8.22.24 | 3.5 min
Managing Clients Through Market Shifts
Kallee Mendonca
We’ve worked with hundreds of clients through many economic and social shifts, including recessions, a pandemic, market corrections, and bouts of consumer uncertainty. Each situation presents a unique opportunity to pivot and rise to meet the challenge.
As any smart business owner would do, we looked for things we could learn, insights we could gain, or simply developed the determination to survive.
From downsizing, reduced budgets (or no marketing budgets at all), increased competition, loss of market share, decimated R&D budgets, and general fear and anxiety, we’ve seen it all. We always listen intently to their concerns to develop strategies and creative solutions to assuage fear and come up with a plan.
With our help, clients took advantage of new opportunities that arose from any threat or ensuing fear. Sometimes, this required a new way of thinking or a different perspective, which our account and creative teams provided.
How Competition Buoyed a Small Tech Company
We worked with Itronix, a relatively unknown Spokane-headquartered tech company that engineered and manufactured a line of ultra-rugged laptop computers for utility companies, the military, law enforcement, and field service teams working in mission-critical applications under the harshest conditions. Waterproof, drop-proof, and wireless, the GoBook MAX exemplified extreme computing.
Not long after Itronix launched the GoBook MAX, Panasonic launched the Toughbook, its own line of ultra-rugged laptop computers. How would our regional tech manufacturer with a limited marketing budget compete against a global powerhouse brand like Panasonic? It took some strategic thinking.
While Panasonic promoted its “speeds and feeds” technology and insights appealing to engineers, we put GoBook MAX computers into the hands of real telecom and utility workers, soldiers, sheriff’s deputies, and field service techs.
We interviewed workers in the field, took photos and videos, and captured real-world insights into the benefits of using the GoBook MAX. These insights didn’t come from the company’s engineering department but from the very people relying on no-fail computing under the roughest conditions—from the rain of Vancouver, BC, Canada, to the 111-degree heat and humidity of Tarrant County, Texas, to the blowing sands of army maneuvers.
With this content, we created a series of print ads, designed a product brochure, developed a multi-language website, and produced a detailed product video featuring the images and interviews we captured from the field.
The campaign introduced Itronix and the GoBook MAX to multiple new markets, increasing the company’s brand presence and generating brand awareness for its new product line. Our strategy of “letting the customers tell the story” resulted in generating twice the qualified leads the Itronix marketing department had hoped for.
Competition can help a business improve and flourish or lose its momentum and wither.
Itronix boldly adopted a new marketing strategy and held its own against Panasonic. Within a few years, General Dynamics, a global aerospace and defense company, purchased Itronix Corporation and its product line—a win-win for the company, its shareholders, and its customers.
Anticipating Shifting Markets: Kendall Auto Protection
Kendall Auto Group wanted to increase market share in the used vehicle space by promoting their Kendall Auto Protection product as a way to differentiate from competitors. Big players like CarMax were entering the marketplace and we knew they would be pushing a money-back guarantee on their used vehicles. Together, we helped Kendall develop an Auto Protection program that not only matched the CarMax money-back guarantee but included other features like roadside assistance, oil changes for a year, and a comprehensive service contract. With a sense of urgency and diligence, we were able to beat CarMax to the punch.
We identified eight different personas and created specific messages tailored to them—from a single mom looking for reliability to a recent college graduate looking for affordability. Creating unique stories and situations for each persona revealed how an unreliable vehicle could be detrimental to each group.
Since the launch of this campaign, Kendall’s used car sales have broken year-over-year records for multiple years. The campaign has expanded into Kendall’s other markets, resulting in the same notable increase in market share within three to six months after launch. Kendall continues to utilize this campaign to brand its used car program, gaining market share even as new competitors enter the space.