Brokk Demolition Equipment - Busting Out
How do you create a love affair with a machine? That was Mike Martin’s challenge. As the director of North American sales for Swedish demolition equipment manufacturer Brokk, Martin was trying to figure out how best to market a small, powerful building buster to the masses of America. Mike wasn’t having much success as his own advertising agency, producing zero-budget, disjointed marketing from his office near Seattle. So after a quick introduction to Brokk’s fanbase, the job of marketing the equipment to current and future “Brokkheads” fell to Park&Co.
In Norse mythology, Brokk was a small but mighty Swede who forged Thor’s sword. (Say that a couple times.) In Norse reality, Brokk is a company specializing in powerful, remote-controlled demolition equipment that pulverizes stuff in spaces too small or dangerous for humans and their requisite dozers and backhoes. As a Park&Co headline says, a Brokk “does the work of 10 men without the workman’s comp.” These confined areas could be anything from bank vaults to cement kilns to nuclear reactors. Brokks also give hardened demolition men an opportunity to accessorize, as hammers, crushers, grapples and buckets can be attached to the end of its burly hydraulic arm.
Targeted mostly at blue-collar entrepreneurs, Brokk’s campaign emphasized the size and versatility of the equipment while communicating the business benefits of owning a tough, do-it-all machine. The communication plan involved direct mail, trade shows, training materials and a new website, but the hardest hitting campaign element was the print work. With a limited budget, the Park&Co team created simple, standout ads that played up the uniqueness of both product and owner. To accentuate the small size of a Brokk and break through the clutter of typical trade publications, a stark white layout and simple, confident copy were employed to spotlight the power and beauty the machines. Headlines like “Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee” and “Swedish Army Knife” announced that a powerful, versatile demolition machine didn’t have to be a bull in a china shop. Neil Sedaka notwithstanding, breaking up shouldn’t be hard to do. And with a Brokk, you can do it remotely, efficiently and precisely.
The new Brokk website went interactive before interactive was cool. The site showcased each Brokk model and gave a quick tutorial on how to use it. Custom CDs of machines in action were also created and made available to private contractors to help them to sell their services. The campaign truly enhanced the Brokk sub-culture, where owners have a respect for and, dare we say, love of the equipment that rivals that of Harley owners. Park&Co gave these machine huggers something to lust over. And it showed. Just six months after launching their first full-fledged North American campaign, Brokk’s sales leads shot up 700%, the most dramatic increase in their history. So dramatic, in fact, that Park&Co’s campaign has been adopted and translated throughout their European markets.
Proof yet again that whether it’s demo machines or ad agencies, powerful things can come in small packages.
Losing Your Fear. Finding Your Brand.
by Karen Post
Every single living entity in the business world has a brand. Brands happen when a company takes its first breath. When it opens its doors, sets the sales troops loose on the battlefield, prints the business cards, and handles the first stressed-out customer, it is developing a brand. The brand is the by-product of all of one's actions -- the sum of what an organization, person, or product does. How you behave, communicate, and respond to the unexpected are part of your brand.
Don't just push the envelope; throw it off the table. Start with your story (Is it compelling?), modify your packaging (Is it different?), reconsider your brand name (Is it memorable?), adjust your attitude (Seemingly rare?) and experience (Like none other?). These are just a few places to look. Creativity will land your brand. Conformity will kill it. I'm not suggesting you go goofy to find your brand -- although with Disney, it worked. I am saying humans are hit with so much of the same that it means nothing. They are blasted with the same words, colors, shapes, taglines, and broken promises. Don't go there. It's dangerous.
Leave the comfort zone. Blaze the path less traveled. Find a higher nirvana from your will to whip your competitor's butt. Always protect the integrity of who your brand is, but then build relationships by creatively expressing your essence (purpose, position, personality, promise) and then create lasting loyalty with your confident distinction.
Four steps to get it right.
- If it scares you, get excited.
- If peers say, "Are you out of your mind?" say, "Yes!"
- If your industry starts gossiping, send them a thank-you note.
- If no one's done it before, move faster.