Co-Op Advertising

SITUATION

A telecommunications hardware and software company had two distinct sales channels – company-owned branches and independent dealers. The company had a limited co-op advertising fund and paid for a portion of some of the advertising done by the two channels. This system resulted in only a small number of media impressions which had little impact in terms of motivating prospects. Also, it resulted in diluted, fragmented messages, unprofessional advertising and no effective brand building since dealers tended to put together their marketing tactics on their own and simply submit them for payment after the fact. The dealer network was unhappy with the perceived level of support in the marketing arena and the company was losing dealers to other companies with “better” co-op programs.

GOALS/OBJECTIVES

Goals

 
• Improve effectiveness of sales channel marketing and advertising.
 
• Increase dealer sales channel by 10% the following fiscal year.
 
• Provide cohesive and competitive marketing tools to the dealer network.

Objectives

 
• Develop consistency of messages, images and identity in order to effectively build a brand.
 
• Improve dealers’ perceptions regarding corporate support for their sales and marketing efforts, as compared to the competitive programs available.

STRATEGY/TACTICS

FabCom developed an integrated sales channel marketing and advertising system built around a marketing materials catalog and named ResellersCo-op.org. FabCom created materials which could be customized from templates with branch/dealer contact information such as print and broadcast advertisements, direct mail programs and website and e-commerce offerings. Also included were trade show and show room displays, outdoor and point-of-purchase ads, high-impact graphics for delivery vehicles, incentive gifts, a variety of proposal and presentation tools and more. FabCom developed the system and budgets and shepherded consensus through the dealer advisory council. We also created the on-line and printed catalogs of all materials and implemented an ordering/fulfillment system to facilitate effective use and tracking of the materials usage and costs.

Results

The new initiative was introduced to the market at the beginning of the company’s first fiscal quarter, at their annual national dealers meeting. Sales immediately responded to these branding efforts with a 2.7% increase for the quarter and an annualized increase of 10.8% – even though the previous several quarters’ results had been down by almost 8%.

Bryan Dancer, Vice President of Marketing said: “For very little more than we had been investing, FabCom created a comprehensive co-op advertising system – not just a program – which increased sales almost immediately. More importantly, the FabCom system improved our perceived level of support in the field and provided the elements needed to actually develop the brand nationally.” The results of this work continue to enhance the company’s sales and reinforce its positioning within its market.