Bretby Borders was a start-up business. Owner Tracey needed to drive awareness and business pretty quickly.
Tracey had stepped away from a corporate career to start her new business. This was a completely new venture and needed to generate an income quickly. Her name needed to be out there, seen by the right people, and getting the right enquiries in and converting.
By kicking off with a discovery session, I got to understand Tracey’s vision and income needs. We looked at competitors, and I spoke with customers. Using these various insights I was then able to segment and map out the target market and be clear on ‘who’ we were talking to and what they needed.
In a crowded market, we had to stand out. To do this we needed to do things differently.
The proposition
The insights always inform the proposition, and it was very true here. What came out as fundamental to the company, wanted by customers, and different to competitors, was very much about care.
Care was the very ethos of Bretby Borders.
- Care in releasing the joy and potential in gardens.
- Care in rejuvenating and developing the plants themselves.
- Care taken in doing the very best job.
- And the care naturally shown by Tracey for the owners.
The proposition was key to everything – the service, the communications, pricing, everything Bretby Borders did. And Tracey embraced this.
Into branding and creative
Taking the marketing strategy work completed, the brand design was developed in collaboration with experienced graphic designer, Sarah.
Having our proposition, knowing our target audience, the key messages (ie. this was about developing an area of joy for clients rather than mowing lawns every 2 weeks, or architectural garden design), and objectives, enabled a clear brief for the brand development.
At the same time, a plan of marketing materials was underway.
Marketing communications
With a limited budget everything had to have a purpose and work hard.
Clearly we had our foundations – a website was an essential, our showcase to the world. The tone of voice had to reflect our values, and resonate with our audience. And naturally this was optimised for SEO.
Word of mouth and recommendations are particularly important – so Google and Yell for 5 star ratings were essential. As were listings in various online publications.
These were supported by a choice of media from A-frames, to leaflets for door-dropping select locations and organisations, van signage and branded work-wear all served to ensure Bretby Borders stood out.
