Sometimes it is just too easy to sit back, relax and think that all is well with your marketing plans. Then along comes a "wake up" call. For us this was early in 2011, when we heard that Civil Society Media were publishing their latest annual charity CRM Survey. We knew that our
Advantage Fundraiser and
Advantage Box Office customers were very happy with our products and services, because of regular research we carry out ourselves. What delighted us more was that when this
independent survey was published, we came out the No.1 charity CRM software supplier in the UK. Even better than that was that
100% of our customers would recommend us to other NFP organisations.
Now that's obviously excellent news and credit must go to both our development and customer support teams. However, hidden among the good news was a growing awareness that whilst we are obviously well liked by our customers, we are still not that well known in the sector. Surprising news, when you consider that we have been working with NFP sector clients since 1994, and these clients include Save the Children Fund, Child Line, Birmingham Royal Ballet, World Development Movement, and over 150 more.
So, we thought, it's high time we thought more about promoting ourselves. Staying the "
best charity CRM database that you've probably never heard of" simply wasn't an option any longer.
We looked about for a local company that could support us in this re-branding exercise and one company came out as clear winners in our research - thirdperson. Richard and Tim from thirdperson gave excellent advice on how our brand should appear and we are grateful for their support and guidance.
The first step in this exercise has been to separate our NFP products and services from our commercial products and services. The result is the formation of our new brand AdvantageNFP , which will include our portfolio of NFP solutions, AdvantageNFP Fundraiser and AdvantageNFPBox Office.
Next steps included appointing our new Marketing Manager, Vasileios Kospanos, now in post since mid August and our new website going live today, 1st September 2011. Our new AdvantageNFP brand will significantly raise awareness of who we are and what we do and we'll continue to raise awareness through traditional and online means.
Our challenge going forward will be to not just remain the No. 1 charity CRM software supplier, but to be recognised as such by everyone, not just our 100% satisfied customers.
