What we're getting into.

by Rick Barsotti

The question is not lost on me: why would two organizations, each growing at a rapid but healthy rate, decide during a recession to grow even faster by joining forces? Most agencies have or will announce layoffs. Budgets are tighter. Competition is more desperate. Timing is bad.

Well, not really.

Groove has always taken the long view in the way we help our customers position their brands. We talk less about the splash and more about the ripple. Even as every one of our clients look for ways to stretch their dollars, we encourage them to remain focused on the value of their brands. How they tell a compelling story, even during a recession, which will remain true to “who they are, what they do and why their customers should care.” While many companies (and their agencies) will turn their attention to the low hanging fruit – price wars, recession promises, exploitation of the base, cut-rate quality – the smart companies are finding cost effective, measurable ways to stay on message. That’s the ripple effect.

Every once in a while we meet folks who really get the sustainable, meaningful value of the ripple. Chris and her team at the Asterix Group get it. They help B2C clients develop brand and business strategies leveraging expertise in customer segmentation, go-to-market strategies and business analytics. They know how to take a brand to market and how to inject brand essence into every customer interaction. It’s what we both love to do.

The combined offerings, built across four key product suites (Brand Essentials, Business Insights, Architectures and Impact), allows Groove 11 to offer end-to-end agency expertise for B2B and B2C clients. More important, by joining forces we have linked two teams who are deeply passionate about building sustainable brands – the whole is absolutely greater than the sum of the parts. And we really, really like each other.

Over the next few months, our team will roll out customer case studies that should help your team navigate this recession. These stories will dive into ways to create meaningful ROI during difficult times and reveal how we are setting up clients to rocket into better times. Of course we’ll mention the splash, but we’re going to focus on the ripple. We hope you’ll join us.