In 2004, Appearance Plus Cleaners
embarked on its first proactive public relations, promotional
and publicity campaign. The company had been relying on traditional
marketing programs that included direct mail coupons and print
advertising.
We believed we had a better way.
So, in November of 2003, Justice & Young Public Relations
began planning a proactive program that cut the overall marketing
spend of Appearance Plus by nearly $70,000. The plan was delivered
and the program began its implementation in January of 2004.
Even with such a significant cut, sales increased for the dry
cleaner by six percent in a relatively stagnant industry and
with heavy competition.
How did we do it?
The answer was integration, strategic messaging and branding.
We were able to creatively distill the essence of what Appearance
Plus means to its consumers, identify those consumers who are
the perfect match for the organization and market specifically
to that segment, over and over again. By not marketing to the
masses, we were able to motivate only those targets that would
be most likely to utilize Appearance Plus.
Through a series of strategically branded promotions, such as
the Dapper Diploma Program, the Big Interview Program, and Cincinnati
Night on the Town, Appearance Plus was regularly exposed to key
targets and established significant new trial at little to no
cost. In addition, the programs and promotions were structured
in such a fashion as to earn publicity both locally throughout
Cincinnati, and even nationally in a variety of trade publications.
Co branded programs with such entities as Hoxworth Blood Center,
Nicholson’s Pub, and VESTA Executive Housing further stretched
marketing dollars and exposed the client to the right audience.
Regular web development and updates, with programs that drove
traffic to the Appearance Plus website, made a significant impact
to sales and lead generation. In addition, a professional media
kit was crafted for long term usage – which also assisted
in generation of significant, targeted earned media coverage.
“We took a leap of faith,” Appearance Plus COO Jon Lindy
says. “There is a comfort in doing the same thing, but
Justice & Young has repeatedly earned our trust because they
don’t try to sell us what we don’t need. In fact,
they cut our budget significantly and produced better results.
They are a creative, hard working team of marketing experts who
showed us how to use publicity and promotions to our advantage
in attracting just the right audience. Trust is a big word when
you talk about a marketing communications agency, but that is
exactly what we have.” |
