Building your brand by leveraging others

People at Lititz, PA-based Clair Global are quite proud to say they don’t need to market their products and services. But come on, how many organizations have a killer first-impression statement like, “Yeah, we do (did) the touring sound system for Elvis Presley, Grateful Dead, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, U2 …” (and on and on)? Excuse me, but I’d call that marketing. Yes, the foundation of their success is building the world’s best product, having a company culture of “never say no” and backing that up with an over-the-top customer-focused commitment. But watching from the sidelines (they are not a Scheffey client), I believe they transformed Clair Bros. into Clair Global by leveraging the biggest brands (at the time) in the music entertainment business that they called clients. These “other” brands opened doors for Clair. Make no mistake, that’s marketing.

Similarly, at Scheffey, we uncovered that a client had done heavy-duty steel fabrication for the general contractor who is re-building NYC’s World Trade Center Transportation Hub … and the GC who built the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Heinz Field stadium. You bet we leveraged those two iconic brands as we marketed Greiner Industries. And just this fall, we began transforming another client’s marketing messages and materials after they completed installation of a synthetic turf athletic field for A-Turf’s first professional sports team – the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.

Look at your client and project lists. Look back through your archives. What great brands can you leverage in your marketing to help open doors to prospects that can use your products or services?