Case Study: POP Brand Identity

Marvel Group

Client Profile

For over fifty years, The Marvel Group, Inc. has designed, manufactured and delivered custom office furniture and organization systems. The company is a member of the Fortune 300 Masco Corporation family, whose subsidiaries include household names such as Delta Faucet, Kraftmaid Cabinetry and Baldwin Hardware. In addition to Marvel’s best of breed workplace furniture and organizational systems solutions, the company also designs and manufactures permanent Point of Purchase displays.

Challenge

To establish brand identity for company’s Point of Purchase (POP) product division via online medium.

Technology

Front-end Technology

• Macromedia Director
• Macromedia Flash
• Microsoft Windows Media
• Real Networks

Middle-ware Technology

• ASP
• Database: Microsoft SQLServer
• Java
• Visual Basic

Back-end Technology

• Application Server: Microsoft IIS
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 2000
• Real Networks Streaming Media Server

How Azavar Drove the Bottom Line

• Increased Marvel POP’s prospective customer base by over 300% within 90 days through online channels.
• Brought key, primary target prospects to Marvel POP’s sales force, including Merck & Company, Ford Motor Company and Coca-Cola Enterprises Incorporated.
• Assisted Marvel POP’s sales force by breaking down the barriers of doing business globally, thus generating solid prospects from Europe and Latin America.

Solution

Fortune 300 Masco Corporation's Marvel Group wanted to further permeate the Point of Purchase
(POP) market through strategically repositioning their POP solutions as a separate business entity from its primary product line of workplace furniture and organization systems. As efforts were underway to restructure the company on a strategic level, it became increasingly evident that a new brand identity was an absolute must for Marvel POP.

Together, Marvel and Azavar Technologies Corporation partnered to establish a new Point of Purchase brand identity through interactive online initiatives. The company targets regional, national and international Consumer Packaged Goods manufacturers and Original Equipment Manufacturers through traditional sales and marketing avenues, leveraging their ability to develop end-to-end POP solutions from design conception, through component manufacturing and assembly, and finally to delivery of final product.

Azavar's challenge was to communicate this strength to Marvel's target demographic through an online presence that would not only convey a strong brand identity for Marvel POP, but more importantly would facilitate a higher conversion rate of site users to actual purchasing clients.

Interface architects at Azavar designed the site as a careful balance between engaging the user with interactive media and providing the functionality and concise navigation preferred by the typical CPG manufacturer. Marvel and Azavar worked hand-in-hand to capture the essence of Marvel POP and translated this look into an effective medium that enhances Marvel's relationships with existing customers and has further grown its customer base.

It was integral for the design of the new online presence to be highly engaging and aesthetically appealing, two terms synonymous with Marvel POP's own design philosophy. From the attention grabbing Flash animation splash page, to the interactive video footage highlighting each of the company's POP services, the online presence engages and entices users every step of the way.

Another important aspect of the company's brand identity is its soup-to-nuts services approach. Azavar translated this competitive advantage into virtual action with an online tour of Marvel's state-of-the art manufacturing facility. Implemented with Flash multimedia technology, the tour gives users a 360 degree view of Marvel POP in real-time.

In addition to designing the online presence as an effective branding tool, Azavar also optimized marvelpop.com with data capture components. Simply connecting users and Marvel through online sales tools and contact forms has expanded Marvel's customer communication channels, providing the company with a more effective means of reaching a wider audience. Azavar's online data capture solution has generated a significant number of target prospects for Marvel, including companies such as Coca-Cola Enterprises and Reebok.

A captivating interface is only as effective as it's supporting, well-developed, and highly functional back-end architecture. Marvelpop.com was developed with multi-browser and multi-platform usability, as navigation at anytime and from any computer was mission critical to the company. Keeping typical Marvel POP consumers in mind, the website was created based on lowest-common denominator industry standards, keeping the client-side website architecture simple yet engaging. From Marvel's perspective, emphasis on server side simplicity provided easy maintenance by Marvel staff. The result is a highly functional, attention grabbing new online identity delivered on time and within budget in less than 90 days.

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