MODERN SALON: WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO LAUNCH YOUR OWN MARKETING FIRM?
SASHA POLIT: Most of my experience was on the corporate side and most recently I was with a hair care company that launched with eight people and experienced phenomenal growth in four years. I was responsible for all the marketing and design for the company, but I needed a creative partner and contacted Alain Dominguez, who came from the agency and corporate side and I knew his creative capabilities. We worked well together combining my marketing and his design expertise and realized we had accomplished as much as we could for one company. Branded Creative Group was our brainchild, letting us do on our own what we had been doing for someone else. Alain is the creative director and I am chief operating officer and through word-of-mouth, we have grown our client roster in the past two years.
MS: WHAT IS BRANDING SO IMPORTANT AND ARE COMMON MISTAKES?
SP: To establish a brand, a company has to establish a difference and set itself apart with an identity that is unique. Alain and I have gained invaluable experience at our previous positions and have had successes and made mistakes, so we have a good idea of what works and what doesn’t. We provide the full gamut of marketing and design services, the two crucial elements to a brand. Marketing is the message and Design is the look and visual personality a company or product wants to project. These are somewhat over-used words, but the truth is, they are not often put into daily practice. Consistency of message and design is the most important. Many companies utilize a combination of various in-house departments and outside agencies to perform different tasks in the marketing and creative process, and the result is fractured. BCG helps companies speak with one voice, one message and one look. We treat our client companies as if they were our own company and will help them achieve their vision with general marketing strategies, product development, packaging, public relations, support materials, media planning and whatever it takes. We are a one-stop shop.
MODERNSALON: HOW DO YOU CUSTOMIZE YOUR SERVICES FOR DIFFERENT CLIENTS?
SP: We generally have clients that fall into one of three categories. The first is the company that comes to us without any real ideas or vision. For these clients, we are prepared to come up with everything they need. We learn as much as we can about them and work with them in all areas of messaging, product design, packaging, visuals and support materials. We immerse ourselves in all aspects of the company and are prepared to do it all, from the ground up, to build a solid brand with which the market will identify.
The second client is an established company, but is not getting the recognition in the market that it should. For these clients, we often only need to tweak what is already established, and may stage a re-launch of a product, program or packaging back into the industry.
The third type of client may have a strong brand, but the company feels something is lacking. For these clients, we figure out the weakness and strengthen it, whether it is an improved web site, a stronger social media presence or updated packaging. In short, we will work with clients at all levels of brand development. All our clients are in the beauty industry since that is what we know best and that is our passion. Visit us at brandedcg.com.
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