Standing Out in the Crowd

Now, this isn’t your typical marketing agency’s dream client of beer, cars or cupcakes. This is a client in a niche industry most of us had never realized existed: polymers (I’ll pause while you Google that). They make things that go in other things – like paint and flooring adhesives. While they might not be everyone’s cup of tea, at Propel we love these types of clients – clients who know they need to make investments in their brand if they want to be competitive.

They are relatively young as a company but with a long history, having spun off from their parent organization only a few years ago. To this point, they had been focused on the business of doing business, and hadn’t spent much time thinking about who they were as a company, and who they wanted to be.

They had a name but not a brand.

That’s where Propel was able to help. They weren’t sure what they needed, so we walked them through what it means to have a brand, what it takes to create one and deliver on those promises.
Their reaction? “Yes, we need that. Exactly. Can you help us?”

So we started with the research to better understand what the industry wants and expects from their providers. We talked to their customers – current and former – to get a sense of what they valued in their industry, and how this company stood up to those values.

Armed with these insights, we led our clients through a series of creative exercises designed to get them thinking outside of the operations of the business, and focus on its personality and strengths.

All the research, and all the creative exercises – they all lead to one thing: what makes them different. That’s the key. Not making up catchy headlines or flashy ads, but actually saying something meaningful. Now our clients are armed with a few short sentences on who they are and what makes them stand out, something they can rally behind and get excited about.

That’s what we do at Propel. Now we’ll make them a great logo and some cool ads, but it will all be with meaning and purpose, all designed to make them stand out.