Connections Made: A case in point

Mountain Stream Group - Ortman Fluid Power Case Study

Ortman Fluid Power: Revitalizing a mature company.

Ortman Fluid Power Cylinders Photo

Ortman Fluid Power Cylinders

Situation: Ortman Fluid Power was a small division of a publicly-held company — manufacturing hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders sold through a nationwide distribution network. Annual sales had been flat and floundering for years around the $7 – $8 million mark. Distribution network and company employee morale was rapidly eroding. And, Ortman Fluid Power’s parent demanded they be a $20 million company in 5 years.

Ortman Fluid Power Logo Ortman Fluid Power’s marketing materials were dated and product benefits weren’t being promoted. They were introducing a new line of cylinders to satisfy a missing niche in the market. A pre-campaign study revealed our client’s target audience brand awareness was absent.

The study also indicated the manufacturing sector’s desire for quality products. Management team and employee interviews along with a test data audit uncovered Ortman Fluid Power’s desire to produce high quality products.

Intelligent Solution: To satisfy their needs a top to bottom overhaul of Ortman Fluid Power’s brand was required. We began by creating a new corporate identity and quality control program.

Ortman Fluid Power 2HS Catalog Pages Brand awareness was the focus of two island-half trade ads placed in a series of horizontal publications to reach the engineering, machine design and purchasing influencers in OEM and MRO markets. “Staying Power” was an image-oriented ad while “Our Hero” introduced the new product. “Literature Review” ads were used for lead generation. PR was used to reintroduce our client to the marketplace and introduce their new product line.

A new product brochure and catalog were developed to promote the benefits of the new product and provide product specifications and dimensions. A new part-numbering system was formulated to make product selection easier. The “Staying Power” ad was turned into a product lineup card to be used as inquiry follow up and distributor leave behind.

Everything from photography to the paper marketing communications items were printed on said quality.

We provided CAD and management consulting services in addition to the marketing communications services.

Ortman Fluid Power Ad Combination by Mountain Stream GroupResults: Campaign results were almost instantaneous. Employee and distributor morale dramatically increased upon the unveiling of the new company logo, and continued increasing as each marketing communications element was revealed. A mid-campaign brand awareness study indicated our client’s message was reaching their target audience. Two Harvey Communication Measurement Studies showed their message was connecting, as did sales reports. Sales volume grew to $9.2 million in one year—a 10:1 ROI.

“Mountain Stream Group was key to our efforts of creating greater market awareness of our company, our products, and our services. Positive sales results were evident in a matter of months after implementing these new marketing initiatives. They proved that an investment in new marketing communications programs is more than offset by increased sales and profit performance.”

Director, Sales & Marketing

Scope of Work:

  • Preparing detailed budgets for marketing communications campaign.Ortman Fluid Power Product Writeup - Machine Design
  • Creating a marketing communication campaign including
    • New corporate identity (Logo, letterhead, envelopes, business cards, etc.)
    • New catalog and sales flyers
    • Advertisement development
    • Media Planning
    • Public relations
    • Photography
  • Formulating new part numbering system.
  • Generating product CAD drawings.

Image Notes: (Top to bottom.)

  1. Logo Mountain Stream Group created for new identity.
  2. Sample pages from the 6-page brochure we created for the new product and identity.
  3. Staying Power and Our Hero advertisements along with the back of the product line up card we developed.
  4. A technology focus article from Machine Design magazine we obtained for Ortman Fluid Power.

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