Case Study #5: Partnering for Success
Shawn Solloway is President of Exit Marketing, a creativity-driven full-service advertising agency based in Little Rock. In business for four years, Shawn and his four-person team serve clients throughout the state of Arkansas and beyond.
The Challenge: Exit Marketing is known for working closely with clients to ensure that the advertising campaigns they create and roll out are both highly effective and well aligned with each client’s unique mission, vision, and business goals. The success of a campaign rests, in part, on how clearly the client can identify and communicate their target market or ideal clients, differentiate their product or service, and understand what sets them apart from their competition.
The Decision: Shawn had gotten to know Samantha Hartley through networking. “I could tell she had a tremendous amount of strategic knowledge and had applied it with large, impressive clients,” he says. Shawn, visionary as well as creative, saw the benefit of bringing Samantha in to work with one of his newer clients, Delta Trust & Bank. More than a bank, Delta’s professional team offers trusts, investment advice, and financial products to customers who want full-service money management and a high level of customer service. “This client knew the importance of having a solid brand marketing strategy, “ says Shawn. “We have a real passion for creativity; Samantha has a real passion for strategy.”
The Process: Samantha partnered with Shawn and his team as they worked with Delta Trust & Bank through three strategy sessions where they looked closely at how Delta should position themselves in the marketplace for the greatest impact. “She’s big picture oriented,” says Shawn of Samantha. “She’s forward thinking and presents the ideas she thinks are best. And she doesn’t play politics.”
The Results: With data in hand from the initial three strategy sessions, Exit Marketing put together a year-long marketing and advertising campaign for Delta Trust and Bank. “Because of working with Samantha, they now understand who their real competition is and who their prime, target customers are,” says Shawn. The team is building measurable goals into Delta’s plan and Shawn is confident that by the end of 2008 they’ll have achieved results that will delight the client and make both he and Samantha proud of their work.
“Working with Samantha has been great. I respect what she brings to the table. Having her on our roster makes our product. It feels like she’s a part of the team. We’re going to start working with another potential client tomorrow.” – Shawn Solloway, President of Exit Marketing
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