McClenahan Bruer (McBru) defines brands, positioning and messaging to give tech B2B companies an unfair advantage.

1. BRAND
DEVELOPMENT
McBru Defines Brands,
Positioning and
Messaging to Give You an
Unfair Advantage

2. RESEARCH
McBru researches what the market really
thinks of your brand, and the qualities that
potential customers care about most in
McBru Branding Services
your brand category. McClenahan Bruer (McBru) has its own way of doing things,
and that’s true of our brand development services. Based
on our deep understanding of technology and two decades
of experience influencing tech B2B audiences, McBru
BRAND VISION
McBru conducts workshops with your approaches branding, positioning and messaging as a
senior management to frame a brand contact sport, where the best and strongest ideas win. And
platform based on your key audience as a full-service, fully-integrated marketing, social media,
personae. This serves as the roadmap for
advertising and PR agency, McBru has both the scope and
brand implementation.
the focus to help you strategically build your brand and
position your messaging to deliver awareness, preference,
POSITIONING AND MESSAGING
and engagement.
We flesh out a customized positioning
and messaging matrix with “plug-and-
play” messages targeting each audience In the fiercely competitive technology industry, having the
to ensure consistency and resonance in
right market positioning, compelling key messages, and a
customer communications.
strong, distinctive brand can make the difference between
market leaders and also-rans. McBru, with its exclusive focus
BRAND IMPLEMENTATION on technology B2B marketing, has the tools and the smarts to
Our creative group brings your brand to
life: in a visual identity, logo, website, help you craft and grow brands that get business done.
templates, whatever you need. Plus we can
help you plan and execute a killer brand.
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3. Tech B2B Brand Expertise At McBru, we help technology clients identify what’s
A brand is one of the most strategic assets a business can best and different about their companies and how their
have, and helping our clients keep their brands fresh and products or technology bring value to customers. We marry
relevant is one of the most critical – and rewarding – jobs sophisticated technical knowledge and deep insights
we do here at McBru. We have extensive experience in into technology audiences with broad-based marketing
the process of developing, refreshing and evolving brands; experience to create a robust, methodical process of
crafting messages and creative content to convey a brand’s branding, positioning, and messaging.
promise and value; and designing
logos, web sites and other visual Defining Your Brand
content to support and enhance McBru’s brand development process
We marry sophisticated technical
brand identity. is dynamic, smart, and research-
knowledge and deep insights into
based. We recommend beginning
technology audiences.
Branding, positioning, and with a competitive analysis, as well as
messaging for tech B2B
audiences is different than
building brands for consumer markets. High tech audiences
are highly educated and skeptical, and have a just-the-
facts-please attitude to most marketing information—they
don’t like to be marketed to. While the general lessons of
marketing still apply to tech B2B audiences, for branding
and marketing to be successful with self-professed geeks
you must apply deep-tech knowledge and smart, persona-
focused messaging.
Rebranding, new logo, visual identity, website template, and blog.
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4. Positioning and Messaging
To identify the company’s value propositions and
differentiators for each of its key audiences, McBru
conducts a second workshop with sales and marketing
executives. McBru then develops a positioning
and messaging matrix with relevant messages and
differentiated positions for these important audiences
and perspectives.
At McBru, we understand that to build preference,
Rebranding, new logo, visual identity, website template, and blog. positioning and messaging has to be two deceptively simple
things: highly relevant and highly differentiated. Relevant
internal and external audits, to find out what the market really
thinks and how the client’s company is perceived. This data-
driven information is compiled and presented to key client
stakeholders before McBru conducts a Brand Vision workshop
with senior management. This workshop is a dynamic
brainstorming session that fully engages participants in a
series of lively discussions to identify critical elements of the
company brand, plus key audiences and customer challenges
and pain points. The results of this meeting are then compiled
into a Brand Identity Statement.
The McBru process is highly interactive, compelling executives
to think creatively and critically about how customers and key New logo, visual identity, website, collateral templates.
audiences experience the company at every level.
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5. messages tell potential customers how your products and
services bring them benefits and value and can solve specific
problems they care about. Messages that differentiate
tell customers why to choose your products over other
alternatives. While these distinctions may seem elemental,
they have real dollars-and-cents impact: Relevant messages
are what help build sales volume; and differentiation is
what makes premium pricing possible, particularly in highly
competitive or crowded markets.
Messages that differentiate tell Positioning and messaging is one of the most
customers why to choose your important – and often least appreciated –
forms of marketing, and is the foundation on
products over other alternatives.
which all successful communication is built.
Positioning and messaging can considered a
separate and discrete service independent of the larger
branding process, and in fact at McBru we suggest
reviewing and refreshing your positioning and messaging
on an annual basis.
Bringing the Brand to Life
After arming you with a robust brand identity statement and
positioning and messaging matrix, McBru stands ready to
develop a new or refreshed visual identity and implement a
brand awareness campaign. Our creative group can design
everything you might need to bring the new brand to life: a
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6. new visual identity, including a new logo and website, plus • We know your audiences. Not in some theoretical
branding guidelines, corporate touchpoints, and collateral sense, but with day-to-day familiarity that allows us to
templates. After re-imaging is complete, McBru can understand their needs and concerns. We know how to
conduct an internal and external launch of your new brand finesse messages and positioning to create preference
via brand awareness campaigns and demand generation and awareness with high-tech audiences.
activities, all supported by an integrated content strategy. • McBru has extensive experience in technology branding
You can choose the ideal mix of the following disciplines: processes. We have developed proprietary, hands-on
influencer relations and social media; demand generation methodologies that dig deep into your business culture
though advertising, email communication, and events; and and engage your executive team in the creative and
content development such as case studies, white papers, challenging work of defining your brand and audiences.
videos, and product briefs. • McBru’s branding services are not a one-size-fits-
all product. While we recommend our full branding
Why McBru process, which is research-driven and propelled by
• At McBru, we focus exclusively on high-tech B2B analytics, we can customize our services to suit your
marketing. We’re tech experts and have the savvy specific needs and budget.
and depth of knowledge to help your company refine • McBru is a full-service agency, with in-house creative,
its brand, hone your positioning, and polish your writing, and design expertise. We can quickly take
messaging to reach your chosen audiences. your brand and extend it into the marketplace through
• McBru’s approach is to take best practices from advertizing, content marketing, influencer relations and
consumer branding and marketing and refine them for social media.
tech B2B, so our branding processes are data-driven, • Like everything we do, our branding processes are
based on the realities of the market, and grounded in designed with metrics in mind; our reporting and
knowledge of technology. analysis yield insights about the market’s awareness,
engagement, and preference for your brand.
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7. Elise F. Burke
Director of Marketing and Sales
direct: 503.546.1017
mobile: 503.459.7545
elise@mcbru.com
www.mcbru.com
LET’S START SOMETHING.
elise@mcbru.com
www.mcbru.com
www.mcbrublog.com
@mcbru
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