Accufoam

With the brand strategy established, we set out to name CPS’s foam manufacturer.

Naming has always been a difficult challenge. Consider the challenges of naming a child. Couples often deliberate for months before settling on a name for their child, and they’re selecting from names that already exist.

Naming a company or a product, on the other hand? The standards are high. You want a name that is fitting, meaningful, memorable, easy to spell (and type into a Google search request), uncommon (so you have a chance of being found when people search), unique within your category (because trademarks), with a URL that is both available and sensical. 

Then reality sets in. Most of the “good” names? Already taken. If a name comes to mind, it’s virtually certain that it comes to mind because you’ve seen, heard of, or bought a product with that name on it before.

When naming the foam company, we did what we always do: brainstorm hundreds and hundreds of names. Then we painstakingly check each one, only to return to brainstorm some more.

Then we whittle the list down to the strongest candidates. Is it on strategy? Is it likely to resonate with our target audiences? How does it compare to the competition?

Usually, there are three or four names that could work and we deliberate with the client until a leading candidate emerged. And sometimes, the clouds part and a name appears that is available, on strategy, and ideal in virtually every respect. 

Now that Accufoam had a name, it was time to put the marketing plan in motion.

Broadly speaking, you can group marketing tactics into either of two categories:

• Attention-Getting Tactics: These are things like ads, emails, trade show booths, and social media content that are designed to go out to the market, meet users where they are, and attract and nurture the attention of your target audience(s).
• Brand & Conversion Tactics: These are things like your website, landing pages, sales collateral, brochures, identity system, photography, signage, lead magnets, sales videos, and other brand assets that communicate who you are once you’ve gained the attention of your audience(s) and/or works to turn a prospect into a customer.

Because Accufoam was a new brand and a new product, both kinds of tactics would be critical to launch it and help it gain traction in the marketplace.

Accufoam had a name and discovery had revealed many of the features that made it special. And it was clear Accufoam had an impressive story to tell:

• A murderers row of industry chemists, executives, and engineers
• More than 2.5 years of R&D and thousands of formulas tested
• All to create a spray foam so accurate, so precise, that it outperformed others on the market.

The key question emerged: how do you give life and personality to the Accufoam brand? What kind of brand character would support those kinds of stories? More importantly, what kind of brand would strike customers as authentic and credible? What kinds of words, photos, and images would Accufoam use to communicate its message?

To answer these questions, we use a tool pioneered by Jungian psychologists and Hollywood story experts: archetypes. But unlike some creatives who use archetypes to indulge in flights of fancy, we employ them for one particular reason: they give us a shortcut to crafting wickedly effective brand strategies.

In Accufoam’s case, several archetypes could fit. The superior nature of its product and the aggressive, well-planned nature of its development would have fit a Ruler archetype. Because the Accufoam team definitely was passionate about and motivated by the creative process, it could be a Creator archetype.

Ultimately, however, through facilitation, it emerged that the most fitting archetype for the Accufoam brand—the kind of brand that would be most compelling in telling its story—was the Magician. To the spray foam contractors who used it, Accufoam seemed like a magical product. It promised to transform ordinary contractors into extraordinary contractors, to transform typical field conditions to provide lab-precise results.

We also created a story architecture that laid out the strategic framework for how Accufoam would speak and the ways in which its message would be communicated.

Today, for nearly every brand, there is one—and often only one—true representation of what a company is and what its brand stands for: it’s website.

While Accufoam’s ideal customers are spray foam contractors and the distributors who support them, the Accufoam website had to be designed to serve the needs of a wider range of audiences.

• Spray Foam Contractors needed to understand Accufoam and be persuaded to switch
• Spray Foam Distributors had to understand the benefits of Accufoam and know how to purchase
• Home owners curious about their insulation would have to be able to do due diligence on Accufoam
• Architects and engineers needed to be encouraged to specify Accufoam and have their questions answered when a subcontractor used it for the first time

Often overlooked but vitally important, sales collateral, technical data sheets, and other “run the business” documents are vital touchpoints for every brand. They deserve careful attention and thoughtful design.

In the case of Accufoam, the most important touchpoint for a contractor, distributor, architect, or engineer interested in switching to or specifying its products is the technical data sheet. We designed a data sheet system for Accufoam that meets the expectations of the market for technical data while incorporating subtle elements of Accufoam’s visual identity to create a seamless experience from website to download request to PDF.

The Woodstock of the spray foam world is the yearly Spray Polyeurethane Foam Association (SPFA) conference. Everyone who’s anyone in the industry is there. And the conference issue of the SPFA Magazine is the biggest and most important issue of the year.

Launching at a tradeshow like the SPFA is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the rewards are potentially enormous. The majority of your target market will be there and in a state where they’re predisposed to buy. On the other hand, every other vendor in the industry will be clamouring for your customers’ attention. It can be difficult to cut through the noise and be noticed.

This challenge is further complicated by another reality of a launch: as was true in the case of Accufoam, even when you get the attention of your customer, the story of most new products and brands is too multifaceted to convey at a glance.

To overcome those challenges, we developed a print advertising strategy that aimed to create brand awareness with the goal of cultivating curiosity about Accufoam’s entrance into the market.

With that strategy in mind, we concepted an approach to the ads that ran counter to how most products were advertised in the industry:

• A two-page color ad would be dominated by a striking visual designed to create a sense of mystery and intrigue
• The headline would make a bold statement
• Body copy would provide the bare minimum of detail but focus on a core aspect of the brand story. (In the first ad, the extensive R&D that was its origin story.)

The ad in the SPFA Magazine conference issue did its work. Throughout the convention, there was buzz about Accufoam. Traffic to its booth was high. And there was a sense that Accufoam was up to something big.

The initial ad laid a foundation. Future ads would develop the Accufoam story in the minds of potential customers while sticking to its iconic layout and bold visual style.

Accufoam made the decision to launch with advertising at the SPFA conference before it decided to commit to a trade show booth. But when space became available as the show approached, Accufoam made the decision to dive in with both feet.

Working closely with Accufoam’s existing trade show booth vendor, we designed banners, table runners, and signage for its booth with a goal of creating a branded presence for Accufoam within the constraints of what could be produced on a very tight timeline.

Accufoam’s launch at the SPFA convention was a huge success. It returned with active interest and had built an email list with more than 1,000 names of industry insiders who had been exposed to the Accufoam brand.

The mistake most companies make, however, especially after the push to get ready for and then work a signature tradeshow, is not to nurture the momentum they’ve acquired. 

You can generate interest from a tradeshow, but unless that interest is nurtured, within a matter of weeks, enthusiasm begins to wane.

We recommended and then managed an email campaign to the SPFA attendees who expressed interest in Accufoam. We adopted a once-weekly cadence that progressively enriched the Accufoam story, highlighting one message at a time the key selling features and story elements that gave the Accufoam product and brand such potential in the marketplace.

The email campaign was a success. More than three months after the show, open rates remained above 30% on average and click through rates to the Accufoam site were regularly in the double digits.

From its tradeshow launch to the consistent follow up, in a few short months Accufoam had emerged from obscurity to become a recognized contender in the multi-billion dollar spray foam insulation industry.