CASE STUDY - BRANDWORKZ
OVERVIEW Brandworkz was established in 2012 and is an independent, privately-owned business. The company originally operated within the highly competitive Digital Asset Management (DAM) market, providing a platform designed to centralise, manage, control and share brand and marketing brand content, guidelines and messaging. Revenues are predominantly based on recurring fees for Software as a Service (SaaS) according to the number of users requiring access to the platform; other services include implementation, training and consultancy. Brandworkz services over 65 clients, is based in London, and currently employs approximately 20 people. High profile clients include JLL, Baker Tilly, Dr Martens, AON, Ally Financial and Golds Gym.
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Brandworkz Case Study
Thoughtstream
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The challenge was firstly how to improve trading without the funding, and then to prepare the company for growth and significant investment.
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Brandworkz Case Study
THE CHALLENGE Since 2012 Brandworkz had developed steadily, and increased market share each year. However, at the end of year they 5 had reached a crossroads. In order to achieve their original growth plans Brandworkz had been out to the market for investment in late 2017, but this approach did not prove successful. Put simply the company needed investment to grow but could not source new funding on the right terms. It had reached its glass ceiling; the management team were not able to secure new funding, but needed the funding to achieve their growth plans. The challenge was firstly how to improve trading without the funding, and then to prepare the company for growth and significant investment. As a result, Brandworkz engaged Thoughtstream to help make the company more competitive, create a new strategic growth plan and increase revenues 5-fold within 3 years.
Thoughtstream
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THE INSIGHT Brandworkz were operating in the highly competitive DAM space. The statistics on the market size are impressive, with Markets&Markets valuing the global DAM market size at over $ 1.7 billion. By the end of 2024 the market is expected to be worth $9.14 Billion, at a CAGR of 23.8%. But the flipside is that there were a large number of operators in a crowded marketplace with little differentiation. Elliott Gant’s advice has always been “let’s not try to be everything to everybody” but what was clear at the outset was that Brandworkz risked ignoring that maxim. Gartner’s definition of the Digital Asset Management market included capabilities for ingestion, storage, retrieval, collaboration and life cycle management of rich-media assets, including text, graphics, images, videos and audio. This broad definition was understandably in danger of causing confusion from a customer perspective.
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Brandworkz Case Study
Brandworkz had to get out of the congested DAM market, re-position itself in an area where it could be the acknowledged leader and differentiate itself on the basis of market focus. Thoughtstream
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Being a software company, a complete new roadmap was also produced that realised their product vision and would enhance Brandworkz’ position in the market. 08
Brandworkz Case Study
THE SOLUTION A new, clear and achievable strategic plan was required in order to prepare the ground for making the company more competitive, and to accelerate growth. However, every plan should be founded on as much certainty as possible and so prior to coming to any firm conclusions Thoughtstream (who already have extensive knowledge of the software industry) fully researched Brandworkz’ market. Following Thoughtstream’s 6 step delivery process this included conducting in-depth interviews with the Brandworkz Senior Management Team (SMT) as well as current clients, previous clients, competitors and industry analysts. Subsequently, intensive workshops were held with the Brandworkz SMT and a new strategic growth plan was agreed with the objective of increasing revenues 5-fold in 3 years and the not inconsiderable task of raising EBITDA by 700%. The research and workshops had confirmed that brand equity is increasingly recognised as a significant driver of corporate value, and that maintaining and improving brand equity through effective Brand Management was a compelling proposition for brand owners and marketers. Brandworkz was well placed to lead the market through this positioning, in what was determined to be a vibrant and growing subcategory within the wider DAM marketplace. Key to the new strategy was to primarily target companies within the Financial Services sector with the new proposition, a sector which
analysis revealed was already accounting for over 25% in terms of their revenue. The intention was to leverage that expertise and position Brandworkz as the Brand Management provider of choice for the industry; based on specialist market understanding, appropriate product features and service delivery. All outbound marketing efforts would focus on this audience. The secondary target would be “brand-centric organisations” – carefully defined as those companies where brand differentiation is already recognized as a key driver of value and sales. This reflected the remainder of Brandworkz’ existing customer base, and was therefore important not to lose sight of with inbound marketing considerations. Being a software company, a complete new roadmap was also produced that realised their product vision and would enhance Brandworkz’ position in the market by offering new and enhanced features, and ever greater functionality to clients. This programme was branded “Next Gen.” A new plan was created which identified the real growth opportunities and, amongst many other details, set out a clear value proposition, market growth forecast, pricing strategy and competitor analysis. A completely new category was created that re-positioned Brandworkz as the leader in the Brand Management Software
Thoughtstream
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Creating a new plan, introducing a new category and redefining the sector focus is all very well but the key to success was to ensure that the opportunities these refinements represent were realised by driving the company forward on a number of fronts.
A completely new PR programme was introduced that complemented the new positioning and focused on creating dynamic impact within the Financial Services Marketing community in particular, gaining cut through with key messages and creating targeted awareness.
The clarity of the planning meant that the SMT all had clear, sensible and achievable KPI’s and were following a plan that they had all genuinely bought into. Thoughtstream were on hand to mentor each member of the SMT independently, helping them overcome any specific challenges and to strengthen their departmental performance.
All these improvements immediately produced dramatic results – website traffic increased by 20%, but more importantly qualified leads rose by 50%.
In order to grow, the company had to become a leaner, meaner fighting machine and capable of winning more business. Previously Brandworkz had solely relied on receiving inbound sales leads via the website but to facilitate future sales growth there was a need to professionalise the team and create a more robust platform. Sales and Marketing, which had been run separately, were immediately amalgamated as there was considerable overlap. This meant a more effective and streamlined approach and ensured that the marketing activities were more firmly focused on directing traffic to the website and providing sales with fully qualified leads. The website itself was overhauled and new marketing messages introduced, following the problem/solution format which reflected the new positioning and which prospects would find instantly familiar and be able to relate to on an emotional level.
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Brandworkz Case Study
Furthermore, since Brandworkz operate in B2B markets and are directly dependent on winning tenders, a new role for a Bid Manager was created to cope with the increasing number of enquiries, leads and tender applications. At the same time the pricing strategy was thoroughly simplified to help sharpen up the tender process and increase the win rate. An Account Based Marketing Plan was developed to maximise opportunities from the existing client base, and to minimise the risk of potential churn. The last piece in the jigsaw was to hire a Channel Manager to help implement an important plank of the new strategy – namely to develop a number of strategic sales partnerships with the aim of helping the business scale-up. Evidence of the benefits such partnerships could deliver was immediate with the US providing the biggest client the company had had to date shortly after the programme began.
All these improvements immediately produced dramatic results – website traffic increased by 20%, but more importantly qualified leads rose by 50%. Thoughtstream
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The company now has a strong sense of purpose and is recognised as a thought leader in Brand Management in the Financial Services sector. 12
Brandworkz Case Study
THE RESULTS The company now has a clear vision and plan for the next 3 years, the SMT are fully motivated, trading is already well ahead of schedule and the company is in a prime position to attract the investment that it had been seeking all along – at an advanced multiple. Key Highlights: • • • • • •
The company has been able to differentiate itself from the competitive DAM market and lead a new category by focusing on Brand Management functionality and expertise. The company now has a strong sense of purpose and is recognised as a thought leader in Brand Management in the Financial Services sector. The new partnership model has been implemented, establishing the company with proven traction in new geographical markets. The new product Roadmap has provided a more rounded solution and more intuitive user experience whilst helping clients resolve their most pressing business challenges. The more focused go-to-market activity has increased market awareness and boosted the lead generation returns to record levels. A very satisfying outcome
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