Seeking new paths to success - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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A marketing firm has decided it’s time to markety itself. A chemical manufacturer sees potential in environmentallyfriendlgy products. A fitness club chain that’s already doing well still sees a chance to perfornm even better by forging partnerships with health And an area bank is finding that the financial crisis has created a new playing fielfd inits industry. Maybe it’s all relative, but the economi c downturn appears to be spurringsome Dyvig, Driver, Devine Inc. Fred at marketing firm Dyvig, Driver, Devine Inc., has been telling clientx for months that a recession is a time to spend more on not less.
Now Driver and his partners, Meganj Devine and Maureen Dyvig, are putting theid money where theirmouth is. The firm, whic does business as d.trio marketingh group, has spent $7,000 to market itselt to prospective clients. “If you’re a marketing you sometimes forget tomarkety yourself,” Driver said. “You’re so focused on doin g what your customers need that you forget to followe yourown advice. And we try not to fall into that The Minneapolis-based firm stepped up newspaper advertising (including in this paper) and launchedd a direct-mail campaign to aboutt 1,000 Twin Cities-area businesses.
“We did get responsea from boththe [ad] and the mailing, and we’rre following up on those righf now. So marketing works Imagine that,” Driver said. So far this revenue is down compared to where it was a year but Driver has noticed that the difference is less inrecent months. Even as business improves, Driver sees the firm needintg to make astrategic choice. Much of dtrio’sz business involves direct-mail and e-mail marketing, but more clients are expressing interest in onlinesocial media. Driverf and his partners are debating whether they shouldc hire social media experts or partner with another firm that already has experience inthe area.
“We will be more We will be more The question is how Salesat Delano-based Seacole-CRC are still down compared to where they were a year ago, but CEO Gregg Elliotyt has noticed the gap narrowing over the past There’s been an uptick in some businessw sectors. One area has been strong for Seacole-CRC: environmentally friendlhy products, especially industrial cleaning, automobile maintenance and railroard maintenance products that areless toxic. “We’ved been working on those products for but recently itseems there’s been a real need in the marketplacwe for them,” Elliott said.
“We go in and show our salex literature to some of the customersand they’re very anxiouws to know about it and very anxiouxs to try it.” Elliott thinke the increased interest in such productd may be the result of manufacturers taking a second look at thei r processes — and finding that therde are more environmentally friendly chemicals that also save them money in the long run. “They’re less hazardouas to the environment. They don’tr have to maybe do as much wastes treatment. You have less exposure to employees inthe Overall, there’s a lower cost of usingg these products.
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