Challenge:
During its sixteen years in business, Automation Associates, Inc. (AAI), a professional services firm providing simulation engineering solutions, had amassed an impressive client roster including Compaq, Delta, Revlon, Motorola, Starbucks, Tropicana and many others. However, in the early 2000s it experienced a period of stagnant growth and needed help developing an integrated marketing program to increase sales.

Solution:
In April 2004, Blue Mine Group (BMG) initiated a strategy program to assess the many target markets that AAI served. Through a series of workshops with the firm's principals, BMG prioritized the target markets into five distinct vertical market practice areas, helped to broadly define the customer lifecycle, and developed tailored messaging for each market.

Next, BMG launched a comprehensive go-to-market program, beginning with a branding campaign to reposition AAI as a leading provider of simulation solutions for the global supply chain and align all its marketing communications vehicles including corporate identity materials and tagline, web site, product collateral, trade show graphics.

Building on AAI's extensive expertise and high profile customers, BMG developed a knowledge section on the corporate web site to highlight the many bylined articles, case studies, and white paper presentations that the company had developed over the years. BMG then worked with AAI to leverage this high value content through Innovations, a monthly e-newsletter, allowing them to directly engage with new and existing customers and partners, as well as build its reputation as an industry thought leader.

With a new customer-centric approach, AAI launched several lead generation campaigns addressing the key needs of target decision makers within each market segment, and concurrently devised a media and analyst program to raise awareness with key industry influencers through press releases and briefings.

Results:
Positioning AAI as a leader in the global supply chain had a galvanizing impact on the firm. With a clear market focus and a compelling value proposition, the firm was able to re-ignite its sales efforts, and began building a strong track record of customer wins. Based on this success, AAI was able to successfully position itself for acquisition in November 2005 by one of its channel partners, TranSystems. Financially backed by a much larger entity, the market and career opportunities for AAI have greatly expanded.

Today, AAI is a rapidly expanding part of the TranSystems Corporation providing its invaluable resources to the Management and Supply Chain Consulting line of business, which entails integrated consulting services to the manufacturer, retail, intermediary and distributor segments of the supply chain at both the strategic and facility level across all lines of transportation.