Background

In 2005, I was asked to put an American face on the company and provide a new attitude to a brand that had tried for four years to gain traction in sales. To address this, it was necessary to create informative materials that would directly express the customer benefits of their product line, while simultaneously educating the market and justifying the higher cost for Brugg products.

This meant creating a variety of media that would turn company reps into “evangelists” on the subject of hoist ropes. This would enable them to enthusiastically present a solid case to mechanics, building owners, inspectors, maintenance professionals and consultants as to why using a quality hoist rope from the start would lead to significant long-term savings in installation, service and longer rope longevity; advantages that would far outweigh any paltry immediate benefits from using a cheaper quality rope.

Using simple email campaigns, we routinely created bulletins and sales programs pushing Brugg products, while at the same time creating a brand image that used humor and eye-catching appeal to stand out from the competition. We developed a new North American-focused website for Brugg Wire Rope, giving customers easy access to the data they needed and portraying the company as their homegrown source for all their hoisting needs.

Within seven years the company had developed a reputation for good service, providing a line of superior products, and their sales had risen to #2 in their market. The company had become thought of as an American brand, and the market was more amenable to the idea of purchasing better quality hoist ropes instead of immediately using low cost, cheaper sisal core ropes. This educational sales approach has since caught on and has become the norm in the industry when selling high quality elevator products.