Organizations in different stages of a business life cycle (funded startup, growth, expansion, maturity/exit) have specific sales and marketing needs that are critical to growth. Whether it is working directly with the CEO/founder(s) or a marketing team (internal or fractional), we bring deep industry knowledge and experience in working with brands for growth through retention (repeat purchase) and acquisition (new customers).
Since the late 2000s, we have worked closely with middle-market private equity firms and their portfolio companies to ensure their brand is strategically positioned, differentiated and aligned to support growth, expansion, and acquisition.
Because of our partnership with private equity firms, we have gained tremendous experience working with organizations in the biotech, construction, energy, industrial, management consulting, and technology sectors.
Funded Startup Challenges
Funded startups spend the majority of their time and resources testing and validating their products and/or services within their target markets. However, many times they lack the skillsets, knowledge, and processes to create a professional brand identity (i.e. brand architecture, positioning/differentiation, messaging, logo, communication templates, collateral system, website, etc.) to properly reflect and support the company’s growth goals.
Brand perception is crucial for attracting and closing new customers.
How We Can Help
Brand Identity – logo, look-and-feel, templates, collateral system, brand standards.
Messaging – positioning/differentiation that reflects the brand’s value proposition.
Websites – information architecture, design, development, SEO best practices.
Marketing Campaigns – digital marketing campaigns (email and social) to drive lead and demand generation.
Marketing Collateral – brochures, product sheets, and presentations/pitch deck to support sales team (sales enablement).
We work directly with the founder(s)/CEO and their management team (including fractional advisors) to refine its value proposition and then lay out the brand architecture, messaging platform, and ultimately the brand identity system and website to establish a strong brand presence as a thought leader in its space.
Growth Stage Challenges
Growth-stage companies face an array challenges that require the attention of the founder/CEO and executive management team: managing increasing levels of revenue, attending to customers, dealing with competition, onboarding/integrating an expanding workforce, and creating a culture of cohesion to execute on the business strategy.
This can stretch the existing management team thin and allow important marketing and sales initiatives to be overlooked, delayed, or poorly executed.
How We Can Help
Brand Identity – logo, look-and-feel, templates, collateral system, brand standards.
Messaging – content aligned with value proposition to support sales.
Websites – information architecture, design, development, SEO best practices.
Marketing Campaigns – digital marketing campaigns (email and social) to drive lead and demand generation.
Marketing Collateral – brochures, product sheets, and presentations/pitch deck to support sales team (sales enablement).
We do this by working directly with the founder(s)/CEO and their management team (including fractional advisors) to fill marketing and communications skills gaps to ensure campaigns and sales enablement resources are delivered on a regular basis to support the revenue plan.
Expansion Stage Challenges
Expansion-staged companies face a different set of challenges from growth stage companies, as they begin to think about expanding their product or service offerings and/or entering new geographic markets. Success in product or market expansion requires careful planning – and it may mean a departure from the playbook that got them through the growth stage.
Expansion-stage companies also become better at planning and managing product life cycles, and using research to inform decisions as to which product and markets to target and how best to serve them.
In addition, expansion-stage companies need to be more intentional about data collection and integration to guide marketing and sales campaigns, and personalize messaging for conversion.
Amidst all of this, the executive team must not ignore the existing customer base that continues to fund the business – and this means finding new ways to engage them and deliver value.
How We Can Help
Product/Service Branding – brand architecture, naming.
Marketing Campaigns – digital marketing campaigns (email and social) to drive lead and demand generation.
Trade Shows/Events – strategy (pre-show, at-show, post-show), exhibit design, promotions, marketing collateral.
Marketing Collateral – brochures, product sheets, and presentations/pitch deck to support sales team (sales enablement).
Explainer Videos – animated videos for storytelling, demos, processes, and instructions.
We help expansion stage organizations expand their market and product potential, while simultaneously engaging existing customers to accelerate revenue growth. We do this by working with the executive management team (including fractional advisors) and in-house marketing teams to fill both project needs and ongoing brand, creative, and production resource gaps to support revenue growth.
Maturity/Exit Challenges
Maturity/Exit stage organizations are often at a crossroads to either continue growth or exit by selling the company.
For businesses that have reached their maturity stage, continued growth may require relaunching the brand to appeal to new markets and reinvigorate employees, vendors, and industry analysts.
Doing this right requires fresh eyes and thinking to identify opportunities that may go unnoticed. For maturity-stage businesses that wish to merge or exit, positioning the company for maximum valuation is critically important.
This may include refreshing the brand (visual identity, positioning, messaging narratives) to appeal to wider range of potential suitors.
How We Can Help
Brand Integration – brand playbook to ensure acquisition of additional businesses and expansion of new business units are aligned with the parent brand.
Collateral Library – a suite of marketing and communication templates used for sales enablement to take the load off in-house marketing teams.
Marketing Campaigns – demand generation through digital marketing campaigns that demonstrate continued thought leadership (emails, social, white papers, eBooks, etc.)
Marketing Collateral – brochures, product sheets, and presentations/pitch deck to support sales team (sales enablement).
Explainer Videos – animated videos for storytelling, demos, processes, and instructions.
We do this by working closely with the in-house marketing teams and/or fractional marketing advisors to support revenue and business growth goals. A schedule of mile stones and check points are put in place to ensure none of the initiatives fall through the gaps caused by distraction of daily marketing and sales activities.
Brands We Have Worked with
