“For me
the most important benefit of BrandEdge was its very
formal marketing approach, something our team could learn
from. We got good value for our dollar.”
Nigel Beck, Vice President
Marketing & Strategy, Footprint Software Inc.
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Subsidiary of IBM (purchased in 1995)
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Largest
Canadian exporter of retail banking software
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Take
business to the next level, by evolving their business
strategy and better leveraging the strengths of both
organizations – Footprint and IBM.
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Four
integrated engagements over 6 months
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Brand Strategy
First, BrandEdge worked with
Footprint to diagnose the key issue: what were they really
selling? BrandEdge identified the need to move away from
highly customized and, therefore, highly variable
solutions. Instead, they should focus on more standardized
solutions with specific, consistent brand benefits,
compelling to their target market. On this base, Footprint
could build a competitive strategy and a clear brand
positioning that gave them leverage, globally, through
IBM.
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Communications Program
Beginning with a logical program architecture, BrandEdge,
through it’s Extended Team delivered a system of
marketing brochures. The consistent graphic look and
meaningful message could be applied to all media,
including technology white papers and website. At every
step BrandEdge kept the team – graphic designers,
copywriter, and the client’s marketers – working from
the same plan.
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Targeting Strategy
To sustain the brand focus worldwide, BrandEdge developed
a global market segmentation model for retail banking.
This determined segment needs and sizes, gave dimension to
the brand’s market share and identified key
opportunities. The 70-page report was circulated to senior
executives at Footprint and IBM. In it, BrandEdge narrowed
the focus to seven key countries and recommended 58 high
potential prospects.
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Partnering Plan
BrandEdge evaluated a
potential partnering relationship with Lotus Notes,
another IBM company. Initially, it had been perceived as a
threat to Footprint’s lead product, Visual Banker.
However after evaluating four possible integration
scenarios against their newly minted brand strategy, the
value of integrating Lotus Notes into the solution became
clear. Footprint confidently pursued and built a
partnership that has benefited both sides: reducing
Footprint’s development costs and providing Lotus with
new markets.
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