EBCS

EBCS needed a marketing plan and corporate branding to help them to transfer from the public sector into the third sector to become a not-for-profit social enterprise.

EBCS, Elmbridge Borough Council’s building control division, was being taken out of council ownership and transferred into the third sector as a not-for-profit social enterprise, as part of the government’s ongoing policy to safeguard important local authority services from stringent budgetary cuts. They searched for marketing agencies in London and found Abacus.

An essential part of the exercise was to understand the business and the needs of the people who worked within it. With this in mind, we went out on site visits to meet their customers, and interviewed every member of staff to fully understand their roles, personalities and opinions. We facilitated a kick-off meeting to better understand the features and benefits of their products and services. We created customer profiles and held brand workshops to get input into the strategic brand proposition.

The marketing plan included a systematic review of the business plan, comprehensive research into the competitor marketplace, the identification of sales and marketing materials required to meet the needs of key stakeholders, and the creation of a lead generation strategy to raise awareness and interest in their services. We revised their sales pipeline processes and made recommendations concerning the implementation of a CRM system to minimise churn and maximise conversion. We advised on customer lifetime value and suggested opportunities for cross-selling and up-selling using marketing automation software. We recommended the development of customer lifetime value strategies to encourage recommendation and referral by exploiting word of mouth opportunities.

The next part of the process was the development of a creative brand proposition. We created three different logo concepts and developed the chosen route in close partnership with the client until the design met with their complete satisfaction. We demonstrated how the styling would flow across various sales and marketing platforms, including their website, brochure, stationery and clothing to deliver a consistent, credible and professional first impression of their organisation. Once finalised, we provided a suite of logos and icons.

“This was just what we needed to help us to make a smooth transition into the third sector. Thank you so much for all your help. We really appreciated the extra effort you put into delivering a high quality marketing plan, and we loved the corporate branding you developed for us too.”

Mark Webb
Managing Director
EBCS

Category

Marketing consultancy
Corporate branding
Strategic brand proposition
Creative brand proposition