We continue to move at the speed of retail for our primary client, New England Hydroponics, now powered by Hydrobuilder Holdings.
May 2022 brought the first ever annual Huge Soil & Coco (grow medium) Sale, for which Thomas Marketing Services Corporation principal and creative director, Tom Lanen, wrote and executed all tactics on a multi-faceted marketing push including:
• Website update (in Big Commerce CMS – all sale prices & product images)
• Website Banners – Home Page Rotator and Category Banners
With an industry Email Open Rate of 17%, we’ve been consistently hitting over 40% – see below (May 18 update: open rate 45.2%)
I do have some open bandwidth – please call me if you could use some help and/or perspective: 508 951-0130 and let’s chat a few minutes on my nickel. 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!
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.
I’m pleased to announce New England Hydroponics, now a 5-store and online retailer and commercial supplier of gardening gear and supplies, for whom I created and executed all marketing tactics since 2017, has been acquired in a reported cash and stock deal by Hydrobuilder Holdings.
My principal, Ethan Holmes, started the business online in 2002, and when I started working with him as his creative and marketing partner, he’d built the business and brand to three stores, with over 2500+ products online.
We supported the move of one store to what became a 6000+ sq ft headquarters in Marlborough, MA (with 6000 sq ft warehouse), and have since supported the opening of 2 new stores (now 5 stores), including a new hydroponics and grow supply super store (13,000 sq ft retail) in Sanford, Maine in Fall 2021. The online store neHydro.com, now has over 4000+ products. The store also has a thriving Commercial Accounts Group.
It’s been a source of pride to have worked with Ethan as his creative partner; and with all The Indoor Gardening Experts™ on the New England Hydroponics’ team as we’ve helped build retail store and online sales, the brand, and its good name.
Got a story you’d like to tell? Call me if you’d like to know more about how we build authentic brand and marketing stories that engage people and encourage loyalty. And create a salable endgame.
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.
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.
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