Novella Brandhouse is Helping Business Owners Pivot with Purpose
The marketing and branding firm offers essential kits to help business owners navigate moving from offline to online.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. April 7, 2020—As we settle into a new reality, fewer things are becoming more obvious than the immediate need for businesses to pivot from offline to online. This demand is leaving many confused and overwhelmed, but one marketing agency is offering a guiding hand.
“Pivot, don’t pause” is the current mantra of Novella Brandhouse’s CEO Elizabeth McFadden. “Businesses are struggling right now,” she said. “We’re recommending that clients pivot their marketing messaging for quarter two. We ourselves are doing that.”
Pivot, Don’t Pause
It’s safe to say that shutting down for a month or more was not on any business owner’s agenda for 2020. Many are being forced to close their doors, step back, and readjust. Budgets are not what they were two months ago, and owners are left to operate with nimble staff and adjust to doing business through internet connections rather than in person.
In an effort to offer guidance and direction in this time, Novella Brandhouse has debuted special pricing kits built precisely for these business owners. Though business is not being conducted as usual, business owners have an opportunity to tend to those essential business activities that often get pushed to the back burner.
“We’re meeting companies where they are now during the COVID-19 disruption. Most have different priorities and budgets than they did at the beginning of March,” McFadden said.
The Branding Kits
Due to customers and clients sheltering in place and staying home, many business owners are choosing to work ON their business while their stores or offices are closed and sales are light due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“We want to be able to provide helpful tools to make the transition from offline to online more smooth, so we created kits at reduced prices to make marketing efforts more accessible for all,” McFadden said.
The Branding Kits offer essential services for businesses in a condensed format built for immediate activation. Kits include branding, marketing, logo design, social, SEO, and email marketing plans and deliverables at a reduced price—all $1,500 or less. Novella Brandhouse is offering these special rates and packages through May 1, 2020.
“We’re pivoting too.”
“Our clients aren’t alone in this,” McFadden said. “We’re a small business, and we’re pivoting too. This is not where our focus was going to be for quarter two. At the beginning of the year, we started a new business campaign, redefined our target audience and re-positioned ourselves to serve the companies we more often found ourselves working with—scaling or established businesses. But then, COVID-19 hit and we had to shift to focusing on our online offerings which are better suited for start-ups and companies looking for budget-friendly services.
“Pivoting looks different for every company, but the first task is to review your current products and offer anything that is already built for the online world,” McFadden said. “We created Novella University, our online DIY branding and marketing courses, last fall so that we could better serve clients who were not our main audience. As we’re scaling, we were looking at other revenue streams, but with our team size in mind.”
In addition to the branding kits, Novella Brandhouse is offering a discounted rate on Novella University courses and offering one-on-one coaching sessions with the VIP purchase.
“Many people are overwhelmed,” McFadden said. “People are asking for direction. We listened and adjusted our product accordingly.”
“Similarly, with our kits, we took a product that we had 7-8 years ago and brought it back and revamped it to fit what people are craving now—marketing strategies that they can implement in the midst of the noisy online world we are living in. We never planned on bringing it back, but that’s what our clients need and we’re here to serve them and equip them for the climate they are in. Our normal audience is putting their projects on hold, or their budgets are being cut. They’re not looking at marketing, so we had to pivot to be able to create a product or service fitting with where companies are right now, and the response has been encouraging.”
Building an Online Community
Business now isn’t just about providing packages for the current moment. People are in desperate need of resources. As owners grapple with handling more on their own, Novella Brandhouse is also leading the charge in offering free resources and guidance to anyone who wants it. The company has offered a number of free downloads and resources via social media and even has a Facebook group called “Hustle in Place” to help business owners work through this trying time.
These are uncertain times, but crisis situations are also times when people continue to help and support one another, give grace for the tough transitions, and find incredibly creative solutions to adapt, grow, and give.
“At the Brandhouse, we feel like our job right now is to offer a shoulder for our clients to lean on (with appropriate social distancing), the knowledge that we are here to support them and help as they transition from offline to online,” McFadden said.
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About Novella Brandhouse
Novella Brandhouse is a full-service branding & marketing firm that develops strategic marketing plans, award-winning design and content for brands trying to scale and improve overall business performance. Novella Brandhouse is the only WBE-certified brand strategy and marketing firm in Kansas City that develops messaging, design elements, and go-to-market strategy that clients can start implementing today on their website, social media, sales materials, collateral and in elevator pitches.
