MARKETING VIRTUALLY IN A CONTEMPORARY WORLD by Lara Copeland, writer, The American Mold Builder
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or much of history, sales and marketing efforts in the moldmaking industry have been slim and primitive in nature. A great deal of the networking was intimate and nearby, perhaps conducted on the golf course or in restaurants. But that landscape has evolved over the last 20 years, and the COVID-19 pandemic was just the proverbial cherry on top. Moldmaking shops now are challenged to embrace other marketing techniques, not only to expand and diversify but to ensure survival.
MID-CENTURY MARKETING In the 1960s, when Michiana Global Mold (MGM) opened in Mishawaka, Indiana, the owner “had solid connections, personally fostered relationships and work was plentiful,” said Kelly Kasner, MGM’s director of sales and marketing. Kasner, who grew up in the industry and often traveled to customers with her tool-shop-owner dad, continued, “Particularly in our neck of the woods, in the Mecca of the Midwest, Tier 2 and Tier 3 automotive suppliers were all over the place and kept every mold shop in our town and region busy with lots of work.” But, things started to change as the industry supply chain became more global in nature. While work was plentiful and local in the late 1980s and 1990s, the marketing efforts required were nearly non-existent because “your supply chain was close to you – you worked within your region,” Kasner said. This relationship- and connection-based network functioned well until the year 2000 when China and other offshore competition emerged on US soil. Kasner explained that this global competition left its footprint and spurred change. When China came calling, many US businesses turned to website development for marketing. “These websites were static by design, very text-ridden and inundated with verbiage,” Kasner said. “We hit the ground running, made cold calls to make new connections and had business cards and brochures.” This is what marketing efforts consisted of for small, familyowned moldmakers in the early 2000s. THE SHIFT OF 2020 When the pandemic came into play in early 2020, Kasner said those cold calls and visits were no longer happening. “The old30
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fashioned ‘let me take you to lunch and see what we can do 574.259.6262 for you’ meeting was no longer an option, and neither were 1702 East Street out brochures,” she stated. tradeshows or7th handing Mishawaka, IN 46544
With the company’s tried-and-true marketing efforts no longer relevant, and opportunities to be live and in-person while engaging with one another no longer possible, MGM looked for ways to make up for the lack of human connection. “I’m old-school, and I miss the in-person aspects of sales and marketing,” said Kasner. “It always has been and still is all about relationships.” This meant it was critical for the company to figure out how to be innovative and unique while partnering and conducting business with people who value relationships. “We just had to think about how to do it differently, particularly in our industry,” she continued.
