The Briefing: December 2020
The Blue Creative Group Adds Four Clients in Four Weeks
The Blue Creative team is continuing to add to its roster of clients from around the globe. Although each project is different in scope, they all adhere to Blue’s belief that marketing and creative services is not simply a transactional endeavor and that the clichéd phrase “marketing partners” should have a lot more weight than an overused pitch-deck term. “We certainly have aspects of our business model that are pure transactional in order to provide a high-margin, higher-volume revenue bucket,” explains Andy Hawk, Blue Creative Group partner. “Yet paradoxically, we firmly believe that the only future-proof method of delivering value to our clients while reducing that typical agency churn is to be fully immersed in our clients’ business and the markets they serve. Whether it’s sustainable fuels, commercial cleaning supplies, or ski resorts, every member of the Blue team is tasked with knowing that client’s basic SWOT overview in order to be able to deliver truly meaningful marketing and creative direction. If not, we’re simply acting like a waiter filling an order. That’s no way to grow and sustain our business.”
Recent new accounts include Fuller Industries LLC of Great Bend, Kansas, the 113-year old commercial cleaning supply manufacturer and custom brush developer. Blue Creative was obtained as the agency of record and is tasked with re-branding all the divisions under a more defined corporate structure and producing all the tactical elements required. These include a new website, market research, public relations, ad creation, outbound marketing, new photography, and a graphic refresh. The Blue team descended on Great Bend twice in the last 45 days in order to meet with the company’s management and to fully understand each division, where they are having success, and where they have challenges that can be turned into opportunities. “Traveling during Covid is not exactly straightforward,” says Andy. “We ensure we are tested before leaving, then stay within our bubble while in Great Bend, and then quarantine and test before joining families again when we return. But there is no way to immerse ourselves and effectively move with speed without these in-person, on site meetings. When this all calms down, I’m especially looking forward to seeing the bottom half of our client’s faces that have been behind masks during all of these meetings!”
Blue Creative has continued to tap into its network from the Boulder office and signed top 25 accounting firm Eide Bailly LLP to the roster. Initial projects include content creation of 30-second television and radio spots in key markets. (Blue will partner with Fresnel portfolio company Tring Live Media on the radio production.)
The fourth quarter also saw the addition of Denver-based Dispatch Health. The company recently completed a $135 million Series C round and is expanding its at home medical care business into additional markets. It can provide the same services of many urgent-care facilities in the comfort and security of individual homes. Blue is tasked with creating video content within both the B-B and B-C divisions, including investor-facing video content.
Revealing Blue Creative’s unwillingness to be pigeonholed, the company also signed Maritimo Yacht Sales, the Holland, Michigan-based retails sales arm of Australia’s Maritimo Yachts. The luxury yacht manufacturer tapped Blue to review its previously owned yacht division and help to drive topline revenue through a multi-pronged listing-acquisition program, coupled by a retail sales marketing plan.
Digital Latitude Solutions Creates eCommerce Solutions for CleanGenic
One of the questions that will often come up during investor meetings is around what the connective tissue is between the nine seemingly disparate companies in the current FGC portfolio. In 2020, the complementary overlap was more evident than ever and has moved beyond the theoretical at warp speed. One case in point is the collaboration between the Blue Creative Group and Digital Latitude Solutions. Blue created a new ecommerce website for CleanGenic to market and sell hand sanitizer and other cleaning products. Scott Murray, co-founder and President of DLS brought in his team to then take the tools Blue created and is developing the entire sales channel solutions for CleanGenic, including Amazon, Walmart and Facebook. “Moving into the B-C space was a first for the client,” said Scott. “So we’ve been tasked with developing, managing, and enhancing their sales channels across the board. We’ll work with Blue to ensure the digital marketing plan is properly synced with the sales distribution. It’s a good program for CleanGenic since DLS only gets paid on the revenue generated. We have several more of these plans in the works for Q1 2021 and we’re projecting double digit growth as brands look to us to navigate the ecommerce market and achieve real product lift.”