AdWords, Bing advertising, and social media campaigns to target particular services.
• Boosted the traffic to the client’s website (when appropriate) – which increased inbound phone calls (that were being tracked and logged.

Results

The client partner experienced a 30%+ increase in year over year sales and improved their online image through site traffic, social media likes, and positive reviews. The data from the call tracking software also led to insights on how to better target the franchise’s customers. Most importantly, we have built a trusted ‘win-win’ relationship with our client that encourages both sides to constantly look for ways to foster continued growth.

 “The team from &Marketing has been fantastic to work with! I’ve been in business for 30+ years, and have noticed a complete change in how customers search for my service. The team took the time to understand my business, and are now executing a digital marketing program to improve my businesses’ visibility with my prospects. They’ve done a mix of blog posts, Google presence, paid advertising, and social media… its made a difference. My business is up at least 30% since I started working with &Marketing”

 — MARY P., FRANCHISE OWNER

About &Marketing:

&Marketing provides the robust outsourced marketing department growing companies need without the high overhead costs of big agencies or full-time employees. Our variable model empowers businesses to reach their growth goals through access to the guidance and expertise of senior level strategists and a flexible execution team.

The US construction industry remains a highly competitive market, creating challenges for competing firms to differentiate themselves. Meanwhile, many of these companies don’t have the internal capacity to learn modern marketing well because of understaffing, lack of knowledge, and complex marketing jargon. On the bright side, over the past year, &Marketing has been able to support the acceleration of a rapidly growing construction firm through a combination of marketing strategy & execution by overcoming these challenges.

Business Challenge Summary

&Marketing’s client partner is a manufacturer that supplies capital equipment to the US construction industry. The client had seen swift growth in the past two years based on the internal team’s industry experience and network, but was concerned about plateauing. The organization wanted to ensure they were standing out in a sea of competitors to continue this growth at a steady pace, so they turned to &Marketing for help with an outsourced solution.

&Marketing’s Solution

&Marketing started work by developing a fundamental understanding of the complexities during the purchasing process in the construction industry. The & team interviewed client team members to gather a greater understanding of ins and outs of the construction business and followed it with a structured market study of current and potential decision-makers (procurement, construction managers, company leadership). &Marketing mapped each decision maker, their selection and purchase criteria (beyond competitive price), and where each gathered information about new products, services, and vendors. Based on this, &Marketing developed a playbook which linked their strategy to a set of execution tactics and aligned the internal leadership team to it.

The &Marketing team focused initial activation efforts on the firm’s website by updating the company’s basic information, adding a dedicated section to display completed projects, recent company events, and employee profiles. This information provided the foundation for a content strategy (including a cohesive executional calendar) to keep the website content fresh. A social media plan (including scheduling software and a campaign to improve internal LinkedIn profiles) distributed this content to reach these key B2B decision makers. Concurrently, &Marketing analyzed data on each post to determine the most effective content pieces.

Finally, &Marketing implemented a Google PPC (pay-per-click) campaign centered around the client’s core services. The campaign focused on generating website leads from individuals searching the web to find similar services.

Results

The client partner’s outsourced digital marketing execution team was able to quickly and affordably complete these marketing tasks, which generated an average of 5+ leads per month, all trackable through website activity. As a result, the client’s website traffic more than tripled, the website bounce rate was less than half, and search volume increased on all major search engines: Google, Yahoo, and Bing. For a firm that didn’t have an existing marketing department, &Marketing’s outsourced solution helped them build a solid case for continued effort and future investment.

About &Marketing:

&Marketing provides the robust outsourced marketing department growing companies need without the high overhead costs of big agencies or full-time employees. Our variable model empowers businesses to reach their growth goals through access to the guidance and expertise of senior level strategists and a flexible execution team.