Captains of Industry » Portfolio

CLF Logo and Branding

Thu, 05 May 2011 15:06:45 +0000

The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), New England’s leading environmental advocacy non-profit, came to Captains of Industry when they decided to rebrand the 40+-year-old organization and attract new members. Following our Captainization process, COI interviewed senior members of the CLF team to determine their brand DNA, and where they wanted to take the organization. What we found is that CLF is about a lot more than protecting the natural environment – they do everything from protecting conservation land to expanding mass transit to helping clean energy companies thrive. And they are relentless and determined in their efforts. This led to creating a new look and story that was completely different from the typical environmental organization’s brand (picture trees or wildlife imagery). Our simple, clean type treatment, underscored with a red “zing”, provides a visual and compelling way of saying, “We will do whatever it takes to help New England thrive.” With this new mark, CLF can emphasize the issues that they feel are important, strike through projects that they are against, or underscore the value of their successes.

Creighton Farms Website

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:13:21 +0000

Southworth Development, a Boston-based luxury real estate developer, contracted Captains of Industry to design and build a new website for their Creighton Farms development on the Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course in Virginia. The website was designed to give potential homebuyers a look into life at Creighton Farms, with a particular emphasis on the beautiful photography of the area and homes. To make it easy for the people at Southworth Development to update and maintain, Captains programmed the website on the Drupal Content Management System. Complete with a media center to showcase the story of Creighton Farms, photo galleries of the available architectural styles, the golf course, and the surrounding area, and interactive maps of the location and golf course, the Creighton Farms website captures the spirit of Creighton Farms: elegant luxury.

EnerNOC: Helping Manage Energy More Intelligently

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:18:29 +0000

EnerNOC, a leading energy management company, enlisted Captains’ help in creating an engaging video to tell their story. Deployed in a new customer center as well as online, the video combined interviews with senior management and images of energy-hungry corporate facilities to clearly define their value proposition. This video and others by Captains is helping to build awareness of EnerNOCs services, and generate more qualified sales leads.

Alteris Renewables Corporate Website

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:52:30 +0000

Alteris Renewables, the leading installer of solar and wind energy systems in the Northeast, hired Captains of Industry to design and develop a new website to better match their lead-generation goals and unique corporate culture. The challenge was to create a website that made Alteris look like the innovative, high-growth company that they are, while capturing their passion for renewable energy. Captains created a new look and feel for the site, defined a user-flow to generate more sales leads from residential, commercial, and school customers, and built the site on the easy-to-use WordPress content management system, giving Alteris the freedom to make updates and changes to their site on their own. Additionally, Captains created a media center for the site to help give a glimpse into what renewable energy means to different people, incorporating various customer and employee testimonial videos.

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5 Things Your Ad Agency Doesn’t Want You to Know (So you keep paying for their fancy espresso machine)

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:42:40 +0000

By Ted Page, Captains of Industry

In the old days, you had no choice but hire an agency to create commercials (big $), then pay them to buy media space (bigger $$). Today, your website is your TV channel, people are tuning out ads, and your web video can be seen 24/7 at cost. Post interesting, engaging content on your site and the right customers will come to you.
Google is God. Get religion.
People search for everything they need things that will solve their problem or take away their pain. What they don’t usually search for is advertising.
Today, marketing is about education and less about pizzazz.
Since people are searching for information on the web, you need to provide it. Example: Take a fraction of the money you were going to spend on an ad and media placement for your new router system and instead make a series of 2 minute videos that show how the router streamlines your data transport or reduces downtime. Interview customers. Show specifics. Then make the titles of the videos and the text that accompanies them match the keywords your target audience is searching for. Reach out to blogs that your customers read, and offer the videos for free as an educational resource. Know-how in the search-based marketing world is sexy. So if you’ve got it, flaunt it.
The best marketers are not in the advertising business.
They’re in the memory business. Regardless of whether you’re working with a traditional ad agency, a PR firm, an interactive agency, or a fizdoodlemangiproper agency, ask yourself one thing: Is what they’re doing sticking in the memory of the right people?
I leave it to you to come up with reason number 5, or to shoot my blog post straight to hell with brilliant counterpoints. That’s because, as wonderfully described in the Cluetrain Manifesto, the world has moved away from one way broadcasting and towards conversations. Everything I’ve written here is just the start of a conversation. So, what do you think?

Why do people ‘go solar’?

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:55:18 +0000

By Ted Page, Captains of Industry
Based on Captains’ experience in marketing and communications for the solar industry, there is no one single reason why consumers make the decision to have solar installed on their roofs. It’s a combination of reasons, and that combination can vary on the individual. The top drivers are, not necessarily in this order:

Environment. Going solar gives me the power to do something about global warming.
Money. I will eventually save money on my electricity (perhaps right away, based on the state and financing options).
Energy independence. We as a country are too reliant on foreign fuel. Solar on my roof is my own personal power plant.
Statement. Solar on my roof makes a bold statement that I’m doing something to help the environment, and that you – my neighbors – can follow my lead.
Cool factor. Ironically, this massive ball of ultra-hot burning gas called the sun is the coolest power source on earth. It makes me feel like a cooler person just because I have it.
Hate. My utility has been making me angry for years. Having solar says to them, “eat my sun.”
Status. My environmental credentials are…
Passion. I believe passionately that my country should never again fight a war for oil. Power from the sun is my way of saying, “enough.”
Hedge. Having a solar installation helps me lock in a rate for my power, so I won’t suffer as much from rising electricity rates over the years (see “hate” above)

Not long ago, before the days of generous federal and state subsidies, the environment was the dominant single driver for going solar. The very early adopters for solar tended to be green in two ways: they had money to throw around, and they wanted to stop global warming. That equation has changed. Today, two factors in combination are the main drivers:

Money and Environment. I can save money and help the environment at the same time. So, why wouldn’t I? Many or all of the other factors play a role in the decision, but these appear to be the top two. Incorporating money saving and environmental preservation together is critical to the success of any solar marketing campaign in 2010.

The Invisible Solar Tipping Point

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:23:09 +0000

By Ted Page, Captains of Industry
People have been wondering for years when the magical tipping point for widespread use of solar energy will arrive. Here’s the good news: From a financial perspective, solar now makes sense (at least in many states), so the right elements are in place for solar to take off. The bad news is that nobody knows the facts. A lot of people have wanted to live a greener lifestyle with solar energy, but they’ve been waiting until the costs came down, and they’re still waiting. What they don’t know is that thanks to generous federal and state subsidies, and the drop in the cost of solar panels themselves, the payback on a solar installation can be immediate.

In many states, including Massachusetts, homeowners can go solar by paying a modest up front fee and leasing their solar panels, so they only buy the actual solar power generated by the panels – but for LESS MONEY than they’d pay the utility. Hmmm. Go solar without the high up front cost, start saving money right away, lock in a low rate. Why wouldn’t we do it? The answer is that many of us would, if we knew more. Most homeowners in areas like the Northeast are not aware that the region has enough sun to make solar energy work, and not aware that they can save money on their electric bills with solar. The financial tipping point is here, but it’s invisible. What’s urgently needed now is education, not marketing. We have to make it easy for people to learn that going solar right now makes economic sense, so they can finally live the solar lifestyle they’ve always wanted.

“The Institute for Backup Trauma” starring John Cleese

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:22:04 +0000

When LiveVault needed to promote their new disk-based backup system for corporate data, they knew that traditional media would not cut through the clutter and allow them to reach their audience of IT professionals. Independent marketing consultant Jeff Weiner asked Captains, along with our sister company Thunder Sky Pictures, to create a viral web video starring John Cleese that would grab the attention of IT managers. As thrilled as we were to work with a Monty Python legend, we knew that the LiveVault campaign needed to consist of more than a video – and that’s when the BIG IDEA happened.

Together with our partners, Captains created an integrated campaign that included “The Institute for Back-Up Trauma” web video featuring Dr. Harold Twain Weck (John Cleese), as well as a virtual institute that viewers could explore. The film tells the story of hapless IT managers that suffer from Back-Up Trauma – a psychosis that takes hold when out-of-date tape-based backup systems fail.

The campaign quickly went viral, as literally hundreds of websites and blogs created links to the LiveVault site. LiveVault saw a 20% click-through rate on its e-mail blasts. Over 1,000,000 people watched “The Institute for Back-Up Trauma.” LiveVault saw a ten-fold increase in their site traffic, experienced a 500% increase in sales leads, and watched their sales double. Talk about marketing ROI.

Before the launch of the campaign, Googling the words ‘Back-Up Trauma’ brought up only a few random hospital links. Today the term brings up literally hundreds of thousands of links from around the globe. This demonstrates why good web content is the centerpiece of organic search engine optimization.

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First Wind Corporate Website

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:00:39 +0000

First Wind (formerly UPC Wind) is a leading North American wind energy company. In this crucial time of climate change and high energy prices, their challenge was to speed the development of wind farms so the company could expand its efforts more rapidly—while countering the myths propagated by anti-wind groups, and appealing to key stakeholders in the wind farm approval process. Captains of Industry and First Wind decided to begin from the most basic level: developing a new name, a new logo, and overhauling their communications strategy, crafting a new brand image and more focused messaging. We developed a new website incorporating video testimonials, plus print literature to be used at the local level. In effect, we took numerous individual wind farm projects and helped transform them into one large, unified brand. This enabled First Wind to communicate consistent messages, tailored to their diverse audiences, each of which have to be on board to make a wind farm a reality. The result? First Wind’s project development and approval process has been accelerated, and their profile increased: when CNNMoney did a search to find the leader in wind energy to interview for a feature story, they picked First Wind. It’s another example of how good web content is at the core of organic search engine optimization.

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Homeless billboard

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:50:20 +0000

The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless wanted to try something a little different, which of course was a natural fit for us. Their goal was to raise funds so they could be better able to serve the homeless in this state. We looked at a wide range of campaigns for non-profit groups seeking donations, and none of them really made us feel anything. There are so many charities vying for attention, how can you really strike a chord with people?

That’s why we created a concept that literally put viewers in the shoes of the homeless – outside, in the cold. The headline on an outdoor billboard grabbed the attention of people and made them think. They saw the headline, looked around, and for perhaps the first time in their lives they felt what it must be like to have no place to live. Donations soared after this campaign started to run across the state. Our favorite story about the campaign as a letter written by a tourist from Maine who was visiting Boston for the day. He saw the ad on the subway (the T as we say here) and he was so moved he missed his stop. He enclosed a check for the Coalition with his letter.

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Carbon-Neutral PGA Sponsorship

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:40:48 +0000

Constellation Energy is one of the largest energy companies in the United States. To demonstrate their commitment to fighting climate change, Constellation sponsored the first ever carbon-neutral senior PGA golf tournament. Constellation came to Captains for help in finding creative ways to get the word out about their sponsorship, and get tournament attendees engaged in finding ways to reduce their carbon footprints.

Instead of relying on hackneyed appeals to “be green”, we decided it was important for the creative concept to be rooted in the game of golf itself. Being golfers ourselves, we’re familiar with the history of the game and its dedication to preserving the honor of the game as well the course. The theme – It’s the Right Thing to Do – was employed in a commercial and course signage, while a print ad used a golf theme to illustrate ways to reduce carbon footprints. Feedback from Constellation, from the CEO on down, was extremely positive, and the event was a big success.

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D Stop Microsite

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:30:58 +0000

Dunkin’ Donuts had always relied heavily on TV advertising to reach consumers. But with TiVo coming on strong, and more customers using broadband Internet, the folks at Dunkin’ knew they needed to add some fresh new approaches to their traditional marketing mix.

Captains created The D Stop, a micro-site that features engaging web content: short interactive comedy films and animations, video e-cards, quizzes, prizes, offers and more. The most fun part was an interactive tutorial for the language of Dunkinese, a form of sign language known only to caffeinated Dunkin Donuts lovers. The D Stop, in effect, turns the traditional ad model on its ear; instead of paying media companies to run ads on their channels, our web content turns DunkinDonuts.com into its very own channel. The entertainment has been carefully crafted to reinforce the Dunkin’ Donuts brand in subtle ways, building customer loyalty while laying the foundation for ongoing opt-in e-mail communications. D Stop email promotion click-through rates were five times higher than the industry average, and D Stop visitors stayed on the site four times longer than they did on the corporate site.

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