Services
Marketing Plan Development
Aberdeen Research shows that those companies that reported using a strong marketing planning process in their overall marketing strategy consistently outperform their peers in terms of business and marketing performance* The CMO's Strategic Agenda Benchmark Report, Building the "Marketing-Ready" Enterprise January 2006.
Marketing Research
Marketing research is like taking a soil sample. Analyzing the current industry state and environment allows Harvest Consulting to advise your company on the best possible growth strategies. Our research looks at your company, your competition, and your customers. We then plant the right seeds and develop the marketing strategies that focus on your most profitable services and products. Your company can then "reap the harvest."
Brand Identity
Simply stated, the definition of brand is your promise to the consumer. According to Charles Brymer, CEO of Interbrand Schecter, “We define a brand as a trademark, which to consumers represents a particular and appealing set of values and attributes. It’s much more than a product. Products are made in a factory. A product becomes a brand only when it stands for a host of tangible, intangible and psychological factors. A key point to remember is that brands are not created by the manufacturer. They exist only in the eye of the beholder, the customer.” 1
Your company’s corporate identity and the brand identity of your products or services (the promises you make to your customers, employees, and key stakeholders) are grounded in core competency. That is, what it is that your company can do better than your competition. The long term advantage to creating a core competency is building a sustainable competitive advantage.
According to C.K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel, as published in a 1990 Harvard Business Review article, core competence has three characteristics:
- It provides potential access to a wide variety of markets
- It increases perceived customer benefits
- It is hard for competitors to imitate
1 "The Corporate Brand and the Bottom Line," Charles Brymer, delivered to Corporate Communications Conference, sponsored by the Association of National Advertisers Inc September 12-14, 1993.
According to a 1993 study conducted by the ANA (Association of National Advertisers), companies with the most improved reputations did the most advertising, the companies with the best reputations experienced the highest earnings growth and best stock performance. Also, reputation accounts for approximately 5%, on average, of the stock price. According to a study by the Strategic Planning Institute and The Ogilvy Center for Research and Development, “a product perceived to be superior and representing the highest quality can command top price, on average 9 percent higher than the competitor’ similar products.” 2
2 "Leveraging The Corporate Brand", James R. Gregory, p. 61
Public Relation Strategies
The PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) provides the definition of public relations: "Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other." Harvest Consulting advocates public relations strategies as an integral part of marketing, marketing planning, and integrated branding.
Direct Marketing
Providing the right message and the right offer to the correct target audience is paramount in the success of any direct marketing efforts. Harvest Consulting delivers extraordinary results for its clients through the use of strategic direct marketing programs. It also partners with the best-in-class database marketers to insure the marketing and data analytics that are necessary for MROI (marketing return on investment).
Tradeshow Management
Insure that your company is getting the highest possible ROI on your tradeshow participation, by contacting Harvest Consulting. Harvest Consulting designs tradeshow management strategies that are consistent with your marketing objectives and business goals.