Cha-Cha-Cha Changes! It’s said all good things come to an end, and so it is with our 5-year contract with New England Hydroponics, and its new parent company, Hydrobuilder Holdings, to whom my principal, Ethan Holmes, sold the business and brand in January. I’ve been informed they will take the work in-house and will let our contract expire at the end of August … even as our work continues to over-perform, as evidenced in our email Open Rate report below – the category average is 17% (Springbot ESP).
Frankly, this is exactly how most mergers go, and we’re not terribly surprised. Even if it’s a bit of a jolt to the system. Hey, we’re human. But it happened when 3 Thermo Electron business units with whom we had worked for 15 years merged with Fisher Scientific and the agency of record took over. They rightly compensated us for our copyright & imaging, and were very honorable during the transition.
Fact is it’s been a great 5 years (almost), and we’ve accomplished our mission: to create salable brand equity for Ethan for when it became his time to sell the business. When I started with him in 2017, he’d been doing all his own marketing and no longer had any time for it. He’d built the business to 3 stores, one of which we moved into a space 4 times the size within the year. Then we added stores in Seekonk (6000 sf), and recently in Sanford, Maine (13,000 sf) bringing the total to 5, all while building the online business at neHydro.com into what is now 4500+ products. We worked well together, and I’m proud of the good work we did, and of the friendships I’ve enjoyed with store GMs and Supervisors. These are good folks.
But it’s time for what’s next.
If you have a business and a vision, give me, Tom Lanen, at (508) 951-0130 and let’s chat a bit on my nickel.
The Difference Is You.™ I can help you present your business and brand well, and drive near-term sales & revenue …. and fully prepare your brand as a line item in your endgame that could be closer than you think. T-
I’ve had a productive, albeit challenging and single-minded week creating and fielding a new multi-faceted & branded Everyday Deals promotion initiative for client New England Hydroponics (a Hydrobuilder Holdings unit). Everything in the visual, along with website product posting, was created in 6 business days – moving at the speed of retail!
Nothing like the adrenaline of creating a new branded promotion! (Click the image to expand your view of the elements.)
Up first was the creation of the branded promotional logo, a “Violator” BOOM burst featuring the primary green in the brand design palette as the primary brand “touch point.”
The strategy was to use it as a point-of-sale tactic, on labels & Buyer’s Guides for individual products, maintaining the singular DEAL singular focus for a singular customer shopping that moment; and tucking in the stylistic lower case ‘everyday’ into the larger font construction to hold/work together as a unified brand design element.
Then, finding letterform on the plural DEALS didn’t work with the same compact footprint of the original violator BOOM, and wanting to expand the concept to attach an emotion to a transactional concept, I went back a standing strategic brand design tactic, the sunburst and its positive feeling, to create some branded drama and expand the focus to the overall portfolio of products in the category.
I executed Point-Of Sale signage in two sizes, Social Media and website imagery, both the primary & category pages, to this branded design strategy. Our plan is to more fully roll out the promotion across the media/web and in-store touch points.
It’s been a busy Fall and early winter at Thomas Marketing, aka: ThomasBoston. Here’s just a few of the tactics I executed, moving at the speed (and budgets) of retail, for my principal client, New England Hydroponics in support of its 5 brick & mortar stores and online shop of nearly 4000 products. I wrote all copy and created all art.
Want to start the New Year with the promise of building more customer engagement and increased near-term revenue? How about brand equity that will make a difference to your end-game? I can show you proven results, for less an investment than you might imagine.
Call me, Tom Lanen, at (508) 951-0130 and let’s chat a bit on my nickel.
A last minute end-of-year blowout sale. I also updated all products on neHydro.com to enable purchase from the information included.One of several social media images for Instagram and Facebook.I write and produce permission-based email campaigns for monthly specials and sales events. The industry average Opens Rate is 17% (Source: Mailchimp)Making a positive first impression at the point of sale – in-store and online. I also created the FloraGear brand logo and tagline, its website and all packaging.Billboard and web header along with print and online ads.A few of the graphics I created for use on our social media streams.
And that gives you a little taste of our Fall. Call me if I can help you drive demand and momentum for your brand and its products. (508) 951-0130 or drop me an email at [email protected]. You’re always welcome.
Feed the brand well and mindfully, and it will grow.
(27 August 2020) Here are a few of the projects Thomas Marketing Services Corporation created and fielded during August for New England Hydroponics. The numbers prove we’re building revenue and brand momentum.
8. Overall website product updating & maintenance on Big Commerce platform.
And that’s most of it. Call me at 508 951-0130 or email me, Tom Lanen, if you could use a hand. I’m easy to work with and get things done fast — at the right cost! (And you can get on with what you do best!)
December 2021: Please click here for an update on current offerings from Thomas Marketing Services.
Thomas Marketing Services Corporation is a process-driven and agile problem-solving, branding, marketing, and business acceleration resource. Strategic & tactical, I’m helping business owners prosper in the tumultuous business and world climate.
Here’s the thing. In good times and crazy, it’s all about the brand, and the story behind it. At its core brand is a story; it’s about what makes it different, why it matters, and why we should care. How it provides certainty amidst uncertainty.
The difference is you.™ Because far more than a logo, a brand reflects the vision and values of its principals and stakeholders. Those with good instincts evolve theirs in a strategic manner, adjusting aligned tactics to meet the day at hand. And in doing so, they create sustained momentum and valuable equity.
I’m Tom Lanen, and my track record as a brand marketer, writer and integrated advertising & design agency principal is wide-ranging with mainstream brands such Velcro™ fasteners (global – 17 years), Ovation Benefits Group (15 years), Boston Whaler™, Keurig™, and several Thermo (Electron) Fisher Scientific™ business groups. I’ve also worked with many technology, services, retail, and consumer product start-ups and mid-market brands.
The brand difference: its people, The Indoor Gardening Experts™. It starts at the top.
Currently, my lead client is New England Hydroponics, for whom I work in a marketing and creative role for its 4-MA retail stores; and also online.
Right now, I’m looking to help one or two business owners who could use a hand, especially in these extraordinary days. We should talk.
I work with principals and stakeholders on revenue-building branding and re-stage strategies, which may employ tactics such database-driven permission email, social media, and online advertising; broadcast, video/streaming, and print marketing; and point-of-sale merchandising and packaging design systems. I can also help manage full-blown business and /or line expansion initiatives.
A branded visual design and marketing ‘eco-system’ that expands upon the identity established by the (new) logo; with all tactics aligned with the core strategic brand communications platform (a new way of seeing™) to create a consistent and engaging brand presence. This rebranding program was created for a management buyout team with a 5-year end-game; it was sold at private sale to a major consulting business after just 2 years.
As a business owner and brand guy with 30 years to the better, I can help navigate these tricky markets of 2020, and provide you with perspective and options. While nobody has ever seen this, sound brand marketing and design principals, and genuine story-telling still get it done.
It will be surely be the foundation of a return to normalcy and prosperity. It always has. What’s more, it can be an opportune time to pick up market share while others retreat.
In short, I’m flexible and capable, and wide open to your vision and ways of doing business. I also fully believe in budgets and transparency; and a measurable return on your investment.
Marketing is about communication and trust, a strategic balance of transactional and emotional. Do it mindfully, and you engage people in meaningful ways, and create loyalty. You prosper.
Are you ready for what’s next? Please contact me in confidence and without obligation, and let’s chat a few minutes on my nickel. (508) 951-0130
