Creating competitive brand presence on a small budget
Kane Bank Services

Goal:
To generate an effective brand presence for prestige consultancy, on a limited budget, that would compete effectively against larger competitors.

Approach:

As a newer consultancy launched by a leading financial services industry leader, Kane Bank Services is an organization that serves a select roster of top banking and financial services organizations.  However, as a smaller consultancy, its budget for marketing and public relations was limited.  The challenge was to create a brand presentation and industry messaging that would compete effectively against consulting companies that were larger, established for a longer period of time, and with significantly larger marketing budgets.

In conducting a situation analysis of Kane Banking Services’ strategic positioning, Stephenson Group concluded that Kane Bank Services executive-level audience and its depth of industry knowledge would be best served by creating a push-to marketing strategy that would leverage the consultancy’s exceptional word-of-mouth customer referrals.  SG further determined that, based on market target and budget, an advertising campaign would be neither cost- nor results-effective for Kane Banking Services.

Based on this conclusion, SG developed a strategy that would reinforce the consultancy’s excellent market position, and create opportunities for the organization’s CEO to further position herself through industry thought-leadership activities.

The three-pronged strategy consisted of:  developing a web presence and search engine ranking, for the Kane Bank Services consultancy; securing speaking engagements at selected industry conferences; and earning bylined article placements in prestigious industry publications.

SG initiated the program by developing a web site that would provide prospects and customers with an opportunity to learn more about Kane Banking Services’ consulting approaches, results and strategies. 

Once the site was developed and launched, SG then recommended that Kane Banking Services reference the site in all of its marketing materials, correspondence and presentations.   At the same time, SG worked to secure speaking engagements, media interviews and bylined article opportunities with targeted industry conferences and publications.

Results:

The combination of effective website presentation and prestige positioning within key conferences and publications has earned Kane Banking Services both new business prospects and continued endorsement from its roster of top financial services industry  clients.

Within three months, the following results were achieved:

·         Design, copywriting and completion of the Kane Banking Services website:  www.kanebankservices.com.