“We make brands imperative.”

July 20, 2010 by Mike Troiano · View Comments

Work on our new Web site about to begin in earnest, centered on bringing the approach that’s come into focus over the last few months to the Web.

Starts with a clear statement of what we do, thought I’d bounce a draft off you folks and get some feedback. Here’s what we have so far:

Holland-Mark is a marketing services firm focused on making brands “imperative.”

We believe that consumer and business-to-business buying habits have changed permanently in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Where people once bought what was “interesting,” today they buy only what is “imperative;” what they truly feel they need or expect a return on investment from.

While advertising can make products “interesting,” marketing communications alone cannot make a brand “imperative.” Imperative brands have four attributes in common:

Relevance of Offering – A product aligned with the evolving true needs of its target audience.

Clarity of Message – A truthful, relevant, motivating and distinct statement of its core value proposition.

Consistency of Communication – Reinforcement of the above at every point of contact with the brand.

Driving of Engagement – An ongoing, mutually beneficial relationship between the brand and its primary external constituencies.

These requirements correspond with Holland-Mark’s four core offerings:

Sync™ – A management consulting offering which shapes a product or service experience to align more closely with the right market opportunity

One Simple Thing (OST)™ – A brand strategy offering which distills messaging down to a singular thought which is true, relevant, motivating and distinct

Every Point of Content (EPOC)™ – An audit of the 360° experience of a brand to ensure consistent alignment with OST™

Content Hub – A social marketing program which enables client organizations to engage effectively across social media channels.

So what do you think? Do you get that? Would you pay for it?

Filed under Clarity of Message, Consistency of Experience, Driving Engagement, Getting to Imperative, Relevance of Offering, The Holland-Mark Way · Tagged with branding, Content Hub, Feedback, Getting to Imperative, holland-mark, iteration, One Simple Thing, OST, strategy

Bryant University: The One

July 1, 2010 by Mike Troiano · View Comments

We created this video to communicate Bryant University’s One Simple Thing™: “The One”

“The One” represents Bryant’s unique commitment to unite the best of both the liberal arts and business education into a single collegiate experience. It’s the essence of what sets them apart, and the basis for a sweeping brand makeover we’ve been happy to play a part in.

Anyway here it is, let us know what you think…

Filed under Clarity of Message, Getting to Imperative · Tagged with Brand Makeover, Brand Video, Bryant University, Bryant University video, One Simple Thing

“Truck” Beats “Machine” in Massachusetts

January 20, 2010 by Mike Troiano · View Comments

For those of you new to this blog, Holland-Mark’s branding approach is based on the observation that people have a tendency to boil things down to One Simple Thing™. We all do it, it’s part of our genetic code and an important adaptation to a world overrun by complexity.

We do this for brands (Coke = Real, BMW = Performance, Zappos = Service) and for just about everything else. We saw a potent example of One Simple Thing™ – or OST™ – thinking writ large last night in Massachusetts politics.

The truth is that comparatively few people met Scott Brown and Martha Coakley before yesterday’s election. Few closely followed press coverage of the two in the weeks leading up to the vote, and even fewer read their various position papers on the Web.

The vast majority of the 2.2 million votes cast yesterday were cast based on a single, simple distillation of what each candidate represented.

Martha chose her OST™ first, focusing on “Democrat,” which seemed like a sure bet for the seat vacated by Ted Kennedy, our beloved Lion of the Senate.

Scott Brown, though, chose a different OST™: “Truck.” Seriously. For those of you who don’t live here, Mr. Brown and his pickup truck were everywhere on Massachusetts media over the last few weeks, which for a long while made the Coakley team feel like this was going to be a cakewalk.

Well… it turns out that in an environment where voters feel Washington isn’t listening to them, “Truck” trumps “Democrat.” People like “Truck.” It’s solid. Populist. Dependable. When this began to become evident in the polls, the Coakley campaign tried to give Mr. Brown a new OST™: “Republican.” The Brown campaign countered by giving Ms. Coakley a new one as well: “Political Machine.” There was a shouting match for a while, in which Mr. Brown appears to have been more focused and effective, after which voters went to the polls ready to cast on the side of “Truck,” or “Machine.”

“Truck” won. By a lot. At least that’s how we see it.