Project Goals

Carolina Innovative Food Ingredients (or, as we lovingly call them, CIFI) came to MarketPlace without much more than a logo, a name, and an exciting product: American-made sweet potato ingredients, the first of their kind. Our challenge? To introduce this appealing-but-unknown ingredient brand to the industry.

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Strategy

For a startup firm without an established place in the industry — but with a significant investment made in manufacturing and investment — it’s critical to take the right approach to the market. Accordingly, our collaborative strategic process with CIFI involved an exhaustive review of market conditions combined with recommendations about product portfolio, sales targets, and more. Our final strategy guide for this new ingredient brand has continued to guide the firm to this day.

Branding

With a logo and name already established before our involvement, we were able to focus on creating a brand identity that communicated CIFI’s unique value as a source for healthy, American-made ingredients. We developed an approach to art direction and visual assets that effectively positioned CIFI as a trustworthy partner for uniquely valuable ingredients. Additionally, we created ingredient brands and logos that support CIFI’s sales efforts with a coherent and value-added portfolio of proprietary products.

DIGITAL MARKETING

As a vital part of launching the brand, we helped CIFI build a web presence that serves their needs, with lead generation and user experience our first concerns. Though CIFI’s stage of development necessitated a streamlined web experience, we were able to create a site rich in content for better search performance. The site’s modern interface also allows for hosting white papers and technical documents to support lead generation.

PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO

We worked closely with CIFI to capture custom images of their ingredients as well as video documentation of their harvesting and manufacturing processes. All imagery supports the company’s trustworthy, transparent image, as well as communicating key technical details to a scientifically minded audience.

ADVERTISING

Print and digital advertising was a critical aspect of building awareness of CIFI in an industry that still follows the trade press closely. Accordingly, we created advertising campaigns that educated the industry about CIFI’s launch and value. With the brand established after a year, we updated the campaign to further enhance the reputation of CIFI’s unique ingredients. We also made extensive use of white paper placements to generate leads and position CIFI as a thought leader.

SALES SUPPORT

We worked closely with CIFI to capture custom images of their ingredients as well as video documentation of their harvesting and manufacturing processes. All imagery supports the company’s trustworthy, transparent image, as well as communicating key technical details to a scientifically minded audience.

Nurturing

The on-trend nature of CIFI’s products and their appealing brand position brought the new company a long and ever-growing list of sales leads. We worked with their sales team to set up a Salesforce-style lead management database, and produced email lead nurturing items to help them manage followup effectively.

As a new company, CIFI recognized we needed a marketing partner, not just an agency. MarketPlace has been both a strategic and tactical partner assisting our go-to-market and consumer connection efforts by creating stellar POS material, trade ads, brand imagery, white papers, training videos, and, above all, being a sounding board as we grow our business.

- John Kimber, COO
OUTCOMES

Less than five years into their existence, CIFI is one of the most talked-about specialty ingredient providers in their space. Much of the credit goes to CIFI for their shrewd perception of industry trends and agile move to meet them; still, as their branding partner, we are thrilled to support this up-and-coming, on-trend company as they grow into a major force in the industry.

SO WHAT’S NEXT?

WE’RE READY TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS. Let’s talk.