direct marketing/sales

To generate leads or close a sale, you need to capture your customers' attention with solid information. You need to demonstrate the benefits, explain the features, and educate them as much as you can. This philosophy drives our development of more traditional direct mail packages for companies such as Canada Law Book and Carswell. But we've also pushed the limits.

bigdough.com Challenge: Attract qualified leads from a relatively small and very busy target universe, for a valuable capital markets database subscription service. In order to grow the company quickly, bigdough needed to generate many sales leads as fast as possible. Solution: While conventional direct marketing wisdom has it that you test, establish a control, and test against it, tweaking small things, bigdough needed to move more quickly. The product was constantly developing, giving us new benefits to push... (more)

Small Business Funding Centre Challenge: Response to standard direct mail offers had declined considerably. A fresh approach was needed to generate inquiries and sales for this independent research organization. Solution: We created an advertorial which appeared to have been torn from a business magazine. A hand-addressed note urged prospects to read the article, which then educated them with case histories and tips on how to raise ... (more)

Town of Meaford Challenge: Generate business inquiries to a small town's Economic Development Committee. Solution: Initially asked to prepare a brochure, we came up with a modular approach which allowed for updates, we prepared an economical "magazine", and generated a small direct mail campaign -- all within ... (more)

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product launches/image building

Understanding what makes your product or service unique lies at the core of any effective marketing. This might be an easily identifiable feature or benefit. It might be something the competition isn't promoting. Or it may be something you're too close to your product to appreciate. We dig deep to determine the best way to position our clients.

Employer Solutions (HRDC) Challenge: Boost employer use of job advertising, wage subsidy and training programs at the Owen Sound, Walkerton and Collingwood, Ontario offices of HRDC. Solution: Sometimes a valuable and viable product or service is upstaged by sister products and services. This usually happens because it's not sufficiently differentiated through appropriate marketing activity to have its own identity and... (more)

Blue View Chalets Challenge: This small condominium chalet development wanted to attract qualified buyers, without setting up a full-time sales office, or spending a lot of money. Solution: Most potential buyers would be Toronto residents who skied in the Blue Mountain area. Rather than attempting to reach them at home, we targeted potential buyers with... (more)

Toronto Dominion Commercial Banking Challenge: The graphic, hyperlinked worldwide web was still young when we were asked to promote Toronto Dominion Bank's business products and services on its groundbreaking website. Solution: We developed the "business banking centre" section, full of content which fit the expectations of early web-users: namely no hype, please. Instead of advertising products outright, we provided real case histories showing how small, medium and large businesses had become... (more)

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relationship building

Everyone appreciates a little help and attention. By offering that, you forge stronger ties with your customers. You also make them feel special -- both by giving them more than they expect, and by telling them a little about the people they're dealing with.

Parliament Building Supplies Challenge: Forge stronger relations with existing customers (contractors), being wooed by "big box" retailers and cut rates. Solution: We proved that you get much more by staying with Parliament -- a company that understands your needs, takes care of things personally, and will go the extra distance for you. We created a regular newsletter which offered tips and... (more)

DIY WebTips and Columns Challenge: Increase traffic, generate sales and maintain customer loyalty in the very competitive home center market. Solution: We made it easy for dealers to provide added value by offering helpful advice, giving customers ideas on new projects, and giving them the ability to do it. We prepared hundreds of how-to articles, which dealers could use on a weekly... (more)

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employee relations

Keeping employees informed is key to employee satisfaction. Let them know the reasons behind the company's moves, keep them up to speed on changes, and make sure they have the training and backup info to do their jobs well.

Rogers Cablesystems Challenge: Keep employees informed and motivated. Solution: We created a newsletter which kept employees abreast of company initiatives and employee activities. The format was short and fun, but packed ... (more)

Toyota Canada Challenge: Educate salespeople on the specific production processes which make Toyota vehicles better, so they could provide the steak -- not just the sizzle -- to today's educated consumer. Solution: We created a number of video workshops explaining various Toyota strengths, from the philosophy of the assembly line to the unique alloys used in various parts and assemblies. We backed up the videos with workbooks and speaker's notes, actual scripted ... (more)

Nortel Networks Challenge: Arouse interest in sales incentive programs and motivate salespeople in North America. Solution: Nortel traditionally offered a variety of exotic travel destinations for top salespeople. We created a newsletter which described the locations, offered solid information on the history and attractions of the ... (more)