SITUATION

Velocity Software has always had the leading product in performance management software.  IBM recently purchased a company that gave IBM perceived leadership in the same software category.  While IBM’s product is inferior to Velocity's software, its brand and marketing engine is superior.

CHALLENGE

Make Velocity Software’s brand look as good as its product so that IBM does not knock Velocity  off “the short list.” Find a specific niche that Velocity can own and convey it in a memorable way.

SOLUTION

The Hayden Group fine-tuned Velocity’s branding message through a brand strategy work session. We created a new marketing campaign that emphasizes the performance facts of Velocity Software products, using extreme sports images to visually convey high performance. The theme worked well for the company's image  since the executive team are serious athletes. Each product was assigned a sport based on its qualities. Each carried a performance fact – "Can your software do that?" – that the competition could not beat. We extended the campaign through advertising,  trade show presence and all collateral to optimize impact. We redesigned their logo with a more active look as well.

RESULTS

The qualitative feedback from prospects and the marketplace is outstanding. And the theme is helping to build awareness with the new generation of engineers working on IBM mainframes.