Case Study: Launching a Brand

Case study Sarasota Manatee Services Company campaign

The Client

A Sarasota client well known in the commercial market wanted to grow a consumer division of their company. As a technical services company, Windemuller is known for a wide range of electrical design and services for commercial and public projects. One of their divisions specializes in the design and installation of lightning and surge protection.

The Objective

Grow the lightning and surge protection division by targeting the high-end residential market in Florida.

The Challenge

Lack of market exposure. Although they had a 25 year history in the southwest Florida market, the residential component of this division has been limited to a small group of high end home contractors.
No organic search results. The existing corporate website was image heavy and content thin.
Poor online data citations. Sources reported inaccurate and incomplete listing information created over many years.

The Opportunities

A positive business reputation to build on.
- trusted by a base of recognizable commercial customers
- a skilled work force with more credentials than competitors
A suitable market.
- Florida is the lightning capital of the US
- high-end home building is growing as a percentage of new home construction
- expensive homes feature electronics and appliances which are vulnerable to surge and lightning strikes

The Campaign

Build recognition for this division of the company.

Developed an effective brand name: Florida Lightning Protection.
Created a memorable tagline/slogan: “Your Local Lightning Experts”.
Created a local-content heavy, mobile responsive website.
Featured well known commercial clients as a credibility builder.
Shared a personal connection with the owner and key employees through website content and video biography.
Created a YouTube channel and a production schedule of supporting videos such as expert in the field and customer testimonials.
Established a social media presence emphasizing local search tools: Google business, Google maps, Yahoo local, Yelp, YP, BBB and other local search sites.
Set up and started implementation of a schedule of social media updates.

The End Result

Brand Name & Tagline
The brand name / domain name was selected as a memorable and clear description of this division of a technical services company.

Great taglines or slogans tell your market who you are, what you do and why. Florida Lightning Protection has a 25 year history and the credentials to make “Your Local Lightning Experts” a believable tagline.

Because many of their competitors are not licensed (it isn’t required by the state) and are transient – we decided to emphasize the fact that this company is different. The choice of tagline is reinforced by the fact that they use licensed electricians and are UL certified.
Content Strategy
This website was developed to educate and inform the residential market. Lightning protection is a serious decision and technical standards are complex. The intent was to create a website that fully explains the design and installation process in a manner that a homeowner can understand in order to make an informed decision.

Since often an architect or home builder are involved in this process, technical specifications and documents were made available for download as well. This saves time for the sales staff and helps speed the decision making process.
Testimonials
As part of the educational content on the website, we had a plan to produce customer testimonials on video as they became available. Obviously, not everyone with a lightning and surge protection system can speak to its effectiveness, because not every house is struck by lightning. Identifying a customer who had experienced a lightning strike at her protected home was the perfect opportunity to capture a testimonial.
Local Search & Social Media
This site was developed initially as an online brochure / sales tool for Florida Lightning Protection to establish the new brand. Building the search and social media links for this new division was a key objective.

Over 25 years, the online data associated with the parent company had grown to include numerous listings with errors, duplicates, incomplete or incorrect information. An important part of the campaign was the clean-up and correction of the citations (data sources) related to the company. This had an immediate positive impact on the organic search results.

Personal Content
In the service industry, putting a face to a company can have a big impact. That’s why we incorporated a video biography of a business owner on the About Us page of this website. The fact that the “About Us” page is 2nd most visited page on all websites demonstrates the importance of personal content on a website.

Incorporating expert videos is another tactic we chose to promote the experience and credentials of this brand. By educating and sharing useful information with visitors, we make them more comfortable with contacting us for services.
Training
In addition to creating a useful website, the intent is to keep the site updated on a regular basis. Job site photography, testimonial quotes from customers and companies, news stories and blog updates will be solicited from all employees. Training classes for employees will ensure the collection of material for website updating.
Sales Support
In the process of developing website content, information that was the domain of few employees was curated. And practices that had developed incidentally over the years were documented. This consolidated material offers an excellent opportunity for the client to extend product knowledge across division lines. An incentive structure is in place for new business leads across division lines, and the website content serves as an introductory sales tool.

The new brand development will also be the basis for future sales presentations, trade show materials, job signage, etc. The graphic standards will ensure continuity of the company brand.