Creating a Companion Brand with FM Engage
It’s quite a thrill when clients hire us for a project. We love getting in there, solving complex problems, and working closely with our clients to create something amazing.
You know what’s even better? When clients hire us again.
That’s exactly what happened right after we wrapped our website design project for Franklin Madison.
Their CEO and sales teams were already using the new website as part of their sales process when they turned to us to name a new initiative.
You might remember that Franklin Madison’s core business is helping financial institutions offer insurance products to their customers. If you’ve received an offer from your bank or credit union to purchase insurance, there’s a good chance Franklin Madison was involved.
They’re pretty good at what they do. Well, really, really good – and in the course of their business, they’ve found clients that fall outside of their traditional markets. Clients like membership organizations and warehouse clubs are also a good fit for their marketing expertise.
But they weren’t sure how they would reach these new clients, without losing the focus of the core Franklin Madison brand.
They turned to us to create a separate, complementary brand that would speak to their new potential markets and leverage their marketing expertise. They needed a name, a core brand position, key design elements and ultimately, a web presence.
Armed with an ego boost from the repeat business, we knew we could find the answer. Here’s how we found it.
Building a companion brand.
There’s no doubt about it: naming is hard. But in this case, things became clear pretty quickly.
We listened to their team and started making lists of key words. Again and again, we heard that their true expertise lies in using their proprietary customer data with – or, rather, to engage, their most promising customers.
That led us here.
FM Engage is the brand name, of course, but it’s also an urgent call to action. Engage. Promote. Connect. Sell.
Here’s a sample of the language that is at the core of this new brand:
The naming process had turned out to be easier than expected, but now we faced an even bigger challenge: the tagline.
While naming is a challenge, sometimes taglines are even harder. We typically work with complex, multilayered industries that resist distillation. Things like financial services just aren’t built to be expressed in three words.
We started by pulling key words from our core brand language and that we heard during our conversations with the client. We looked at the way other direct marketing firms talk about their services.
We knew it had to be data driven. But we also knew it couldn’t be, literally, “data driven” because everyone says that.
But we also needed a nod to direct marketing, without resting on being a “direct marketing agency” because their scope and audience are much more focused than that.
What is it about their promise, about how they use data, that truly sets them apart?
With these three words, we show the importance of data to FM Engage and its clients. Data drives everything they do, and they’ve got a deeper data set than anyone. Seems pretty… direct, right?
Making a splash with better marketing.
One of the key questions we always ask as we build a website is the role the site will play in the discovery and sales process. We knew that the site would be a conversation starter, but they didn’t want to give too much away about their proprietary processes.
As it turned out, the FM Engage team didn’t need a complex, multilayered site to tell their story. They needed a page to spark interest and, well, engage potential clients. Their sales team would take a customized deeper dive with each prospect from there.
Bold graphics make a confident statement about the power of FM Engage’s combination of data and marketing expertise.
Along the way, subtle elements like pulsing data points and arrows give the page a sense of motion and activity, leading users down to the built-in lead form.
Essentially, the entire page encapsulates the very best of web strategies: Connect with users right away with a reminder of why they’re on your site. Give them confidence you can solve their problems. And then convince them to act because you’re the only one who can do it.
And it does it all on one page. As they say on Star Trek, “Engage.”
Going the distance.
With a new name, core brand position and less-is-more web presence, FM Engage rightfully separates itself from other direct marketing agencies. With a message that’s tailored to their unique niche, we can’t wait to see where they go.
And of course, we’re looking forward to the next challenge from our friends at Franklin Madison.
