Strategy central to brand building at DesRosiers

BOULDER ? When Paul DesRosiers moved to Boulder after obtaining his psychology degree, little did he know he would create a line of outdoor clothing, love the marketing aspect of it and start an advertising agency.

DesRosiers Advertising was founded in 1998 with one employee ? the owner. “I read every book about copy writing and advertising, and worked as a copy writer for a while before starting my own company,” DesRosiers said.

His firm is a full-service agency that specializes in building and selling brands. The technique is to create each component of a client’s business communication as a soldier and mold them to charge in one strategic direction.

“That is a brand by our definition: each part of your business acting as a single powerful unit,” DesRosiers said. “We drive creativity with strategy.”

First, the agency’s team meets with the heads of a company, the partners or a sole proprietor and working together, defines the brand’s position, the area clients want their business to own in the marketplace. “The business has a strategy, and your brand should follow the same mindset,” DesRosiers said.

The brand is communicated both internally within the company and externally to the target audience. All of the corporate collateral ? any produced material, including logos, brochures, print and television ads, Web sites and data sheets that accompany the financial reports ? will speak the same message, he said.

The purpose of the message is to sell your product or service. “Bill Bernbach, a brilliant advertising copy writer, said, ?Don’t show a man standing on his head to gain attention unless you are selling something that keeps things in his pockets,’ ” DesRosiers said.

“Our philosophy is simple: When designing communications, be creative for the sake of the business, not for the sake of being creative,” DesRosiers said. The ideal brand communicates the client’s goals, expectations and the business.

“We design to command attention and, at the same time, to clearly communicate the brand message. The goal is to deliver that message and the achievement is to stimulate a response,” he said. “Our brand is ?Strategically Designed.'”

Part of the research the agency does is to determine how a business wants to be perceived. It also finds out what a business has done already, researches the market and determines what audience the business wants to target. “Realize, it’s an investment in your business,” DesRosiers said.

A brand is the core of a business, the foundation that doesn’t change, he said. “Trendy brands require re-inventing every year, like new models of cars. You want a brand like Mercedes that always has that great German engine inside,” DesRosiers said. With a brand that is the core, the business can evolve and change to take advantage of the market.

To market his own business, DesRosiers uses concentric marketing. “We network with people, read different business journals such as the Denver Business Journal and The Boulder County Business Report, and use a direct mail list of businesses. If they are interested in our services, we send our portfolio,” DesRosiers said.

The agency’s clients range from consumer-oriented companies to high-tech firms. Its services can cost from $2,500 to $8,000 on up to $10,000 or $12,000. Cost depends on the intensity of the research, the complexity of the brand and the size of the company, he said. “We offer high-value, top-level, creative branding.” DesRosiers wouldn’t disclose its earnings for 2000.

The agency offers branding and advertising services from strategic design to logos to complete campaign development. The agency also has formed strategic alliances with other firms to provide services in Web development and public relations while ensuring brand continuity.

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