April 2009: Next Plateau

Market Outlook

Entrepreneurs start a business for many different reasons; some want the flexible schedule that comes along with owning a company while others may be fulfilling a life long dream of starting a business. Whatever the reason, most self-started business owners are quite knowledgeable in their field, but do not have the proper training or time to effectively manage their finances and structure the company for maximum payout when it comes time to merge, sell or retire.

Opportunity

Next Plateau recognized the demand for an experienced team of consultants to help structure a new business, or re-structure an existing business, to assist the owner in gaining the most capitol from their company in the long run by putting into place a sound exit or succession plan. Next Plateau had the knowledge to help in the organization of new businesses, but being a new business themselves they needed assistance in creating a brand and marketing materials to get this information out to business owners. Next Plateau chose TribeAgency to help them build a brand identity and corporate business papers, along with a sales brochure and website to inform prospective clients of their consulting services.

Solutions

In order to begin work on the marketing materials (the brochure and website) TribeAgency first had to create a logo for Next Plateau.

To begin the project TribeAgency's strategic and creative teams were charged with developing Next Plateau's new logo mark and complete identity standards. TribeAgency's Creative Team presented multiple logo and color palette concepts that supported a theme that communicated the "next step up" a company and its owners could achieve by engaging Next Plateau as their consultative partner. The final identity design for Next Plateau features a bold "next" with an extension and color change on the top right arm of the "x" with the color change blending into the word "plateau," giving a sense of elevation in a subtle but eloquent and professional manner. To support the launch of the new brand mark, TribeAgency also designed a full range of business papers such as letterhead, envelopes and business cards for Next Plateau.

To further announce the new company and spur sales TribeAgency executed two communication collateral pieces for Next Plateau in the form of high-end brochures.

The first brochure acts as a cost effective introduction piece to target business owners by providing an overview of the various services Next Plateau can offer entrepreneurs. This piece was designed to be a stand alone mailer that could be sent to targeted mailing lists or as a follow-up piece for those that request more information from the new Next Plateau website. The second brochure is an exacting multi-page book that details Next Plateau's methodology and process to create an exit or succession plan for its client partners.

The new look and feel established across all the traditional media pieces was then applied to a new interface for the Next Plateau website. Along with the interface design, TribeAgency provided all strategic consulting, architecture services and coding for the new site and the destination's content management system. The overall goal of the new site execution was to announce Next Plateau's brand image online by promoting their core service offerings to their potential client base along with delving more deeply into describing what composes a sound exit or succession plan for business owners. The extremely user friendly and easy to navigate site does this by walking visitors through past client success stories and providing extensive background information on the expertise of the Next Plateau team.

Results

Next Plateau started out as a viable and needed niche concept in the marketplace. With the aide of TribeAgency's full breadth of strategic, creative and technical expertise they were able launch their business with a sound and professional identity supported by traditional and digital marketing pieces. These tools enable them to introduce their consulting service offerings to business owners allowing Next Plateau the ability to grow their client base quickly.