Sharpening a saw blade company’s competitive edge
Håkansson Sågblad has been making bandsaw blades for decades. So they are well established but, in a market where blades are often seen as a commodity, opportunities for growth are few and far between.
One such opportunity was a special blade it developed: the Dust Remover, which clears dust from wood as it’s being sawn resulting in a cleaner, faster cut. But how best to launch this innovation on a Europe-wide scale with a very limited budget?
Dark Grey quickly formed a unique and close working relationship with the Håkansson team. Brainstorming sessions threw up all kinds of ideas and in record time we got up to speed on the ins and outs of the bandsaw blade market.
Two birds, one stone
The outcome was a two-track B2B creative strategy. On the one hand, an integrated campaign to promote the Dust Remover tactically in the short term – primarily through the existing distributor network. And second, to use that product campaign to begin building a strong brand image for the long term.
The two strands are based on emphasising the company’s Swedish heritage and all that stands for: superior design, quality, reliability… and a certain quirkiness. Alongside a full complement of integrated campaign marketing tools including content marketing, distributor support and printed sales materials, we also produced a corporate brochure as a first step in the ongoing branding task. Further product promotions followed a similar template to the Dust Remover in order to raise awareness in the most cost-effective way.
According to Ward Parsons, Sales and Marketing Manager, “We needed an agile international partner to help drive us forward. Dark Grey regularly take the initiative and work proactively to make that happen.”
