Marketing has evolved a lot over the years, and constantly continues
to change shape in today’s fast-paced, tech-driven world. Gone are the
days of the hard sell, the in-your-face advertising. Today’s consumers
want more from the brands vying for their dollar and this has created a
whole new space in the marketing and advertising industry for creative
thinkers with a knack for developing eye-catching, thought-provoking
content that adds value to the lives of consumers, even while making
sure they do spend that dollar.
Creative World caught up with Renee Warren, serial marketer and
the brain behind boutique demand marketing agency Onboardly, to find
out more about how marketing works in this day and age, and how you
can get a foot in the door.
1. How did you get inspired to start Onboardly?
Right after grad school (2006), I got an interesting opportunity
to manage one of Toronto’s coworking office spaces, where I
was exposed to the tiny startup community that existed at the
time. I housed a couple startups and some other organizations
there, and held relevant events. It grew, and so did my network.
About nine months later, I was consulting for startups on their
social media and marketing strategies, which eventually turned
into a full time gig. It went from a one person shop to a small
team after my move to San Francisco. I sold that company in
2011, and have been growing my new baby, Onboardly, ever
since.
2. What’s behind the name ‘Onboardly?’
Onboardly was derived from the term ‘onboarding,’ which
means the process of introducing new customers to your
company in an organized and effective manner. The ‘ly’ was
an added flair that made it memorable and set us apart from
the competition. I wanted something that was way more
memorable, was easy to remember, and extremely relevant to
our target audience: tech startups.
3.
What makes Onboardly a creative company?
We are creative in not only the way we provide original ideas
to the client, but also in how we service our clients and vendors.
We turn our ideas into reality, and that’s why we prefer to work
with startups (or startup-at-heart companies.) To be creative
puts you at the forefront of your industry, sets you ahead of
your competition, and otherwise makes you memorable. That’s
what we do best.
4. Demand marketing is one of
your core services. What is
demand marketing and why
is it important for small and
medium-sized companies to
utilize such a strategy?
Demand marketing generates demand
for a product or service, through an
integrated mix of traditional and digital
marketing methods including content
marketing, PR, and influencer relations.
The basis of demand marketing is
compelling, thought-leadership driven
content and third party validation
through storytelling, customer advocacy
and influence.
While a number of tactics contribute
to demand marketing, at its core, it is
less about its parts, and more about
generating demand for a product or
service; however, it makes sense to do
so strategically.
5. What is one of the most
memorable
creative
campaigns/strategies that the
team has come up with?
We have many, but the one campaign
that has really extended the test of
time was one piece we helped a
client publish on Entrepreneur.com
about retiring at the age of 27. It was
syndicated to Yahoo Finance and
numerous other sites. It got them so
much traffic it broke their site and
subsequently helped get them on the
Steve Harvey show and Fox News.
Storytelling is still a tried and true
method to get media coverage and
creating some buzz.
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