“She listens to the client. Not everyone listens to the client. She listens clearly enough so she can ask follow-up questions and get a really good idea what our company is about. I was very impressed with that. I’ve worked with a lot of marketing companies and she is the first one who really asked the questions.” ~Dean Siracusa, President and Founder at Summer Hawk Optics, Inc.
Flying Eyes Positions for New Markets
Dean Siracusa was highly disappointed in the representation of his brand when he pursued a crowdfunding campaign to manufacture his new line of niche market sunglasses. His wife told him it was time to invest the branding he was putting off, and we had a meeting. Dawn Weathersbee Marketing knew just what he needed to regain his confidence in his brand representation and get to the next level in his marketing: clear brand positioning, clear messaging, and clear imagery guidelines.
“Just the listening AND processing. She really was listening to me and from my explanation was able to ask follow-up questions that got at what our company is about.” ~Dean Siracusa, President and Founder at Summer Hawk Optics, Inc.
A stronger brand position meant assessing the Flying Eyes’ current foundational customer base, and considering other niche market’s wants and needs. It also meant designing the brand’s visual identity around these unique markets – we needed to find a common theme that would resonate with multiple market niches that wore sunglasses for either work or for recreation.
“We’re a niche eyewear company. Having this one branding guide that gets the point across no matter who you are–it’s all here, the identity of the company. When she got that done, I was sold.” ~Dean Siracusa, President and Founder at Summer Hawk Optics, Inc.
First, we prioritized market research around the current messaging and lifestyle needs of three target markets: pilots, first responders, and recreational motorcyclists. By doing online research into the brand’s key competition in those markets, going to online forums and niche groups, and reading up on the hobbies, beliefs, and dominant archetypes of each group, we came up with a common theme of being on the go, living adventure, and needing to focus on what mattered. From there, the individual core messaging for each niche was developed, all looking at the common theme from the target market’s unique set of needs.
The next step in positioning the Flying Eyes brand was to develop unique core messages for each niche target, and source for a designer that could develop imagery guidelines that evoked the feelings of technological advancement, adventurous lifestyle, and constant movement. We also developed a brand color palette that was a cross between what everyone else in the niche market was doing and the visual norms of current lateral lifestyle markets. We decided to look more future-forward than the rest of the niche-specific sunglass market players by choosing less violently masculine themes, but keeping the overall vibe clean and heroic.
“We are using the brand guide when dealing with other agencies; to create a sale sheet for distributors and retailers; and to develop media kits for journalists writing reviews of our products. And it’s the basis for updating our website. ” ~Dean Siracusa, President and Founder at Summer Hawk Optics, Inc.
Once the position, imagery guidelines, and messaging were developed, we compiled it all into a brand guide that could be used by Flying Eyes for multiple marketing and sales applications.
As Flying Eyes continues to grow its market share internationally, they are able to continually refer to their brand guide as the place to begin when they develop each new campaign strategy or new piece of sales collateral.